... lost virtue of things honestly mechanical ~

They just want to use it as a political slogan ... MAGA.

 

1973. pretty bad, al things considered

 

Actually 1973 was not bad.

We had ac in our cars and homes, power everything in vehicles, all household appliances, Vietnam was wrapping up, Nixon was getting ready to quit when one of his lieutenants refused to lie for him, antibiotics and birth control were available and university education was within reach for veterans and minorities. Social Security and Medicare was a life saver for seniors and most people had jobs and vehicles.

90 years ago in 1933 almost all of the above did not exist.

 

we didn't get a/c until '96

 

In Boston you probably did not need it nine months of the year like Texas. Builder grade new homes had central ac by the 60ʻs. Most older homes and apartments had window units. Our 62 Chevy had factory ac and you could buy add on ac at the auto supply.

We even had an air conditioned stadium by 1965.

 

Unless you were a woman buying a house without a male cosigner, or many minorities with one....had cancer, were an altar boy, needed an MRI, or a CAT scan, etc....etc.

Yep.

Fun times.

Oh, and that $139 A/C unit would cost nearly $1000 in today's dollars, and be half as efficient.

 

We had one house fire, the power outlet the A/C was plugged into.

Bob Wilson

 

A similar window unit at Walmart is $150 today. Women and minorities could buy houses in 1973. The first commercially available CT scanner was from EMI Laboratories in 1972. The first MRI images were produced in the early 1970s and were commercially available in the 80's.

 

... if they were allowed to have decent jobs with equivalent wages.

Legally, you are right. But practicality and credit ratings were another matter. And the credit side of redlining had not yet been prohibited.

My own mother, widowed and remarried, was just barely off a significant squabble with several financial firms. When she remarried and changed her surname, those firms demanded that all her pre-existing accounts and assets be put into her new husband's (my new step-father's) name. She refused, and stymied them by refusing to provide them with the new husband's name. They didn't relent until it became clear that their only alternative was to lose those accounts.

 

I couldn't walk for most of that year. And I don't think I could speak for any of it. And I kept soiling myself. And I can't remember it.

So it was either really bad or really good. Not sure which.

 

"1973"

• 3d year in the Marine Corps
• burned out the last of my 'lifer tendencies'
• saved all of my leave to get out early (terminal leave)

Bob Wilson

 

My point exactly.

With cash.....sometimes.
There's a difference between "could do something" and "being able to."

I've had both a CT scan ($75 cash for a calcium score test) and an ultrasound (rock hunting) in the last 5 years.
There's a diff between being 'commercially available' and being affordable at the consumer level.
This is a very important distinction in the post-Obama-care world where many people have to self-manage their care and cash flow a lot of diagnostic tests. I'm about to order my semi-occasional PSA test for less than $50, and pay a similar fee for a few other routine screening tests, a la cart and with bucks and without an MD.
Get in your time machine and report back to me how that went for you in '73.
Better put a few cats through it first and make sure you get them back in one piece.
One last bit of advice.
Don't stray very far away from your time machine after you park it.
I seem to recall something about long gas lines and 10-mpg cars from back then.

Two things can be true at the same time.
I was a liberal in the 70's for some really REALLY good reasons.
I ceased to remain one in the 90's in like manner.
I may be getting older, HOWEVER (comma!)
UNLIKE at least one living US President and three US Senators I can name off the top of my head, my squash is still working.
Mostly.

"A man who has not been a socialist before 25 has no heart. If he remains one after 25 he has no head."—King Oscar II of Sweden (reportedly)

 

Funnily enough, my order was reversed:

• Ayn Rand fan in high school, 1960s
• US Marine, 1970s, age 21-24
• First vote against Nixon age 21 and never voted for a Republican, now 73
• Donated and campaign worker only for selected, Democratic candidates

Bob Wilson

 

I went in the opposite direction.

I was quite right-wing in the 70s. I would not share my sweets. I would not share my toys. I would not share my chocolate. It was mine, even when it actually wasn't.

By the 90s, I had grown up and become a responsible member of society, understanding that I had responsibilities as well as rights, and had thus moved to the left.

 

Your point was badly made on the ac. My point which was missed by some was the decade you don't want to return to was the 1930's.

 

Again.....two things can be at once.
The 70's were better than the 30's....be it in the 18th, 19th, 20th centuries.
I still would not voluntarily go back to the 70's because I have the advantage of experiencing them once before.

The 21st century is still up for grabs, and past performance may not be indicative of future results.

They call it 'progress' for a pretty good reason.
This is the reason that when liberalism became about as popular as our current President at a Gold Star family event, they invented and are now embracing the term 'progressive.'

 

My Toyota truck has crank windows. Fine, except I can’t reach the other side.