A "friend" unfriended me very publicly and vulgarly on Facebook over Obamacare. Obviously, he was on what I consider the wrong side of that argument.

Beautifully and straight-forwardly written, TR... and, yes, I fear you are right on all accounts.  I keep thinking, on my daily commute, that this Western world is becoming merely an edifice; the technologically-driven exterior of a decaying interior.  It is ostensibly opulent, but inside there is a thin cynicism, a wanton ignorance, and a bellicose hedonism that is eating away at the guts of us.  What's worse, the cynics and hedonists fancy themselves superior, insist that by destroying tradition they are ushering in a more just world, that anyone who disagrees with them is (insert bigot, racist, sexist, homophobe, etc.), and seem to relish their wanton ignorance.  Your question hits it spot on:

"Don’t most of twenty-somethings simply believe the modern world, with all its electronic devices, just sprang fully-formed into existence sometime in the 1980s?"

Yes, I should think they do.  They've been taught what to think, not how to think. 

I often tell my children that this American freedom and wealth is the anomaly in history and try to explain how it happened.  I wonder if, in the years to come, that understanding will only bring them grief.  Ecclesiastes 1:18. 

Yes, Yes, Yes!  Oh, how we need someone with executive competence in the oval office.  And Governor Walker's approach of explaining conservative programs and values is just the kind of candidate that might win over moderates because he'll sound reasonable while espousing conservative principles (conservative principles are eminently reasonable, it's just that the media demonizes them and we put up candidates who can't defend them very well... though Governor Romney has executive competence in spades). 

Mitch Daniels was my #1 pick in the last election.  Alas, he did not run (still seen as a shirking of duty in some circles).  Governor Walker would be in that same vein and I would prefer him over any of the Senators. 

Thanks for the video, Troy... I'm off to Starbuck's... you know why. 

Oh, c'mon TR, it's just thatRealcommunism has never been tried.  It was corrupted by those thugs who took over (Mao, Lenin, Stalin, PolPot)... (said with complete disregard for the fact that concentrating that much power in a few hands will always end with those being the hands of thugs). 

Reality. 

I am rarely closer to God than when performing the Christmas Cantata with my church's choir... provided it is a traditional (or modern with traditional) composition.  It is transporting to hear beautiful choral music, especially many of the classic hymns that use or reinforce scripture. 

Thank you for this post.  Some of the music in the links was just lovely. 

Brent, the more I read your posts, the more I think we are of like mind (I was even born in '67, assuming that's what the 67 in Brent67 represents).  Well said, sir.  Pithy and to the point. 

As for young Mr. Manning; you stick your thumb in Rome's eye, don't expect to be around long.  And while we're on the subject, Assange should have been dead by now, too... very publicly.  It may be brutal, but, as Dennis Miller said about Frank Sinatra: "The Chairman didn't make his bones laying down for punks outside the Fontainebleau." 

As for the "I Am Bradley Manning" crowd...

I am Bradley Manning…’s executioner. 

What self-absorbed, blame-America-first, petulant, narcissistic, adolescent, leftist, nonsense.  He didn’t report it to his superiors… he stole information and leaked it to a citizen of a foreign country, an America-bashing leftist hack.  I’m sick to death of these ignorant, pseudo-intellectual idiots and their moral preening.  Act, sing, and shut the **** up already! 

Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines inRunning Scared. 

Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce (reluctantly resolved) inL.A. Confidential. 

Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins in The Shawshank Redemption. 

Bruce Willis and Reginald VelJohnson inDie Hard. 

.. and for the raunchy crowd.. Jay Mewes & Kevin Smith inDogma. 

In literature:

David Copperfield and Thomas Traddles inDavid Copperfield. 

David Copperfield and James Steerforth inDavid Copperfield(though this one is more of a mentor-type relationship). 

Nicholas Nickleby and Smike in Nicholas Nickleby. 

Antonio and Bassanio inThe Merchant of Venice. 

Ishmael and Queequeg inMoby Dick. 

Holmes & Watson in Arthur Conan Doyle'sSherlock Holmesstories. 

Well said, though he does apper to have been the best of the B-Team (again, what should have been President Daniels).  I think we in the hinterlands know what might win elections (appeals to first principles, free markets, and opportunity), but the party (ahem, Mr. Rove) doesn't seem to. 

Interesting hypothesis, but doesn't the fact that we nominated Mitt Romney to be our standard-bearer last year refute this claim?  Admittedly, he wasn't many of our first choice (I remain disappointed in Mitch Daniels for shirking his duty) because he wasn't the voice of first principles, but he was hardly a hard right idealogue either, no? 

But, we have you.. and that ain't nothin'.  Another good example of the stellar young people on Ricochet.  You give some hope. 

That really is the question, isn't it?  Curmudgeons like me can analyze the problem all day long, but have no solutions.  The solutions I would recommend aren't politically palatable (reduce social programs, loser pays on law suits, etc.). 

I guess I'll lob it back in your court and ask what you would have told the Romans soon after they lost the Republic, or the Brits after WWII?  I'm not sure the decline can be stopped at this point, and it makes me supremely heartsick to think it, much less say or write it. 

Though his formulation may be a bit hokey at times, perhaps Spengler was onto something inDecline of the West.  He was maybe just about half a century too early. 

We have this rich heritage; monotheism from the Hebrews, systematic rationality from the Greeks, representative government from the Romans, common law & property rights from the Brits, separation of powers from the French (Montesqueue), yet we're losing history's greatest Republic out of ignorance... and seemingly engineered or wanton ignorance at that.  Sigh...

Interesting points (and admittedly more eloquent & thoughtful than what I wrote) but isn't that last sentence roughly tantamount to saying 40% of the country needs to shut up and get comfortable with the fact that there will be no one representing their views in government? 

Well no.  Young people are idiots.  It's a gross oversimplification and there are some stellar young people here on Ricochet, but in general, they're mostly uninformed (as I was), highly susceptible to manipulation, but terribly judgmental about what little they do know (Reagan; "our liberal friends aren't stupid, they just know so much that isn't so").  Anything with an R by it is evil.  We saw it in the last election... college educated young people who couldn't find jobs commensurate with their educations, enthusiastically pulled the D lever in the voting booth, felt morally superior, then went back and clocked in at The Gap. 

They say they support these reforms in surveys, but refuse to vote for anyone who actually wants to tackle them because that might mean (heaven forbid.. though few of them believe in that either) they would have to vote for someone who might have an R by their name, might be pro-life (bible-thumper!), might have reservations about gay marriage (bigot!), might want to cut taxes (for the rich!), or who question the efficacy of regulation (let the corporations rape the environment!).  Again, it's simplistic, but there it is. 

Oh the humanity...

Evan Sayet, a comedian, has one of the best lectures I've seen trying to explain the "liberal" mindset.  Addresses your question as to why some people hold to what is obviously, demonstrably a destructive philosophy. 

Check it out... well worth half an hour or so.