I like my fantasy about how things were back then better, thankyouverymuch. At least this way I can believe they didn't unleash the flood of pwnage on the world while knowing better.
C was designed way before security was a concern. If somebody exploited your program, you could just slap them because they'd be sitting at a terminal in the same room with you - no need for fancy ASLR or controlling how many characters you write to a buffer when physical violence was a viable option :)