The 1960’s stand alone in the annals of American history as the one decade whose historical and cultural information is most authentic in the ramblings of strange, poorly-groomed men who hang out on park benches trying to figure out if a bush is actually the reincarnated Jimi Hendrix. It was marked by social upheaval, by tragedy, by narcotics, by music, and by Forrest Gump intruding on important sociopolitical events. Or in other words, it’s the coolest goddamned decade ever.

And the best part is, because the history of Western civilization is running out of ideas faster than Hollywood, those of us too young to know what a Walkman is get to live it out as well. America in many ways is seeing a cultural repeat of the decade of peace, love, and some pretty intense racism/prejudice/war/assassinations. Parallels include…

1. ...a long war that everyone hates and no one understands.
Clearly, the War on Terror will always be associated with the early part of the millenium, but there’s no denying its importance and relevance to the past couple of years as well. And while opinions may be fervently divided, no one was exactly running out into the middle of the streets, weeping and crapping themselves with unbridled patriotism as they waved to an enthusiastic young man ready to serve the ideals of the nation that puts bacon on more things than any other country in the world. It is not, by the standard definition of the term, a “popular war.” And if you remember from history class in high school, the Vietnam War wasn’t exactly the prom queen of long-term violent events either (see: “Hey hey, LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?”) And there was a lot of confusion amongst the American public about what purpose we were exactly serving in Vietnam, and I think it’s fair to say the same goes for the struggle in the Middle East. I would be surprised if 50% of the civilian population knew if we were even in a war or not, and as for the cause and intended effect, the only ones who would tell you with full certainty what’s happening would be the oddball seventh graders accusing the Illuminati of everything. 

2. ...a type of president we’ve never seen before.
Our nation has always been run by a legion of old white men, and there have only been three exceptions; John F. Kennedy, Barack Obama, and Leslie Knope (someday). JFK was not only the first Roman Catholic elected to office, but also the first person young enough to not blend in seamlessly in a box of sun-dried white raisins. He looked more fitting on a tanning lotion advertisement than on a 50 dollar bill. He was a new image to the people, something progressive, something out of the ordinary, and above all else, something relatable. Sound like anyone? Our only president of this decade also happens to be a type of president that no one has ever seen before; a young, African-American male. I would hope that you already knew that but hey I knew a kid once who thought there was a Secretary of Socks in the cabinet so I gotta cover all the bases here. And whether or not you like him, he is more relatable to the populace than most recent presidents. Our generation views Obama as a guy who smoked in college and can probably fist bump you without going into an arthritic spasm. Politics aside, Obama brings to the 2010’s the cultural image that JFK brought to the 1960’s. 

3. ...social progress.
Chances are, you’re an angry college student, so you’ll disagree with me here, but socially, we’re actually making some pretty solid improvements when it comes to treating people as actual human beings. Or, at the very least, we’re fighting for it. Gays may not be able to marry in every state or come out with the full acceptance and respect they deserve, but I’ll be damned if we aren’t heading in that direction quickly. Women may not be treated as equals with men yet, but I’ll be damned if feminism hasn’t gotten stronger in the past few years. The discrimination against African-Americans in the 1960’s was a similar, if much more extreme, situation in which people started to wonder if being a straight white male wasn’t as necessary for existing as a human being as originally believed. And a movement was struck, and progress, if incomplete, was made. To compare the Civil Rights movement to the feminist and LGBTQQ movements is a rough comparison, yes, but underlying it all is the fact that a large number of people nowadays care about people who aren’t getting what they deserve, just like our LSD-experimenting forebears. 

4. ...a type of music that is hitting the mainstream but has been around for 30 years.
Rock and roll peaked in the 1960’s. Fight me about it. It was the age when listeners connected the most with the music, when artists used the genre the most expressively and experimentally, and when it was just all around the most awesome (I have three Velvet Underground albums that will refute your argument if you disagree.) It’s why it became so popular that teenage girls found even Mick Jagger attractive. But rock and roll existed before the 60’s, and even had roots in 1930’s blues. But with the Beatles and the British Invasion, rock and roll became more popular to Americans than grilled cheese is to picky eaters. Similarly, the indie pop movement has recently hit a mainstream boom, although it has been around since the late-1980’s. Anything with a beard, fedora, electric guitar, sort of cute love lyrics, and a nonsensical band name can headline a music festival, sell out a stadium, and move more albums than Elvis. It may not have the same “screw you mom and dad” effect that 1960’s rock and roll did, but it’s a widespread musical movement that focuses on young people and being a little bit different. Indie will enjoy its monumental success until about 2018 or 2019, when Yoko Ono will find a way to ruin that too. 

5. ...girls wearing floral print.
That’s a thing again.

Did I miss anything?? Let us know below!