Don't forget what happens when you "grow old".
Rodolfo Acuna warns the Democrats:
Pundit after pundit predicts that the entrance of large numbers gay and Latino voters will end the culture wars that divide the country. There is only one problem — progressives forget that the “Young Grow Old.”
It is easy to get caught up in the euphoria of the moment. I remember demonstrations in the 1960s, and thinking that we had entered a new era. I did not fully appreciate the seductive power of capital in negating any communitarian or humane transformation.
The piece is pretty bad in that it, like many other pieces from people on extremes, uses extreme positions. You're either young and progressive or rich, greedy and selfish. Just like how when people speak of women's bodies you're either fat or anorexic.
I remember my college days. Many of the most "progressive" people were going through college on someone elses dime, dollar and loan signatures. It was completely lost on them that they were "welfare activists" living off mom and dad's hard earned money and soon to run out grants and loans. Many of the most "progressive" people were super duper duper seniors who in addition to continue to spend other people's money on their "education" were some of the least responsible people on campus.
The campus activists who had much to say about tuition increases but never had the sense to get out of school before the next one. That doesn't mean that rising tuition
isn't an issue. It is. But anyone against it ought to have as their number one priority to get themselves (and anyone they can convince) to get out as soon as possible. After all the best way to curtail your out of pocket (as well as loan) expenses for education is to graduate as quickly as possible.
Anyway, this particular part of Acuna's essay got my attention:
Nor did I take into account the self-interest of many of the demonstrators who opposed the war; they remained interested for only as long as they were personally threatened. Poverty and injustice was only visible for as long as the young remained young. They became invisible once more as the baby boomers grew old, and took on mortgages. They then distanced themselves from poverty, which again became a non-priority.
Acuna is actually well onto something in regards to those who protest against war. Many of the same people who were very much against the Bush wars and other "wars of empire" went completely silent once Obama took office, if not during his campaign. People who constantly had Bush in the mouth were suddenly "well if the Libyans want..." and "but the Egyptians want..." and "What about that viagra fueled rape story...?" and my favorite "well he's being SMART about it."
It turned out that they were actually opposed to white men (and to a lesser extent women) leading imperial wars. They couldn't fathom how The Ghost was against imperial interference in the matters of other states period. Punto. Full stop.
Supposedly I lack nuance.
As to the second part in regards to mortgages and things; it's called maturity. The young generally waste money and often times it's someone else' money. See when one gets thrown off the parental money titty one starts to look at the world a lot differently. Can't pay that rent? No time for that protest. Oh that art degree you spent 50K on? Well I hope you can eat it 'cause those student loans will soon come due? Oh that's not fair? Why is it not fair that the institution that loaned you money to go to a school you could not afford to go to in the first place, for a degree in a subject you may not get well paid to actually use, expects to be paid back plus extra for their bother?
Oh you want a car? You want to start a family? Get married? Well all of that costs money too and nobody else is going to pay for your life. Once it sinks in that nobody owes you anything for your life and how you live it, a lot of that talk starts to look really immature. It sinks in that those changes you wished for so bad weren't exactly going to happen during your 20's if in your lifetime and...ummm...the bills are due.
Does that mean that we're good with predatory lending? Sky high interest rates on credit cards? 66 month car payment terms and the like? Nope. Those of us who matured in our thinking got smart and minimized our exposure to these things while we spoke out against it. But it becomes pretty hard to sympathize with folks who choose to live way beyond their means and make purposeful fucked up decisions. Let's be clear; there are people out there...a lot of them who simply do not care that other people have to shoulder the burden for their fucked up decisions. They feel entitled to your "help" and "advocacy" because they never grew up.
Check Acuna's next statement:
I bought my first home at 21 – no down payment, total cost $8500. I could qualify for it on my janitor’s salary. Today that same house costs $500,000; $100,000 down. And I am sure I could not qualify for it on a teacher’s salary.
Let's ask Acuna a simple question: Would he accept $8500 for his home now? After all if that is
the value of his home and he has principled objections to those who invest making many multiples of money off their investments, then he ought to sell his home to someone for the same amount he paid for it.
Acuna's (who made his living in large part off the government read: other people's money, as a professor at a public institution) partial thesis (the rest being about Mexicans) reminds me of a poet at a slam event who took shots at people with "nine to fives". The room had a good number of people who had "nine to fives" who after the slam were expected to part with their cash to buy this poet's book and CD. How do you insult the same people you're going to ask for money from?
Yeah the young grow old and hopefully mature.
