"So we need to have next generation of people starting from scratch, questioning everything, otherwise we would be stuck with the old ways of doing things."
This is a very important concept - and one I would like to help illustrate with a thought experiment:
Think of the most liberal, progressive thinker[1] you can from the 19th century. I don't know ... Karl Marx ? Tolstoy ? Lincoln ? Whomever ...
Now, hold that thought ... and think of the most reactionary, "conservative", bigoted, old-fashioned public figure you can ... Mike Huckabee, perhaps ?
I will now suggest that Mike Huckabee, in almost every imaginable measure, is more progressive and liberal than (whomever you chose in step one). Mike Huckabees wife has worn pants. Mike Huckabee has spoken to a divorced woman in public. Mike Huckabee has probably used birth control.[2]
See how fast that happened ? In less than 200 years, the political window has shifted far enough that the most reactionary, right wing member in 2016 is more liberal and more progressive than the most liberal and progressive figures from the prior period.
How will that work if people from 200 (or 300 or 400) years ago are not only still around, but presumably well funded with vast stores of capital ?
[1] let's limit it to very well known, universally recognized figures...
[2] Ok, I'm not sure about that one, but you get the point ...
The neoreactionaries flip it the other way; they would shove this thought experiment in the faces of "conservatives" and say, "Haven't you, by any reasonable measure, failed utterly and completely in achieving any of your political goals? Do you have any reason to believe this will change in the future?"
This is a very important concept - and one I would like to help illustrate with a thought experiment:
Think of the most liberal, progressive thinker[1] you can from the 19th century. I don't know ... Karl Marx ? Tolstoy ? Lincoln ? Whomever ...
Now, hold that thought ... and think of the most reactionary, "conservative", bigoted, old-fashioned public figure you can ... Mike Huckabee, perhaps ?
I will now suggest that Mike Huckabee, in almost every imaginable measure, is more progressive and liberal than (whomever you chose in step one). Mike Huckabees wife has worn pants. Mike Huckabee has spoken to a divorced woman in public. Mike Huckabee has probably used birth control.[2]
See how fast that happened ? In less than 200 years, the political window has shifted far enough that the most reactionary, right wing member in 2016 is more liberal and more progressive than the most liberal and progressive figures from the prior period.
How will that work if people from 200 (or 300 or 400) years ago are not only still around, but presumably well funded with vast stores of capital ?
[1] let's limit it to very well known, universally recognized figures...
[2] Ok, I'm not sure about that one, but you get the point ...