Why were the 70s such a tacky decade?

[31 Model A]

We don't sell rock lobster in Maine. That's an entirely different species. The lobster we sell, good old homarus americanus, costs less than hamburger right now, if you buy it at the boat. If you buy it in a restaurant, boy, are you a chump.

I don't live in Maine..................It was $4.25 for a whole lobster in 1962 when I was there, why does it cost almost $30.00 now here and in New York, what does it cost there??????

Hamburger is pretty cheap here right now..............must be do that completely different location of commodities. Why is that???????

 

[31 Model A]

There was a turning point in western civilization in 1968 when the radical left pretty much did in liberalism.

which began the rise of John Kerry and his ilk!!!

 

[LizzieMaine]

Nobody wants to go off to war, if they do they soon find out how stupid they were, even a soldier is the last person who wants a war. But wars happen and people have to fight in them. I guess I could blame your generation for only being the 1% of the whole populace that now serve the country.....damn!!!

Actually, my generation has been over age for about fifteen years. Not much point in nearsighted, stiff-jointed, pot-bellied fiftysomethings blundering around the desert. For the record, about half the boys in my high school graduating class went into the service, and a couple of the girls. I considered enlisting myself, but my history of migraines put the recruiter off me.

As far as the radical left in the late sixties goes, they were pansies next to the radical left of the thirties.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I don't live in Maine..................It was $4.25 for a whole lobster in 1962 when I was there, why does it cost almost $30.00 now here and in New York, what does it cost there??????

Hamburger is pretty cheap here right now..............must be do that completely different location of commodities. Why is that???????

You're paying for live transportation, plus a huge markup for the restuarant. Last I looked boat price here was four dollars and change per pound -- it's even cheaper in the summer, when the shedders are out.

The guy who actually does the real work in catching the lobster gets only pennies compared to the distributor and restaurant markup. One reason why I absolutely refuse to buy any lobster product retail or in any restaurant. I buy it straight from the fisherman and see that he gets all the money.

 

[Stanley Doble]

Meanwhile, as far as the World War II draft goes, here's an interesting fact: approximately 300,000 men were reported to Selective Service for draft evasion during that war, and about 15,000 were actually convicted -- with 6,000 of those taking the position of conscientious objection. One out of every six men in Federal prison during the war years was there as a draft evader.

About 209,000 men were considered draft evaders by the Selective Service System during the Vietnam Era, and about 9,000 were convicted.

Lizzie if you are interested in curious statistics, 20,000 to 30,000 American draft dodgers and deserters found refuge in Canada during the Vietnam era, while 30,000 Canadians volunteered for the American armed forces.

I leave it to you who got the best of that deal.

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

Politicians have no age limit............some Greatest Generation are still very active in politics all the way down to Generation Y. Fast Food chains were started in the early 50s. If the post -Baby Boomer population never had any power, sounds like a cop-out for not stepping up to the plate, I guess they have been followers all their lives and I wonder how many went to college vs college educated Baby-Boomers, not counting those who served and took the GI Bill.

I've heard a lot about post-Boomers whining, but I've heard few of them actually whining. The people who I've personally heard whine the most --the ones who love to turn on the news and yell at the TV screen-- are the Silents and the Boomers. That's the irony in that for me personally. The people who have been labeled the whiners have barely peeped, while the folks who are quick to label the whiners have been crying about the world they created for as long as my memory has allowed. You call it a cop-out. I call that kind of thinking (and refusal to take responsibility for the consequences of what you built) lazy. Then again, you're right in the sense that we did learn how to cop out from a generation of expert cop-outs. See, it's everyone else's fault but theirs. The Silents and Boomers believe their own bull****. They always got a reason. They always got a justification. They're genuine in their delusion. That's for sure.

 

[jamespowers]

I've heard a lot about post-Boomers whining, but I've heard few of them actually whining. The people who I've personally heard whine the most --the ones who love to turn on the news and yell at the TV screen-- are the Silents and the Boomers. That's the irony in that for me personally. The people who have been labeled the whiners have barely peeped, while the folks who are quick to label the whiners have been crying about the world they created for as long as my memory has allowed. You call it a cop-out. I call that kind of thinking (and refusal to take responsibility for the consequences of what you built) lazy. Then again, you're right in the sense that we did learn how to cop out from a generation of expert cop-outs. See, it's everyone else's fault but theirs. The Silents and Boomers believe their own bull****. They always got a reason. They always got a justification. They're genuine in their delusion. That's for sure.

It is indeed their creation. Taking responsibility seems to have passed them by. lol lol

 

[jamespowers]

which began the rise of John Kerry and his ilk!!!

Born 1943. Hmmmmmm......

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

which began the rise of John Kerry and his ilk!!!

For some reason when I think of Forehead Boy the song Just A Gigolo keeps running through my head.

 

[ChiTownScion]

Meanwhile, as far as the World War II draft goes, here's an interesting fact: approximately 300,000 men were reported to Selective Service for draft evasion during that war, and about 15,000 were actually convicted -- with 6,000 of those taking the position of conscientious objection. One out of every six men in Federal prison during the war years was there as a draft evader.

