One should recognize, however, that Kennedy was far more conservative than the progressive Democrats of today. Don't be fooled by the (D) behind his name. Kennedy was remarkably patriotic and in favor of the open market. He openly called out Communism, even if the "Bay of Pigs" fiasco wasn't his strongest day. That being said, Kennedy was a proponent of liberal social policies. That makes him in my book what we would consider nowadays a Libertarian - certainly not one of the Progressive Liberals that own the current Democratic party.

I'd be willing to bet that many, perhaps even most, Millenials don't know what they are in more than political areas. Try a petition saying, "We reject the labeling of people under 30 as being mammalian." I'll bet you'll get a substantial number who'll sign up.

Yes, I did.. and I used to drink the cool aid.. I mean.. I went to the U of M! My theory is that if I can shake off that level of brainwashing anyone can. I have an older sibling who did the same, but another we lost to an Obama rally and Pearl Jam. Can't win them all.

Do the principles really change, or do people just choose to try to rationalize them away? Do we not argue that humans maintain absolute rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? Are these not absolute principles and standards? Are not the challenges to our liberties nothing more than attempts to rationalize and say that it is okay in certain circumstances to limit or abridge these principles?

Sadly, you are probably right. This keeps going back to Tytler et al "A democracy can't survive........" But pendulums do swing back and forth and I can hope that it does in this case for the sake of my daughter.

I agree, most people change their political leanings as they get older and have kids (responsibility) and pay taxes (realize what those policies cost).

Perhaps I should elaborate on the hippies part. When I say hippies I am not talking about people who have strong ideals, I am talking about trends. You will see the same thing in the "Occupy Wallstreet" Crowd. They decry capitalism as they post videos on their iphones. I talk about the McMansion hippies because I want to point out the hypocrisy. They are liberals who use capitalism to get what they want, but supported the growth of a socialist government because they wanted to "save the poor children". Perhaps I'm too much of an idealist but as far as the government is concerned, we all know the problem is the abuse of the constitution and the gradual destruction of the Republic. There is always a way, human beings have come very far in a very short period of time. Perhaps we should focus on talking about potential solutions. As far as becoming a politician to learn corruption, I would rather die. Living a life of contradictions is no life.

you are not happy about what is going on is a very good observation. now can you and many of your generation start the process of change for the better, when you unfortunately do not know what that is? the government of the usa has been so corrupted since the time of abraham lincoln that I am of the opinion nothing can be done. If your parents were hippies they would never have acquired the 3 car garage or humvee, that is what capitalists do try to better themselves. they were hurt by government interference as you are being affected as well. the answer is to become a politician and learn corruption and you will be set for life, like slick willy and his sidekick.

The hack would be described as a terrorist act. Then a false flag attack would occur and the violence (instigated by the fedgov) blamed on the terrorists.
Violence is unavoidable unless there is support for the 'revolt' from within the fedgov.
imo

This could end up being a very interesting discussion. When you bring up morality, my initial thoughts are ideas of morality in terms of family, marriage, faith.. those things seems to fluctuate over time. What really concerns me is what, in my opinion, is a fundamental base of morality which is the value of human life. Any political, economic, or belief system that devalues human life, and any individual that does not value life is dangerous and needs to be stopped.

I know the type that you mean. Honestly, I'm so busy that I don't think I could kill a battery on my smartphone in a day or two if I tried. I'm only commenting on this now because I'm getting a new desk installed in my office and I have some down time.

There is a lot of entitlement attitude, but I do believe that there is a lot of really impressive people in my generation that just haven't been recognized because it is taking a little longer than usual for us to make it through the ranks.

Keep in mind that we are a generation that is notorious for procrastination. We are putting off marriage for longer, having children for longer, because I think we value choice. I was married at 25 and that is unheard of in my age bracket.

As far as your point about math, I can tell you my wife has little to no use for it because she has me. I was blessed with parents who really pushed the need to be well-grounded in the STEM academic areas, namely mathematics. I took six years of high school math (Algebra, Geometry, Algebra 2, Trigonometry, Calculus I & II) in four years of high school as a matter of fact.

I think too few people in my generation fail to realize two monumental consequences of neglecting mathematics. (1) If it's hard to do, it pays well. (2) If you don't learn it, someone else will.

As far as your quip about a Democratic President, I whole-heartedly agree. But at the risk of sounding like a pinko, I sometimes will watch old speeches from Presidents and have always been fascinated by the tenacity and "can-do"-ism of Kennedy's speech about America going to the Moon at Rice University. It's really what Democrats in my mind should strive for. I could be off base though.

