{"id":2345160,"date":"2024-09-24T08:18:58","date_gmt":"2024-09-24T12:18:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-the-60s-changed-america-for-the-worse\/"},"modified":"2024-09-24T08:22:41","modified_gmt":"2024-09-24T12:22:41","slug":"how-the-60s-changed-america-for-the-worse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-the-60s-changed-america-for-the-worse\/","title":{"rendered":"How The &#8217;60s Changed America For The Worse"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhow-the-60s-changed-america-for-the-worse%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2345160&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Timothy S. Goeglein&#8217;s book, *Stumbling Toward Utopia: How \u2063the 1960s Turned Into a National \u2063Nightmare\u2064 and How We Can Revive the American Dream*, critiques the profound cultural and social upheaval \u2063of the 1960s, particularly focusing on its impact on American society. Inspired by Henry Kissinger&#8217;s\u2062 observations in *Leadership: Six Studies\u2062 in World Strategy*, Goeglein highlights the chaotic events of May 1968, when Parisian students revolted, promoting a culture\u200d that rejected traditional norms with the slogan &#8220;It is forbidden to forbid.&#8221; This \u2062phrase symbolizes the core ideals of the counterculture \u200dmovement, reflecting both utopian and nihilistic\u200c viewpoints,\u200b and represents a shift towards a society that often dismisses <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/south-dakota-lowers-unemployment-to-pre-pandemic-levels-after-state-rejected-lockdowns\/\" title=\"South Dakota Lowers Unemployment to Pre-Pandemic Levels After State Rejected Lockdowns\">personal responsibility<\/a> and community bonds.<\/p>\n<p>Goeglein identifies 1968 as \u200da pivotal point\u2063 in America&#8217;s history, marking the beginning of an \u200dideological and spiritual divide that persists today. He attributes this division to factors such as the Vietnam War, racial unrest, and a growing distrust of authority. The author shares personal experiences from his own college years and critiques the rapid \u200dand contagious spread of disruptive ideas during \u200dthe 1960s, which he believes led to significant societal damage rather than gradual change.<\/p>\n<p>The \u200bbook examines key \u200dthemes including morality, education, family dynamics,\u2062 and the decline of religion, illustrating the \u200bnegative consequences \u200cof the cultural shifts initiated during the &#8217;60s. Goeglein names influential figures, such as John Dewey and Herbert Marcuse, as contributors to this &#8220;forbidden-to-forbid&#8221; \u2063culture \u200cand discusses the sexual revolution\u2019s shift in marriage dynamics from mutual respect to individual satisfaction.<\/p>\n<p>He also explores the adverse effects of President Lyndon B. Johnson&#8217;s Great Society initiatives on family structures\u2062 and work ethic, linking these changes to rising poverty and social issues. Statistics from the Brookings Institution provide evidence of the \u2063decline in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/school-district-urged-to-fire-drag-queen-principal-with-history-of-child-pornography-charges\/\" title=\"Call to dismiss drag queen principal with child pornography charges history in school district.\">traditional family units<\/a>, demonstrating the broad impact of the 1960s&#8217; ideologies on American life today. Goeglein\u2019s analysis serves as a call to reflect on\u2063 these historical developments and consider how they have shaped contemporary American society.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Henry Kissinger, in his fine book, <em>Leadership: Six Studies in World Strategy, <\/em>captures the essence of the 1960s cultural and social revolution, not just in France, but in the western world generally:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><em>In May 1968, a student revolt that grew into a general protest-one expression of a<\/em> <em>Europe-wide movement-consumed much of Paris. Students occupied the Sorbonne, where they festooned windows and columns with Maoist posters. They erected barricades in the Latin Quarter and engaged in street battles with police. Everywhere graffiti proclaimed the protesters&rsquo; anarchic sensibilities: &ldquo;It is forbidden to forbid.&rdquo;<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>&ldquo;It is forbidden to forbid.&rdquo; This pithy phrase encapsulates the core belief of the culture warriors of the 1960s across the United States as well as Europe. Paradoxically, the phrase combines both utopian and nihilistic visions of some prelapsarian world which, in the addled minds of some, dispense with personal responsibility, family, social bonds and a constrained and tragic view of the human condition. It is this pathological development, and its impact on American society, culture, and politics, even to this day, that is the subject of Timothy S. Goeglein&rsquo;s compelling book, <em>Stumbling Toward Utopia: How the 1960s Turned Into a National Nightmare and How We Can Revive the American Dream.