Is it possible that the need to define oneself in opposition to something has shifted to the current political divide? Many founders of the most conservative action groups cringed at the liberality of the sixties when they were students and would like to get the genie back in the box. The 2012 Republican presidential primaries—the most conservative in recent history—have focused on increasing the role of religion in politics, defunding Planned Parenthood, eroding abortion rights, protecting corporations from regulation—all sixties issues in reverse.

The sixties were about deeply serious things: the civil rights movement, ending the Vietnamese War, empowering women. It was a time of great achievements and of terrible political assassinations. But today it’s the memory of bad hair, free love, and LDS that seems to drive the push-back. With our problems so momentous—global climate change, increasing economic disparity, corporate lock on power, and on and on—why are we manning the barricades over gay marriage and insurance coverage for contraception? Why are these the issues we choose to define ourselves?

topics: culture