Great article, thanks for posting it.
I live in Portland OR, dubbed "Little Beirut" by GHWB. Inspiration for "Portlandia", tag line "where young people go to retire". So it sometimes seems like I am surrounded by people very unlike myself.
However, in spite of the rampant liberalism and tilt toward all things "progressive", there is something I recognize- the rebelliousness of youth. I had it, maybe you did too. And of the many people I meet, their are a significant number that do seem to possess some critical thinking skills.
I had the life changing experience of being sidelined from my trade of 30 years by a back injury, and found myself attending courses at the local community college in their engineering tech program. Got to know some of the "youngsters" (hell, I was 47 at the time, definitely towards the wrong end of the bell curve), and although they showed signs of having been brainwashed by the PC police, the real "thinkers" could easily be brought to a point of having the scales fall from their eyes with just a few observations about popular mythology about guns and gun owners, and were quick the see something my dyed in the wool lib friends will not admit-- a gun is an inanimate object, and the intentions of the individual holding it is what turns it into a weapon.
One of the fastest turnarounds was with a young guy who heard me discussing shooting with a couple of other guys (also students, and shooters as well) and expressed his "given" viewpoint about gun being bad, etc. I asked him if he trusted the government, which of course was met with a big NO. Then I asked him if it made sense for "common people" to be forced to give up their guns, so only "government approved" people had them.
Just like watching a cartoon with the light bulb appearing over the character's head, I'll tell ya.
So, yeah, the youngsters are still being a PITA to their elders, but I did that too. However, there are still some who can think for themselves, and can do a pretty good job of separating BS from truth, no matter where it's coming from. Can't say I believe that they are a majority, but I can't say that independent thinkers as a group ever are or have been, either. Like the article intimates, don't judge the book by its cover; there may be a lot more common ground than you think.
