[lbo-talk] question for those who remember the 70s

Dennis Perrin dperrin at comcast.net
Fri Sep 3 07:08:13 PDT 2010


Dunno if this will help Seth any further (so many fine remembrances before me), but I remember the '70s very well, going from 10 in 1970 to 20 in '79. Unions still had some weight -- my best friend was a union steward for his assembly line at the Jenn-Air factory in Indianapolis. The average wage there was $18-22 an hour. Imagine that! The working class could actually afford decent things. Of course, the reactionary assault on workers was already underway, speeding up under Reagan. But I remember factory workers driving new cars, buying houses, taking paid vacations, living a decent life.

There was a lot more personal freedom as well. The culture was in transition, and this allowed all sorts of new and evolving creative forms to blossom. It was an inspiring time. It still feeds my muse, more so now than ever. I see these young comics who never experienced such openness and experimentation, and it shows. They are much narrower in focus, forced into narcissistic corners. There's a small club in NYC where I'm helping to break up this impasse, drawing on '70s examples, and it's starting to have an effect. All these kids need is permission. Humans don't change that much.

Yeah, sometimes I get too mystical about the '70s, but as I age and see the atomization and alienation around me, I realize what a golden age it was in many respects. Really the last time the culture was open to pretty much anything. Richard Linklater's Dazed and Confused really nails the feel of that time. He got everything pretty much right. Nostalgia may be fascism, but if it is, it's fascism with a happy face and a shit-kicking soundtrack.

Dennis



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