About 209,000 men were considered draft evaders by the Selective Service System during the Vietnam Era, and about 9,000 were convicted.

And I happen to think that there is a distinct difference between evading the draft during a time of declared war and evading the draft during the time of a "police action" in which the United States should never have been involved.

 

[31 Model A]

This is not a forum to celebrate the past but a forum to bash the present, lay blame and whine for their own misfortune. Get a life!!!!!!!!!!! As it was earlier stated but now deleted, some spend time in their preferred era and bash the rest. Take off your blinders, History is not and never will be perfect.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And I happen to think that there is a distinct difference between evading the draft during a time of declared war and evading the draft during the time of a "police action" in which the United States should never have been involved.

I merely bring up the draft figures to point out that the idea that every American male between 1941 and 1945 couldn't wait to get into uniform is very much a latter-day myth. There were plenty of conscientious objectors, and there were plenty of men in the Era who simply didn't want to be bothered.

 

[HudsonHawk]

I love topic wandering, I really do. But this whole thread now reminds me of my favorite Peanuts cartoon. Schroeder walks out to the pitcher's mound and tells Charlie Brown "I think we should throw this next guy a curveball." Just then Lucy come up and starts talking about all the development in the neighborhood. More players join and pretty soon it's several panels of conversation about the effects of urban sprawl. At the end, one looks at Charlie Brown and says "What do you think?" Charlie Brown says "Frankly, I think he'd hit a curveball."

Aside from being dirt poor myself, I didn't mind the 70s music and fashion all that much. I certainly prefer it to that of today.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And, of course, urban sprawl was a major issue thruout the seventies. Full circle.

 

[HudsonHawk]

And, of course, urban sprawl was a major issue thruout the seventies. Full circle.

It still is. I live 30 miles from downtown, and I'm not even close to the "edge".

 

[Two Types]

I find it highly entertaining to see these arguments about culture and society in the USA in the 1970s (a subject I know little about). To take it back to basics, were the 1970s so bad? Some great music (the energy and inventiveness of punk and post-punk were essential for me) some awful (I can't stand ABBA). Some dreadful fashion (mile upon mile of polyester), some good (the arrival of the DIY aesthetic of punk which helped inspire a look back across fashion of the rest of the century). Same with films and tv. Britain was dirty but great fun. Most of the UK lived under the shadow of terrorism but just got on with life. OK, the Cold War was frightening to a ten year old, but give me a definite enemy rather than the uncertainty of today.

 

[LizzieMaine]

It still is. I live 30 miles from downtown, and I'm not even close to the "edge".

One of the great things about living here is that there's no room for that kind of urban sprawl -- although that doesn't keep them from trying to fit it in by blasting out the sides of hills and bulldozing forests. Oh, look, we're a Real City now, we've got an Applebee's.

Along those same lines, the Seventies gave America not only urban sprawl, but *brown* urban sprawl. The clean, functional roadside architecture left over from the thirties, best characterized by the Teague Texaco station design, was engulfed by acre upon acre of dull brown shingles, tinted concrete "brickface," and fake mansard roofs. The Boomers thought it was pretty, and the Boys gave them what they wanted.

 

[Bushman]

Hey, I like my little 70's urban sprawl home! It was the last house on a dead end, or at least used to be, until those poorly made shell homes next to me were put up. Nothing but four walls nailed together, them things. At least the 70's urban sprawl homes were built well.

I love topic wandering, I really do. But this whole thread now reminds me of my favorite Peanuts cartoon. Schroeder walks out to the pitcher's mound and tells Charlie Brown "I think we should throw this next guy a curveball." Just then Lucy come up and starts talking about all the development in the neighborhood. More players join and pretty soon it's several panels of conversation about the effects of urban sprawl. At the end, one looks at Charlie Brown and says "What do you think?" Charlie Brown says "Frankly, I think he'd hit a curveball."

Aside from being dirt poor myself, I didn't mind the 70s music and fashion all that much. I certainly prefer it to that of today.

:eusa_clap lol My, this is the best comment in this thread, by far!

 

[jamespowers]

One of the great things about living here is that there's no room for that kind of urban sprawl -- although that doesn't keep them from trying to fit it in by blasting out the sides of hills and bulldozing forests. Oh, look, we're a Real City now, we've got an Applebee's.

Along those same lines, the Seventies gave America not only urban sprawl, but *brown* urban sprawl. The clean, functional roadside architecture left over from the thirties, best characterized by the Teague Texaco station design, was engulfed by acre upon acre of dull brown shingles, tinted concrete "brickface," and fake mansard roofs. The Boomers thought it was pretty, and the Boys gave them what they wanted.

You forgot the shag carpet and Harvest Brown appliances.

 

[Bushman]

You forgot the shag carpet and Harvest Brown appliances.

Man, the shag carpeting and all that terrible 70's decor was the first to go in my house.