Outcomes Matter, Not Virtue Signaling

Adam Garfinkle's book Telltale Hearts argues that the U.S. antiwar movement of the 1960s (yes, Baby Boomers) did not meaningfully shorten the Vietnam War and may actually have prolonged it. 

That matters if you think it is more important to “do good” than to “feel good;” better to accomplish a change than simply to “virtue signal.” 

The attack is upon the  narrative, arguably central to Boomer self-understanding, that their activism decisively “ended the war.” He argues that story is emotionally satisfying but incorrect. 

For a generation that prides itself on being “transformational,” that puncturing of a myth might be uncomfortable, but a useful antidote to ingrained arrogance. 

Oddly enough, Garfinkle argues, both opponents of the war and those who believe it might actually have been won by the United States seem to agree on the movement’s impact. But both sides might be wrong. 

Garfinkle challenges the widespread belief that protests forced U.S. withdrawal and instead argues the movement had “marginal impact” (and maybe almost none) on ending the war. 

In fact, he says the movement actually was counterproductive:

• provoked backlash

• strengthened hardline positions

• disrupted conventional political processes that might otherwise have constrained the war.

His most startling argument is that the protests might actually have extended the conflict and increased casualties. 

And other authors have made similar claims about a generation that might have created as many problems as it believes it solved:

• Boomers: The Men and Women Who Promised Freedom and Delivered Disaster – Helen Andrews
  Argues Boomer elites reshaped institutions (media, politics, religion) in ways that produced long-term dysfunction

• A Generation of Sociopaths – Bruce Cannon Gibney
  A blunt critique claiming Boomers extracted economic and social value while leaving debt and institutional decay

• The Narcissism Epidemic – Jean Twenge
  Connects Boomer-era cultural shifts to rising individualism and narcissism (though broader than just Boomers).

• The Sixties – Todd Gitlin
  Written by a former activist; acknowledges idealism but also fragmentation, excess, and unintended consequences

• The Unraveling of America – Allen J. Matusow
  Examines how 1960s movements reshaped institutions, often with ambiguous or destabilizing results

• One Nation, After All – Alan Wolfe
  Suggests Boomer-driven cultural change led to a more tolerant but also more morally fragmented society.

Garfinkle’s work is narrower (focused on Vietnam), but:

• Challenges moral self-congratulation

• Highlights unintended consequences

• Separates cultural impact from policy impact (huge in one, limited in the other)
  
  

Many will argue boomers were enormously influential. But influence is not the same as positive outcomes.

I may be a boomer, but I do not buy the self-congratulatory plaudits. Perhaps we meant well. But what matters are outcomes, not feelings.

Boomer economic impact likely is mixed, at best.

Author	Positive Effects	Negative Effects	Net View
Bruce Cannon Gibney (A Generation of Sociopaths)	—	Asset inflation, entitlement expansion, public debt burden shifted to younger generations	Strongly negative
Helen Andrews (Boomers)	Some institutional dynamism	Mismanagement of institutions, short-termism	Mostly negative
William Strauss & Neil Howe (Generations, The Fourth Turning)	Innovation, growth cycles	Fiscal imbalances, intergenerational strain	Cyclical / mixed

Boomer political or institutional impact might be a mix of positive and negative. 

Author	Positive Effects	Negative Effects	Net View
Adam Garfinkle (Telltale Hearts)	Raised awareness of war	Undermined political cohesion; limited policy effectiveness; possible prolongation of Vietnam War	Negative
Todd Gitlin (The Sixties)	Expanded democratic participation	Fragmentation, radicalization weakened movements	Mixed
Alan Wolfe (One Nation, After All)	Greater tolerance, pluralism	Decline in shared moral frameworks	Tradeoff

Cultural or social impact might be the most-questionable area of influence. 

Author	Positive Effects	Negative Effects	Net View
Jean Twenge (The Narcissism Epidemic)	Self-expression, individual empowerment	Rising narcissism, fragility, decline in social cohesion	Negative
Todd Gitlin	Liberation movements, civil rights gains	Excess, identity fragmentation	Mixed
Daniel Bell	Cultural creativity	Breakdown of norms supporting institutions	Tradeoff
Alan Wolfe	Tolerance, reduced prejudice	Moral relativism, weaker shared norms	Tradeoff