I agree I woke one of my students up when he was saying how proud he was to be a liberal. I then asked him if i could take his grade and give his "extra points" out to other students who may not be passing so that they could pass the class. I assured him he would pass with a minimum of a C. He looked quite offended and said "that is my grade and I have worked hard so far for that A if the other students want to pass they should have to work also." I walked over a shook his hand and said congratulation you sir are a conservative.

I think differences in generations are exaggerated for political purposes. All generations grow more cynical with age and experience. (Is my age showing;^)

I have to agree with Snoogoo on all points. I am a millennial and I am definitely not a liberal. I have worked my self pretty hard to get my education. I had a full time and part time job while in enrolled as a full time college student, Now I have the privilege (insert sarcasm) to teach millennials and other generations at the post high school level. I can say with certainty they (millennials) can be seriously spoiled and can make the worst students. UncommonSense I understand your aghast about the texting, I had a student turn in a 5 page research paper that read as one long text message. No joke it had u instead of you, IDK instead of I don't know, I even say a LOL. I was saddened greatly by this, but it was the easiest paper I had to grade that class. I had another student say they should get a A just because they showed up to class. I almost lost it. I weep for my daughters future because of the now 2nd and soon 3rd generation of children being raised with this sense of entitlement. 2016 will be a telling time and I will be watching the results to see how much further I will shrug.

I wish more of your generation held to those ideals, but I've met way too many who aren't nearly as sensible as you are. They spend all their time on their portable electronics and complaining about how the world "owes" them a living, but who have the work habits of a sloth and have never had to assume responsibility for their actions.

As for being educated, my father teaches remedial college math and there are a lot if people in his classes who can't make change for $1. About 50% can't even do a simple interest calculation. He averages about 5% who come to class and do nothing but play on their phones, but complain when they get failing test scores. I'd love to believe you, but I haven't seen enough evidence yet to persuade me that a change for the better is in the air. If another Democrat gets elected President - as this article seemed to indicate was likely - I'll consider that an unfortunate confirmation.

The encouraging thing is that most of the idiots who answer these polls are too lazy to vote, or view not voting as a kind of rejection of "the establishment".

The millenials I know will be liberal until they realize that their idealism has bankrupted their future. When it hits them in the pocket book - especially their "free" Obamacare, they will sing a different tune. The millienials I know think I am a rich conservative but fail to acknowledge the risks I have taken and are unwilling to do the same. The millineials I know think vacation time is a "right" from the start of any employment and think that showing up on time for work is optional. When those millenials that are dedicated to achievement rise to the top leaving the losers behind - the whole process will recycle with their children (assuming they have kids). History does repeat itself.

My perspective is a little different, yes what you describe is silly, but then I think of the 65 year old co-worker I had who told me she has to work two jobs because her and her husband foreclosed on a house they had lived in for 30+ years.. I asked how the house was foreclosed since after 30 years, their mortgage certainly had been paid for.. then she told me they had a second and third adjustable rate mortgage that "nobody explained to us"... to me that sounds more than just a little stupid.

Well for starters, it doesn't have to be violent. Perhaps a hack all of the major government agencies. Expose the larceny to gain support. Stop the transfer of funds to the government in the form of taxes and fees. Take away their paychecks and the rats will all abandon the ship. Or everyone could just 'Go Galt'. There's more than one way to skin a cat so to speak.

If I may, I would like to chime in and assure you that not all millennials are liberals. I am proof of that.

I have not have everything handed to me, I've worked for mostly everything that I've gotten. I will say that a lot of my cohort is pretty entitled, but keep in mind that we are a product of a generation that consistently told us that as long as we "go to college" that we will "find good work".

No one anticipated the effect of the recession and how that would impact the retirement plans of Baby Boomers who suddenly couldn't afford to retire but instead had to delay it just long enough to stabilize some of what the recession had taken from them.

The unexpected consequence is that now, because of a lack of entry level positions (from the lack of retiring managers/supervisors/executives), millennials began to put off entering the workforce and continued to get more educated to their detriment. That, I will agree, is partially our fault.

Now, instead of just facing the problem of no entry level positions; millenials were now overly educated, and in loads of student loan debt.

I don't believe this generation is totally entitled as it is partially so, but also partially jaded. But the upside to this cynicism is a general distrust in government (which arguably can be equated with a sense of libertarianism).

Because of this, I would reject your original premise on two fronts. We're too "educated" and it causes perceived liberalness, but in reality, we're just as angry as most people who don't believe government is the solution to the problems. In fact, government is the problem.

How they vote doesn't matter because 99% will vote for big givernment in the DemRep tweedledee-tweedledum candidates and think that they made a choice.
Voting is irrelevant.