Early 1970s: There is heavy censorship in Poland, but there is a lively literary underground that publishes banned books.

Today: United States citizens enjoy a greater degree of freedom of expression than perhaps any other people, but there is a movement to remove certain books from school shelves because of supposedly inappropriate content.

Early 1970s: Social dissatisfaction is rampant, and there are workers' strikes all over Poland that lead to riots, arson, and looting.

Today: There are demonstrations and riots in several cities in the United States because of alleged racial profiling and discrimination against various minorities.

Early 1970s: The Communist Party is still in power, but there is a strong movement in Poland against Communist rule.

Today: The United States has an active Communist Party that participates in every general election but wins a negligible number of votes.