I think what you say is in many respects true, and has a lot to do with why some people became neo- conservatives. Remember, people like Podhoretz and Kristol thought that McGovernism and the '60s generation had hijacked the Democratic Party, and was in the process of ruining it. At first, many of these people operated through the Coalition for a Democratic Majority, then, after Carter proved to be a nebbish, they bailed and supported Reagan.
I am sure that your milieu was as you describe. I do think you underestimate the bohemian influence on the Left, even then, though. There was a similar dichotomy in the '60s and '70s, in fact, which I have recently discussed: I was a radical, and I disliked hippies for their frivolity. I knew plenty of serious people who felt that way, that the sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll thing was just "bread and circuses". Nevertheless, you are right, it was not until the last few decades that it became bad....... |
