College liberal

Hmm. I've visited a good many college campuses in my day, and it seems to me that college liberals aren't as common as one might think. I think the reason that they seem to be everywhere is that they are outspoken. Here in Oklahoma, for instance, political conservatism is rampant on college campuses. There is a very popular conservative student newspaper to which students from every major university in the state contribute, and I don't think it's just because this is a conservative state. The students who write in this newspaper are well-articulated and well-reasoned; they aren't KKK misogynists with a vendetta. The University of Oklahoma has a "Jesus Week" (I don't know what it's called for sure) every semester, when Christian Conservatives set up booths on campus and preach at students. At the university I attended, the College Republicans have a prominent place on campus, and there is no branch of College Democrats. The professors here tend to be more conservative than liberal. I tend to sway to the liberal point of view in many political discussions, and when I voice theses opinions in class, I am always in the minority. I've had fellow students tell me that "Women belong in the house, there's no reason for them to be educated," that "Minorities need to just suck it up and fend for themselves," and that "Socialist government programs just keep society from progressing." These are not isolated incidents. Most of the time, the majority of the class will murmur in agreement with such statements.

I know what you're thinking (we liberals can read minds). You're thinking, "But that's just Oklahoma. Don't they still live in mud huts? Don't they still ride tractors to school? Of course they're conservative! Duh!" First of all, Democrats hold the majority in Oklahoma's State Congress, so these college kids aren't just following in Mommy and Daddy's footsteps. Second, it's not just Oklahoma. I've been to universities all over this nation - east, west, north, south - and I find conservative students and professors everywhere I go. I think I know why; see if you can follow me here. Most people go to college so they can earn more money (with the exception of English and History majors). People who want to earn money want to keep it. To which political party do people who want to keep their money turn? The Republican Party, of course. Just because Cornell and Rice University don't have a whole lot of conservative profs doesn't mean that universities everywhere are just chock full of yellow-dog liberals. Of course, you have to look closely sometimes. Maybe the next generation of political conservatives is more complacent now that we're going to have a Republican majority in Congress and a Republican President. So maybe they don't think they have to speak up. So listen closely - very, very closely - and you'll hear a few of them mumbling their way across campus.

College liberalism is a concept invoked by conservatives, generally modern Market Fascists who are appalled by the fact that unlike the rest of society at large, college campuses often have a small percentage of the population who are concerned with injustice, poverty, environmental destruction, things that used to be called 'social ills.'

To these conservatives, the fact that in the midst of a huge population of jocks, money hungry business students, detached drug users, and religious cult members, there are a small number of young people with ideals is unacceptable. This is especially galling to the Authoritarian personality in question because they have a complicated resent/envy relationship with those who have ideals.

They actually claim victimhood with the ludicrous claim that universities are repressive of conservative ideas. They often cite the fact that many of the humanities faculty have liberal ideas, completely ignoring the fact that the departments that really effect public policy, such as Economics, Political Science, and Law, generally have very conservative faculty and students.

They often like to cite the fact that college students are middle or upper middle class, as though this somehow renders their concern for the less fortunate and their concern for the overall quality of life in and direction of society any less valid.