In an effort to bring the war closer to home, our YAL group at Ole Miss decided to create a memorial for all the Mississippians that have lost their lives in the Iraq War. We called it the, "Mississippi Wall of Innocence."
YAL is excited to announce the addition of political cartoonist and illustrator Brian Defferding to its staff. With that said, we bring you Brian's first YAL exclusive political cartoon.
Here are some recent news stories on YAL chapter activities. If you're a member of one of these chapters, congratulations! (And if your chapter isn't in the news, why not?)
From the American Conservative website I found a link to this article by Robert Samuelson on "The Real Generation Gap." After noting some comparatively superficial differences between the "Millenials" (those under 29) and their elders such as tattoos and social networking habits, Samuelson mentions some more serious differences:
Only 2% of young people are veterans, compared to 13 to 24% in older generations
Only half of those under 29 oppose gay marriage and only 5% oppose interracial marriage; again, the numbers in older generations are significantly higher
Nonetheless, all age groups place nearly the same value on owning a home, having a successful marriage, and believing in God
Unemployment has hit the young the hardest: only 41% of those 18 to 29 have a full time job right now, and 37% are unemployed entirely
Young people voted 2:1 for Obama, but polls show their interest in him is already waning
Five days ago college campuses across the country erupted in riots over hikes in student fees and tuition. Complaining about "government imposed austerity measures" was the students' goal as they protested to preserve what is so obviously their right: Using ever larger amounts of other people's unwillingly given money to pay for their educations.
The real problem is the entire student loan system is a scam. The government guarantees student loans so colleges have every reason to make the loans no matter how poor the student or how high the cost of education relative to job pay upon graduation.
Government guaranteeing the loans makes the money readily available to all takers driving up the cost of education.
It's an argument Peter Schiff has made repeatedly -- and one the March 4 protesters would be wise to consider.
A new article has come out about Indiana University's refusal to fund a Tom Woods speech on campus. The piece is extremely critical of the YAL group there, essentially charging the students with misrepresenting the situation. Meanwhile, the lectures board which rejected Woods is lauded as a model of fairness and order -- despite the fact that it is that very board which has now changed its story in a dramatic and revealing fashion (first Woods was lacking "sufficient academic credibility," but now the problem is that the YAL group plans things too well).
But this ridiculous article speaks for itself, really, so I'll just let you read it for yourself (and check out the discussion of it on Ron Paul Forums and the comments on the article itself):
Group needs talking-to about bias
by Mike Leonard
It’s a favorite and well-worn tactic of the far right to complain that they’re abused minorities on college campuses and the hypocritical left is denying them their rights.
These are folks who come from the same ideological tree that touts majority rule when they find themselves in the majority. The same people who opposed civil rights in the 1960s and continue to show themselves as hostile to programs for racial and ethnic minorities. People who label pleas for fair treatment of gays and lesbians as preferential treatment.
Friends, I'm just utterly stoked to inform you that Young Americans for Liberty at Middle Tennessee State University has successfully placed one of their members, Christopher S. Burks, in the Student Government Association as a Senator. He already has several pieces of legislature written! As far as I know, he is the only liberty-minded person in the Senate, but maybe this will be an opportunity for him to rally an opposition force in the current "lame-duck" SGA. Here's the official statement from the campaign page:
Dear friends,
I'm happy to report that we were successful in our campaign, but just barely; this was a very close election. I was elected into the 7th spot by 7 votes!
I really have to thank Stephen Parvin and Eric Sharp for all their help in this campaign; I also thank all the YAL/C4L members that helped to spread the message.
Thank you also to all those who voted for me, and believed in the message of liberty.
For the past month, the University of Washington’s socialist clubs promoted a strike against the budget cuts, which resulted in higher tuition. Rather than decrease regulation and state involvement to promote competition and lower prices, they propose salary caps, a state income tax for only wealthy Washingtonians, and a freeze on tuition. In an effort to remind people that more government is not the solution, the local YAL chapter stepped up and hosted a counter-strike. We sent in letters to the editor, chapter members were interviewed by local news stations and newspapers and we were photographed dozens of times as we stood in the center of a crowd of hundreds of socialists.
The event was overall peaceful, with the strikers preferring to use obstruction of traffic and words as their weapons of choice. Our personal favorite? "YAL is a corporation! Capitalists!"
On a side note, Washington State now has its first high school YAL chapter at Gig Harbor High School! Erik Nilsen and Dillon Hall are stepping up to spearhead recruitment efforts on campus. Check them out here.
Five days ago
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