Direction of Society

Back in the 1950’s, when my Parents were in their late teens, the “older generation” (the age I am now) was completely convinced that Rock-N-Roll music would cause the utter downfall of civilization as we knew it.  In the 1960’s, the Parents  had pretty much gotten used to Elvis, Buddy Holly, and their ilk, so they turned the same fear and loathing toward the Beatles and the Stones.  They were positive that, even if the world survived Elvis’s swinging hips and Buddy Holly’s “race music”, (their words, not mine),the Beatles would certainly ruin our society by leading a whole generation of Americans into decadence.  By the late 1960’s, they were saying the same things about  Jimi Hendrix , Janis Joplin, and John Lennon, but the Beatles of the early 60’s were considered “clean cut boys”, no threat.  By the 1970’s some of the folks who were kids in the 1950’s were now the Parents, and they demonstrated they didn’t learn a thing, since they made the same sort of foolish statements about the Bee Gees' Disco, or Kiss' rock music, that their Parents had made about the music of the previous generations, but Hendrix, Lennon, and Joplin were heroes to them. When my kids were growing up, many Parents said the same sorts of things about Rap and Hip-Hop music but loved Kiss. It never seems to change. The same trends can easily be pointed out in the Art world, or in film, or literature.
     As time moves forward, quality music,art,books, etc, will stand the test of time. The trendy stuff will fall by the wayside into obscurity. Even though some of these works were meant to change society as we knew it at the time, most didn't have that intention. As it turns out, even the most radical works of the 20th century lacked the power to destroy our society.  Either way, if presented well, art and literature (including music), don’t destroy our society, they add a different perspective to it. 
     Our society will continue to evolve.  Such is the nature of the beast. The generation in power will resist the evolution.  Such is also the nature of the beast. Only time will tell if society is headed in a good or a bad direction, but either way, it seems to me that the answer will depend on the age of the viewer.