----never in the history of this country has there been such an evil generation.----
"Narcissistic and selfish", certainly, which ultimately leads to the same thing.
-Dan
Posted on 06/15/2005 6:43:04 PM PDT by CHARLITE
In his new book, Porn Generation, Ben Shapiro mocks the absurdity of some common liberal solutions to society’s ills. He exposes the outrageous advice of liberal celebrities and media figures, detailing how liberals have transformed the overthrow of traditional values into an art: by methodically watering down religion, undermining parental authority, and giving all views equal legitimacy, they’ve produced the cultural crisis that we see today.
This approach has left my generation plagued with moral relativism, narcissism, and many other unintended consequences that the hippie generation is unwilling to take responsibility for and which the aging leftists that now control academia are still trying to promote. By detailing this, Shapiro provides the slap in the face that America needs.
Perhaps my experiences at Wellesley College make me especially ready to embrace Shapiro’s ideas, but I would argue that anyone would consider this book a quick read and (if they have the stomach for it) hard to put down.
Porn Generation has all of the bite and harshness of a young conservative who has been pushed to the edge by the constant force of liberal propaganda within our education system, yet it also presents arguments which are thorough and unavoidably convincing for even the most liberally-minded.
Shapiro details the chronology of society’s moral breakdown – explaining how today’s trends can be traced back to the Kinsey study in the ‘40s, the Clinton scandal in the ‘90s, and other prominent events that changed our understanding of sexuality and culture.
Loaded with quality conservative sarcasm, this book analyzes the hypocrisy enveloping the liberal machine and looks at the various aspects of our culture – teen magazines, pop celebrities, and commercial marketing – that influence our youth.
The one warning that I must issue before encouraging you to read this book is that it does have very provocative titles and explicit language. The irony, however, is that this language is nothing that we do not see or hear every day watching the news, listening to the radio, reading popular magazines, or attending university seminars. Shapiro calls conservatives and liberals alike on their hypocrisy for buying into the new culture that they condemn in principle, yet support with their wallets.
Shapiro points out the craziness of a society which turns criminals into multi-millionaire rap stars, especially when they teach boys “that it’s okay to treat women like dirt” and that these “contemporary buffoons, vulgarians and misogynists are…the ones who are ‘keeping it real’,” while teaching young girls that boys only want strippers and prostitutes.
He argues that youth cling to “gangsta’ rap” because it “distances them from their parents, and in some sense, serves as a rejection of their parents’ culture and their race itself.” This new mentality, according to Shapiro, has only served to promote moral relativism and give young whites the “false impression that [gangsta’ rap] actually represents mainstream black America.” This highlights the hypocrisy of multiculturalism and empowerment within my generation. As the Rev. Al Sharpton said, “Civil rights marchers didn’t march so that a rapper ‘has the right to call your mama a ho.’”
Shapiro looks with disdain at the careers of pop idols Madonna; the former-Mouseketeers-turned-Madonna-wannabes Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera; and newest Disney “pop tarts” Hillary Duff (who hasn’t sold out yet) and Lindsay Lohan (who has). He also looks at the lyrics from such “artists” as Kurt Cobain (Nirvana), Ozzy Osbourne (who compared Bush to Hitler just months after the President complimented him on his music success), and Marilyn Manson.
He lauds these artists on a few points, praising Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder for declaring that “any generation that would pick Kurt [Cobain] or [Eddie Vedder] as its spokesman… must be a pretty f–up generation” and admitting that Britney Spears is right about one thing: “It’s a fantasy world that [she’s] doing…It’s up to the parents to explain that to their children.”
Shapiro highlights a critical disconnect between parents and the current generation, citing such figures as: “While only 15 percent of surveyed parents believed that their teens had gone beyond kissing, 27 percent of teens reported being with someone in an intimate or sexual way.”
