I do realize this is a sign of incipient old age...
...but I'll indulge in some reminiscing about the 70s and early 80s....
Back in the 70s a popular prediction about the future was that leisure time and social benefits would expand in the future; the assumption was that the benefits from increased productivity would accrue more evenly across society than it in fact has turned out.
The 70s was also when certain scientific predictions first came out - global warming was one such. What happened is this topic went under ground during the Reagan years... and later was brought out as a new idea, much later. I'm thinking there are a few other examples I've noticed over the years, but my aging memory is not what it used to be
The 70s also brought, for the first time I think,
plentiful stuff. That is, the mass consumer market of the 50s was entering its last phase - and last phases as usual bring some strange things. Detroit cars were schlocky - Chevette, Vega, Mustang, Pinto, Hornet... I recall shopping for a used car in '82 in Salt Lake City, the lots were full of Chevettes, and ALL of them had water in the spedometer.
The Great Society changes - and Civil Rights - were being felt also. There was more on TV. Unions were at their most powerful. Even most Republicans were leftists, by today's standards. The Viet Nam war ended, removing a Cause. Nixon had his Watergate. The general opinion of government changed some - and this change is still felt in conservative politics today.
Reagan swept in, made the pendulum swing, or rode the pendulum swing....