I'll start with the obvious. There's this
Black guy with a foreign-sounding name (named for his father, who was right off the boat from
Kenya)-- who was elected
President of these
United States. And re-elected. And with a
Roman Catholic Vice-President to boot.
It is legal for homosexual couples to marry in ten states-- including
Iowa. And, an openly gay woman has been elected to the US Senate -- from
Wisconsin.
That director
Steven Spielberg -- the one who made
Jaws -- is widely considered the greatest living director, if not the greatest ever.
Most American companies which manufacture goods have them made in the People's Republic of
China. (or otherwise in
India, and even places like
Pakistan, and
Vietnam). Many companies which offer
services have the work for these done in India as well.
Betty White is far, far more popular than
Mary Tyler Moore.
Sir
Alec Guinness is best remembered for having played a laser-sword wielding space
knight in a
science fiction franchise.
The
Boston Red Sox would not win a
World Series until 2004.
Almost every single professional basketball player in the nation's premier league has multiple highly visible
tattoos -- and most players are millionaires within just a few years of joining the league.
The average American owns a telephone which they can fit in their pocket and use almost anywhere in the country without plugging it in anywhere to use. And they can use to send not only sound, but typed notes and even pictures to each other.
An unlimited supply of highly graphic
pornography from all over the world is legally available to anybody with more than a median income. (Seriously, as far as the sexual revolution had gone by 1975, they would still be shocked at the both the graphicness and the quality of some modern pornography, if not even more so by the degree to which young adults openly discuss their pornographic tastes).
A major bestselling book was unabashedly thinly-plotted pornographic literature -- aimed at suburban housewives.
The most popular and lucrative genre of movies in America is that of
comic book adaptations.
Many of the most conservative politicians routinely present themselves as the strongest defenders of
Medicare and
Social Security, and frequently accuse the most liberal politicians of wanting to gut these programs.
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For THE IRON NODER CHALLENGE 5: THE FERROUS FRONTIER