Yuval Levin argues that American politics is being distorted by the toxic nostalgia of Baby Boomers who seek a return to a golden past: Liberal Boomers want to restore the Great Society, while conservative Boomers want to revive Reaganism. All of this is true—but it obscures an important difference between the two forms of Boomer nostalgia. Liberal nostalgia, as seen in the social-democratic agenda of Bernie Sanders, demonstrates greater appeal among the young. Indeed, for the young, the Sanders agenda isn’t even nostalgia.
This might be difficult for middle-aged (or older) conservatives to understand. But we have been here before—only, we were on the other side. In 1980, Ronald Reagan talked about high taxes, the perverse incentives of the welfare state, and rising crime. Reagan’s opponents condemned him as a nostalgist who wanted to take us back to the 1920s.
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