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The Dispatch's own Andrew Egger and Declan Garvey join Steve for a discussion on the blow-up at The New York Times over its Tom Cotton op-ed, woke culture, Trump superfans, and the empathy gap.
Show Notes:
-The Wokening vs. the Trumpening
-Andrew's piece on Trump superfans
-Declan's piece on the empathy gap
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Thanks so much for this opportunity to hear from Declan and Andrew, and to learn more about them. I admit, while I have followed politics since my late teens, I certainly wasn't thinking as deeply about these issues when I was 25, as they obviously are. I hope there are more young conservatives out there who fit this mold, as opposed to the TP USA "own da libs" model.
I will note, however, that I personally never been much for the framing of "the generations are discrete tribes who have nothing in common and whose interests are irrevocably clashing against each other, and who must make great efforts to understand each other". At work, I interact with colleagues from mid 20s to 70s, and I don't feel like "OMG I have to reach out across this great generational divide and find common ground!"
Perhaps I am being naive, especially when it comes to the rise of "woke" culture on the Left and the impact of the decline of institutions in terms of their legitimacy and how people don't join them expecting to adopt that institution's norms as their own, but to challenge and reform them. (Very Yuval Levin-ish moment from Andrew there...)
But on the other hand, while I went to a college that was certainly dominated by political liberals, but wasn't ridiculously "PC" either (PC is short for "political correctness" in case younger people reading this haven't come across it), I certainly don't recall anything as intense as what Declan described... I do recall that when I was in college, there was a big cultural war battle that happened when a Christian group invited an "ex-gay" speaker to campus, that the LGBT community took great offense to, and the speaker wound up being, well, cancelled. So I am not convinced this is a TOTALLY new phenomenon, either.
Anyway, maybe it's because I was born on the border of a generation ("Xennial"), or because I was always the type to hang out with older people when I was a kid, and now as an adult, spend a lot of time with younger people. (I guess this means I am still pretty immature!)
But I really don't see why pre-judging and making assumptions about people simply based on their age and generation, without getting to know them as individuals, is any more justifiable as making assumptions about a whole race, or a whole gender, or sexual orientation, or political party. BTW, one interesting thing I learned from the deeper dive into Andrew's recent article, by the way, is that even among the "front row Joes" there are some disagreements, yet they obviously have a strong sense of community anyway. So maybe even they have something to teach the rest of us?
Finally, thanks Andrew for adding the pop culture component by explaining the whole Juggalo thing! And I hope Declan enjoys his road trip!
Great to hear from Andrew and Declan!