I now understand how conservatives have taken over America. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal opinion pages gives some clues.
Here's the premise of the article: conservative students have a tough time when they get to college. First, they probably didn't get into the college they wanted to, because some minority or econonomically disadvantaged kid stole their spot. So they settle for Princeton instead of Harvard.
Then, they arrive on campus, only to find that all of their professors are flaming liberals. They need to be very careful what they say or write in class -- if they express any conservative viewpoints they are likely to be ridiculed by their professors, or perhaps even given failing grade.
Most downtrodden conservatives force themselves to bite their tongues. They cannot speak their mind in their campus newspapers for fear that they will be ostracized, or denied membership in the most exclusive social clubs.
But these days, according to the WSJ, some gutsy conservative students are fighting back against "the Man." No longer content to sit at the back of the collegiate bus, they are demanding that their viewpoints be heard, organizing protests, bringing conservative speakers to campus, making sure that conservative professors are not discriminated against.
Hogwash. Here's what really happened: conservatives realized that they can no longer afford to be seen as elitists. By creating the impression that they are fighting against the oppression of the entrenched liberal authorities, they can think of themselves as populist freedom fighters.
How brilliantly clever! For years, conservative fathers sent their well-groomed conservative sons and daughters off to university, only to see their kids turn into idealistic, liberal, do-gooders after a couple of rebelious college years. Now, young Johnny can rebel against authority with the same righteous fervor of a 1960s civil rights activist and still make his daddy proud by toeing the party line.
And it's not just rich kids that are falling for this. On campuses all over conservative groups are convincing students that they are a persecuted minority. In future posts I will give some other examples of how conservatives are creatively luring students into their trap, and what we can do to stop them.
