3d ago

What happened in 1971?

Saw a post about this at !history@hexbear.net and was a bit confused by exactly how badly the people there were going at each others throats in the comments. Nobody seemed able to agree on what precisely happened in 1971. Suggested explanations included:

Neoliberalism being declared the state religion by Grand Moff Richard Nixon
The gold standard being abolished
The oil crisis
The Republican and Democrat parties becoming increasingly divided
Declining birthrates
Institutional Racism

If any of you could give some explanations with, like, sources that aren't just 10 pages of graphs with arrows pointing at 1971, that would be pretty great.

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67 comments

No sources from me but speculation. It's the decade before, the 60's where focus was on people, freedom, honest compensation for labor and social equality.
I know I will get push-back on this, it being perhaps to simple of a theory or me missing key elements. I will die on this hill though, it was the hippies.
The conservatives around the world got a collective heart attack from the 60's and what transpired therein and this is when conservatism started to plan on breaking those wild communist activist freeloaders. We can see the effects today still. Mismanagement from the 'left' (or better yet, the world at large tbh) to capitalize on the spirit of the 60' and truly change society. The focus on business and the suppression of those pesky 'hippies' and/or 'communists' started to gain traction and voila, there is the divide of the two lines somewhere in the 70's.
For good measure, I have nothing against the 60' and hippies, just pointing to these as a 'shock to the system' as an explanation for what happened in the 70's and what we see today.
- You are saying hippies disconnected wages from productivity growth?
  You are saying the past 50 years has just been the wealthy trying to destroy hippies?
  I am dubious.
  
  No, you misunderstood. The 60's was a social shock to the conservative system. They responded. And you can complain about conservatives (I know I do) but you have to give it to them on the long term planning bit, they got that on lock.
  The inability to plan, push, execute and claim to keep society 'left' was a serious flaw. Conservatives had no such problems, they created systems to alter the course of society. The rise of the religious right in the late 60's and 70's influenced the creation of conservative think tanks, for example.
  We are seeing the effects of this conservative push-back till this very day.
  PS: the generation coming out of the 60' is my parents generation. I find it ironic that a large part of that generation became conservative monsters. They are the very definition of 'pulling up the ladder'. I have seen it up and close this change and I despise that generation of weaklings.
  
  Religious affiliation is down from the 60s/70s by a lot.
  Tons of liberal wins have happened since: desegregation, affirmative action, womens' liberation, gay marriage, LGBTQ acceptance, etc.
  Conservatives have racked up decades of losses on their preferred issues.
  However, real wages stalled in 71.
  It's only now, after 50 years of that that conservatives find themselves with enough control to maybe slide things back their way a little.
  Time to take the wages back.
  
  A war is never won without losing battles. I agree a lot has been achieved, this is true.
  Remind me though, what is going on right now on the items you mentioned? And what about that liberal icon called Roe v Wade? Or what about hose rascals at the supreme court? Or what about the older SC justices that will be replaced with better indoctrinated and younger justices? Sure, they take losses but those are short term to them. To them this was to be expected and took the long term vision. Losses are to be expected, like I said wars are not won cleanly, you lose some battles once in a while. I'm not saying they won the war but I am saying that the left is hopelessly incapable of thinking long term. For example, what are the plans on getting liberal justices in the SC? Do you have any idea? I don't, perhaps they have some super duper secret genius plan to correct the imbalance? Or could they be so utterly incompetent that they are left standing clutching their precious minor participation trophies while the bigger ones somehow all end up with the right? And yes, if I make it sound like a 'game' or 'match' then you better believe I am. Not because I want to but I do recognize the nonsense coming our way is treated as such and it is successful. So better buckle up and start playing the game or...stand against the wall and pouting.
  I know what you mean and you are not wrong, of course some liberal items got through in society. However, long term planning by conservatives has chipped away at those as you must be aware. And you cannot have missed the massive support for the right at the moment, in the US but also globally. This is not only a US problem, this is a global one.
  Anyway, I feel like I am on a rant and the question was: what is your insight or explanation for that split in the graphic and well, this is mine. So for the sake of my sanity and peace of mind I will now stop explaining or getting into detail, it will change absolutely nothing but has all the markings of getting me down and sad. F that shit.
  
  Multiple items on your list have already been completely or partially dismantled in just the last few years. Some of them over the last few weeks.
  
  Provide evidence, please.
  I agree these things are under attack, but to claim they have been "dismantled" at this point is giving the opposition way too much credit.
  They can try to scale things back, but the Overton has been shifted significantly and people are mad and resisting them shifting it back.
  Now just imagine if we had more cash in our pockets as individual citizens to deal with this fascist bullshit.
  
  Affirmative action is literally gone. 100%. The Supreme Court overturned it less than a year ago. To add insult to injury, a landmark civil rights achievement - the EEOA - was also removed, which effectively legalizes discrimination in the workplace.
  Dobbs. Need I say more? Are you going to tell me that didn’t undo a massive amount of the women’s liberation movement?
  LGBT acceptance. Let’s see: after dobbs obergfell was called into question. Gay marriage is absolutely a target right now, you better pay attention to that one. Also “T” has been removed by the federal government - go check for yourself, it’s “LGB.” Pronouns, name changes, anything not reflective of your birth sex, has been banned in several states and is currently being banned at the national level.
  how about all the leveraging of “DEI” to remove any black people or women from leadership roles in the federal government? I’d say that’s certainly at least a parallel issue to desegregation.
  
  If you feel this is "dismantled" then you have a long, difficult road ahead of you.
  These are setbacks, not the end.
  Even after all of these setbacks, one would be foolish to think things are worse for these persecuted groups now than in 1971.
  We absolutely can't give up and let them win with these things they have done, but the fatalism I so often see and hear from people is so disappointing. You don't win wars by talking about how your opponent has already won.
  We are in a battle in a long running war. It hasn't been going well lately, at least not as well as it had been. I just don't think this is all due to hippies in the 60s. 🤷‍♂️
  
  I just don't think this is all due to hippies in the 60s. 🤷‍♂️
  I am sad and disappointed you failed to grasp what I meant in my diatribe of a post and keep pointing to hippies. I knew the moment I typed that word, bam, it would be someones focal point. So this one is on me, mea culpa. Now please, pretty please with cherries on top, stop referring to hippies as being the center point of my argument. You could not distill this from my post, again my mistake, but if you continue referring to hippies as my argument then that is from now on on you.
  Have a good one.
  
  Your argument is that hippies shocked the powerful. I think I get it. I just don't agree.
  
  That is not correct, I tried to explain and guide, you do not listen. Behavior of a troll and will be treated as such. On the blocklist you go…
  
  I think if you told LGBT Americans and women seeking abortions this is “just a setback” it would go over very poorly.
  When did I say “give up” or “this is the end”?
  And please drop the patronizing tone. I’m not a child. You can speak to me with the same level of respect you expect and deserve.
  
  It is. I will be fighting for them until we get it all back. 🤷‍♂️
  Edit: I think the commenter above edited their comment after I replied. What I replied to was a pithy "tell American women and trans people it's a setback" with no real elaboration.
  
  So you do acknowledge that some of the above have been completely dismantled? That was the original discussion.
  Again, affirmative action is gone. As is the EEOA. As is federal protection for abortions. As is the acknowledgment that trans folks exist.
  These things literally do not exist anymore. They have to be completely resuscitated. And again, I didn’t say it’s all over and don’t try. So stop saying/implying that.

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