Thursday, May 25, 2006

Darwinian non-voters


America's Scary Non-Voters :: thetyee.ca

[N]on-voters appear particularly attracted to things that give them "strong jolts of sensation" – extreme sports, gambling, realistic video games, and psychotropic drugs...Even more worrying, however, is the rise in the values that Adams categorizes as "Darwinism and exclusion." Those who embrace these values, he writes, demonstrate "a mindset that sees brutal competition as a natural, exhilarating, and even cleansing condition for human coexistence …a dog-eat-dog world in which winners win by any means necessary, including violence, and losers get what they deserve – and are unworthy of sympathy or help.

That's seems right--and it's depressing. Is it what's this younger generation coming to or is it just a feature of being young as such?

Probably the latter. That's the sexual meat market: "only the brave deserve the fair." Young males fight for dominance. The alpha males collect harems--the losers "get what they deserve." Women "get attention" so long as they're good for breeding--then get thrown away. That at least is my son's conjecture--that when women get old they bug their kids because they can't "get attention" anymore. Probably better for women since almost all women get their innings even if all eventually get thrown away whereas, in this state of nature, most males never even get a shot.

I suppose it's the more hopeful scenario because it suggests that people will grow out of it. BUT WHEN?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

What has this age group been presented with? Violent, cynical music and games have been in vogue as long as they can remember, Clinton had sex with that woman, Bush stole an election, September 11th, Iraq, bin Laden still at large. Politics has become more cynical, more polarized than in many years. Popular media has presented politics in an increasingly divisive and cynical way that reflects and reinforces this (though The West Wing wasn't that way). On a broader level, religion and belief in objective values have waned somewhat; materialism and consumerism are evergrowing. What could have kept this trend among youth from coming about, given these circumstances? Looks like a natural reaction to me. They'll grow out of it somewhat, I suppose, but not without losses, and the general trend in the future may not be a good one. Or I may just worry too much.

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