Saturday, May 19, 2018

Leaving the Left

Yesterday's post on socialism and the four socialist candidates selected by Democratic voters to run for Congress in Pennsylvania this November highlighted the growing infatuation among progressives for far left ideological solutions to the nation's problems.

To be sure, the growing support for far-left ideology and politicians such as Bernie Sanders, especially among millenials, isn't limited just to economics.

In his new book Suicide of the West Jonah Goldberg cites some disappointing statistics. Support for liberty, Goldberg writes, is dying out:
Among those born in the 1930s, 75% of Americans and 53% of Europeans say living under democratic government is "essential." Among those born in the 1980s, the number drops to the low 40s in Europe and the low 30s in America. Only 32% of millennials consider it "absolutely essential" that "civil rights protect people's liberty."

The younger you are the less likely you are to support free speech rights. Forty percent of 18 to 34 year-olds ... thought that speech offensive to minorities should be banned.

A survey of college students in 2015 found that a majority of students favor speech codes for both students and faculty. More than six in ten want professors to provide students with "trigger warnings" before discussing or presenting material some might find offensive.
This is especially silly, of course. It would mean that we'd end up banning all speech since everyone is a member of some minority group or other - racial, religious, ethnic, gender, sexual orientation, political ideology, body morphology, age, socio-economic class, pet owners, whatever - and everyone is offended by something.

Finally, there's this disconcerting stat:
Thirty percent of self-identified liberal students said they believe the First Amendment is outdated.
The silver lining is that the progressive abrogation of liberty is beginning to disillusion a lot of liberals. An example is journalist Dave Rubin of The Rubin Report who formerly identified as a progressive, but who has since realized that progressivism is leading us to totalitarian fascism. Here's his story: