LOL, thanks RS.
The hippie Boomers turned out to be ridiculously conservative, maybe as a reaction to the Best Generations liberalism. I think that Gen Xers are turning out to be libertarian, and Millenials will turn out to be a new, less authoritarian version of liberalism.
I disagree. The hippie's did not turn out to be ridiculously socially conservative nor did their generation. I think you guys underestimate some of the changes that have happened during recent times and are instead focusing on elections.
The "hippie" stereotype was built largely on those who were active at a young age. They were extremely influential and remained so (these were also largely kids in college) but they really were not all that typical. My mother and all her siblings (10) were never hippies. They did not go to college. They were, mostly, socially conservative.
The social conservatives among the boomers did not have any success politically (not elections, issue advocacy). Many of them had no desire to actually move backwards on civil rights issues. That is, they did not want to strip women of their new found rights though they may have resisted giving anything more.
But their social/family life was violently different than that of their parents. Whatever they thought about politics in the social sphere they lived a life that rejected it. They practically invented divorce and they suffered some of the trauma from it, as the legal system had not adapted (custodial rights, child support, etc.) to the new reality. They created the need and helped to carve the changes.
The changes in family life have affected us in ways more important than probably anything that has come before. There will always be racial/ethnic minorities and unrest. First it was Italians/Irish, then Asians, now Mexicans. And of course, there are black vs white issues.
But the male-female dynamic cuts across race and generations. It is fundamentally different because it's not just bitching about some external immigrant family or the black family. It's everybody's family.
And there are a ton of minor cuts to what was left of social conservative dogma that you seem to overlook.
I can remember when it was quite common for social conservatives to question what a woman was wearing when she was raped. Hell, it did not even create the horror in me that it now does, it was so common. Nowadays, you might hear some retard like nAHZi (maybe sm) argue that, but most social conservatives would not touch that with a ten foot poll.
They have to run away from all of their positions eventually. It is like their ideas are finished goods with a short shelf life. They are put out for display, they rot and become toxic. They scramble to clean up, then try to pretend it never happened by slapping on new labels. Some product lines have to be completely abandoned.
I mentioned Murphy Brown, and like I said it seems silly, but it really was not. Since then TV and other forms of media have changed dramatically. We see all kinds of families. No longer is dad some superhero and mom the image of motherhood. Now dad is a dope and mom is stressed out. Even the number of family sitcoms have declined, as quite a bit of the humor in those shows had to do with the male-female struggles, which is just boring now.
Kids shows are wildly different, than what I grew up with. And it is not just typical change, because I grew up with the same shows my parents did. Three Stooges, The Little Rascals, Looney Tunes, old sitcoms and fairy tales that were told to our great great great grandparents brought to life by Disney. It was as if they thought.... kids programming, well we made some of that shit back in the 40s, let's put that on. Nowadays, the hot kids show changes pretty quickly. And they all teach tolerance and not to be mean to someone just because they are different. It's important, which is why it pisses the social conservatives off so much.
Now TV has probably lost some influence, but it is still a big way we learn about the world and will continue to be.
Also, look at the changing issues. Abortion use to be the primary prod for the social conservatives. It still works them up, but their politicians already know it is toxic. Soon the rest will.
The politicians switched to homosexual bashing and that prod is quickly losing power. What else do they have?
Immigration? Well, that's always been an issue and I really don't see it ever going away. Further, it's not really the same type of social conservatism, and moves back to something that is more external to the social conservative's OWN family. Well, until the immigrants start marrying in, which is how that always comes to rest. Even some old fart who has been taught to hate his whole life will melt when he holds his grandchild of mixed heritage. I have seen it happen in my extended family.
It's also part of the reason they are losing on homosexuality. Every day some grandchild is coming out of the closet, emboldened to do so as society has shown more tolerance to them, and converts a homophobe. It's more powerful than any words you can speak to them. It fucking ruins their world (which might cause estrangement for a short period) and eventually changes it forever.