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Is it any surprise that so many of the drug-addled, radically left-wing (and thus, disillusion-prone), ethically simplistic, and profoundly self-absorbed baby boomers eventually transformed into Reagan Republicans? This was a generation prone, for one reason or another, to radicalism, and today's dominant counter-counter-culture, I think, is partially a reflection of that. Thankfully, today's youth are being raised on a progressivism that is both principled and pragmatic, shrewdly realistic on the political battlefield and profoundly aware of the B.S. tactics conveyed through an archaic media, and that, hopefully, will keep us from committing our parent's mistakes. Namely, going through life trading one unrealistic, simplified ideal for another, always looking for the next political rock star to promise a revolution, be it the People's or Reagan's or O'Reilly's. My parents emigrated from Sweden in the 80's and were aghast at Reagan's politics, so, though I'm technically the 'conservative' of the family (meaning I supported Dean over Kucinich), I don't have this problem on the holidays. However, for those who do, I wouldn't be so quick to lament your parent's abandonment of the 'cause'. There was no Machiavellian conspiracy to corrupt the baby boomers. Rather, given the culture they emerged from, the alliance of the disillusioned ex-liberals, the paleoconservatives, and the fundamentalists was an inevitability.
(great essay by the way, thanks Wil)
