D’Aun and I celebrated our 35th “dating anniversary” recently (here’s a post about that). I started thinking about what it was like 35-years ago. It was 1975 and I turned 17-years old that year. It was a year of turmoil. There was a tremendous loss of confidence in our government, our military, our leaders. In many ways, things haven’t changed much. Oh, the details have changed … but not the fears, the worries, the self-doubt.
Just for instance, here are a few things that happened in 1975 that I gleaned from Wikipedia. Take a look at this list and you’ll see how eerily similar a lot of these story-lines are with today:
– Three of our leading political figures, Mitchell, Haldeman and Ehrlichman, were found guilty in the Watergate scandal and sentenced to prison. Confidence in the American political system was at an all time low.
– OPEC raised oil prices by 10%.
– Nelson Rockefeller was appointed to investigate alleged domestic abuses by the CIA.
– The Weather Underground bombs the US State Department.
– The President of Madagascar is assassinated.
– The “Movement 2 June” group kidnaps a leading West German politician.
– A bomb explodes in a Paris media company.
– Portugal endures another military coup attempt.
– King Faisal of Saudi Arabia is killed.
– A militant group kills 27 Palestinians in Lebanon, triggering a civil war.
– Phnom Penh is evacuated following a guerilla incursion.
– The Red Army Faction takes over the West Germany embassy in Stockholm.
– America evacuates from South Vietnam; North Vietnam declares victory as they take over Saigon.
– A US merchant ship is seized in Cambodia by the Khmer Rouge. In the rescue operation, 38 Americans are killed.
– Indira Gandhi declares a state of emergency in India, suspending civil rights.
– Teamsters leader Jimmy Hoffa is reported missing, presumed killed.
– Over 200,000 people die when the Banqiao Dam bursts in China.
– The President of Seagrams is kidnapped.
– The President of East Timor abandons the capital as civil war breaks out.
– The Founder-President of Bangladesh is killed in a coup attempt.
– A follower of Charles Manson attempts to assassinate President Gerald Ford.
– The London Hilton is bombed.
– Another assassination attempt on Gerald Ford.
– Another bomb blast in London.
– An audit reveals that toy giant Mattel has falsified financial records.
– Angola erupts in civil war.
– Communists take power in Laos.
– New York City, suffering it’s worst economic crisis in history, is approved for Federal bailout money.
– Six delegates at an OPEC conference are kidnapped.
– A bomb explosion at La Guardia Airport kills 11 people.
Get the idea? Can you imagine how crazy the media coverage would be for all of this today? It was a chaotic, insane, disruptive, depressing time. But we came through it. The government didn’t self-destruct. The economy didn’t completely collapse. The terrorists of the day were not all that different from the terrorists of today: causing disruption here and there, but basically unable to do any real damage to society. Governments around the world were in chaos, with revolutions and civil wars just like now. Bailout money was flowing, politicians were corrupt, bombs were going off at airports.
I know this is an odd way to make a positive statement, but when you look at all the stuff that was going on just 35-years ago and how much of it is resolved, forgotten, or simply irrelevant, it can teach us something about our current state of affairs. The old adage is true: this too shall pass.
So, in my twisted and odd way, I wish you a Happy New Year! Whatever 2010 might have been like for you, remember that some of our worries, troubles and problems are going to be long forgotten and that our era is not a lot different from times past. May your 2011 be filled with laughter, joy, and great hope in the future.