Maybe because it really isn’t. I mean sure we get all these stories, especially on FR where lots of people are addicted to bad news. But in reality... not that much. I remember the 70s. I remember Weather Underground, Black September, The Jackal, NYC garbage strike, outlaw biker wars, gas crunches, the Cuban Crime Wave, civil defense signs all over town, Superfund, 3 Mile Island.
Honestly, while things are definitely a mess now, it’s actually some of the most stable I’ve ever seen.
The difference between the ‘70s and today is that back then these groups had yet be be woven into and otherwise become an arm of the Democrat party. You can say they were fringe and marginal elements back then before they burrowed deeply into our institutions.