i've pointed this out repeatedly: what's happening in the united states right now is not a rise of any left, but a return of the right. and, the language has just gotten so confused, that the young conservatives have ended up calling themselves 'progressives', and in some cases even 'socialists', despite articulating what is basically textbook conservatism, through and through.

maybe it's as simple as defining one's self in opposition to the dominant narrative. if you're told that ted cruz is a conservative, and you disagree with everything he says, then you must be on some kind of left, right? but, the fact is that ted cruz is actually a liberal, and if you disagree with everything he says then that actually either makes you a socialist.....or a conservative. and, the country is collectively getting this completely confused.

some of them seem to get it, and think they're marxists. but, what they're actually articulating is this right-wing concept of leninism that was basically just a russian strain of conservatism. so, you get all of these same authoritarian attitudes that have been historically associated with the right, sold to these kids as a left that never was a left. and, they can grasp on to it as oppositional, because it actually is.

i was skeptical when i read the polls suggesting that young people don't actually support sanders' policies, but i think i'm losing skepticism. because, what they're actually searching for - and can't find - is an actual conservative vision of class harmony through a division of labour, with a powerful church willing to take up the slack.

and, we're all in a lot of trouble if these kids can straighten out the language and figure this out properly.

echo boomers indeed, right?

jagmeet singh must cut his beard.