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One
of the most prominent young conservative journalists on the
scene today, Jonah Goldberg is Generation X's answer to P.
J. O'Rourke. His columns and articles, laced with keen wit
and pithy insights, have rapidly generated a large readership.
His work is spread throughout a number of outlets: Editor
of National Review Online; Contributing Editor for National
Review; Columnist, "The Goldberg File" for National Review
Online. He has also been published in The New Yorker, The
Wall Street Journal, Commentary, The Public Interest, The
Wilson Quarterly, The Weekly Standard, The New York Post,
National Review, The Women's Quarterly, and Slate.
"Mark
Twain once said that the radical of one century is the conservative
of the next. I am a devotee of radical revolutions of the
past, most notably the enlightenment and the French Revolution.
I believe in liberty, I believe in a dedication to the truth.
I believe in questioning the hysteria of people no matter
what their ideological persuasion. Most of the activists--and
I am no activist--one hears on college campuses and in the
media are dedicated to the idea that we are a world in crisis.
We have real problems, to be sure. But no society in human
history has had better cards dealt to them than young people
today. Racism - despite the cries to the contrary -- is declining.
The environment is improving. Americans, both rich and poor,
are better off than ever and, with a few troubling exceptions
notwithstanding, so is the world.
As a conservative, political enthusiasm is troubling to me,
as it has the tendency to kill people--lots of 'em. That doesn't
mean political change isn't good or necessary, I just don't
think radical change is called for. Calls for "radical change"
are signs of ignorance. We do not face slavery or Jim Crow
or sexual segregation. We demean the value of our moral currency
by comparing anything short of slavery to slavery. Our political
institutions do not need to be overturned or destroyed they
need to be revered.
The real crisis, as far as I can see it, is boredom. Young
men and women want to belong to something larger than themselves
which is both good and natural. But the Left has created a
permanent and dishonest crisis industry which feeds unease
in young people and distracts them from working where they
can do real good. Instead overly political young people flit
about with signs and chants accomplishing very little. I question
the very idea that young people should identify themselves
as a political group. Think for yourselves I say. Question
anybody who wants you to sacrifice a Sunday for something
they can't explain very well. You don't need to be a liberal
to want to help the poor or save the environment. You just
need to believe in a lot of slogans."
http://www.nationalreview.com/goldberg/goldberg.shtml
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