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Goeglein pinpoints 1968 as the historical moment that brought us to &ldquo;the beginning of America&rsquo;s version of the Cold War, in which we could become divided as a nation, ideologically, spiritually, and eventually geographically. In many ways, it has never ended.&rdquo; Assassinations, the Vietnam War and draft, racial unrest, the ascendancy of the Baby Boomers, sexual liberation and a general distrust of authority, tradition and norms all contributed to the age.<\/p>\n<p>In 1968 I was a sophomore at a Jesuit university in the Midwest which, in a very few years, threw ROTC off campus, allowed African-American basketball players to segregate themselves on a separate dormitory floor, gave students a pass for missing class to protest the Cambodia incursion and other politically correct causes. As to sex and drugs, it was becoming <em>de rigueur, <\/em>although not quite mandatory as it seemed to be at many other campuses across the country.<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, if I had but one mild criticism of Goeglein&rsquo;s trenchant critique of the 1960s and its consequences, I would call it a stampede rather than a stumbling. Ideas are conveyed in light speed, more by contagion than discourse or persuasion. And Goeglein provides a masterful description of the origins and transmission of the toxic ideas which swept the nation and beyond in that decade. Like a good trial lawyer, he lets the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/speaker-mike-johnson-backs-investigations-into-biden-charts-path-forward\/\" title=\"Mike Johnson supports investigations into Biden and plans for the future.\">evidence speak<\/a> for itself.<\/p>\n<p>After first relating a narrative on the decline of a small town of an old friend and correspondent, from the 1960s to the present time, he offers the reader several concise, data-rich chapters on the various &ldquo;stumbles,&rdquo; both cause and effect, of the cultural unraveling of that crucial decade. They encompass morality, education, entertainment, fiscal deterioration, family dissolution, religion&rsquo;s decline and the loss of civility in America. The effect is staggering given the sheer carnage those times have brought to the national culture and body politic.<\/p>\n<p>Timothy Goeglein&rsquo;s rogues&rsquo; gallery of culprits for the forbidden-to-forbid culture, includes, but is not limited to, progressives such as John Dewey, Margaret Sanger, Woodrow Wilson, Herbert Marcuse and the authors of the 1962 <em>Port Huron Statement, <\/em>most prominently, Tom Hayden, future husband of Jane Fonda, and president of the Students for Democratic Society (SDS), an organization that called for a &ldquo;New Left&rdquo; in the nation&rsquo;s politics. The <em>Port Huron Statement <\/em>defended Castro and the USSR, promoted sexual liberation, radical feminism, dismantling the military, the takeover of private enterprise, universal health care, the closing of prisons and on and on.<\/p>\n<p>Add to the list Allen Ginsberg, Saul Alinsky, the author of <em>Rules for Radicals<\/em>: &ldquo;Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.&rdquo; Then there&rsquo;s Norman Lear, Dr. Alfred Kinsey, truly a piece of work, Masters and Johnson and Hugh Hefner. Hostility to moral restraint, families, patriotism and the market economy were common themes for most of these icons of modernity.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;At its core, the sexual revolution replaced the self-sacrifice required of both spouses to make a marriage work with a selfish &lsquo;all about me&rsquo; philosophy based on personal &lsquo;satisfaction&rsquo; rather than mutual respect,&rdquo; writes Goeglein. &ldquo;Once it became all about sex, love and commitment took a back seat.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Most enlightening is Goeglein&rsquo;s explanation of the Great Society&rsquo;s deleterious influence on the work ethic and family formation resulting in more poverty and misery in its wake then before. At the beginning of the &rsquo;60s, 73 percent of children lived in a traditional two-parent never-divorced home, headed by a father and a mother. By 1980, it was 61 percent and 46 percent by 2015, with predictable results on poverty and prison populations. The Brookings Institution reports that children in single-parent families are about five-times as likely to be poor as children in married-couple families. These are the fruits of no-fault divorce, sexual liberation, and the welfare state created by the Great Society.