What does 1968 mean to 2018? The values that were held in such high regard in 1968 are vastly different from today. However, much of what is happening culturally between the generation gap right now definitely happened in 1968, and maybe even to a more significant degree. Watching the boundary-breaking sitcom “All in the Family” couldn’t be any more of a representation of the political and social climate in the late '60s and early '70s. But the same could be said of 2018. Listening to the outlandish Archie Bunker talk about his views on everything from welfare reform, gun control, religion, foreign affairs, racism, feminism, and everything in between, one could argue that we all probably know several people in 2018 who would watch Archie and think to themselves, “He is right on the money!”

So, when did 1968 become 2018? When did we as a culture and society revert back 50 years? When did these baby boomers that were the social justice warriors of the late 1960s become the group they protested against so much? One could say the generation gap is just as thick now as it was during the counterculture of the 1960s and early 1970s. Look no further than the current president, Donald Trump. “Make America Great Again” was the slogan that he continuously spouted off for the never-ending campaign of his alleged greatness that seems to be never-ending at this point.

Those words “Make America Great Again” are the essence of what fuels the thoughts, beliefs, and values of 2018 but are also similar to that sentiment reflected in the ever-changing 1968.

For a large portion of Trump’s support in the 2016 election, it was made up to a large extent of older individuals and a culture believed to be threatened and even somewhat attacked by the ever-changing society and its values. With issues like transgenderism, racial inequality, supposed socialist programs, separation of church and state, many people spouting off the cliché “Make America Great Again” are just individuals who wish for society to revert back to a simpler time for them.

The older generation during the late 1960s clamored for a society and culture that they felt was more peaceful, simple, and moral, or at least what their idea was of such. But the same could be said of those spewing the rhetoric of Donald Trump currently. After the socially turbulent Clinton '90s, in a way, America reverted back to traditionalism, conservatism, and an older way of life during the George W. Bush years. Prevalence was placed on morality, faith, and a “stronger” America that would not be threatened by outside forces such as the “terrorists.” This is completely reflective of the way the older generation felt in the late 1960s, who held many of those same values in high regard and who clamored for the “Eisenhower Years.”

The masses adored wholesome entertainment such as sitcoms like “Ozzie and Harriet” in an attempt to escape from the dark reality that was upon them during the JFK years. The traditional housewife was portrayed as the “be all, end all” for all women during this time, and none could be any more glamorous or the epitome of the perfect housewife than First Lady Jackie Kennedy herself. Events like the tour of the White House demonstrated a picture perfect-esque portrayal of the “American Family,” focusing on what was for dinner that night or the bedroom décor rather than focusing on the negatives of the real world, the threat of nuclear attack, or the Civil Rights Movement. The fear of communism during the '50s and early '60s gave the government during this time almost free reign to do whatever needed to be done to keep us safe from “the bad guys,” very similar to the George W. Bush years where America, for the most part, gave his administration free reign to protect us from the new “bad guys.”

Once the changing of the guard happened and the younger generation came out in droves for Barack Obama in 2008, the beginning of the threat started to happen for those traditional, conservative, and religious loyalists who felt that they were going to be attacked by possibly a “Socialist Muslim.” Trump was exactly the medicine for their troubles, as the individuals in this group started to feel threatened that they were “losing their America.”

A line started to form once again that would be similar to the line established between the younger generation in the late 1960s and the World War II generation. But much like the financial collapse at the end of George W. Bush’s tenure, the assassination of JFK brought to light all the issues that were being pushed under the rug in the effort of protecting the culture’s image. The younger generation would rise up in the mid-'60s to start a movement that would change the face of values in the United States, and much like how the traditional conservatives feel now, this movement and the younger generation are creating an America that's accepting of issues that traditional America wouldn’t accept.

The communists were looked at as “the bad guys” who needed to be stopped because the other nations would start to fall one by one to communism with a domino theory. The communists were looked at as an evil entity that was driven to stifle the freedom of choice and freedom of a democratic and free enterprise system. It was up to America to stop these “evil communists” from taking over.

This is very similar to 2018, where the “new older generation” feels that the other nations and societies will fall one by one to terrorism and Islam extremism, and it's up to America to intervene to establish a free democracy, making the other nations in the Middle East “like the United States.” Violence was tied to both fears, communism and Islamic extremism, in order for a call to action of those who may be on the border of whether to support the efforts of the United States in the foreign affair intervention.

The one big takeaway of comparing 1968 to 2018 is the idea and ability for both sides to see the other point of view, not from their jaded and bias mindset, but from the mindset of the opposition. In order for a true compromise to take place, it is imperative for both sides to see where the other is coming from and to reach a middle ground of sustained peace and well-being of the nation. The problem during 1968 was the same problem of 2018 in regards to the generation gap and the divide between ideologies.

One key factor specifically apparent in “All in the Family” is the inability for Archie Bunker to see where Mike and Gloria’s ideas are coming from and for Mike and Gloria to see where Archie’s ideas are coming from. This is the root cause for the divide during the late 1960s and the reason for the divide in our culture of American 2018. The easy solution to justify your side compared to that of the opposing side is to completely disregard the opposition as “wrong” and “completely irrational” without really understanding where the basis of their ideas and values are coming from.

The World War II generation looked at the baby boomers as unrealistic and naïve to the ways of the world, and the baby boomers looked at the World War II generation as “stuck in the past” and bigoted for not accepting and embracing change for the better. The same could be said of the divide in 2018.

But in the effort of each side so focused on “winning the cultural war,” both sides have completely lost sight of the real goal, the meaning of freedom, and what it means to truly be an American. The culture of the United States has somehow reverted back to the cultural war of the late 1960s. All progression and change for the better have been lost, as true equality for all Americans has become somewhat of a footnote underneath the need for one side to “get more” than the other. The same black marks that plagued our culture in the 1960s and before are still apparent today. Racism, classism, sexism, homophobia, religious freedom, etc. are all issues that completely divided America in 1968 and unfortunately still divide it in 2018.