People often wonder why I’m so derisory of the conservative mindset. Well, today while driving around I happened to catch a little of the ABC Radio Nation program “Life Matters” which today was looking at the younger generation known as the ‘digital-natives’ – those who grew up with the internet, emails, mobile phones and a media saturated world. What do they think of the current body politick, and politics in general? Are todays politicians reaching the ‘digital-natives’. It’s a fascinating listen and I’d encourage anyone interested in issues of a socially formative nature to take in the entire program.
What caught my interest was a young man of 22 years who called in as a response to questions posed by the program. His name is David. I’ve captured and cut out of the podcast his input. Have a listen to it, and I think you’ll find within it why I have such a low regard for the conservative mindset. Basically, I see in David the typical responses to any question on politics or ideology from the so-called “right”. The left is over-whelming us, they’re too prevalent and that’s a bad thing (no rationale as to just why that’s a bad thing, it just IS) and a devolution of any attempt at rationale to – *GASP* socialism!! In short, David is of the right, and everyone else isn’t, ergo, he and his kind are the ones with the smarts and why doesn’t everyone else wake the fuck up and see this? David offered no logical explanation for his input, he simply opened his mouth and his preferred ideology fell out. THIS is why I have so little regard for the conservative mindset. I see and hear this sort of response all the time on a wide range of issues. A breaking down of complex social issues to a simplistic, single dimensional and solitary assessment of LEFT=BAD and RIGHT=GOOD.
Life, the Universe and Everything is far more complex than such flatline assessments, but let’s cut David a break. He’s only 22.