The Long Game: How America’s Culture Was Rewritten

From the ashes of war and the trials of the Depression rose a generation defined by sacrifice. They built a nation on discipline, duty, and faith — only to raise children determined to question it all. What began as an act of love from the Greatest Generation became the starting point of a cultural unraveling. The comfort they provided would soon fuel rebellion, and that rebellion would not stay in the streets. It would take root in America’s classrooms.

The Long Game examines how America’s cultural identity was transformed over the past century. Beginning with the well-intentioned legacy of the Greatest Generation, this series traces the rise of the counterculture, the infiltration of ideology into education, and the gradual erosion of the nation’s shared moral foundation. Each installment connects the dots between generational prosperity, academic radicalization, and the institutions that now shape our children’s worldview. It’s a story of how comfort replaced conviction, and how a movement that once shouted in protest quietly took control of the culture.

Articles in This Series