<\/p>\n<p>Goeglein marshals crushing statistical evidence for the decline in educational attainment in America tracing the decline to educational theorist John Dewey, &ldquo;a self-proclaimed humanist and &lsquo;democratic socialist,&rsquo;&rdquo; and opponent of Christianity as a &ldquo;dying myth.&rdquo; Reading, writing, and arithmetic took second place to socialization and collectivism.<\/p>\n<p><em>Stumbling Toward Utopia <\/em>places the nation&rsquo;s debt crisis in a moral context stemming from the utopian perspective of the 1960s. The national debt in 1960 $286 billion but $32 trillion (with a &ldquo;T&rdquo;) in 2023 and growing. Entitlement spending trumps infrastructure and national defense. Inflation followed culminating in &ldquo;stagflation&rdquo; in the Jimmy Carter years. This is a bipartisan phenomenon. Richard Nixon grew entitlement spending 20 percent faster than the Johnson administration.<\/p>\n<p>Timothy Goeglein does not outline any wonkish policy recommendations, although the reader may infer a few here and there. He does counsel a kind of new &ldquo;Great Awakening&rdquo; if you will, a term he does not use, but accurately characterizes his argument for the theological virtues of faith, hope and love to heal the nation, our families and the hearts of our citizens rendered isolated, lonely and forlorn by the social and cultural devastation of the 1960s. At root he is calling for a revival of personal responsibility, and love, in each of our lives, homes and communities.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      G. Tracy Mehan, III, is an adjunct professor at Scalia Law School, George Mason University, and served as Assistant Administrator for Water at US EPA in the George W. Bush administration.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Henry Kissinger, in his insightful book *Leadership: Six Studies in World Strategy*, encapsulates the spirit of the cultural and social upheaval of the 1960s, not only in France but across the Western world. In May 1968, a student uprising escalated into widespread protests that reflected a broader European movement, taking over much of Paris. Students seized control of the Sorbonne, adorning its windows and columns with Maoist posters. They built barricades in the Latin Quarter and clashed with police on the streets. Graffiti everywhere echoed their anarchistic sentiments: \u201cIt is forbidden to forbid.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This succinct phrase embodies the fundamental belief held by cultural revolutionaries of the 1960s throughout both Europe and America. Ironically, it merges utopian ideals with nihilistic notions about an imagined prelapsarian existence that some believed could exist without personal accountability, family structures, social connections, or a realistic understanding of human nature&#8217;s complexities. This troubling evolution\u2014and its ongoing effects on American society, culture, and politics\u2014is thoroughly examined in Timothy S. Goeglein\u2019s compelling work *Stumbling Toward Utopia: How the 1960s Turned Into a National Nightmare and How We Can Revive the American Dream*.<\/p>\n<p>Goeglein identifies 1968 as a pivotal moment marking &#8220;the beginning of America\u2019s version of Cold War,&#8221; leading to deep ideological and spiritual divisions within our nation that have persisted ever since. The era was characterized by assassinations, turmoil from the Vietnam War draft, racial strife, rising Baby Boomer influence, sexual liberation movements\u2014alongside growing skepticism towards authority figures and traditional values.<\/p>\n<p>In 1968 I was attending a Jesuit university in the Midwest where significant changes were underway; ROTC programs were expelled from campus while African-American basketball players were allowed to segregate themselves on specific dormitory floors. Students received permission to skip classes for protests against events like Cambodia&#8217;s incursion among other politically charged issues. While sex and drug use became increasingly normalized\u2014though not yet obligatory\u2014it was evident that many campuses across America had already embraced these shifts.<\/p>\n<p>If I had one minor critique regarding Goeglein\u2019s sharp analysis of this transformative decade&#8217;s repercussions it would be that it felt more like a rush than mere stumbling; ideas spread rapidly through contagion rather than thoughtful discourse or persuasion. Goeglein adeptly illustrates how toxic ideologies proliferated during this time period as if they were infectious diseases rather than products born out of reasoned debate.<\/p>\n<p>Beginning with an account detailing how an old friend\u2019s small town has declined from then until now\u2014he presents several concise chapters filled with data exploring various &#8220;stumbles&#8221; related to this cultural disintegration during such an influential decade\u2014including issues surrounding morality education entertainment fiscal decline family breakdown religious erosion civility loss within America itself\u2014the sheer devastation wrought upon national culture becomes apparent.