On Second Thought, Maybe We Should Immanentize the Eschaton

Daniel McCarthy tracks the decline of campus conservatism.

Comments

[jf]

I don't hang out on college campuses much, but from what I see online, there is much more partisan boosterism on both sides of the imaginary political divide and far less worry about any sort of coherent philosophy. I find principled liberals and conservatives far more interesting than Bushbots and Kos-flavored Dems, but the latter are taking the oxygen away from the former.

[ryan]

haha...I didn't read the article, but I am digging the title. It feels good to actually know what these references mean now.

[Alan Vanneman]

Hey, dude, I thought we had immanentized the echaton! Nobody tells me anything.

[Joseph Majsterski]

Good article. Basically just says there aren't really any true conservative groups on college campuses anymore, just college republicans with zero familiarity with classic conservative texts. They lack the knowledge and brainpower to disagree with GOP leadership on anything, or to even realize that's an option. Yuck.

[lunchstealer]

We have no objection to immanentization of the eschaton should it occur in the course of establishment of libertopia.

[ChrisO]

As I get older, I get more and more laughs out of student political activism, whether left or right. Basically, when you are 18-21 years old, you Don't Know Shit. To me a liberal education should be sex, drugs, rock'n'roll, and ideas of all kinds. And then get a job and work for a few years--actually DO something before getting involved with politics. Academia is so cut off from the real world that its politics inevitably have a surreal air.

The starchly pressed Young Republicans are no more or less ridiculous than the unwashed campus lefties. They all seem to end up in Washington with their perky smiles and half-filled brains.

And stay off my lawn, ferchrissakes.

[Andrew]

Perhaps articles like this - narrowly focused on political groups, as such - miss a point. Christian groups on campuses outnumber conservative groups ten-to-one. Where do you think most future conservative leaders and pundits might come from?

[Postmodern Sleaze]

College Republicans seem, to me, to come in two varieties:

#1. Frat boy South Park fans who think Democrats are pussies (most of them are, but that's besides the point), hate political correctness and think war, guns and tax cuts are really cool.

#2. Evangelical Christians who hate Democrats because "teh kill babies".

In either event, not much brainpower. Not that college Dems are any better, but frankly, if you're looking for people who are actually interested in IDEAS on a college campus, avoid the political clubs. Hang around the hallways of the philosophy department, or, if you're at a (moderate Protestant or Catholic) Christian school, look for a table full of seminarians. Alternately, join one of the science clubs.

[R C Dean]

Frat boy

Nothing wrong with drinking and chasing college tail.

South Park fans

Nothing wrong with South Park, either.

who think Democrats are pussies (most of them are, but that's besides the point)

Three for three so far.

hate political correctness

Make that four for four.

and think war, guns and tax cuts are really cool.

I'm all for guns and tax cuts myself. War I could do without.

So, out of seven specific items, the College Republicans are on the money for six? Not bad. I wish I could find a politician with that kind of batting average.

[Postmodern Sleaze]

True enough, RC. And I dig South Park, guns and tax cuts as much as the next guy; and I can't say I'm a fan of political correctness.

I just didn't like the College Republicans. Maybe it was because they brought Ollie North to campus. Or maybe it's because one of them screwed a girl who I was madly in love with (gee, I took her on three dates and didn't get any; he got her some beer and fucked her. WTF?). Or maybe it's because they all seemed to be perpetually angry.

All I know is that I didn't like them. 😉

[Jennifer]

At my old school, the college Republicans controlled the school newspaper, which is why we were subjected to idiotic editorials like "People think drugs should be legal because nobody can tell them what to do with their bodies? Fine, I'll go murder a bunch of people. Hey, you can't tell me what to do with my body!" as well as hysterical shrieks about how white people are going to be a minority in America pretty soon.

[Aresen]

"Maybe We Should Immanentize the Eschaton"

I think that's illegal in most jurisdictions.

[Buckshot]

ChrisO:

"As I get older, I get more and more laughs out of student political activism, whether the left or the right."

As Bob Dylan sang in My Back Pages, "But I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now."