(January 17, 2016 at 11:51 am)God of Mr. Hanky Wrote:(January 17, 2016 at 11:22 am)Crossless1 Wrote: Thump mentioned the JFK inaugural speech before I got to it.
I'll just stick to asking you to (1) clarify what you meant in the bolded part and (2) substantiate that claim.
Nixon was there at the height of a major social transition which began with the JFK assasination, followed up very closely by assassinations of other public figures, including MLK. This time of disillusionment was coming-of-age time for the huge Baby Boomer generation, which rebelled against the establishment with sex, drugs, and rock'n'roll. The Hippie movement grew out of the social shift from accepted rule of authority in the 50's to modern individualist culture. People were experimenting a lot, and those who survived that came out wiser. The Boomers led the anti-war demonstrations, and more people became aware that wars which cost millions of lives may not be necessary. They were doing this while Nixon was in office. Yes, I think this all justifies my saying that people became smarter after this, even while so many withdrew from society upon their disillusionment.
I'm a bit jaded about the so-called social and cultural revolution of the Boomers. Yes, that generation made further strides than any before them when it came to civil rights, and for that they deserve praise.
And, yes, they protested Vietnam. But let's be honest about that. Many of them protested because the draft was in place and their asses were on the line. I don't recall a hell of a lot of Boomers protesting the Gulf War or W. Bush's later misadventures when it came to an all-volunteer military and other peoples' kids getting maimed or killed. And let's never forget that the generation that was supposedly lined up behind McGovern and was going to oust Nixon failed dismally in the '72 election. Nixon crushed them. Eight years later, many of these same fucks helped to vote Reagan into office.
