1. Ten young progressive intellectuals.
2. International bright young things; the new economic superstars.
3. First Chinese restaurant with three Michelin stars.
4. Best science fiction books of the year; you’ll find one list here and another here.
5. Here is Alex Ross’s list of the best classical music recordings of the year.
“I’m convinced that progressives own the future [...] because the intellectual energy in America today is young and on the Left.”
I’m not a progressive but I think that analysis is spot on, for better or worse.
The reason why the intellectual energy is on the Left is because the Right is a bit disillusioned. The Right’s favored candidate (Bush) did almost nothing concrete to advance their social agenda (we still have Roe v. Wade, Internet porn, etc.) and presided over a vast expansion of government spending.
If Obama’s pragmatic centrism and selection of Clintonite retreads for nearly every position of power and influence is any indication, progressives will get lip-serviced but not much else (and maybe not even that). They will either get co-opted or embittered, with much infighting between the latter and the former camps.
When was the last time the “right” had any real power over domestic policy at all?
Maybe it’s because I’m only 21, but I think y’all apply the word “young” rather liberally
I’ll join whichever ideology offers me a job when I get outta grad school (currently 20 y/o sophomore).
Isn’t it all cyclical? What about the hoards of people we heard were young conservatives trained to make their way through federal institutions over the last 20 years. So rather than a generation of Baby Boomers dominating the bureaucracy, we have less idealistic Gen-exers.
Big deal. As long as they constantly cancel each other out over the long run, I’m fine with that.
Most of the ‘exciting’ progressives on that list ‘bring out racial and gender issues.’
That’s just so done. I hope they go that route.
josh,
Who was in charge of the three branches of the US government between 2001 and 2007?
Commies?
Liberalism is dead… I understand that Liberals only exist as a fringe group. However, ‘Progressives’ or ‘Leftists’ or whatever you want to call them seek the government to actively censor political speech, and to strictly regulate the media if not outright control it.
Leftists want to ban anything not politically correct, Rightists want to ban anything not patriotic. But both stand firm in their belief in strict censorship.
“Who was in charge of the three branches of the US government between 2001 and 2007?
Commies?”
Just about.
I would say that Alistair is correct. The problem is that in my era conservatives have transitioned from Friedman/Buckley to what is largely anti-intellectualism. I suspect that talk radio moved some people toward conservatism for a while, but then became more a form of entertainment that effectively de-intellectualized the conservative movement.
Dirty Mac:
If you want to see something anti-intellectual, watch MSNBC, CNN or any of the Sunday talk shows-you’ll see that while talk radio definitely incorporates entertainment-its a lot more intellectually stimulating than whats on the boob tube.
If these are intellectuals, I’m Albert Einstein…
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