WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.220 Welcome to the Deep Dive. We're really incredibly 00:00:03.220 --> 00:00:05.440 glad you're here with us today. If you've tuned 00:00:05.440 --> 00:00:08.359 in, you probably have that familiar itch. Right, 00:00:08.419 --> 00:00:10.380 that desire to understand the world a little 00:00:10.380 --> 00:00:13.060 better. Exactly. You want to gain thorough knowledge 00:00:13.060 --> 00:00:15.939 without feeling completely buried under, you 00:00:15.939 --> 00:00:18.839 know, a mountain of information overload. You 00:00:18.839 --> 00:00:21.640 want the deep insights, the aha moments, and 00:00:21.640 --> 00:00:23.420 you want them delivered in a way that actually 00:00:23.420 --> 00:00:26.100 respects your time and your intelligence. And 00:00:26.100 --> 00:00:28.100 that's exactly what we do here. That's the goal. 00:00:28.199 --> 00:00:31.239 Yeah. Today, we're taking a close look at a piece 00:00:31.239 --> 00:00:33.439 of writing that essentially diagnosed the modern 00:00:33.439 --> 00:00:36.039 American psyche. We're working from a detailed 00:00:36.039 --> 00:00:38.920 breakdown of Tom Wolfe's really seminal 1976 00:00:38.920 --> 00:00:41.780 essay. It was originally published in New York 00:00:41.780 --> 00:00:44.939 Magazine, and it's titled The Me Decade and the 00:00:44.939 --> 00:00:48.659 Third Great Awakening. It's such a foundational 00:00:48.659 --> 00:00:50.439 text if you want to understand the culture we 00:00:50.439 --> 00:00:53.280 live in right now. Because to truly grasp our 00:00:53.280 --> 00:00:56.689 current... This whole landscape of relentless 00:00:56.689 --> 00:01:00.350 self -help, personal branding, and frankly, self 00:01:00.350 --> 00:01:03.170 -obsession. We have to travel back to the 1970s. 00:01:03.170 --> 00:01:05.629 We really do. We're going to explore the underlying 00:01:05.629 --> 00:01:08.969 why behind a massive cultural shift that happened 00:01:08.969 --> 00:01:11.390 during that decade. And as we dig into these 00:01:11.390 --> 00:01:13.569 sources today, I want to encourage you to think 00:01:13.569 --> 00:01:15.489 critically about the patterns we're discussing. 00:01:15.730 --> 00:01:18.129 Consider how these historical echoes from the 00:01:18.129 --> 00:01:20.450 70s are still playing out in your own life and 00:01:20.450 --> 00:01:23.659 in your social feeds today. So let's just get 00:01:23.659 --> 00:01:25.980 right into the phrase that started it all. Tom 00:01:25.980 --> 00:01:28.359 Wolfe actually coined the term that came to define 00:01:28.359 --> 00:01:33.019 the entire era in the August 23, 1976 cover story 00:01:33.019 --> 00:01:35.379 of New York Magazine. It was later published 00:01:35.379 --> 00:01:38.239 in his essay collection, Mauve Gloves and Mad 00:01:38.239 --> 00:01:41.079 Men, Clutter and Vine. OK, let's unpack this. 00:01:41.159 --> 00:01:44.109 Let's do it. The term is the me decade. And the 00:01:44.109 --> 00:01:46.129 core contrast Wolf is highlighting here is the 00:01:46.129 --> 00:01:48.030 sudden movement toward what the source calls 00:01:48.030 --> 00:01:51.129 atomized individualism. Right. This was a sharp, 00:01:51.170 --> 00:01:53.829 just a dramatic turn away from the communitarianism, 00:01:53.870 --> 00:01:56.170 the social movements and the shared civic values 00:01:56.170 --> 00:01:58.349 that were so heavily prevalent in the United 00:01:58.349 --> 00:02:01.230 States during the 1960s. Yeah. If you think about 00:02:01.230 --> 00:02:03.450 the 1960s, the focus was largely on the collective. 00:02:03.629 --> 00:02:05.969 You had the civil rights movement, the anti -war 00:02:05.969 --> 00:02:09.330 protests, the push for really sweeping social 00:02:09.330 --> 00:02:11.490 and legislative change. The energy was outward. 