Echoes of 1975: Why Our Current Cynicism Isn’t New TLWH 9.11.26

Perspective. 

The muckety-mucks who opine on issues of concern tell us that our perspective determines how we see and feel about things. The old saying that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence supports that.

An informal part of my life has been frequent, if irregular, reflection on how I see things. If something troubles me, I try to change my perspective and see where I was wrong or overreacting. Only on rare occasions did I find that changing my perspective didn’t help resolve a dilemma.

This practice has served me well in business, politics, and my personal life. With that in mind, here’s what happened last week.

On Wednesday before the Labor Day Weekend, I was stricken with a wretched little virus. Its origin is unknown (maybe a curse from a Facebook follower). Chills, loss of appetite, body soreness, that kind of stuff. None bad enough to lay me too low, just an aggravation. So the next day, I curled up on the couch and watched a documentary on Netflix, Breakdown: 1975.

The Bohunk and I were young parents back then, focused on building a family and a life that would let us chase the grand old American Dream. Harness on and bit in mouth, we were up each day, raring to go. Optimism colored everything we did.

Today, pessimism wins out more often than I’d like to admit. It may be time for a change of perspective.

Seeing the movie trailer, I thought Breakdown: 1975 would remind me of the mid-70s political upheaval and the culture it produced, and how our current situation, which gives me heartburn and dread, compares. 

It reminded me of many things that happened and gave me a different perspective on today’s unauthorized wars and the gilding of decades-old bronze statues. Bronze intentionally because they weren’t meant to be gold-plated.

For almost four years, we’d been dealing with what was then the worst presidential scandal in US history. The Watergate break-in, the massive cover-up, impeachment, and the first resignation of a US President in two centuries. 

The Vietnam War ended in humiliation after more than 10 years, with the frantic, final helicopter evacuations from the roof of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon in the spring of 1975. Americans questioned the country’s role as a global authority, and we dealt with a deep sense of national defeat.

The worst recession since World War II raged at double-digit rates. "Stagflation"—a mix of high inflation, stagnant wages, and high unemployment was a thing.

Vice President Gerald Ford succeeded Nixon as President, telling Americans the long national nightmare was over. In September of 1975, he survived two separate assassination attempts, which underscored an intense, chaotic political climate not unlike what we deal with now. Depending on perspective, the political turmoil may have been worse then.

A US Senate investigations committee led by Senator Frank Church exposed decades of covert overreach, domestic surveillance, and illegal activities by the CIA, FBI, and NSA. Public trust in intelligence agencies and federal authority was fractured. 

The top movies of the time reflected deep cynicism and public mistrust in institutions of all kinds.  Steven Spielberg’s Jaws tapped into a primal fear of the unseen, while the town’s mayor—a textbook politician—tried to minimize the danger to protect tourist dollars, convinced commercial interests mattered more than human life.

Four months later, Saturday Night Live premiered, giving voice to a post-Watergate generation using satire and irreverence to mock the absurdity of both politics and the press.

Watergate and the Church hearings destroyed trust in government in 1975. Today, people’s faith in institutions continues to erode. Fifty years later, our political landscape is defined by deep skepticism toward all political institutions, the ever-growing capitalist class, and even the national media.

For too many people, the economic exhaustion of the mid-70s is repeating. With inflation, a dollar doesn’t go as far as it used to. A new perspective suggests current economic models no longer work for people and communities. Local economies and small businesses face similar pressures with persistent cost-of-living increases, housing availability, and shifting rural-urban divides.

Breakdown: 1975 is worth watching. Our country has, and will always have, politicians and bureaucrats who treat the public treasury like a personal slush fund. Some are blatant, but most are more discreet, picking our pockets with a hearty handshake, a corn-fed smile, and a glint in their eye. 

Walking through those historical mirrors, my perspective shifted from pessimism to optimism and back again. And now, looking at where we’ve been and where we sit, consider me cynical, sad, and still watching.