Rick, some more thoughts...
As to being out of touch, you will NEVER know the specifics of their lives. Even if you were in constant contact and heard everything they had to say. But you never know the specifics of any audience members lives. You don't know what music they listen to at home and you don't know what's in their hearts. At some point, you have to still care if your material is relevant to them, you still have to communicate, but you have to do the music that's relevant to you because you're job is to show them how and why it's still relevant. That may be the biggest problem - the music you think fits is no longer relevant to you.

Some folks, me included, have suggested looking for protest in different sorts of songs. Maybe it's the big picture, the abstract, that doesn't blow your skirt up anymore. The songs are often preachy - the "we will all join together" stuff. They're fine if you sing them to people who have similar sentiments, but if someone hasn't made up their mind, the songs can push them away as likely as draw them in. The smaller, more subtle songs about one person's struggle may mean more to you and to them.