In other words, post-1960s irony turned out to be “a way for all kinds of taboo styles to sneak past the taste authorities—don’t mind us, we’re just kidding—and then, once inside, turn serious.” America in the 1970s and ’80s gave itself permission not only to celebrate the old days but also to reproduce and restore them. Picking and choosing and exploiting elements of the past extended to politics and the political economy.
