When I was in high school there was actually a poster on the walls that said "SUPPORT Banned Books Week" as if no one should be 'permitted' to read Mein Kampf because everyone else is too easily influenced. In one sense it's right; individuals are critical thinkers, herd mentality becomes it's own beast, a sentient being. As you said, the zeitgeist of the times.

the 'protect people from themselves' mentality is the biggest social obstacle to individual freedom of our time.