"The idea of the peace movement and of people who spent their entire lives trying to have a more egalitarian, just society, suddenly became swamped by the record industry, by the new rock and roll culture, and by the idea of not trusting anyone over thirty"
About this Quote
Amram’s intent is corrective. As a composer who lived through the mid-century ferment, he’s staking a claim for the older infrastructure of dissent: the peace movement, egalitarian politics, people who treated justice like a vocation rather than a vibe. The subtext is almost accusatory: when rebellion becomes an industry, it stops being dangerous. “The record industry” isn’t just a business here; it’s a machine that can flatten nuance, convert moral urgency into a soundtrack, and sell anti-establishment feeling without the inconvenient discipline of actual change.
The line about “not trusting anyone over thirty” lands like a wry epitaph for a slogan that aged poorly. Amram hints at how generational purity tests can substitute for ideology, letting youth identity stand in for political strategy. Contextually, he’s pointing to the late 1960s moment when mass media, celebrity, and consumer culture didn’t merely accompany activism; they competed with it, often winning by offering a simpler story: buy the record, wear the look, inherit the pose.
Quote Details
| Topic | Peace |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Amram, David. (2026, January 17). The idea of the peace movement and of people who spent their entire lives trying to have a more egalitarian, just society, suddenly became swamped by the record industry, by the new rock and roll culture, and by the idea of not trusting anyone over thirty. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-idea-of-the-peace-movement-and-of-people-who-68907/
Chicago Style
Amram, David. "The idea of the peace movement and of people who spent their entire lives trying to have a more egalitarian, just society, suddenly became swamped by the record industry, by the new rock and roll culture, and by the idea of not trusting anyone over thirty." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-idea-of-the-peace-movement-and-of-people-who-68907/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"The idea of the peace movement and of people who spent their entire lives trying to have a more egalitarian, just society, suddenly became swamped by the record industry, by the new rock and roll culture, and by the idea of not trusting anyone over thirty." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-idea-of-the-peace-movement-and-of-people-who-68907/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.
