Compare the United States of 2012 to the United States of 1962. In 1962, the government regulated the price and route of every airplane, every freight train, every truck and every merchant ship in the United States, the price of natural gas, the interest on every checking account, and the commission on every purchase or sale of stock. Owning a gold bar was a serious crime. The top rate of income tax was 91%. It was illegal to own a telephone. All young men were subject to the military draft, etc.