Generation Snowden, Part II: A little learning is dangerous. Less learning, more so.

[flamingdem]

http://tomnichols.net/blog/2013/07/08/generation-snowden-part-ii-a-little-learning-is-dangerous-less-learning-more-so/

In my first crack at defining “Generation Snowden,” the mostly-millenial fan base that supports the actions of the contract employee who skipped off to China and Russia with the National Security Agency’s secrets, I’ve tried to march through a list of generalizations — which I admit are generalizations, by the way — in an attempt to understand how so many younger Americans can admire such a feckless and incompetent person as Ed Snowden.

If you’d like to read that first part, you can find it on my blog here.

The response has been pretty sizable, and as expected (at least to judge by the comments here on the blog and on Twitter), the battle lines pretty much do pit the angry 20-somethings against the disgusted over-35 set. There were exceptions on both sides, but the arguments seem to sort out more by generational than partisan lines, which is kind of what I expected.


So far, I’ve listed three characteristics about that group of millennials that that I call “Generation Snowden” that I think explain both Snowden and the admiration he’s gotten from his fans.

1. The unprecedented fragility of their egos after lifetimes of doing very little of note. (“Narcissistic praise-hounds,” as Morley Safer called them in a 2007 60 Minutes profile. And if you think I’ve been rough on the millennials, you should read the transcript of that broadcast here. You will weep for the future.)

[RobertEarl]

1. Your're just mad because Obama has failed, right, flamer?

Obama has failed to catch Snowden.

All the king's horses and all the king's men can't put the NSA back together again.

The future to weep for is the future that the old farts have presented the rest of the world. A world of climate change and being wiretapped from cradle to grave. Screw the old farts.

[flamingdem]

2. I think you know from my previous history that I'm not a one dimensional poster here

So what's up with you needing to label me like I'm an idiot?

[NineNightsHanging]

4. Ah, a generational smear

I only had a chance to do the briefest of skimming, but seeing the writer approvingly quote a confirmed douchebag like PJ Orourke while labeling Chomsky a "conspiracy kook" (!) doesn't really inspire me to pursue it much further.

Now let's see. The author of the piece was also an advisor to a Republican senator. Shall we dig deeper? One good smear deserves another.

[flamingdem]

3. Did you read the article? Do you agree

about a generational difference in how Snowden is seen?

I think the article is pretty negative but the part about generations is worth discussing.

I would be pissed if I was young and inheriting such a climate mess too