IMHO, it was a pretty crappy time to grow up.
JFK was assassinated in 1963, Malcom X in 1965, MLK and RFK in 1968.
3 civil rights workers were lynched in Mississippi in 1964 - and no one was punished for the crime for decades. Race riots destroyed many blocks of major cities.
4 students were shot dead by the Ohio National Guard, which somehow felt threatened by unarmed, educated people.
Riots broke out everywhere over federal court orders to integrate the schools. Black students had to be escorted to classes on college campuses by federal marshals. Southern public school systems completely shut down rather than admit black kids.
It was the decade of the Vietnam War. So many extraordinary people died for no reason whatsoever.
There were riots at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 1968.
We were not allowed to catch snowflakes on our tongues; because, in the era of above-ground nuclear testing, everything that fell from the sky was radioactive.
Pollution was everywhere, and it was disgusting. Most cities were covered with a haze in summer. Rivers ran red and yellow, and the Cuyahoga River caught fire in 1968.
Gays hid themselves in embarrassment and disgust. Homosexuality was a disease for which the only cure was marriage to a girl who was desperate enough to take a man who could never love her.
There really was a sense that civilization was collapsing. That something fundamental had gone wrong with the universe, and that everything was not going to be okay.
Of course, in retrospect, a fair amount did get accomplished. We passed civil rights legislation. The EPA was created - and the rivers, lakes, and air got fairly clean. Smallpox was eradicated from the world. Medicare helped get basic medical care to the elderly. Satellites made it possible to see television broadcasts from other countries. Because of Stonewall, gays became visible and began the log trek toward acceptance as a normal part of society. We landed a man on the moon.
It was not a good time to grow up. But maybe the world needed to suffer that way, to make it the better place it is today.
