By Vikram Srinivasan
There is something about youth that is uniquely susceptible to hubris.
The phenomenon may help to explain why so many young people have an uncanny affinity both for utopian ideology and for the elitist snobbery, sometimes masquerading as self-anointed intellectualism,which accompanies it. Students today seem increasingly elitist in their political views, as they dismiss the reactions and arguments of those who they deem less educated than they are.
Not only is this supreme self-confidence hysterically unwarranted, it hinders a great deal of actual learning. It dovetails with an obnoxious belief …

By Justin Robinette
We have heard a lot recently about a return to core conservatism being, necessarily, a return to social conservatism.  Many within the party have reacted to the failed 2008 Republican Party and have adopted the view that the failure of the McCain-Palin ticket was a combination both of the continuation of George W. Bush’s “compassionate conservatism,” and the moderation taken to social issues by Senator McCain, and by extension his family and his campaign staff, publicly.
The general view of the Republican Party as the party of white, religious …

By Justin Robinette
The International House and Multicultural Center merger has done more than spark debate.  In some students and student groups the issue has unleashed deep-seated anger at an administration seen as unresponsive or un-engaging of student concerns.
This concern arose primarily as a result of what was viewed by the student body this past November as administrative indifference, and decision-making made behind closed doors regarding minority students’ campus resources.
The virtual termination of the Multicultural Center (MCC) by merging it with the International House (I-House) should be a topic for student …

By Lingfeng Li
Not content to merely spend money it doesn’t have, our government wants you to join in the spending too.
The health care reform bill, recently passed in both the House and Senate, will require all Americans to buy insurance, even if they would rather spend their money on other ventures.  The bill is especially pertinent to young adults, who have the highest uninsured rates of any age group.
Based on Census Bureau data covering 2006-2007, there are roughly 19 million young adults adults (aged 18-34) without insurance number, about 41 …

By Lingfeng Li and Trent Serwetz
As we look forward to the 2010 elections, The Gothic Guardian sat down with Frank Roche, a Republican candidate for the United States Congress representing North Carolina, for an interview.Our interview with BJ Lawson, Roche’s opponent in the Republican primary, can be found here.

The Candidate
Frank Roche values courage – he uses the word directly no less than five times during the course of an hour-long interview, and alludes to it in countless other instances.
Courage may explain his choice to run for U.S. Congress in …

By Trent Serwetz
Everyone knows what a political conservative sounds like; as soon as a person starts going off about tax cuts or defensive spending, it becomes an ostensible fact that they are conservative. But where did conservatism come from, and why do certain views resonate with us as conservative, while others don’t?
Edmund Burke, one of the philosophical founders of modern conservatism, sympathized with the colonists during the American Revolution because he felt that the English taxation was an arbitrary and oppressive use of government power1.
Adam Smith, the other grandfather of …

By Joey Lauer
I believe in America. America is the leader of the free world, the strongest military power, and a beacon of freedom for the world. America is great, and I’m not afraid to admit it.
There is no need to apologize for our greatness. We set the bar high to be an example for other nations to follow. We are a protector of world order, and we value freedom above all else. America strives to do what is right.
America makes mistakes, and we are certainly not perfect. There are always …