Are they already here?
What’s behind all these surprising numbers? I can’t say, but it’s hard not to notice that a decline in destructive behavior associated with peer pressure has happened at the same moment that the US became a fully wired nation.
Now that broadband access is nearly universal — 78% of homes, and that’s not counting all the schools and library and Wi-Fi hotspot connections available to most kids with minimal effort — restless youth don’t have to go along with whatever the local knuckleheads are up to.
They can find their community of likeminded souls online, and an unintended consequence of their tinkering with YouTube videos or playing “Call of Duty” with a buddy in Mexico City, they’re staying in. As a frustrated barman in England, where pubs have been closing in huge numbers, put it to The Economist, “Kids these days just want to live in their f- – – ing own little worlds in their bedrooms watching Netflix and becoming obese.” That sounds right, but at least no one ever got pregnant from eating Cheetos.
How are young people turning out politically? They’re liberal Democrats . . . who sometimes sound an awful lot like conservative Republicans.
I don’t really care whether or not they’re Republicans, as long as they’re vehemently not Democrats.
[Update a while later]
This seems related, somehow: How the Left got boring.
[Late-morning update]
Sorry, first link was broken. Should be fixed now.
Clicking on the link got me:
Not Found
The requested URL /ost.com/2014/07/19/could-young-people-be-the-next-generation-of-republicans/ was not found on this server.
“in their f- – – ing own little worlds in their bedrooms watching Netflix and becoming obese.”
They sound like current republicans.
How much money do you get from the federal government each year? It’s the only reason you make such stupid comments.
Parasite.
Ya, Democrats never watch entire seasons on netflix in a single sitting. I have never even read tens of thousands of blog posts, comments, and tweets of Democrats doing what is certainly not a cultural phenomenon.
dn-guy, notice who was whining about that – a UK-licensed recreation drug dispenser, the “fustrated barman”. Sure, these youth might be getting obese in their own little worlds, but as a result, they’re not getting obese in the little worlds of expensive UK pubs.
“The Democrats hold onto us only because of the Republic[an] obsession with religion, sexual repression and environmental denial.””
Environmental denial, I can’t wait to hear what Rand would say to this kid.
I would tell him that he’s misinformed. But unlike morons like you, he might be educable.
“The Democrats hold onto us only because of the Republic[an] obsession with religion, sexual repression and environmental denial.”
That is interesting because it points to how effective Democrat’s stereotyping of their opposition has been. I live in a Blue state and it is regular for me to encounter people who are solid Democrats yet hold many views that Republicans do but they would never vote for a Republican because they believe all of the Democrat’s stereotypes about them. They very well may agree with Republicans on 90% of issues but can’t vote for one because they think they are going to ban tampons and enslave black people.
Well I think Rand speaks very clearly to the center of the GOP mentality when
he tries to limit the voting rights of american citizens.
Asking people for an ID is not “limiting the voting rights of american [sic, because you’re a moron] citizens.” You moron.
Just as an aside, you must enjoy being called a moron, because you continue to post comments where people will point it out. So apparently you’re a masochist, too.
Wow, an article from the New York Post! What’s next, articles on space from the National Enquirer? 🙂
But we should always trust the NY Times, shouldn’t we?
At least its not a tabloid…
But what you should trust is your own research, versus letting Rand do it and your thinking for you 🙂
I’m quite good at that, thank you.
Pretty sure all of us disagree with Rand on something and have said so in the comments.
But ya, emoji so we know you are just trolling with the insults. Could you put some effort in though?
The pendulum swings back and forth, and with young people being naturally rebellious, I could see them rolling their eyes at the harangues from their Marxist professors. A customer at work always says that the incessant nannying from the government will also turn them off, because young people don’t like being told what to do.
I’ve been struck by the fact that many of the young people I encounter in retail and fast food environments are clean-cut, smiling, and polite. I found the book The Fourth Turning interesting, and the authors said that the Millennial generation is going to surprise us, in a good way. Since there’s a good chance that this generation is going to be economically worse off than their parents, they will have their work cut out for them.
I see a lot of people from my generation (the Boomers) bad-mouthing Millennials, but I don’t. I wouldn’t want to trade places with them.