JB2:
As for the people under 30 wanting socialism.
As someone who has lived under Soviet rule and who studies the mores and attitudes of Gen Y, these suckers are in for a rude awakening.
1) They have been brainwashed by their teachers, it is true.
2) They have pretty high expectation of the kind of life they wish to lead.
3) Once they experience the disconnect between propaganda and reality, they will do a 180 with a vengeance — enough to have made Ayn Rand blush. They absolutely cannot handle the reality of living under socialism, they are way too spoiled.
100% agree with you here. While I was in grad school in the mid-1990s, I became good friends with a woman whose family had just left Romania. They all loved America so much because of the opportunities here. Her dad loved me because I was so pro-capitalism. I listen to someone like Praetorian drone on and on (better get that universal health care passed quick, P, before the French and Germans go bankrupt under the weight of the expenses they’re committed to and show us why such programs are unsustainable) and think, “Man, wouldn’t it be great if we could send him back in time to Romania to see what it was really like?” I’m sure in his own way, Ceauşescu was just as charismatic as Obama.
