The generation that came of age during the 1960s sought a new value system by which to measure their lives. They generally grew up in a time of no hardships to conquer or new goals to attain. Of course there were pressing issues such as the Cold War and the race to space, but these were not of themselves forces to instill generational solidity. The "wild west" had already been won and tamed. Except possible conflict with Russia, no major wars seemed likely, and the concept of mutually assured destruction seemed to minimize the prospect of that war - and if it happened, no one would survive it anyway. For that generation, the economy was thriving. Jobs were readily available, and there was no need for an unquenchable thirst for success.
By the late 1960s the youth were restless with this dull stability. They needed a cause to protest. The conflict in Vietnam provided such a cause. The youth did not perceive the conflict as part of the larger globalized capitalism-against-communism fray. The protesters regarded the situation in Vietnam as a government plot to disrupt their tranquil lives. At moments it seemed the protesters were at the brink of plunging the whole process into irretrievable chaos. Skepticism replaced obedience to authority. The era of the conspiracy plot had begun. The Watergate scandal did not help American's new view of themselves. The situation became increasingly more precarious during the Carter years. As the "Baby Boom" crowd aged, many of them retained their preference for image to substance. The result has been that the world has paid a very high price for their ego-centricism and ideals. The policy was often no policy - or at best the policy was: "Let's try to conjure some new false set of events we can hope the electorate will believe". If the electorate believed it then, they may be less inclined to believe it now.
