The protest movements in the ‘60s started around civil rights, but really intensified due to the war. How progressive, really, would that generation have been, if not for the war? Once the war faded from the scene in the mid-70s, that movement fizzled and gave way to the self serving ‘80s.

I also wonder how big the progressive majority ever really was in that generation. I wonder how many were really only animated by a desire not be drafted into an unpopular meat grinder of a war.

While I think idealism often fades with age and experience, I think the last 2 decades are not very comparable to the ‘60s and 70s, maybe largely because nobody was drafted into our forever wars. Unlike that prior period, just about the only American institution retaining its popular support and respect across generations has been the military.