<\/p>\n<p>Goeglein attributes responsibility for this &#8220;forbidden-to-forbid&#8221; mentality to numerous progressive figures including John Dewey Margaret Sanger Woodrow Wilson Herbert Marcuse along with authors behind Port Huron Statement notably Tom Hayden who later married Jane Fonda served as president for Students for Democratic Society (SDS)\u2014an organization advocating for political change under what they termed \u201cNew Left.\u201d The Port Huron Statement endorsed Castro USSR promoted sexual freedom radical feminism dismantling military privatization universal healthcare prison closures among other initiatives.<\/p>\n<p>Also included are names like Allen Ginsberg Saul Alinsky authoring *Rules for Radicals*: \u201cPick your target freeze personalize polarize.\u201d Additionally Norman Lear Dr Alfred Kinsey Masters Johnson Hugh Hefner all contributed themes hostile toward moral constraints familial structures patriotism market economies prevalent amongst modernity icons alike.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt its core,\u201d writes Goeglein \u201cthe sexual revolution replaced self-sacrifice necessary between spouses making marriage work instead adopting selfish \u2018all about me\u2019 philosophy focused solely on personal satisfaction over mutual respect.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Most illuminating is his discussion regarding Great Society policies detrimental impact upon work ethics family formation resulting ultimately increased poverty misery compared previous conditions before implementation those policies began affecting lives negatively starting early \u201960s when approximately seventy-three percent children lived traditional two-parent homes never divorced led by both father mother whereas by nineteen eighty sixty-one percent only forty-six percent remained intact families reported Brookings Institution indicating children single-parent households five times likely experience poverty compared those raised married couples\u2014a direct consequence no-fault divorce sexual liberation welfare state birthed through Great Society initiatives introduced earlier decades ago<\/p>\n<p>Goeglein compiles overwhelming statistical evidence illustrating decline educational attainment tracing roots back educational theorist John Dewey who identified himself humanist democratic socialist opposing Christianity labeling it dying myth prioritizing socialization collectivism above reading writing arithmetic subjects traditionally taught schools prior decades past<\/p>\n<p>*Stumbling Toward Utopia* contextualizes national debt crisis morally rooted stemming utopian perspectives originating during sixties era where national debt stood at $286 billion back then skyrocketing $32 trillion (with T) today continuing rise unchecked entitlement spending overshadowing infrastructure defense budgets inflationary pressures culminating stagflation experienced under Jimmy Carter administration\u2014a bipartisan issue Richard Nixon expanded entitlement expenditures twenty percent faster than Lyndon Johnson did previously<\/p>\n<p>Timothy Goeglein refrains from outlining specific policy recommendations although readers may glean some insights here there instead he advocates new kind awakening term he doesn\u2019t explicitly use yet accurately characterizes argument emphasizing theological virtues faith hope love needed heal nation families hearts citizens left isolated lonely forlorn aftermath societal cultural devastations wrought throughout tumultuous sixties decade fundamentally calling revival personal responsibility love each individual lives homes communities alike<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3445,"featured_media":2345161,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Book-Cover-Featured-Image-16.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[20025,5374,27281,4919,41581],"class_list":["post-2345160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-1960s","tag-america","tag-critique","tag-history","tag-social-change"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Book-Cover-Featured-Image-16.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2345160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3445"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2345160"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2345160\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2345161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2345160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2345160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2345160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}