Item — HN Reader

I remember 1970.

Few people had air conditioning. Cars might last 100,000 miles, if you got a good one. They performed poorly, got awful mileage, and crushed the passenger compartment if you got into an accident.

Many people smoked, and people died younger. Medicine wasn’t as good.

Rich kids might have a giant set of books called an ‘encyclopedia’. It was about the only way to learn things that were outside your circle, there was no internet.

TV came in 3 channels, and you had to be sitting in front of it when your show came on. There was no way to record a show for later viewing.

Of course race relations were much worse then. So were things for women and others. Job advancement wasn’t the same as it is today.

I wouldn’t go back for anything. The poorest people today ( even the homeless, who seem to often have really nice tents and weather gear, relatively ) have it better than in 1970.

I don’t care what things cost. Practically everybody is richer today.

2 comments

The 1970s energy crisis as a result of issues in Israel and Iran did indeed help improve cars.

We had this thing called a 'library', with 'books', which helped me learn things outside my circle. Our schools even had a full-time librarian to help us with the technology. Even our church had a library, with a bunch of Tom Swift books.

We didn't live in the boonies like you did. On VHF we had 3 commercial network TV stations, an independent station, and PBS. On UHF there were more, including another PBS station, another independent station, and a commercial station in the Spanish International Network (SIN).

My parents could afford to buy a home and raise a family on a single income from my high school educated father. He died 10 years ago. My mother still gets benefits from his pension plan.

It's also true that cheap ass nylon tents are better than the canvas tents we used to camp in. While we metaphorically drown in plastic as the anthropogenic global warming predicted by the 1970s tightens its grip ever more.

Am I misunderstanding something or is your point - Poor people have air conditioning and better (but certainly not cheaper) medical outcomes, and netflix today, therefore they have a better quality of life than 1970? And people without homes have better tents and jackets, today?