The question is attitudes towards authority. Parental authority may be weaker, but the concept of a democratic, tolerant, competent means of collective action is in pretty bad shape. You have fear and loathing of the idea of government -- not just the practice -- by militia types and minorities. There is cynicism as to the potential of collective action; there is the atomization of the public sphere implied by growth in decentralization. This all makes for conservative culture where it counts -- in public policy. The army of bare ass on television doesn't matter.
A large segment of the population has totally removed itself from 'the culture.' They are still in the 1950's.
I would concede that the tolerance level regarding race, gender, sex preference, and disability seems to have improved in the culture, with some spillover to real life.
But the basic problem I would say is promoting progressive ideas in an aversive environment. The post-reconstruction South was pretty aversive. Anything that traveled well there demands closer scrutiny.
mbs
-----Original Message----- From: owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com [mailto:owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com]On Behalf Of Doug Henwood Sent: Sunday, August 26, 2001 12:23 PM To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com Subject: Re: Fallwell on Helms
Christopher Rhoades Dÿkema wrote:
>Many leftists may think this is simple foolishness, or even paranoia,
>but consider how the solid verities of a couple of decades ago actually
>have changed.
You're right. I started writing a response yesterday to Max's assertion that we live in a conservative culture, but time was short and I wasn't happy with what I'd typed, so I trashed it. But in many ways this isn't a conservative culture, even though the conservatives have a disproportionate share of the soapboxes. "Traditional" attitudes towards sex, gender roles, childrearing, and lots of other things have been completely turned upside down over the last 30 years. Conservatives' ire about The Sixties may seem pretty funny, but their despair over having lost the culture wars is pretty justified. We - i.e., those lefties who aren't cultural conservatives, closeted or open - should be happy about this.
Doug