ABSTRACT
This chapter suggests that the New Temperance has served as one vehicle for conquering the remnants of the "60s" challenge to American society and its dominant norms and political structure. The historical events of the "60s" have been repainted in dangerous and frightening hues. The demonization of a historical period is not a new phenomenon in America. Social scientists and other authors have long warned about the specter of a bureaucratized society whose expanded police power would be utilized to increasingly scrutinize and control every human action. There is a strong possibility that, despite the increased technical surveillance available to the state and other authorities, the ability of elites to totally control people's lives may be exaggerated. The urine test—along with mandatory sentencing and other severe behavioral controls central to the drug war—is a power strategy that mirrors the "personal is political" radicalism of the 1960s. The chapter also presents some closing thoughts on the concepts discussed in this book.
