Young Americans Turning Right

WorldNetDaily ^ | August 4, 2005 | Hans Zeiger

[Gipper08]

The host of this conference, Young America's Foundation.
I like Young Americans for Freedom but they are declining rapidly and have been for longer than I have been alive.

[THX 1138]

Actually, this was predicted 15 years ago in a book called "Generations: The History of America's Future", by William Strauss and Neil Howe. In it, they theorized that generations ran in a series of four, and that there were similarities of general attitudes in generations that were in the same sequence: in other words, the first in the series of four would be similar to the first in the next series of four, the second would similar to the second, and so on.

Fascinating stuff, and quite convincing. They went back in American history and showed how past generations were similar to more recent ones. For example, the progressive trust busters of the early 20th century (big thinking idealists) line up with the anti-war student protesters of the 60's.

Bottom line: the generation of young people coming of age are most like the WWII generation; willing to sacrifice for something larger than themselves.

Personally, I don't buy this media blather about "young people on a rampage". It's hype, written by an older generation projecting their own deficiencies.

[stevio]

My kids are 5 1/2, 3 1/2, and 1 1/2. They call them democraps, originally I thought they just couldn't say the right word, but then realized it was their Mother and me who didn't pronounce it right. It's true, you can learn a lot from kids.

[thoughtomator]

Progressives have been out-hustled and need to fight back – with serious, comprehensive efforts to strengthen progressive voices among young people and to empower new generations of leaders. If progressives do not step up to meet these challenges, they risk widening the conservative advantage for many decades to come.

But could any "serious" person take a look at what the Left does and use the term "progressive" to describe it without dripping irony?

There's only one term that accurately describes the modern Left and that is "international socialist" (historical allusion deliberate).

[rarestia]

everyone would try to walk around them with their heads as low as possible, so as not to be noticed and thus accosted by some uber-lib with a pamphlet they didn't want to read.

I used to love these people. I bought a bike and started riding to and from campus. Blowing by those non-shaving, ratty-haired, stink-fleshed hippies on my 21 speed Diamonback gave me nothing but pleasure.

On the subject at hand: Thank God! Now... we need to return to traditional social values: personal responsibility, strong family, the importance and sanctity of marriage... I am a young, upstart professional, well ingrained in my field, but I'm scared to death of marriage on account of the litigious Rats in Reps clothing out there. Teachers, "artists," finance people... you name it, and 9 times out of 10, they're libs. Just check out Match.com sometime. Most of the women on there are self-described "middle of the road." As soon as they find out that I carry a .380 Walther PPK/S every day, anywhere I go, they're running for the hills thinking I'm a psycho or something.

Where are all the gun-toting ladies out there? Where are the self-respecting, God-fearing, traditional-family loving ladies? Anyone? Anyone?

[Pyro7480]

Where are all the gun-toting ladies out there? Where are the self-respecting, God-fearing, traditional-family loving ladies? Anyone? Anyone?

They're certainly not in the Northeast or Mid-Atlantic where I am. I'm beginning to think they're a dying breed.

[MinorityRepublican]

Political correctness has permeated so deeply into the contemporary campus that young people, instead of being attracted by it, are so repulsed that they are driven to seek conservative ideas.

Don't underestimate the impact of South Park on us.

[MinorityRepublican]

They're certainly not in the Northeast or Mid-Atlantic where I am. I'm beginning to think they're a dying breed.

Indeed, the only city of any importance 50 years from now will be New York City. That's only cuz children of rich liberals have the money to move there.

[rob777]

I am afraid this group of young conservatives just cannot compare to 76 0r 80.Nearly all of them would rather hear Coulter talk than talk about Reagan,would rather bash liberals than promote conservatism,would rather party than promote the cause.They are hedonists.The main problem I see as I talk to them is that they have not got a clue what conservatism is.They are not ideologues.They are being taught "compassionate" conservatism.They think Republican=conservatism THIS IS VERY dangerous as we move forward.Keep in mind I am only talking about the vast majority of them .The small remnant of 10% or so who are conservative are better than any generation ever has been and we will have to get it done with them for now until the others realize the truth.We meet some great conservatives, but overall I would say we could be "headed to the uncharted waters of big government Republicanism" to quote Pence if we do not "Right the Ship"





Thanks for the input, although I have a hard time seeing the connection between the popularity of Ann Coulter and buying into "compassionate" conservatism. Ann has her faults, but selling "compassionate" conservatism is not one of them. I do share your concern about the possibility that we are "headed to the uncharted waters of big government Republicanism". In fact, I'd say that we are already there. I was hoping that we could pull ourselves out of those waters. I'd like to see the young crop of Republicans line up behind a principled conservative like Pence.

