I was a teenager during the mid-to-late 1960's and a twenty-something during the 1970's, so I 'lived' the transition (in the USA). There was a sort of 'dark' or 'downhill' vibe to the 1970's, even though in some respects things seemed to be chugging right along. Naturally, one's viewpoint varies with age, location, life situation, and primary personal concerns during the decade.
Some of the historical themes or events that contributed to my own pall during the Seventies included:
- most generally, the end of 'progress' in social, personal, spritual, political, and cultural 'expansion' (liberation; liberalization; whatever...) begun in the mid-Sixties and carried forward with explosive speed thereafter
- the deaths (literally and figuratively) in the rock music venue which had been the Sixties' focal cultural force (Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles)
- the culmination and end of the inaugural US manned space initiative. Once we packed up and retreated from the moon (early 1970's) there was no longer a dramatic effort from which to draw a feeling of 'human progress' on the grand scale. In general, everyone sat back to await the shuttle and the 1980's. In particular, no one was talking about regaining the moon or pressing further outward ...
- the dissemination of cultural / personal themes like 'personal expansion', 'psychic exploration', and 'sexual liberation' throughout the population (beyond a self-selected population of adherents). Drugs initially reserved for self-consciously 'exploratory' experiences were being eaten like candy just to get high. 'Free love' devolved from an idealistic philosophy to a weekend sport.
- the fragmentation of anything one could call an umbrella 'movement', as racial / ethnic / gender - advocacy groups split off to independently concentrate on generating and projecting their 'identity' or 'consciousness'. This splintered a loose-knit 'front' into a set of mutually-isolated and sometimes competing groups.
- economic woes (continual inflation; the first major oil shortage). The relative affluence (as measured by buying power) for a typical family stagnated in the early 1970's
- this was the decade during which the majority of the biggest demographic cohort (the baby boomers) transitioned from young dependents in school to adult independents in the 'real world'
- the lingering horror of the Vietnam war. By 1969 or 1970 it was clear the nation was deeply divided and we wished we could extricate ourselves, but it would take another 5 years to finally get out.
- the co-opting (copying; commercialization) of Sixties styles, attitudes, and themes into mainstream products - effectively reducing things once adopted via personal commitments to things for sale off the shelf.
- the rise of Mideast-related terrorism directed against western non-military targets and people. Early in the decade the PLO hijacked 3 planes, discreetly off-loaded the passengers, and blew up the hardware in the desert as a media event. By the end of the decade there'd been a progression from 'media event' to murder.
As of 1970, if you saw a long-haired young man with jeans and a flannel shirt you could assume a lot about his personal attitudes, politics, and openness to conversation or providing help. As of 1980, the same appearance could (and commonly would) connote the opposite of its 1970 version - i.e., the guy might well be a beer-swilling redneck of dogmatic right-wing inclinations (if he had any social consciousness at all), prone to 'looking out for number one' and capable of violence as a matter of habit.
Footnote: In the USA, at least, it was the 1970's that were self-titled the 'Me Decade'. The trend away from idealism and toward selfish materialism would culminate with the 'yuppiedom' phenomenon of the 1980's. The Seventies were dubbed 'me decade' (at the time) because of the prevalence of personal hedonism and vanity.