Hell, man, California was still a red state, and most of Hollywood was patriotic. And the homos were still in the closet!
Sheesh, Detroit was still building muscle cars, and the NFL was a respectable organization.
Yeah, America was a better place in ‘72.
That's a pretty good summary. Hollywood was probably not "patriotic" at that point, but at least they kept their Marxist inclinations hidden for the most part. Political correctness was not yet on the scene, being used as a heavy blanket to suffocate freedom of speech.
One other big difference compared to current day: 90% of the news was local, its spread was limited by the distribution network of the newspapers or broadcast range of the TV and radio transmitters. Having everyone knowing everybody else's business and looping the video of it 24/7 is a big part of why things are worse today.
Chairman Mao's little red book was popular at colleges and universities. You remember the prominent student on the colonade or meeting tree, would read verses and interpret the message for the proletariat.