00:02:11.979 --> 00:02:13.939 Exactly. The cultural energy was directed outward 00:02:13.939 --> 00:02:16.680 towards society at large. But as the 70s rolled 00:02:16.680 --> 00:02:20.560 in, Wolf observed people turning their gaze entirely 00:02:20.560 --> 00:02:23.340 inward. They were retreating from the public 00:02:23.340 --> 00:02:26.319 square. And he described this using a really 00:02:26.319 --> 00:02:29.180 powerful, memorable metaphor. He called it the 00:02:29.180 --> 00:02:32.219 new alchemical dream. Oh, I have that exact quote 00:02:32.219 --> 00:02:34.039 pulled from the text. I wanted to read this. 00:02:34.139 --> 00:02:37.199 Go for it. wolf writes the old alchemical dream 00:02:37.199 --> 00:02:40.840 was changing base metals into gold the new alchemical 00:02:40.840 --> 00:02:43.639 dream is changing one's personality remaking 00:02:43.639 --> 00:02:46.240 remodeling elevating and polishing one's very 00:02:46.240 --> 00:02:49.900 self and observing studying and doting on it 00:02:49.900 --> 00:02:54.110 me wow yeah he literally puts me in parentheses 00:02:54.110 --> 00:02:56.090 with an exclamation point. What's fascinating 00:02:56.090 --> 00:02:58.849 here is how seamlessly that concept translates 00:02:58.849 --> 00:03:01.129 to the multi -billion dollar industries we see 00:03:01.129 --> 00:03:03.250 today. Oh, totally. Think about the modern ecosystems 00:03:03.250 --> 00:03:06.770 dedicated entirely to polishing one's very self. 00:03:07.069 --> 00:03:10.069 Today, we might call it self -care or personal 00:03:10.069 --> 00:03:13.610 optimization or wellness, but... Wolf identified 00:03:13.610 --> 00:03:16.389 the absolute genesis of this mindset back in 00:03:16.389 --> 00:03:19.750 1976. It's crazy how early he saw it. It is. 00:03:19.870 --> 00:03:22.310 The alchemy was no longer about medieval science 00:03:22.310 --> 00:03:25.590 or transmuting physical elements. The magic was 00:03:25.590 --> 00:03:28.930 supposedly inside the individual. You were the 00:03:28.930 --> 00:03:31.330 base metal, and through enough self -study and 00:03:31.330 --> 00:03:34.289 modification, you could become the gold. It's 00:03:34.289 --> 00:03:37.090 such a vivid framework. But a cultural pivot 00:03:37.090 --> 00:03:39.310 of that magnitude, it doesn't just happen because 00:03:39.310 --> 00:03:41.229 people wake up one Tuesday and decide they'd 00:03:41.229 --> 00:03:42.990 rather stare in the mirror than go to a community 00:03:42.990 --> 00:03:45.310 meeting. Right. There has to be a catalyst. Exactly. 00:03:45.349 --> 00:03:47.669 There has to be a structural engine driving the 00:03:47.669 --> 00:03:49.729 change. And according to the source material, 00:03:50.050 --> 00:03:53.069 Wolf points to a very specific economic transformation. 00:03:53.750 --> 00:03:55.830 He argued that the traditional working class 00:03:55.830 --> 00:03:58.330 proletariat was effectively vanishing in America. 00:03:58.469 --> 00:04:00.550 That is a crucial piece of the puzzle right there. 00:04:00.610 --> 00:04:02.819 Yeah. Yeah. Because when Wolf talks about. The 00:04:02.819 --> 00:04:04.900 disappearance of the proletariat. He's talking 00:04:04.900 --> 00:04:07.819 about the erosion of a very specific identity. 00:04:08.960 --> 00:04:11.039 Historically, the working class had an identity 00:04:11.039 --> 00:04:13.960 deeply tied to collective labor, union halls, 00:04:14.159 --> 00:04:16.899 and shared economic struggle. The whole we're 00:04:16.899 --> 00:04:20.060 all in this together mentality. Precisely. But 00:04:20.060 --> 00:04:22.199 Wolf notes that they were being replaced by a 00:04:22.199 --> 00:04:25.560 massive, newly formed American lower middle class. 