[Gipper08]

The Coulter thing is separate from Big Government conservatism.My point was is Ann is way more popular among this crowd than Reagan is,and that disturbs me.

[Paved Paradise]

I have bad news for you: The Muslims are having way more kids than even conservative Christians.

[Greenback_dollar]

Yep, times are changing.

But it's like a pendulum and it will eventually swing back to the liberal side. In the 80's we had the yuppies (or the ME generation) who were rebelling against the hippies. In the 90's we had Gen X who were rebelling against the materialism of the Yuppies. Now we have this "Gen Y" who are rebelling against the angst and disillusionment of Gen X.

I'm old enough to see have seen these swings in my lifetime and know that the only thing constant is change.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

The same pair wrote a book in about 1997 called "The Fourth Turning," which used historical models to fairly accurately predict a major international crisis coming in the early 21st century (they just didn't know the form would be Islamofascism).

I agree - very interesting, and prescient, stuff.

[rob777]

The Coulter thing is separate from Big Government conservatism.My point was is Ann is way more popular among this crowd than Reagan is,and that disturbs me.






I see your point. It is one thing to hate the left and their tactics, but quite another to have an ideological commitment to limited government. Some that hate the left are OK with big government, as long as "our" people are in charge. Ann spends too much time attacking the left, while Reagan spent more time expressing a vision of freedom and limited government.

[Chode]

the Reagan Jugend are our coming leaders... thank God for Ronald Reagan!!!

[Gipper08]

Perfectly said. Pence recently said "Too many "conservatives" increasingly see big government as good government as long as it is our government" This is something that must change.It starts with the next generation.

[texianyankee]

In last year's Presidential election, my 18 year old daughter was eligible to vote for the first time. Mind you, she was a freshman at the Univ. of Houston at that time and I was ambivalent about her politics. She knows mine very well.

Nothing made me more proud when she told me the news - she voted for President Bush! I knew then that my daughter is on the right track.

[LibertyGirl77]

You proved his point.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

And the Right, celebrating permanence and principles and posterity – the requisites for further advances in the next generation – is rising.

Here's the summary definition of American conservatism:

We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Those objectives are the Establishment in America; they can be opposed but those who do so pay lip service to them even as they undermine them. Those who undermine the Constitution, do so in the name of the Constitution - by which they mean, not the written document but the authority under whose color they seek to impose upon our liberty.

Those who seek to impose on our liberty do so in the name of liberty, and call themselves "liberals." They are bullies. Hillary Clinton is a bully, as Peggy Noonan pointed out. So are they all. Bullies are arrogant, and bullies are cowardly.

Arrogance is the sin of "pride," but it was understood by the ancient Greeks as opposing virtue when Socrates defined a "sophist" as one wise in his own conceit before the time of Christ. It is arrogant to claim a virtue, as the sophist claimed wisdom - and as the reporter claims objectivity. Such people's arguments always boil down to, "Because I said so - and who are you to question me?"

Arrogance is enough by itself to explain bullying, but bullying generally entails cowardice as well. Since arrogance is inherently unjustified, the arrogant person can scarcely fail to be aware of the risk of oppostion from a courageous person, or from another arrogant person. This phenomenon is clearly evident in the bullying behavior of journalists who - being contemptuous of the weak PR positon of the ordinary citizen, nevertheless studiously avoids giving serious offense to other journalists.

Help in the form of courageous youth may indeed be on the way, but they must run the gauntlet of bullies in the schools, universities, and journalism in order to arrive as adult leaders who will nurture the next generation of lovers of ordered liberty.

[THX 1138]

Yeah, read that one, too. Denser and more difficult to digest, I thought, but I plowed through it...