Is 2011 better than 1973?

[Blue Velvet]

If you could be (permanently) transported back to 1973 with your current income, would you take the deal?

Saw this thought from Kevin Drum kicking around some time ago and thought it could make a thread. He puts it like this:

If you could be transported back to 1900 with your current income, would you take the deal? The answer is almost certainly no. Sure, your current income would go a hell of a long way in 1900, but you'd still swelter in the summer because all the money in the world couldn't buy you an air conditioner. Ditto for plane travel, penicillin, automobiles, etc. etc. Even with a lot of money, 1900 looks pretty crappy.

But change it up: would you take the same deal if you could be transported back to 1973? Again, your income would go a lot further (about 5x further, in fact), which means you'd be pretty well off, but you'd....

Well, you'd what? Obviously you'd miss your cell phone and the internet and your HD television with 300 channels. But a car would still basically be a car, and interstate highways are about the same as now. Ditto for plane travel, antibiotics, air conditioners, etc. etc. So what do you say?

http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2011/02/2011-really-better-1973

 

[robbieduncan]

Would I get to keep all the knowledge I have now? Anyway, sure it sounds pretty fun!

 

[Jhingha]

No, There is no Me without my Ipod.

 

[robbieduncan]

No, There is no Me without my Ipod.

Yeah, but think of all the awesome live music you could go see!

 

[OllyW]

I'd take 1966-7 just for the music scene. I think I could just afford to live in sixties London on my current wage.

 

[Jhingha]

Yeah, but think of all the awesome live music you could go see!

And if I want to listen it again, I should carry about a truck full of LP's right?

 

[Jaffa Cake]

The question is – have we died, are we mad, are we in a coma or have we really travelled back to 1973?

 

[Blue Velvet]

And if I want to listen it again, I should carry about a truck full of LP's right?

No music on the go, except 8-tracks in cars, in the US at least. But you'd be five times as rich as you are now. Imagine what you could afford:

 

[OllyW]

I've found a slight flaw with my plan to go back to 1966. If I was my age now when I went back I'd be 92 in 2011.

That's almost as old as iJohnHenry.

 

[Mousse]

Where do I sign up? $.12 gas, politically incorrect TV, women going braless, bone crushing football (no Brady rule QB's are footballers too). In a few years I'll be able to buy several millions worth (in 2011) of Apple stock for the price of an 8-track tape system. I'll have to deal with those bell-bottoms, kite-sized ties and hang glider sized collars, but it's a small price to pay.

 

[GFLPraxis]

Buying Microsoft and Apple stock? Oh yes.

But really? I think the inability to travel via plane easily would be the deal-killer for me. I'd be alright with piles of money off of investments but no tech if I could just fly to different places and travel all the time.

 

[MacVixen]

No music on the go, except 8-tracks in cars, in the US at least.

Not quite true actually. My mom has told me before that back in the 60's my dad actually had a turntable installed in his car I have no idea how such an invention would work - I'm thinking the needle would have been constantly jumping all over the place, but it was possible to play a 45 in your vehicle back in the day...

 

[iJohnHenry]

I've found a slight flaw with my plan to go back to 1966. If I was my age now when I went back I'd be 92 in 2011.

That's almost as old as iJohnHenry.

Would telling you to piss-off be allowed? Let's see.

Go back further and I might agree. I was in my 20's, and a working stiff, when Woodstock happened.

You kids may focus on the monetary aspect of this 'transition', but I would like to have been there, in hindsight.

Not quite true actually. My mom has told me before that back in the 60's my dad actually had a turntable installed in his car I have no idea how such an invention would work - I'm thinking the needle would have been constantly jumping all over the place, but it was possible to play a 45 in your vehicle back in the day...

Damn kids, you lack imagination.

How about Sinatra playing on the turntable, while parked on your particular "Mulholland Drive"?

 

[Blue Velvet]

I think the inability to travel via plane easily would be the deal-killer for me.

Not sure what you mean by easily. The 747 had been flying for 3-4 years or so. DC-10 was also around, think I flew on a DC-8 as a kid. Flights were more expensive and tickets weren't as easy to book, but you'd be five times as wealthy as you are now so that wouldn't be a problem.

Here's a thread about flying in '73.

My mom has told me before that back in the 60's my dad actually had a turntable installed in his car

Maybe something like this?

Regardless of how wealthy you were, think most white, straight men would probably have an easier time in 1973 than perhaps others.

 

[rdowns]

The 70s and 80s were great the first go round. I'd do it in a heartbeat.

 

[OllyW]

Would telling you to piss-off be allowed? Let's see.

There would be no complaints from me.

 

[obeygiant]

Nope. Things are better now.

 

[vincenz]

I wouldn't know. Wasn't around during 1973!

 

[Abstract]

Do I get to watch myself be conceived sometime at the end of 1979? *shakes head*

 

[MacVixen]

Damn kids, you lack imagination.

How about Sinatra playing on the turntable, while parked on your particular "Mulholland Drive"?

doh! You are right! I didn't even think of the parking aspects
I was just picturing this needle jumping all over the place as the car hits a railroad track, etc.

 

[grapes911]

I wouldn't know. Wasn't around during 1973!

That's what I'm thinking. Would I cease to exist?

 

[MacVixen]

Maybe something like this?

It was probably just like that. I think I love that thing! I have so many 45s and LPs gathering dust in my closet right now. Let's see... listen to my 45 of Hungry Like the Wolf in my car? Sign.Me.Up! (yeah, yeah, I have the CDs and digital versions that work perfectly fine, but there is something about the hissing and scratching of an album needle that brings back all kinds of fond memories)

 

[Mord]

Hell no, it has nothing to do with technology either. My music taste starts in the late 80s and social attitudes toward my rather unconventional lifestyle would be an issue. 1990? Perhaps, though I like the time I live in, a lot.

 

[Happybunny]

I was born in 1948, but would not change it for anything. Life today is by far better than it ever was back in 1973.

 

[macquariumguy]

I wouldn't mind re-living the 70s, knowing what I know now and earning what I earn now.