00:04:25.860 --> 00:04:28.620 So how exactly does that shift in class structure 00:04:28.620 --> 00:04:31.180 trigger a nationwide obsession with the self? 00:04:31.769 --> 00:04:33.730 It really comes down to the post -war economic 00:04:33.730 --> 00:04:37.230 boom. Following World War II, the American economy 00:04:37.230 --> 00:04:39.629 exploded in a way that was historically unprecedented. 00:04:39.970 --> 00:04:43.029 For the first time, a massive swath of average 00:04:43.029 --> 00:04:45.970 Americans experienced widespread economic prosperity. 00:04:46.269 --> 00:04:48.310 They finally had money. They had disposable income. 00:04:48.529 --> 00:04:51.009 And with that new money came a profound new sense 00:04:51.009 --> 00:04:53.459 of self -determination. When you're no longer 00:04:53.459 --> 00:04:55.399 struggling just to put food on the table or keep 00:04:55.399 --> 00:04:57.800 the lights on, you suddenly have the luxury of 00:04:57.800 --> 00:05:00.040 individuation. That makes a lot of sense. Survival 00:05:00.040 --> 00:05:02.500 mode turns off. Exactly. You have the time, the 00:05:02.500 --> 00:05:04.680 energy, and the financial resources to focus 00:05:04.680 --> 00:05:07.139 on you. You can afford to ask, am I fulfilled? 00:05:07.660 --> 00:05:10.240 Money completely rewrites the hierarchy of needs. 00:05:10.519 --> 00:05:13.220 And Wolf noted that this influx of middle class 00:05:13.220 --> 00:05:15.740 cash radically altered American politics, too. 00:05:15.899 --> 00:05:18.959 The source highlights his observation that people 00:05:18.959 --> 00:05:21.839 began actively abandoning communal, progressive 00:05:21.839 --> 00:05:24.959 and New Deal style coalition politics. Right. 00:05:25.040 --> 00:05:27.579 Wolf described this shift with a rather blunt 00:05:27.579 --> 00:05:30.319 phrase. He called it taking the money and running. 00:05:30.779 --> 00:05:33.639 And just to be clear here, Wolf is making a specific 00:05:33.639 --> 00:05:37.079 sociopolitical observation about the decline 00:05:37.079 --> 00:05:39.720 of a certain type of political engagement. Yes, 00:05:39.779 --> 00:05:42.060 we should emphasize that. Whether you view the 00:05:42.060 --> 00:05:44.339 shift away from New Deal politics as a positive 00:05:44.339 --> 00:05:47.399 evolution toward individual liberty or a negative 00:05:47.399 --> 00:05:50.240 loss of social safety nets, what's central to 00:05:50.240 --> 00:05:52.699 Wolf's thesis is the behavioral change itself. 00:05:53.529 --> 00:05:55.709 People were using their newly acquired wealth 00:05:55.709 --> 00:05:58.050 to retreat into private life. Exactly. We're 00:05:58.050 --> 00:06:00.230 just analyzing the mechanics of the shift as 00:06:00.230 --> 00:06:02.230 Wolf saw them. We aren't taking a stance on the 00:06:02.230 --> 00:06:04.810 politics themselves. He's arguing that collective 00:06:04.810 --> 00:06:08.009 political action felt less urgent to a population 00:06:08.009 --> 00:06:10.370 that suddenly had the private means to secure 00:06:10.370 --> 00:06:12.850 their own comfort. That's the core of his economic 00:06:12.850 --> 00:06:15.970 argument. But Wolf doesn't just blame the post 00:06:15.970 --> 00:06:18.430 -war boom and call it a day. Here's where it 00:06:18.430 --> 00:06:21.220 gets really interesting. He traces the lineage 00:06:21.220 --> 00:06:24.680 of this 1970s self obsession back much further 00:06:24.680 --> 00:06:28.139 than the 1950s. The source material reveals he 00:06:28.139 --> 00:06:30.379 links it all the way back to the aristocratic 00:06:30.379 --> 00:06:33.199 European gentry. It's one of the most unexpected 00:06:33.199 --> 00:06:35.959 intellectual leaps in the essay, but he makes 00:06:35.959 --> 00:06:38.339 a compelling case for it. It's fascinating. He 00:06:38.339 --> 00:06:41.040 specifically points to the chivalric tradition 00:06:41.040 --> 00:06:43.420 and the philosophy behind the finishing school. 