The 1960s counterculture created a moral and spiritual vacuum that weakens the foundations of American society. The new elite of its adversary culture has disdained traditional morality— the stress on hard work, thrift, frugality, deferred gratification, the sanctity of marriage, fidelity, sexual self-control, and individual accountability. Those who still believe in these values are branded by the new elite as quaint, politically incorrect throwbacks who "just don't get it."