Life was vastly different in the 1970’s than it is today. People spoke their minds andwere allowed to smoke in public places. Politically correct was not a term that was bantered about as it were a ball. President’s ruled with more of an iron fist. The threat of Russia invading American shores was an ever present threat, and people were more human to each other back in the 1970’s .

Generally speaking-

Life was very different from today during the 1970’s. The world was moving away from holding sit-ins, and loving thy neighbor to standing up for the rights of people. But the general way of life as we knew it back in the 1970’s was one of a more harsher reality. The 1970’s were a time when people united in gaining strength as various societal groups. People were also segregated into various groups, such as Blacks, Whites, Hispanics, and Italians. Now today, people are known as Irish Americans, Italian Americans, and African Americans. Someday soon Americans will be known as Americans instead of a certain societal group.

Life was not politically correct-

Americans in the 1970’s were living a life with more individual freedom. Life was by no means a wonderful trip through a vast array of flowers back in the 1970’s. But, more freedoms were offered Americans back in the 1970’s. Americans graduated from high school, obtaining jobs that lasted an entire lifetime, making enough money to raise an entire family on. Generally speaking, freedom was not suppressed, such as people could start drinking alcohol at a younger age.  People spoke their minds more often. Archie Bunker was the most outspoken, poltically incorrect character on television back in the 1970’s.

Television-

 TV viewers watched a nightly family hour, filled with dancing, singing, and written storylines filled with values, and a more stringent moral attitude,  that dramatically changed once cable TV became the norm. Television news was delegated to only an hour at night, with lcoal and natioanl news. TV was viewed in one room, usually the living room. Families gathered around a TV, many times a black and white TV to watch the family hour. Cable TV came about in the late 1970’s but only with a limited scope as it was an unaffordable option for many families.

Music-

Music was different in the 1970’s. Disco was the rage, but soon began the phrase heard round the world of, “Disco sucks.” Rock and roll was still rocking, and the Rolling Stones were still reinventing the rock wheel. Punk music began punking out in the U.K. while the Queen of England was a much younger woman who was a force to be reckoned with. While many other nations such as Australia and England were already enjoying music videos playing on their tubes, America lagged behind waiting for music television of its own.

Rights

Back in the 1970’s men were the American breadwinners. But as babyboomer children grew up, they started going to college seeking a better life than their parents had. That’s where women and men of color, Hispanic, and African Americans, started gaining more respect in the workplace. Women were suddenly going to work in jobs that required degrees. Career men and women started working together in teams during the 1970’s. Even though women were getting a lot less money than men to do the same job, equal rights wars were waging away in the forefront of American society.

Life back in the 1970’s was by no means a Pollyanna existence, but things were looking up as Mary Tyler Moore threw her hat into the air on national television.