But being born in 1964 means I too was soaked to wrinkling in the hippie music Paglia still adores. And one of its most notable characteristics was that the word “freedom” was then a lyrical convention almost on par with “love” and “baby.” Whereas most millennials, with their bike helmets and parental chauffeurs, probably find “Signs” as mystifying as the “Missa Luba.” The “freedom” to smoke weed, get abortions, and use each other’s bathrooms encompasses their puny libertarian yearnings.
This allergy to freedom isn’t restricted to the young, of course. In many locales in what used to be “America,” a book titled Free Women, Free Men…well, one imagines handing out The Compleat Angler to Bedouins.