00:06:43.600 --> 00:06:46.579 Yeah. So, wait, how does he draw a direct line 00:06:46.579 --> 00:06:49.699 from medieval European royalty to a guy in a 00:06:49.699 --> 00:06:52.300 1970s American suburb trying to find himself? 00:06:52.500 --> 00:06:54.300 Well, think about what a finishing school or 00:06:54.300 --> 00:06:57.199 the code of chivalry actually was. These were 00:06:57.199 --> 00:06:59.620 aristocratic traditions inherently dedicated 00:06:59.620 --> 00:07:01.800 to the building, refining, and displaying of 00:07:01.800 --> 00:07:04.439 personal character. Oh, I see. Historically, 00:07:04.439 --> 00:07:07.620 only the absolute elite kings, queens, lords, 00:07:07.620 --> 00:07:10.339 and knights had the time and resources to obsess 00:07:10.339 --> 00:07:12.879 over their personal conduct, their etiquette, 00:07:12.879 --> 00:07:15.399 and their internal virtues. The peasant class 00:07:15.399 --> 00:07:17.180 certainly wasn't attending finishing schools. 00:07:17.240 --> 00:07:19.420 They were farming. They were just trying to survive 00:07:19.420 --> 00:07:22.139 the winter. Right. So Wolfe's argument is that 00:07:22.139 --> 00:07:25.839 the average 1970s American newly flush with that 00:07:25.839 --> 00:07:28.240 post -war middle class cash, was essentially 00:07:28.240 --> 00:07:30.939 democratizing an aristocratic privilege. That 00:07:30.939 --> 00:07:33.379 is wild. They were adopting the behaviors of 00:07:33.379 --> 00:07:35.879 European royalty, trying to cultivate their own 00:07:35.879 --> 00:07:38.060 noble character through seminars, therapies, 00:07:38.300 --> 00:07:41.069 and self -analysis. So it's essentially the mass 00:07:41.069 --> 00:07:43.629 production of aristocratic vanity. That's a great 00:07:43.629 --> 00:07:45.850 way to put it. But the bridge between those European 00:07:45.850 --> 00:07:48.910 aristocrats and the 1970s middle class wasn't 00:07:48.910 --> 00:07:51.310 a straight line. Wolf points out that it was 00:07:51.310 --> 00:07:54.149 filtered through the 1960s counterculture and 00:07:54.149 --> 00:07:56.769 the New Left. Yes, the counterculture provided 00:07:56.769 --> 00:07:59.269 the philosophical justification for this inward 00:07:59.269 --> 00:08:02.730 turn. The New Left and the broader 60s counterculture 00:08:02.730 --> 00:08:05.889 heavily promoted a recovery of the self, largely 00:08:05.889 --> 00:08:08.029 because they viewed mainstream American society 00:08:08.029 --> 00:08:10.860 as fundamentally flawed. oppressive or corrupt 00:08:10.860 --> 00:08:13.120 and again examining this impartially we're just 00:08:13.120 --> 00:08:15.519 looking at their viewpoint absolutely their core 00:08:15.519 --> 00:08:17.980 belief was that the institutions of society were 00:08:17.980 --> 00:08:20.699 broken so if the outside world is corrupt and 00:08:20.699 --> 00:08:23.560 beyond saving where do you turn you turn inward 00:08:23.560 --> 00:08:26.379 the only territory you can truly liberate is 00:08:26.379 --> 00:08:29.410 your own mind Right. And that philosophy of internal 00:08:29.410 --> 00:08:32.610 liberation bled directly into the 1970s, but 00:08:32.610 --> 00:08:35.029 it found a very specific catalyst. The source 00:08:35.029 --> 00:08:37.590 text notes that this concept spread wildly in 00:08:37.590 --> 00:08:40.929 the 70s through the use of the drug LSD or acid. 00:08:41.070 --> 00:08:43.210 Yeah. Psychedelics enter the chat. Big time. 00:08:43.309 --> 00:08:45.909 It wasn't just viewed as a recreational party 00:08:45.909 --> 00:08:48.570 drug for this crowd. There was a pervasive belief 00:08:48.570 --> 00:08:51.370 that taking acid would effectively strip away 00:08:51.370 --> 00:08:54.429 all that corrupt societal conditioning and unveil 00:08:54.429 --> 00:08:57.840 a true and real self. the ultimate tool for that 00:08:57.840 --> 00:09:00.179 chemical alchemy we talked about earlier. LSD 00:09:00.179 --> 00:09:02.580 offered a fast -tracked, highly intense journey 00:09:02.580 --> 00:09:05.960 into the self. And this is where Wolf makes arguably 00:09:05.960 --> 00:09:09.620 his most profound and maybe controversial leap 00:09:09.620 --> 00:09:12.039 in the entire essay. The religion angle. Yes. 00:09:12.200 --> 00:09:14.799 He synthesizes this psychedelic drug culture 00:09:14.799 --> 00:09:17.519 with American religious history. Wolf argues 00:09:17.519 --> 00:09:19.559 that the revelatory experience of taking these 00:09:19.559 --> 00:09:22.039 hallucinogens wasn't just a secular psychological 00:09:22.039 --> 00:09:24.919 experiment. It was remarkably similar to religious 00:09:24.919 --> 00:09:27.710 ecstasy. In fact, for many people, it was actively 00:09:27.710 --> 00:09:29.889 competitive with traditional religion. People 00:09:29.889 --> 00:09:32.090 were pursuing their true self with the kind of 00:09:32.090 --> 00:09:34.450 reverence and devotion usually reserved for a 00:09:34.450 --> 00:09:37.190 deity. Exactly. If we connect this to the bigger 00:09:37.190 --> 00:09:40.049 picture, it explains the second half of Woolf's 00:09:40.049 --> 00:09:44.220 title, The Third Great Awakening. Now, for context, 00:09:44.460 --> 00:09:46.279 throughout American history, there have been 00:09:46.279 --> 00:09:49.139 these massive sweeping periods of Christian revival. 00:09:49.460 --> 00:09:52.100 We know them as the First and Second Great Awakenings. 00:09:52.100 --> 00:09:54.539 Right, the big tent revivals. Yeah, these were 00:09:54.539 --> 00:09:57.840 eras defined by intense religious fervor, massive 00:09:57.840 --> 00:10:00.860 crowds, and highly emotional, ecstatic spiritual 00:10:00.860 --> 00:10:03.120 experiences that fundamentally changed American 00:10:03.120 --> 00:10:06.779 culture. Wolfe analogized the dominant social 00:10:06.779 --> 00:10:09.779 trends of the 1970s to those massive historical 00:10:09.779 --> 00:10:12.320 movements. So he's saying that the self -help 00:10:12.320 --> 00:10:14.980 seminars, the obsessive therapies and the LSD 00:10:14.980 --> 00:10:17.500 trips of the 70s were the modern equivalent of 00:10:17.500 --> 00:10:20.059 those old school tent revival. Precisely. He 00:10:20.059 --> 00:10:22.100 was arguing that the me decade wasn't just a 00:10:22.100 --> 00:10:24.700 superficial sociological phase. It was a genuine 00:10:24.700 --> 00:10:27.360 religious revival. It was the third great awakening. 00:10:27.539 --> 00:10:29.740 The critical difference was that the object of 00:10:29.740 --> 00:10:31.559 worship had shifted. They weren't worshiping 00:10:31.559 --> 00:10:33.960 a traditional god. The deity being worshiped 00:10:33.960 --> 00:10:36.580 was the individual self. It's a massive sweeping 00:10:36.580 --> 00:10:38.720 claim to make about a decade usually remembered 00:10:38.720 --> 00:10:41.070 for disco and bell bottoms. It really is. And 00:10:41.070 --> 00:10:43.710 it's a real testament to Wolf's unique literary 00:10:43.710 --> 00:10:46.450 style that he could weave post -war economics, 00:10:46.710 --> 00:10:49.950 medieval chivalry, LSD, and American religious 00:10:49.950 --> 00:10:53.090 history into one cohesive, entertaining theory. 