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TechnographThe 'bleeding heart' disease
By Justin Doran
Posted: 9/10/07 Section: Opinion Columns
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Liberalism is affecting the lives of millions of college-age Americans every day, many of whom remain uninformed about the danger of this pernicious ideology. A recent New York Times poll estimates that nearly 54 percent of young voters favor the Democratic Party in the 2008 election. That means that there are at least 30 million young adults who are at a high risk of becoming liberals, and this estimate doesn't include "big government" conservatism, liberalism's asymptomatic cousin.
Liberalism's effectiveness lies in its ability to latch onto the good intentions of college-bound seniors. They want to help the poor, encourage education, promote freedom, stop violence and war; so they attend a few meetings. They go with some friends to a help-the-homeless meeting, sign up for some mailing lists. They rally against the war, and they buy "Save Darfur" T-shirts. Then, they start hearing that a lot of like-minded people are attending the meetings for the College Democrats. "Sure," they say, "I could see myself being a Democrat." It's not at the first meeting that it happens, or even the second, but eventually, someone asks that deadly question: "So, have you read Marx?" After that, it's only a matter of time before they're shopping at the co-op, banning smoking in bars and selling their cars to pay for the commune's eco-friendly tractor. Then, they're full-fledged liberals for the rest of their lives, and there is little they can do about it.
This turn of events seems innocuous to many, especially to those college students who have friends who are liberals, or whose liberalism has not yet progressed to full-fledged socialism. The consequences are dire. After communism lost its tenability in public discussion due to its large scale failure in the Cold War, it mutated into something far more sinister. Modern liberalism has all the flaws of Sovietesque communism, but without the benefits of a uniform ideology and a sickle to motivate the slackers. Instead, it breeds a parasitic reliance on the government.
Liberalism's effectiveness lies in its ability to latch onto the good intentions of college-bound seniors. They want to help the poor, encourage education, promote freedom, stop violence and war; so they attend a few meetings. They go with some friends to a help-the-homeless meeting, sign up for some mailing lists. They rally against the war, and they buy "Save Darfur" T-shirts. Then, they start hearing that a lot of like-minded people are attending the meetings for the College Democrats. "Sure," they say, "I could see myself being a Democrat." It's not at the first meeting that it happens, or even the second, but eventually, someone asks that deadly question: "So, have you read Marx?" After that, it's only a matter of time before they're shopping at the co-op, banning smoking in bars and selling their cars to pay for the commune's eco-friendly tractor. Then, they're full-fledged liberals for the rest of their lives, and there is little they can do about it.
This turn of events seems innocuous to many, especially to those college students who have friends who are liberals, or whose liberalism has not yet progressed to full-fledged socialism. The consequences are dire. After communism lost its tenability in public discussion due to its large scale failure in the Cold War, it mutated into something far more sinister. Modern liberalism has all the flaws of Sovietesque communism, but without the benefits of a uniform ideology and a sickle to motivate the slackers. Instead, it breeds a parasitic reliance on the government.
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Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 13
Erlenmeyer
posted 9/10/07 @ 9:21 AM CST
Was it your intention to write such a witty, sarcastic article or did I misinterpret?
If you are serious, which sadly I suspect you are, this is the most pathetic and blatant use of a straw-man argument I've read in quite some time. (Continued…)
Nicole Kosacz
posted 9/10/07 @ 10:52 AM CST
Well you forgot to mention how much Democrats love killing babies and biting their thumbs at God but I do think that this is your best article yet. Oh and I really hope the "Save Darfur" t-shirt is a reference to Dan. (Continued…)
ellipse
posted 9/10/07 @ 11:33 AM CST
One wonders why you chose to attend a government-run university, instead of one of the many colleges or universities formed by non-government types "banding together" to form a school?
Perchance the gummint university at which you now study is better or less expensive that the private education solution you had available to you but chose not to take? Just a guess. (Continued…)
J'Von
J'Von
posted 9/10/07 @ 2:15 PM CST
I wouldn't call big-government-conservatism "asymptomatic" . . . just less of a threat to otherwise-intelligent young Americans than liberalism, and possibly less flashy. (Continued…)
BobWired
posted 9/10/07 @ 2:27 PM CST
"Then, they're full-fledged liberals for the rest of their lives, and there is little they can do about it."
This is complete nonsense. You can always make your heart three sizes smaller, 'specially as you get older and crankier and feel the instinctual need to move to Florida and stick your nose in other peoples business. (Continued…)
Mike
posted 9/10/07 @ 8:58 PM CST
People our age frighten me, because they are so quick to fight for some random cause without much thinking behind it. At first this seems like a good thing, but it really just comes down to wanting attention. (Continued…)
Dennis
posted 9/10/07 @ 9:08 PM CST
This is one of the more frightening examples of a warped mind I have run across in quite sometime - and somehow this spittle spewing nonsense ends up in a respected university's student paper. (Continued…)
Bryan
posted 9/10/07 @ 9:34 PM CST
Justin has a great example of a rambling, semi-illiterate, barely readable and altogether poorly researched column that reads like too much ann coulter (much like the conservative mind). (Continued…)
chacko_dem
chacko_dem
posted 9/10/07 @ 10:41 PM CST
It's great that this article (indirectly) calls attention to the need for more community action. Feed your neighbors, the Smiths.
In the meantime, it's important to realize that volunteerism is not sufficient enough to take care of the needs of the 30 million people who are currently living below the poverty line in America. (Continued…)
college dems william08
posted 9/10/07 @ 11:06 PM CST
Corrupt Conservatism
It was hard, as a progressive, to read this unoriginal and uninspired piece written by this uninspired and unoriginal writer: Justin Doran. (Continued…)
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