40 years ago:
We valued equality over equity. Our goal was to give everyone an equal chance not to rig the system so all groups end up the same. We knew backgrounds were all different and that's just life.
We had real patriotism not fake patriotism. I see adults who call themselves "patriots" flying adulterated flags and sympathizing with those who attacked our capital to stop our election.
We believed in science and education. (We would have been shocked if we knew that 50 years after our first lunar landing we would be trying to land someone on the moon again....huh?) We respected scientists.
We believed in honesty. Our politicians at least pretended to be honest and didn't flaunt dishonestly in our faces. There would be no George Santos still in office.
Boys didn't play in girls sports.
Guns were bought for hunting, not to fight the government.
We respected the police.
We believed the United States was leader for democracy in the world. We knew our country wasn't perfect but we still had an important role in the world.