00:10:53.629 --> 00:10:55.889 The source material actually highlights one of 00:10:55.889 --> 00:10:58.370 the most famous passages from the essay to show 00:10:58.370 --> 00:11:00.970 how he wrote about this intersection of religion 00:11:00.970 --> 00:11:03.230 and culture. Oh, the Jimmy Carter description 00:11:03.230 --> 00:11:05.389 is a perfect example of his voice. I have to 00:11:05.389 --> 00:11:07.590 read this to you because it's just so stylistically 00:11:07.590 --> 00:11:10.029 flamboyant. Wolfe is describing Jimmy Carter, 00:11:10.210 --> 00:11:11.870 who was running for president at the time, and 00:11:11.870 --> 00:11:15.309 he calls him a, okay, deep breath here, a missionary, 00:11:15.669 --> 00:11:19.610 lectern -pounding, amen, ten -finger, C major 00:11:19.610 --> 00:11:21.950 chord, Sister Martha at the Yamaha keyboard, 00:11:22.330 --> 00:11:26.059 blah, blah. It's an absolute mouthful. It really 00:11:26.059 --> 00:11:28.700 is. But it perfectly illustrates Wolfe's vivid, 00:11:28.919 --> 00:11:32.000 almost musical approach to journalism. He wasn't 00:11:32.000 --> 00:11:33.960 interested in just giving you dry facts. He wanted 00:11:33.960 --> 00:11:36.100 to give you the exact rhythm and cultural frequency 00:11:36.100 --> 00:11:38.179 of the moment. He paints a very specific picture. 00:11:38.440 --> 00:11:41.700 He does. By describing Carter with such elaborate, 00:11:42.019 --> 00:11:45.200 hyper -specific religious imagery, Wolfe was 00:11:45.200 --> 00:11:47.639 highlighting a massive cultural juxtaposition. 00:11:47.879 --> 00:11:51.019 You had Carter representing this deeply entrenched 00:11:51.019 --> 00:11:54.159 old school, rural religious ecstasy on one side, 00:11:54.240 --> 00:11:57.360 while this new urban lower middle class was casing 00:11:57.360 --> 00:12:00.419 a totally modern kind of ecstasy through self 00:12:00.419 --> 00:12:03.019 -obsession and psychedelics. It's brilliant writing, 00:12:03.120 --> 00:12:05.720 but of course, a theory that bold is going to 00:12:05.720 --> 00:12:08.600 attract critics. And the source material provides 00:12:08.600 --> 00:12:10.980 a really crucial piece of pushback that we need 00:12:10.980 --> 00:12:13.789 to examine. We can't just take Wolf's premise 00:12:13.789 --> 00:12:16.590 of A Great Awakening as undeniable fact. No, 00:12:16.649 --> 00:12:18.809 we absolutely can't. The counterargument here 00:12:18.809 --> 00:12:21.029 is vital because it completely flips the lens 00:12:21.029 --> 00:12:24.009 on the entire era. The source introduces a cultural 00:12:24.009 --> 00:12:27.169 historian named Christopher Lash. In 1979, so 00:12:27.169 --> 00:12:28.970 this is just three years after Wolf published 00:12:28.970 --> 00:12:31.350 his essay, Lash released a highly influential 00:12:31.350 --> 00:12:34.370 book titled The Culture of Narcissism. That title 00:12:34.370 --> 00:12:37.649 alone sets the tone. It does. And Lash took direct... 00:12:37.899 --> 00:12:40.580 pointed aim at Wolfe's idea that this era represented 00:12:40.580 --> 00:12:43.159 any sort of awakening. How did Lash dismantle 00:12:43.159 --> 00:12:45.820 it? Did he disagree with the data Wolfe was looking 00:12:45.820 --> 00:12:48.740 at? That's the interesting part. He didn't disagree 00:12:48.740 --> 00:12:51.779 with the behaviors Wolfe observed. He disagreed 00:12:51.779 --> 00:12:54.429 with what those behaviors meant. Lash argued 00:12:54.429 --> 00:12:56.730 that Wolf actually provided the very evidence 00:12:56.730 --> 00:12:59.710 needed to undermine his own religious interpretation. 00:13:00.049 --> 00:13:02.129 Oh, using his own work against him. Exactly. 