The ongoing discussion about how well prepared the next generation is seems to be popular, and of course that’s a good thing. Especially because the evidence so far is that the kids have not been well served by those who were supposed to be educating them. There’s no more important work during these next few years than to get a majority of the Millennials to realize that. No, it’s not their fault, but it is their responsibility to overcome their ignorance.
Focusing in on one issue, here is how Katie Kieffer said it in her column, “Socialism Punk’d You, Millennials“:
It’s crucial that Millennials hear the truth about socialism so they can dig themselves out of this mess and move on with their lives.
Here is part of Kieffer’s text under her heading, “Educating Millennials on Socialism vs. Capitalism” — the emphasis is my own:
Reason-Rupe released the results of a survey last week showing that 64 percent of Millennials favor “a free market over a government-managed economy.” Sounds like great news, right?
Not so fast. Millennials need more education. When you dig deeper into the Reason-Rupe survey it becomes crystal clear that Millennials are still very confused about the benefits of a free market system and struggle to differentiate between capitalism and socialism. Despite the 64 percent figure, only 52 percent of Millennials told pollsters that they favor capitalism whereas 42 percent favored socialism.
As you can see, despite saying they embrace free markets, many Millennials don’t understand that socialistic policies are responsible for the Great Recession and millions of young people conflate socialism with freedom.
As I keep saying, all the issues are the same. One of the tiring refrains we keep hearing is how the kids think differently than their parents on some issues — so… So? What if the kids are wrong as kids so often are? Hasn’t the history of the late 1960s taught us that letting children set policy is a mistake?
Rush Limbaugh addressed this on his radio show last September — here’s an excerpt from the transcript, again the emphasis is my own:
RUSH: You know, another thing I heard while I was gone: “Hey, Rush, you know, this global warming, the kids believe it. So you’re not going to gain any ground by just saying it isn’t happening.”
“Well, so what should I say?”
“Well, you’ve got to say that it could be happening, and it might be happening.”
“So I’m supposed to abandon the truth in order to get the kids. When did we start assuming that kids are smarter than we are, and that we have to bend and shape to what the kids think?”
Folks, I’m hearing this, by the way, from a lot of friends of mine who have kids in their thirties and younger, who are totally… (sigh) Not totally. They are heavily influenced in what they think by virtue of what their kids think. I can’t tell you the number of guys who told me their kids think X and therefore we’d better think it, ’cause the kids are the future.
When I was 25, the adults of the world thought I hadn’t’ lived long enough to know enough. I didn’t have enough experience at life to be able to tell them what was up and the way things oughta be.
…
I know when I was 25, my dad was interested in what I thought, but he thought I was all wet. When I was all wet, when I was wrong, he told me. There was no, “Oh, you think that? Okay. Well, you know what? That’s interesting, Son. I’ll think I’ll think that, too,” even though he thought it was wrong.
Socialism, man-made global warming, and the list goes on to include things like same-sex pseudo-marriage. C’mon, adults, do your job and help teach the children.
Image credit: ComicallyIncorrect.com.
