Or if you want to delve into Sci Fi geekery, read Heinlein's stuff, or for a fun read try Michael Z. Williamson's Freehold series. That will give you a decent dose of libertarianism.
I'm lucky. The old timers I know think Echolink is cool, and run solid state rigs, while talking about how cool their old boat anchors were.
Morse code is an art, not a requirement, Tubes are for fun, and having echolink on my Android is cool. So far I haven't ran into any of those cranky old bastards you describe, except online at QRZ.com
I've been a ham since I was 29, and got into it after bugging myself for a few years to do it, especially since the code requirement was dropped. Local 2 meter is fun, and what is way cool is playing with 20m, and calling Alaska, and learning why the Bellingham net control couldn't hear me in Olympia, but Alaska could copy me. And stuff like that.
I finally decided that when I run into some cranky old bastard pining for the days of spark gap transmitters, and enough tubes to heat his house, that I just won't care. I've got my solid state rigs, I've got a tube AM receiver for retro cool, and I got such a killer deal on a couple of tube amps I'm gonna buy 'em.
Screw the intolerant ones. This is a hobby about technology. Keep up with it, or fall behind. Old tech is fun stuff, and I love playing with vintage gear, but I'll be damned if I'm going to be treated like a second class ham because I don't know code beyond my callsign yet, and don't have toobz in my radios. Bah. I earned my license by golly gee whiz.
No amount of careful planning will ever replace dumb luck.