00:13:02.649 --> 00:13:04.929 Lash looked at the consciousness movement and 00:13:04.929 --> 00:13:07.590 the obsession with self -improvement. And he 00:13:07.590 --> 00:13:10.029 didn't see a spiritual awakening at all. He saw 00:13:10.029 --> 00:13:13.590 pure, unadulterated narcissism. And Lash actually 00:13:13.590 --> 00:13:16.659 used Wolf's own words to prove this point. The 00:13:16.659 --> 00:13:18.820 source notes that Lash pulled a specific quote 00:13:18.820 --> 00:13:21.720 from Wolf's essay. He pointed out Wolf's observation 00:13:21.720 --> 00:13:24.320 that most people historically have not lived 00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:26.779 their lives as if thinking, I have only one life 00:13:26.779 --> 00:13:28.860 to live. Right. If you look at human history, 00:13:29.000 --> 00:13:31.899 especially agrarian or highly traditional societies, 00:13:32.179 --> 00:13:35.019 people didn't conceptualize their lives as entirely 00:13:35.019 --> 00:13:36.980 their own. They were part of a bigger system. 00:13:37.389 --> 00:13:39.549 Exactly. They lived as if they were simultaneously 00:13:39.549 --> 00:13:42.309 living their ancestors' lives and their offspring's 00:13:42.309 --> 00:13:45.009 lives. You were just one link in a very long, 00:13:45.110 --> 00:13:48.029 multi -generational chain. Your identity was 00:13:48.029 --> 00:13:50.309 tied to your family name, the land you worked, 00:13:50.450 --> 00:13:52.750 the community you upheld, and the legacy you 00:13:52.750 --> 00:13:55.490 were leaving for your children. But the 1970s 00:13:55.490 --> 00:13:58.710 effectively shattered that chain. The new prevailing 00:13:58.710 --> 00:14:01.570 mantra became, I have only one life to live, 00:14:01.649 --> 00:14:04.830 and it belongs to me. This raises an important 00:14:04.830 --> 00:14:06.590 question for you to consider as you think about 00:14:06.590 --> 00:14:09.429 modern society. What happens when a culture moves 00:14:09.429 --> 00:14:12.429 away from that multi -generational communal thinking 00:14:12.429 --> 00:14:14.950 where you honor the past and sacrifice for the 00:14:14.950 --> 00:14:18.450 future and adopts a mindset of, I only have one 00:14:18.450 --> 00:14:20.590 life and it's all about my immediate fulfillment? 00:14:20.809 --> 00:14:24.049 It changes everything. It does. Lash argued that 00:14:24.049 --> 00:14:26.570 you simply cannot have a true religious revival 00:14:26.570 --> 00:14:29.129 or a great awakening if you sever your connection 00:14:29.129 --> 00:14:31.850 to the past and the future. Living purely for 00:14:31.850 --> 00:14:33.750 the present self isn't spiritual enlightenment. 00:14:34.090 --> 00:14:36.809 It's a structural inability to care about anything 00:14:36.809 --> 00:14:39.750 outside your own ego. It is the literal definition 00:14:39.750 --> 00:14:42.570 of a culture of narcissism. That is a profoundly 00:14:42.570 --> 00:14:46.070 heavy critique. It takes the exact same behaviors, 00:14:46.330 --> 00:14:49.870 the therapies, the inward focus, the self -polishing 00:14:49.870 --> 00:14:53.000 and paints them in a much darker light. Wolf 00:14:53.000 --> 00:14:54.980 saw people elevating themselves to the divine. 00:14:55.539 --> 00:14:58.399 Lash saw people shrinking their universe down 00:14:58.399 --> 00:15:00.360 until nothing else could fit inside it except 00:15:00.360 --> 00:15:02.720 themselves. That's the perfect summary. They 00:15:02.720 --> 00:15:05.179 were looking at the exact same sociological data 00:15:05.179 --> 00:15:08.159 points. The post -war wealth, the retreat from 00:15:08.159 --> 00:15:11.779 civic politics, the hallucinogens, the new alchemical 00:15:11.779 --> 00:15:14.340 dream. They just arrived at vastly different 00:15:14.340 --> 00:15:16.200 conclusions regarding the health of the human 00:15:16.200 --> 00:15:18.440 soul. So what does this all mean? Let's distill 00:15:18.440 --> 00:15:21.019 the journey we've taken today. We started by 00:15:21.019 --> 00:15:23.179 looking at how the postwar economic boom handed 00:15:23.179 --> 00:15:26.120 the average American unprecedented level of prosperity, 00:15:26.519 --> 00:15:29.679 which in turn provided the luxury of self -determination. 