Cover of The Fourth TurningSince reading Howe and Strauss' "The Fourth Turning" (Broadway Books , 1997) in 2000 , I have been on the look-out for the rise of the Heroes: The youth who would supersede Generation X, and take us from the Unraveling of the politically liberal era to the dawn of the Hegelian synthesis, when all which has wreaked havoc and become chaos proves to contain a secret new order. This generation is termed "Millennial" by Neil Howe and William Strauss in their epic work about America's destiny and the saeculum of history.
Of course they have arrived, because they could do nothing else. They were born after 1984 (give or take); they are the children of the Boomer generation, or the older Generation Xers themselves, in some cases.
What had perplexed me was the lack of any organized presence: Certainly in the media or on Facebook they seemed far less different from their predecessors than Howe and Strauss had depicted them in anticipation.
An accidental Google search has brought to my attention this group ( perhaps being busy in the world of social media has had me out of the loop as of late, because they are quite well established, and predate the Obama presidential campaign by 2 years, being founded in 2006): Youth for Western Civilization.
Their motto is, "Defending the West on Campus" and their logos is Charles Martel's, "The Hammer of the Franks" who defeated Muslim invaders at the Battle of Tours in 732 AD, thus saving Western Civilization.
Our mission is to organize, educate, and train activists dedicated to the revival of Western Civilization.
Organize
Youth for Western Civilization will identify and organize students to form chapters that will host speakers, protests, educational events, and other activities to promote discourse and inspire action on issues of importance to the survival of our civilization.
Educate
Youth for Western Civilization will print a publication and host study groups and discussions for the benefit of our members and the public at large.
Train
Youth for Western Civilization will host conferences, training workshops, and education in political technology to make members more effective in executing the goals stated above.
Why We Care About Western Civilization
It is ours. We have the self-evident right and duty to work for the survival of our own culture and civilization.
While this reason is sufficient in itself, Western Civilization has also given priceless gifts to the rest of mankind, including advances in medicine, the arts, and scientific exploration.
There is no reason to believe that the advances of modernity and the political freedoms we enjoy will endure with the extinction of the civilization that allowed them to exist. Western Civilization is our civilization and in spite of the continual assault and hatred it endures from the radical left, we wish to revive the West, rather than see our civilization be sent to the graveyard of history.
While this reason is sufficient in itself, Western Civilization has also given priceless gifts to the rest of mankind, including advances in medicine, the arts, and scientific exploration.
There is no reason to believe that the advances of modernity and the political freedoms we enjoy will endure with the extinction of the civilization that allowed them to exist. Western Civilization is our civilization and in spite of the continual assault and hatred it endures from the radical left, we wish to revive the West, rather than see our civilization be sent to the graveyard of history.
I contacted their organization to inform them that I would be doing a brief piece on them, and asked for their official statement on gay rights and gay marriage. I received the following guarded but reasonable response from Kevin Deanna:
"It's not our main issue. We are mostly a socially conservative group, but we are concerned with issues of multiculturalism, racial preferences, and mass immigration.
For more information, check out this post."
http://www.westernyouth.org/articles/goproud-reason-video-and-cpac/
Of course with the fight against what they deem "the leftist agenda on college campuses" being the crux of their mission, or at least a substantial aspect of it, they will in all likelihood have to take a firm stance on at least some of the various points of protocol of the current gay movement and its specific plans.
Predictably, there has been a wariness about such a youth group proselityzing on national campuses, and they have already been labeled "racist" and "supremist" by some. ( In fact Howe and Strauss said that this wariness on the part of liberal groups would be a sign that the youth movement was the real deal.)
In any case, this is a group which warrants close watching, and which shows much promise. One can only hope it will fulfill some of the stanzas of unsurpassed beauty and inspiration contained about the Millennials in Howe and Strauss' prophetic work.
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