I declare the end of 'youth' as we know it.

don't worry too much - if things get too orderly a new target is going to become obvious and someone will try to knock it down.

paerhaps ironically, in college, my liberal convictions were solidified through a more conserative approach to education (ie rational dispassioned reading of the classics).

I suspect that cultural attitudes aren't that much different than they were of generations past. Voting patterns have changed, maybe, but that's economics talking and the fact that Democrats haven't gotten anyone excited in recent memory.

The only thing that's missing is a prevailing counterculture - hippies, slackers, punks - and you can chalk that up to capitalist homogenization (buying your culture at Hot Topic), and maybe youth catching on to the fact that any real counterculture is just going to get co-opted and commodified anyway, so why bother?

"i declare the end of youth as we know it" = "alas i am feeling old"

if you want ppl (of any age) to be radical (or anything else), do something abt it: if you just expect ppl to be radical automatically by virtue of age, youth, hair colour, sock size or whatever else silly-ass assumption you were making, you deserve to be disappointed

this complaint is the oldest (and dullest) in the history of complaining

Eh. That kinda depends on where you went to school and what you majored in. I know lots and lots of American college grads whose exposure to any of the above was extremely limited. Even taking lots of media classes, I only personally ever had two professors who talked much multiculturalism or postmodernism, and this was in the late '80s, early '90s -- ostensibly the height of PC-dom.

And if people are "rebelling" against multiculturalism, is that because they're actually being given crap to read (certainly possible), or because they're being forced to read things that challenge their own views of the world? A lot of conservative bitching that I've read about the horrors of liberal academe can be boiled down to, "They made me read things I disagree with! Oh, the tyranny!"

I really like that "show offs" were thrown in here.

as for commodification, does anyone believe it is possible to divorce counterculture and image? i figure thats the way out.

as for "challenging vs crap"... the stuff i was referring to was not Boas or Marx or Derrida, but those sort of "porn for liberals" articles one can find in certain sociology collections where "X is a poor immigrant from X country whose soul is being destroyed by the twin evils of capitalism and the pressure to assimilate." now some articles like that do contain good critiques of the evils mentioned, but some of them just play on emotions, or have a subtext akin to "if you are not sympathetic to X's plight, you are (negative) X." I would also imagine that many conservatives are turned off by what they see as the liberal willingness to critique america and unwillingness to critique other countries.

i guess really anti-intellectualism sucks regardless of politics? this is all i care to say.

Why do all Young Conservonauts sound exactly the same? Maybe Young Liberals are just as bad, but there are fewer of them around these parts.

When you go to your first Young Republicans meeting, do they hand you a little card with canned responses - "liberals are the real racists!" "Ronald Reagan single-handedly won the Cold War, all criticism of him is treason." etc.

yes mark but every time I beat a few of them up, the fucking pigs throw me in JAIL omg wtf

He questioned why someone who is half-Hispanic would belong to the same movement (and ultimately political party) as those who are proud to support, say, Bob Jones U. It's a valid question.

But right-wingers always trot out the "that's racist too!!!" line to shut off any questioning of the conservative commitment to race relations.

It was just one of a variety of reasons why the guy's conservatism was confusing.

But, even if 'cacaman' was arguing that racial issues should be a top priority for an ethnic minority, that ain't racist. You can disagree, say he's wrong, whatever - but it's not racist, any more than someone arguing that the poor should focus on class issues is classist.

plus ça change, i suppose.

Young conservatives keeping the damn dirty liberal professors in check.

Judging people by what they wear = big dud. No matter what.
What about clubbers? Who cares if some people like to wear sparkly clothes and rub up on each other?

who are these mythical people?

Were somethingawful.com and Portal of Evil around back then?

If there's any conservatism seeping into today's yoof, I ain't seeing it where I'm at.

In my university almost everybody is, yes, against the war, in favour of cannabis legalisation, vaguely aware that we live in an imperfect world, against "big corporations", etc etc.

I'm not sure how political anyone is though, myself included. To be honest alot of the time I am suspicious of people who staunchly defend any big global political position. Though maybe that's just rhetorical fussiness on my part, with the left.

Yes - it's quite consistent to be conservative and pro-cannabis legalisation, pro-gay marriage, and against the 'war and terrorism'.

I've heard it argued (somewhat depressingly) that fundimentalism is the only counterculture with any power behind it in the US right now. And its numbers continue to grow, especially among the young.

"Eh?"

http://www.an-irrational-domain.net/images/youth/youth01.JPG