00:15:29.740 --> 00:15:32.590 Yep, the money changed the mindset. Then we explored 00:15:32.590 --> 00:15:35.190 how the 1960s counterculture, disillusioned with 00:15:35.190 --> 00:15:37.690 mainstream institutions, prompted a philosophical 00:15:37.690 --> 00:15:41.090 retreat inward. We saw how the use of LSD in 00:15:41.090 --> 00:15:44.190 the 70s acted as a powerful catalyst, unveiling 00:15:44.190 --> 00:15:46.350 what people desperately wanted to believe was 00:15:46.350 --> 00:15:48.909 their true self, rivaling traditional religious 00:15:48.909 --> 00:15:52.519 ecstasy. The Chemical Alchemy Exactly. And we 00:15:52.519 --> 00:15:54.779 watched as people largely abandoned communal 00:15:54.779 --> 00:15:58.080 coalition politics, took their new money, and 00:15:58.080 --> 00:16:00.220 ran straight toward the new alchemical dream 00:16:00.220 --> 00:16:02.580 of remaking and polishing their own personalities. 00:16:03.159 --> 00:16:05.259 And we've given you the two major competing lenses 00:16:05.259 --> 00:16:07.960 to view this historical shift through. You have 00:16:07.960 --> 00:16:10.779 Tom Wolfe's Third Great Awakening, a theory that 00:16:10.779 --> 00:16:13.700 frames this era as a For anyone trying to navigate 00:16:13.700 --> 00:16:16.379 the complexities of modern life. Taking the time 00:16:16.379 --> 00:16:18.620 to understand these arguments from the late 70s 00:16:18.620 --> 00:16:21.580 is an incredible shortcut. You genuinely cannot 00:16:21.580 --> 00:16:25.139 fully comprehend today's landscape, a world dominated 00:16:25.139 --> 00:16:28.639 by influencers, highly curated wellness retreats, 00:16:28.639 --> 00:16:31.360 personal branding, and the endless pursuit of 00:16:31.360 --> 00:16:34.279 self -optimization without understanding the 00:16:34.279 --> 00:16:37.519 me decade. The roots of our current culture are 00:16:37.519 --> 00:16:41.730 buried deep in the soil of the 1970s. Understanding 00:16:41.730 --> 00:16:43.750 the origin of an idea gives you power over how 00:16:43.750 --> 00:16:46.309 it influences you today. And I want to leave 00:16:46.309 --> 00:16:48.129 you with a final thought to mull over as you 00:16:48.129 --> 00:16:50.269 go about your week. It builds on everything we've 00:16:50.269 --> 00:16:52.289 discussed, but brings it right up to the present 00:16:52.289 --> 00:16:54.759 moment. Let's hear it. If the me decade was defined 00:16:54.759 --> 00:16:57.500 by a shift from living for our ancestors to living 00:16:57.500 --> 00:17:00.220 purely for ourselves, and if hallucinogens and 00:17:00.220 --> 00:17:02.139 self -help seminars sparked what Wolf called 00:17:02.139 --> 00:17:04.380 the third great awakening, look at how we live 00:17:04.380 --> 00:17:07.160 right now. We exist in an era of digital avatars, 00:17:07.180 --> 00:17:10.500 highly curated online personas, and algorithms 00:17:10.500 --> 00:17:13.339 specifically designed to feed us endless, flattering 00:17:13.339 --> 00:17:16.170 reflections of our own interests. Are we still 00:17:16.170 --> 00:17:18.930 trapped in the endless narcissistic loop of the 00:17:18.930 --> 00:17:22.309 me decade, just armed with much better technology? 00:17:22.650 --> 00:17:25.250 Or as we retreat further into virtual worlds 00:17:25.250 --> 00:17:27.930 to endlessly polish our digital selves, are we 00:17:27.930 --> 00:17:30.170 actually on the verge of a fourth great awakening? 00:17:30.410 --> 00:17:32.890 Man, that is a deeply provocative question to 00:17:32.890 --> 00:17:34.930 leave on. Thank you so much for joining us for 00:17:34.930 --> 00:17:37.049 this deep dive. Keep exploring, keep questioning 00:17:37.049 --> 00:17:39.069 the world around you, and most importantly, keep 00:17:39.069 --> 00:17:40.609 learning. We'll catch you next time.