So what is the explanation for the rise of right wing thought on campuses. I wonder if the same thing is happening in Canada. Certainly when I was in the Philippines as far as I could see university students were very left wing. There are many well attended demonstrations, many against the government. There are many left leaning newspapers in the Philippines as well.
--- Leigh Meyers <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > The Mood On Campus: Conservative Collegiates Rising > > Final exams are underway at the University of > Colorado at Boulder but > between the cram sessions, 40-or-so students find > time to attend the > semester's last College Republican meeting. Brad > Jones, the group's > 20-year-old president, confidently approaches the > lectern - his > t-shirt proudly displays a man chucking the United > Nations' emblem > into the garbage, and pinned Patton-like to the wall > behind him is the > American flag that he brings to every meeting. He > speaks to the group > with easy humor, and has good reason to smile: > during his short term > at the helm of the CU College Republicans (usually > not a popular > position in Boulder, a Left wing college town), the > group's membership > has exploded by 500 percent. > > This growth is typical on American campuses. The > Economist reports > that College Republicans have tripled their > membership in the past > three years, "recruiting 22,000 new members in 2002 > alone"; the number > of chapters has also ballooned, from 409 to 1,148. > > The rocketing numbers echo polls that chart the > political views of > college students - and young Americans in general - > taking a > pronounced shift right. At traditionally liberal > campuses, where > Bush-bashing is almost an institution, the shift is > a shock to the > system. These new Right wing 'activists,' who > rabidly defend the > Republican president against criticism, are locking > horns with their > liberal professors. Things could get ugly. > > http://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http%3A%2F%2Fadbusters.org%2Fthe_magazine%2Fcontent%2Fview%2F255 > > As they'll tell you, they're angry, they're > organized - and they're > looking to upend the status quo. Drawn to > conservatism as much as to > just being "anti-liberal," they've been dubbed the > 'Hipublicans' by > The New York Times. To others they're simply the > 'New Right.' They > don't fit the suit-wearing, business-card swapping > stereotype of > College Republicans of the past. Instead, many are > middle-classers > wearing average 20-something garb of spiky hair, > goatees and faded > jeans. > > Jones fits this new mold: his family is definitely > middle-class. And > though he says he was influenced by his father's > conservatism, it > wasn't until he came to ultra-progressive Boulder > that he was drawn to > Republican politics. "This university has made me > more conservative," > he says. > > "I didn't come to CU thinking I'd be some crusader, > I thought I'd be > some rock-climbing hippie." > > He says he felt persecuted for his new political > beliefs by professors > who ridiculed conservative viewpoints - a sentiment > often repeated by > Republican students. This prompted him to get > involved, but he says > the student government system was also stacked > against alternative > (conservative, that is) ideologies. "The > establishment in Boulder says > that they encourage dissent, but what they really > mean is dissent that > they agree with." > > Having trouble swallowing patriotic Republicans as > those being > "marginalized"? Get used to it. > > In schools across the US, voices are screaming > liberal-bias at > www.noindoctrination.org, a web-forum where students > list names of > professors they say ignore dissenting views or > forward, as one student > put it, a "liberal anti-American agenda." > > In Colorado, the bias card has been thrown to the > forefront by David > Horowitz, a conservative political writer known > among liberals for his > anti-slavery reparations efforts. Horowitz, whose > Academic Bill of > Rights seeks to protect conservative students and > faculty from > so-called political persecution (and whose speeches > routinely > degenerate into shouting matches), has found a > devoted audience in > Colorado among conservative students and Republican > lawmakers. He was > one of the radical figureheads of the New Left > during the '60s, but > pole vaulted the political spectrum, landing on the > far Right in the > 1980s. > > Perhaps more than anyone, he understands how to > manipulate the > subtleties of the extremes. Standard thinking says > that conservatives > assume superiority because they feel their common > sense trumps > everybody else's while liberals assume their > superiority because they > feel their morality trumps everybody else's. > Horowitz has exploited > the liberal myth (those intellectual Rapunzels more > interested in > theory than the real world) by re-shaping it into a > weapon that he > uses against the Left's intellectual support base. > > After private meetings with Horowitz, the state > senate is currently > toying with the possibility of introducing > legislation requiring that > academic institutions "ensure academic diversity." > Democrats are > labeling this as yet another power-grab by > Republicans - a > mind-bending role-reversal: now, it's the Right that > shouts > discrimination and demands change to the oppressive > power structure, > while the Left dismisses this as oversensitivity and > cries foul at > government regulation seen as intrusive and > impractical. This > highlights how Right wing strategists have, in > recent years, embedded > conservative thought into liberal campus culture by > casting young > Republicans as - get this! - victims of the system. > Republican Davids > battling a massive Left wing Goliath? "There's a > certain excitement at > being the underdog," Jones says. > > With the meeting in full swing, he energetically > speaks about one of > his favorite extracurricular activities: pissing off > liberals. The > audience responds with a storm of suggestions: a > pro-Palestinian > exhibit in the library must be removed. Flood the > email in-box of a > campus administrator - whose personal office > displays an American flag > "defaced" with African colors. Then Jones suggests > an event that has > been happening on numerous campuses - an > "Affirmative Action Bake > Sale" where white students are charged more than > minority students for > the same items. The crowd goes wild. > > Later, Jones explains that the Campus Republican's > goal is not only to > screw with liberals, but to wage a kind of > ideological jujitsu: use > the momentum of your opponent, in this case Left > wing anger, to expose > how irrational he is. Then as he lays weakened on > the ground, gain > some momentum of your own. "Well, either you're > going to love us or > you're going to hate us. And even if you hate us," > he says, "at least > we're going to get good press coverage." > > Jared Jacang Maher's work has appeared in the > Chicago Reader and > several underground publications. He is an editor of > Life === message truncated === Blog: http://kenthink7.blogspot.com/index.html
