Our '60s nostalgia has disconnected them. It was such a volatile time in history. Well, yes and no. History never repeats itself despite people who say it does. Things never come the same way again.
People are sometimes more socially active than at other times.
The motivations are usually very different. Your interests have so many facets. I grew up on the West Coast and came from teachers. Both my mother and father were public school teachers. My mother taught elementary school and my father taught high school.