Back in the 1980's, there was this mass hysteria called the "Satanic Panic". It was basically a reaction by parents and teachers organizations to express an irrational fear of the music and recreational activities of their children at the time. (Judas Priest, Prince, Dungeons & Dragons, video games)
See, the 'Baby Boomer' generation didn't quite understand the rebellious nature of their 'Generation X' progeny. And of course as a result, immediately decided to completely react in an irrational manner, while forgetting that they, themselves were once a part of the rebellious peace and love generation. A generation that their own parents once feared without understanding. So they decided to take action...
A group of Senators' wives took up a crusade that they would fly under the banner known as the PMRC, (Parents, Music, Resource, Center). The PMRC would eventually be responsible for the 'Explicit Lyric' warning that would become a standard for the music industry.
In retrospect, the crusade seems rather quaint by the standards of today. A group of elitists taking issue with the content of artistic expression and attempting to impose their own values onto the masses as a result. Basically, they made a mountain out of a molehill and attempted to legislate a cause based on emotion and ignorance. We see this cycle turning back today, only with a new label. The Social Justice Warrior movement.
Irrational and emotional outrage as the catalyst for legislation that penalizes people for having the audacity to believe in basic biology, or the concept of the free exchange of ideas through speech. This is nothing new. Emotionally charged outrage will always attempt to subvert calm and reasonable discourse. But we should remember that this form of outrage is nothing new...
Every generation will have its own version of the "Satanic Panic". The important thing to note is that every generation will also have its own Frank Zappa to calmly put the whole nonsense into perspective. And tell those self-righteous squares to go eat a bag of dicks...
And I take comfort in the fact that 30 years from now, the current generation is going to look back on the social upheaval of our time and think, "Oh, how quaint".