War, Peace and Politics
In his recent speech to the United Nations, President Obama said, “yearning for peace is universal”. However, according to Zogby Interactive data, a majority of Americans believe that, at the very least, yearning for war is, likewise, universal. According to our July 2008 poll of American adults, 58% of adults agree that “waging war is a part of human nature”, compared to 32% who disagree. Although Republicans are much more likely to hold this view than Democrats (75% vs. 41%), First Globals™ (18 – 29 year olds), the age-group most likely to have voted for Obama, is also the generation most likely (63%) to believe that humans are naturally violent.
This runs contrary to the view of young adults as naïve and idealistic and shows them to be in some ways perhaps more cynical than older generations such as President Obama’s. Do you think that First Globals’ apparent cynicism could play a role in the First Globals’ support for the President?
Loading ...
I wouldn’t necessarily say the 18-19 crowd is cynical but perhaps they’re more “aware” of the state of the world than some have given them credit.
This crowd has benn and is being daily indoctinated by electronic games and other media. Also almost half of their lives have been spent post 9/11 and during the Bush administration. Amazing how children are carefully taught to fear and fight imagined evils based on the spin of actual events by politicians and several popular news media.
The one observable truth of Christian theology is our sin nature, call it defective DNA if you wish.
Afghanistan, for example. They enjoy fighting and war. If they run out of foreigners to kill, they kill each other which is why Afghanistan has never been successfully invaded. For that matter, Russia. The US is to young to conclude anything.
Young adults I know seem to have more on the ball than most old adults I know.
It bodes well, I think.
Because the world is such a fouled up place (compared to what our minds can visualize as “ideal”),
it is easy to mistake a clear perception of reality for cynicism.
To answer the question: yes.
I agree with most of everybody’s responses.
Who needs a video game. Just watch TV and see people at the town hall meetings.