The recurring theme of this book is that parents are increasingly being cut out of the loop, with schools replacing their authority in sex ed, teenybopper magazines telling their kids what to think and “how to exploit…‘rents into letting [them] date,” and music contributing to the clash of generations. He summarizes his view of teenybopper magazines with the question “Where the hell are your parents?”
This book is the ultimate summary of how we “have been re-defining deviancy so as to exempt much conduct previously stigmatized,” while concurrently defining deviancy up so that the normal has been made to be found deviant. It differs from other conservative crisis-of-our-age books in that he doesn’t just scream bloody murder at the problems caused by the liberal hijacking of our culture, but also offers shrewd solutions for how each of us can help restore and transform our culture.
Overall, Porn Generation is well worth reading and very enjoyable -- assuming you can stomach knowing exactly how disgusting our culture is.
Maribeth Armitage is a former Witherspoon Fellow and a graduate of Wellesley College. She managed a congressional campaign in Boston before coming to work for Townhall.com.
I can't wait till Madonna's kids go to school and find Momma's silly book.... Bet they will be so proud, especially about that page with the dog.
liberals refer to that process as being "radicalized".
never in the history of this country has there been such an evil generation.
It is soooo refreshing to read articles like this. Finally, people are stating to realize the hard work that is needed to save our society from utter destruction.
When it comes to marriage: would you go on a cruise ship if 60% of the cruise ships sank?
Why get married, since 60% end in divorce?
If you do get married, be sure you know about the lifeboats.
Generation Reagan ping!
The "consequences" ARE intended. That's the plan from the start.
Wanna bet? Liberals are deliberately dense. No matter how well thought out and factual and convincing of an argument you give them, they simply do not care. To them, it just isn't right that a person who worked 70 hour weeks for 10 years is now worth $10 million dollars while Bubba and Antwone did just enough work to buy Friday's beer and cocaine while being the sperm donors of 7 kids by 5 different women. To the liberal, the guy who worked his butt off OWES Bubba's and Antwone's ho's and sperm donations a living.
Whoa, be careful. Diss porn & about 1/3 of the Freepers will jump down your throat.
Why live when everyone dies?
Ping list for the discussion of the politics and social (and sometimes nostalgic) aspects that directly effects Generation Reagan / Generation-X (Those born from 1965-1981) including all the spending previous generations (i.e. The Baby Boomers) are doing that Gen-X and Y will end up paying for.
Freep mail me to be added or dropped. See my home page for details and previous articles.
"never in the history of this country has there been such an evil generation."
I don't know, the generations that owned slaves weren't the greatest either. Not that slavery should define those generations that built this country... I'm just glad my "evil" kids still talk to me and tell me how their day went (between rap songs of course). There's alot of bright young people out there who may have the savvy and the guts to make us a greater country. They're the ones that deserve our attention, not the gangsta wannabes.
Char, thanks for the post about PRODIGY Ben Shapiro's new book. The young but intellectually mature Ben Shapiro is one of my heros. His first book BRAINWASHED about academia's leftist proMarxist indoctrination and academia's intolerant "liberal" orthodoxy is an insightful expose.
My mother taught me that movie actors were trashy. There has never before been a society that held any other opinion of entertainers.
"Why get married, since 60% end in divorce?"
Why live when everyone dies?
***!!!
"Narcissistic and selfish", certainly, which ultimately leads to the same thing.
-Dan
uummm, Few Gen-Xers ever picked either of these Bozos as our spokesmen, It was the Baby Boomer writers & suits who gave them that title and forced them on us.
In general I like Ben Shapiro, but he's much better when he's fighting for our country than fighting for (what he believes is) our culture. Culture, by its very definition, changes with each successive generation, while the nature of a nation is fundamentally rooted in its founding principles. In other words, if America's government could fully deal with Islamist terrorism, illegal immigration, and the gross overreach of the federal government, some sleazy singers wouldn't be a big problem. Conversely, ending sleaze and various forms of "immorality" would not do a thing to help terrorism, illegal immigration, or any other of the serious issues with which our government needs to concern itself.
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