Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
Showing Original Post only (View all)8 Reasons Young Americans Don’t Fight Back [View all]
http://www.liberalamerica.org/2014/06/08/young-americans-dont-fight-back/The ruling elite has created social institutions that have subdued young Americans and broken their spirit of resistance.
Traditionally, young people have energized democratic movements. So it is a major coup for the ruling elite to have created societal institutions that have subdued young Americans and broken their spirit of resistance to domination. Young Americanseven more so than older Americansappear to have acquiesced to the idea that the corporatocracy can completely screw them and that they are helpless to do anything about it. A 2010 Gallup poll asked Americans Do you think the Social Security system will be able to pay you a benefit when you retire? Among 18- to 34-years-olds, 76 percent of them said no. Yet despite their lack of confidence in the availability of Social Security for them, few have demanded it be shored up by more fairly payroll-taxing the wealthy; most appear resigned to having more money deducted from their paychecks for Social Security, even though they dont believe it will be around to benefit them.
1. Student-Loan Debt. Large debtand the fear it createsis a pacifying force. There was no tuition at the City University of New York when I attended one of its colleges in the 1970s, a time when tuition at many U.S. public universities was so affordable that it was easy to get a B.A. and even a graduate degree without accruing any student-loan debt. While those days are gone in the United States, public universities continue to be free in the Arab world and are either free or with very low fees in many countries throughout the world. The millions of young Iranians who risked getting shot to protest their disputed 2009 presidential election, the millions of young Egyptians who risked their lives earlier this year to eliminate Mubarak, and the millions of young Americans who demonstrated against the Vietnam War all had in common the absence of pacifying huge student-loan debt.
...
2. Psychopathologizing and Medicating Noncompliance.
In 1955, Erich Fromm, the then widely respected anti-authoritarian leftist psychoanalyst, wrote, Today the function of psychiatry, psychology and psychoanalysis threatens to become the tool in the manipulation of man. Fromm died in 1980, the same year that an increasingly authoritarian America elected Ronald Reagan president, and an increasingly authoritarian American Psychiatric Association added to their diagnostic bible (then the DSM-III) disruptive mental disorders for children and teenagers such as the increasingly popular oppositional defiant disorder (ODD). The official symptoms of ODD include often actively defies or refuses to comply with adult requests or rules, often argues with adults, and often deliberately does things to annoy other people.
...
6. The Normalization of Surveillance. The fear of being surveilled makes a population easier to control. While the National Security Agency (NSA) has received publicity for monitoring American citizens email and phone conversations, and while employer surveillance has become increasingly common in the United States, young Americans have become increasingly acquiescent to corporatocracy surveillance because, beginning at a young age, surveillance is routine in their lives. Parents routinely check Web sites for their kids latest test grades and completed assignments, and just like employers, are monitoring their childrens computers and Facebook pages. Some parents use the GPS in their childrens cell phones to track their whereabouts, and other parents have video cameras in their homes. Increasingly, I talk with young people who lack the confidence that they can even pull off a party when their parents are out of town, and so how much confidence are they going to have about pulling off a democratic movement below the radar of authorities?
Traditionally, young people have energized democratic movements. So it is a major coup for the ruling elite to have created societal institutions that have subdued young Americans and broken their spirit of resistance to domination. Young Americanseven more so than older Americansappear to have acquiesced to the idea that the corporatocracy can completely screw them and that they are helpless to do anything about it. A 2010 Gallup poll asked Americans Do you think the Social Security system will be able to pay you a benefit when you retire? Among 18- to 34-years-olds, 76 percent of them said no. Yet despite their lack of confidence in the availability of Social Security for them, few have demanded it be shored up by more fairly payroll-taxing the wealthy; most appear resigned to having more money deducted from their paychecks for Social Security, even though they dont believe it will be around to benefit them.
1. Student-Loan Debt. Large debtand the fear it createsis a pacifying force. There was no tuition at the City University of New York when I attended one of its colleges in the 1970s, a time when tuition at many U.S. public universities was so affordable that it was easy to get a B.A. and even a graduate degree without accruing any student-loan debt. While those days are gone in the United States, public universities continue to be free in the Arab world and are either free or with very low fees in many countries throughout the world. The millions of young Iranians who risked getting shot to protest their disputed 2009 presidential election, the millions of young Egyptians who risked their lives earlier this year to eliminate Mubarak, and the millions of young Americans who demonstrated against the Vietnam War all had in common the absence of pacifying huge student-loan debt.
...
2. Psychopathologizing and Medicating Noncompliance.
In 1955, Erich Fromm, the then widely respected anti-authoritarian leftist psychoanalyst, wrote, Today the function of psychiatry, psychology and psychoanalysis threatens to become the tool in the manipulation of man. Fromm died in 1980, the same year that an increasingly authoritarian America elected Ronald Reagan president, and an increasingly authoritarian American Psychiatric Association added to their diagnostic bible (then the DSM-III) disruptive mental disorders for children and teenagers such as the increasingly popular oppositional defiant disorder (ODD). The official symptoms of ODD include often actively defies or refuses to comply with adult requests or rules, often argues with adults, and often deliberately does things to annoy other people.
...
6. The Normalization of Surveillance. The fear of being surveilled makes a population easier to control. While the National Security Agency (NSA) has received publicity for monitoring American citizens email and phone conversations, and while employer surveillance has become increasingly common in the United States, young Americans have become increasingly acquiescent to corporatocracy surveillance because, beginning at a young age, surveillance is routine in their lives. Parents routinely check Web sites for their kids latest test grades and completed assignments, and just like employers, are monitoring their childrens computers and Facebook pages. Some parents use the GPS in their childrens cell phones to track their whereabouts, and other parents have video cameras in their homes. Increasingly, I talk with young people who lack the confidence that they can even pull off a party when their parents are out of town, and so how much confidence are they going to have about pulling off a democratic movement below the radar of authorities?
Great read, I highly recommend it.
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
66 replies, 5400 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (71)
ReplyReply to this post
66 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Well, your generation did both. Much like my generation and the "War on Terror."
Gravitycollapse
Jun 2014
#21
So let me get this straight, you are trying to argue that my generation is too focused on money...
Gravitycollapse
Jun 2014
#25
You seem to be on this kick that EVERYONE in America bought into the Cold War.
Spitfire of ATJ
Jun 2014
#29
Bought into it? You and your fellow tax payers were one of its chief financiers.
Gravitycollapse
Jun 2014
#31
Uh huh,...the Teabaggers are rebelling against conservatives for not being conservative enough.
Spitfire of ATJ
Jun 2014
#36
even on DU if young people try to voice opinions/experiences/concerns they are shouted down
Tuesday Afternoon
Jun 2014
#12
We want to listen to you as well. The point is for everyone to listen and learn.
Gravitycollapse
Jun 2014
#26
Thank you and keep reading this thread for the other replies to my post.
Tuesday Afternoon
Jun 2014
#53
I don't agree with this blanket assertion. I DO know that, at 64, I will take issue with any poster
WinkyDink
Jun 2014
#51
That is your option and your experience on this website. I have seen differently. Especially in
Tuesday Afternoon
Jun 2014
#52
This is a bit depressing. I hope it hasn't gone that far, but fear it has.
mountain grammy
Jun 2014
#14
Minus the bit on electronics, all of that could be said about any generation.
Gravitycollapse
Jun 2014
#27
Don't forget the efforts to reduce and remove all normal levels of violence from childhood...
Antler
Jun 2014
#43
I think it's simply that there is no Draft, and the young are indoctrinated to seek wealth and fame.
WinkyDink
Jun 2014
#50