Oh, most definitely. I'm just pissed at the self-righteousness of the author.
I don't agree that, in the case of America, you can entirely separate distinctions between socialism, capitalism and religion.
Certainly not. All aspects of a culture play their parts in making it what it is. Nonetheless, in present day America secularists can be democratic capitalists just as easily as believers.
You paint the "morality" of the 40's with a wide and heavy brush.
I do...and there are many things I liked about it (Bogarts movies for example) but I did so in response to the author's use of the same brush. Pre-marital sex does not herald the end of civilization. Nor does contraception. Or casual but reasonable drug use. Environmentalism is not a religion (although many on the Left treat it that way). It represents a legitimate and reasonable response to unchecked growth, to greed too often legitimized by the market system. Perhaps that system, if allowed to function freely, would eventually put a stop to it...but many believe (quite rationally) that eventually is too late.
And that, my friend, is the key. By treating it like one, the results are the same, it may as well be one.
You're killing me, I should be in bed now. Later...