"Right" of Passage

Let's face it, teenagers are rebellious. They push the limit to see what they can get away with. They try to not follow the crowd, and then fall for a misguided stance on some hot political issue. Global warming, animal rights or save the whales. Especially in college, where the atmosphere is ripe for protesting. They are away from parents and feel a certain amount of freedom, not to mention being indoctrinated by all those liberal professors day in and day out. I think it is all good, like a phase of life that everyone has. You may have wore you hair long or got a piercing, but it passed. You grew up. That is how I view liberalism. Liberalism (a.k.a. as progressiveness, socialism, collectivism or communism) is a phase most folks go through. They see the unfortunate students in their classrooms that pay increased tuition every year and say "that's not right." They hear about how if the taxes were higher, then we could fund all the programs that people needed. They listen to the professors say there is no God, you have no one to answer to but yourself, so do what feels good. They may even go to Canada or Russia in a time of war to protest. No problem. They eventually grow up, get a job, pay off their student loans and start paying a boat load of taxes. Conservatism takes hold as they seek freedom from the nanny state and try to make their own way in this land of opportunity. They raise families, go to church and are good citizens just like their parents. They no longer want your hand outs. They only want to be left alone.

The problem occurs when some just don't grow up. They are still on campus in their minds. They support groups like PETA, and then rally for a woman's right to abort her baby. You can't wear mink, but you can kill a fetus. They buy into the farce of wealth redistribution. They put their faith in the government and their hope is that it will take care of everything. They remind me of spoiled children that think they deserve everything they see. They believe in government bail outs instead of markets correcting themselves. They don't even believe in kids playing dodge ball in school, not to mention prayer in the classroom.

I believe in their right to feel how they feel. I also believe in my right to tell them how I see it. And the way I see it, it's time to grow up.