Finally finished Tom Brokaw's book about the '60's. A very interesting car audiobook. Interviews and stories of key players in the '60s culture and what they are doing now, what they thought the big learning of the '60s was and whether or not that generation has lived up to the hype.
There was no definitive conclusion, but I'd say that by and large, most were unhappy with how things turned out. Folks dedicated to ending the war seemed to lose their passion once they passed draft age, and many became supporters of the Iraq war. In hindsight, much of the culture could probably be explained by size - there were lots of people in that cohort - most of their insights and issues seem pretty self-serving. The hippie's who are now gazillionaires, the greed culture that followed (with the same physical bodies), the fact that they don't teach or treat their own children like they wanted to be treated in the '60s... all seem to indicate that selfish folks evolve and change to older selfish folks and their wants and needs reflect this.
It was interesting that one of the speakers (can't remember who) was saying that if the '60s spirit was still alive in the folks who are now in their 60s, they'd probably be supporting means-tested social security and variable age of social security coverage to reflect the wealth of some of that population (e.g. "I believe in social security, but am doing well enough to delay the start for myself and my family for another 3 or 4 years").
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