I think Boomeranon made the point before your post: that generation had blind faith and trust in their government and the few that saw past the veneer were ridiculed and ostracized. Age old agage: you can't teach an old dog new tricks i.e. it's nigh impossible to change after a lifetime of believing one way.
That's a big hope we all have! I dispair at the stubborn almost childish resistance my elderly inlaws have when it comes to anything that remotely rings of "conspiray". It is actually surprising in that my FIL was in the airforce and flew through Korea and Vietnam.