First a little advice from an old fart…..to the young…..go out and live life and make some memories for yourself…..for when you grow old memories are all you have….society will push you aside and you will be left with the memories that you have made…..
I recall my youth…….after my stint in Vietnam…..when I returned I became a steadfast supporter of the anti-war movement……and I watched the youth of the day go from protests to rolling over for conservatism……Nixon signed the 18 year old vote into law and the downhill plunge started and culminated with the election of Reagan….I bring this all up because the young seem to be a bit liberal for now……they have a strong pro-choice slide, pro same sex marriage, etc…..all this is great and I look for them to help this country get back on track…….that is until I read a report the other day and my heart sank…..again.
The Upshot blog of the New York Times has an analysis sure to cheer the hearts of today’s conservatives, and it’s all rooted in one simple fact: The voters of tomorrow are coming of age in a generally lousy time with Democrats in control of the White House, writes David Leonhardt. Forget the “largely useless cliche” that people are liberal when young and turn conservative as they grow older. Generally speaking, generations remain consistent in their politics from youth to old age, and what was happening when they first became aware politically is a big factor in determining whether they’ll lean left or right.
Leonhardt points out that the youngest voters in the next presidential election will have been born in 1998. Millennials might be old enough to remember that some of today’s problems are rooted in the Bush years, but not these younger voters. They’ve become politically conscious in an era when economic growth has been stagnant and the world’s problems ever-growing. “We’re in a period in which the federal government is simply not performing, and that can’t be good for Democrats,” says an analyst with the Pew Research Center. How Obama fares in the remainder of his term will affect more than the 2016 election, writes Leonhardt. The president’s performance will “cast a shadow” over the 2024 campaign and beyond. Click to read the full post.
I pray the study is mistaken for I do not think that this country can recovery its place in the world on the back of conservative ideology…..
In Saner Thought 
What is our place in the world?
Is that a deep philosophic question that you would like me to answer…or was it rhetorical…
You are the Professor. Teach
Okie dokie…..our place is to move humanity forward….the problem is we humans do not seem to want forward….we are too comfortable with the now….until we realize our true potential then we will watch the world destroy itself….so very slowly…
How can the world move forward when so many have lost the desire and pride to learn, work. Seems their are too many that feel entitled.
Maybe we live in our comfortable past because the future doesn’t look so great.
Do your students see a great future for them? Would they want to raise children at this time considering what is going no now?
My students from years ago…I no longer lecture….did see a promise in the world but they quickly lost that desire when games started being played by politicians….mosrt could not understand why some blame the poor for all the problems…like it was a crime to be poor…
Being poor shouldn’t be a problem. When you see how many are playing the Welfare game, that makes it bad for all who truly need help.
I worked for the local housing authority before I was hurt and had to retire…..my problem is that the ones “playing” the welfare game were very few most were truly poor and needed help…..
That may have been true in your area. It is today’s “welfare queens” that I have trouble with.
There are those that game the system but Clinton did an excellent job of killing most welfare abuses….yes we still have them but look at corporations they are just as much ‘welfare queens’ as any individual….
One of the biggest queen is GE. Of course, I haven’t really check out other corporations, because I wouldn’t know where to start. I would surmise that the accountants and attorneys at large companies are paid very well to find the loop holes.
And then there is the grant system…..money poured into superfluous BS