Nostalgia or "Living on the detritus of your ancestors"

[Jason Tanz]

Sojourner mentioned that this doesn't feel like the sixties.  As a recent
college graduate ('96) I can't really speak on how the sixties felt.  But
I can say that political activism on my campus (including countless
"rallies on the green") seemed to me to suffer from trying to imitate the
popular image of sixties activism.  People bemoan the death of activism in
"the kids today."  I actually thought that the traditional means of
expressing activist concerns seemed forced, a charade, like attending
Woodstock 2, for crying out loud.  Maybe this is an illustration of the
way that nostalgia can reduce our attempts to act meaningfully.  (Since
none of us whippersnappers were around in the '60s, I guess I'm talking
about societal nostalgia here.)