It was interesting, but I expected the author to present a case for why he no longer holds the ideas and values that he used to hold.
It was mainly anecdotes about a few crazies in right-wing groups, and his assertion that he came to embrace progressive liberalism as part of becoming more "mature". His path from one to the other was summed up with little more than 'it's hard to connect the dots of how I got from there to here'.
It kind of seems like this is a man leading a life that is too unexamined, who thinks that the views he holds now must be better for everyone because he holds them when he is older.
I think his experience was one that probably wasn't the healthiest for a child. But I also think it is obvious that a citizenry should have suspicion of their government and media authorities, and that any in-group should advocate for their own interests. There are wise and stupid people on both sides of the political spectrum, but I've met too many mentally deficient liberals and too many stable and well-rounded people who hold right-wing perspectives to accept that progressivism is a natural outgrowth of maturity. It's certainly not a natural outgrowth of experience - given that older generations tend to always be more right-wing and conservative than younger ones, on average.
But it is a good example of what a culture based on paranoia and combativeness can lead to.
It was interesting, but I expected the author to present a case for why he no longer holds the ideas and values that he used to hold.
It was mainly anecdotes about a few crazies in right-wing groups, and his assertion that he came to embrace progressive liberalism as part of becoming more "mature". His path from one to the other was summed up with little more than 'it's hard to connect the dots of how I got from there to here'.
It kind of seems like this is a man leading a life that is too unexamined, who thinks that the views he holds now must be better for everyone because he holds them when he is older.
I think his experience was one that probably wasn't the healthiest for a child. But I also think it is obvious that a citizenry should have suspicion of their government and media authorities, and that any in-group should advocate for their own interests. There are wise and stupid people on both sides of the political spectrum, but I've met too many mentally deficient liberals and too many stable and well-rounded people who hold right-wing perspectives to accept that progressivism is a natural outgrowth of maturity. It's certainly not a natural outgrowth of experience - given that older generations tend to always be more right-wing and conservative than younger ones, on average.
But it is a good example of what a culture based on paranoia and combativeness can lead to.
It was interesting, but I expected the author to present a case for why he no longer holds the ideas and values that he used to hold.
It was mainly anecdotes about a few crazies in right-wing groups, and his assertion that he came to embrace progressive liberalism as part of becoming more "mature". His path from one to the other was summed up with little more than 'it's hard to connect the dots of how I got from there to here'.
It kind of seems like this is a man leading a life that is too unexamined, who thinks that the views he holds now must be better for everyone because he holds them when he is older.
I think his experience was one that probably wasn't the healthiest for a child. But I also think it is obvious that a citizenry should have suspicion of their government and media authorities, and that any in-group should advocate for their own interests. There are wise and stupid people on both sides of the political spectrum, but I've met too many mentally deficient liberals and too many stable and well-rounded people who hold right-wing perspectives to accept that progressivism is a natural outgrowth of maturity. It's certainly not a natural outgrowth of experience - given that older generations tend to always be more right-wing and conservative than younger ones, on average.
But it is a good example of what a culture based on paranoia and combativeness can lead to.