American politics
Democracy in America

A deficit of hatred

Even in wartime

BEING just a touch too young to have a clear recollection of Vietnam-era America, I always did wonder what public life was like at the height (depths) of the war, and now I have some idea. The comparisons and the analyses of the comparisons with Vietnam are everywhere (here's one from Slate).

One puzzler, though: no strong generational component. How so?

Power is still predominantly in the hands of white middle-aged-to-elderly males. America is full of smart independent-minded young people. Yet for all the tumult now, the young do not seem particularly angry at the old, as such.

Indeed, looking at today's papers I spot an advert from Allstate insurance which makes affectionate fun of the absence of a generation gap, by chiding the baby boomers as "the generation that woudn't trust anyone over 30", and yet now feels good at twice that age.

Which was/is the aberration? The inter-generational stand-off and anger of the 1960s and 1970s; or the absence of it since, say, the mid-1980s? Is life duller or more satisfying for younger people if they are not campaigning for an overthrow of the middle-aged order? (I take it as read that it's a relief to their parents).

UPDATE: Fair enough to point to the draft as a source of the generational divide in 1960s and 70s America. But there was no draft in Britain, or France, and just as strong a youth rebellion there. Was it a coincidence of rebellions in different countries for different reasons?

Reuse this contentThe Trust Project
The Economist today

Handpicked stories, in your inbox

A daily newsletter with the best of our journalism