In The Young Hipublicans, John Colapinto talks about what he insists on labelling as "right-wing" or "conservative" activists. He quotes David Brock, a lefty turned righty turned lefty:

"The right try to instigate polarization so that it looks like the right wing is the alternative to the left."

but then Colapinto admits that

the left has unwittingly helped to energize the conservative movement. Visit any college campus today, and you're struck by the forces of what the conservatives call overweening political correctness that have seeped into every corner of life.

and notes

the degree to which the left has allowed its own message to drift into rigidity and irrelevance

and

enforced tolerance can create a stultifying air of conformity in college life

Little surprise, then, that these "conservatives" see

themselves as defenders of "individuality" and "freedom" against a campus, and world, overrun by groupthink liberalism and pious political correctness

Although he he awards them scare quotes and insists on labelling them "right-wing" or "conservative" (not to mention the fact that the URL includes "REPUBLICANS"), at the same time, he admits there is "a strong streak of libertarianism" among them, which he explains as

a conviction that the government should stay out of any and all aspects of life, including the bedroom

but that's only thanks to quintessential "liberal" values, something they would "hate to admit". Would they really? What's wrong with adopting new ideas? Is it such a bad thing for political positions to evolve? This point more than anything shows us that for Colapinto, it's a matter of "us" versus "them".

Moreover, he says these groups are "fueled and often financed by an array of conservative interest groups". That sounds like the "outside agitators" that we heard about in the 60's that were supposedly leading our young people astray. This time,

The impact has been felt far beyond the campus quadrangles and classrooms. Scott Stewart, chairman of the College Republican National Committee says that campus conservatives were instrumental to the success of the Republican Party in the last midterm elections. "Students provide the enthusiasm, the excitement and the work that needs to be done for free in political campaigns," he says, "knocking on doors, talking to voters, passing out literature, pounding in lawn signs."

As a matter of fact, influenced by the liberal climate of the 60's, I campaigned for McGovern. Since he lost, I guess that's OK.

Colapinto cites one professor who says that the so-called conservatives' charge

that the university is infected by political correctness and that professors seek to indoctrinate students with a liberal agenda has had an effect in the classroom. "As the conservatives have become more prominent, other students are more prone to believe that they are being indoctrinated....So the openness of a number of students to new ideas and new ways of looking at things has actually moved in a disturbing direction. Students are much more willing to write off something as 'liberal talk' -- oh, I don't need to think about that, that's just ideology -- as opposed to thinking, in a complex way, about all of the different ideas and evaluating them."

A social psychology professor concurs.

Recently she taught a class in which she talked about the theory that news coverage of warfare in Iraq could lead to a rise in homicides in the United States. "I could see the students rolling their eyes," she says. "I could just hear them thinking, 'Oh, there she goes again!'"

Colapinto complains that much of what most any campus conservatives you meet say is "something that someone told them to say." That's probably how many of us adopted our 60's ideology. In fact, it seems to me that if someone parrots one's own ideas, one thinks he's intelligent, whereas if he disagrees with me, he's not open to new ideas.

The funny thing is, although on our campus I don't find a stifling atmosphere of political correctness, when professors were conducting "teach-ins" about the war, they couldn't find anyone to speak in favor of Iraqi liberation.

Finally, Colapinto cites another prof, who says,

"A lot of faculty members talk about the lack of commitment that most students have to anything....It seems that they're about getting a credential and being able to get a good job. That's why you hear faculty say about the conservatives club: 'At least they believe in something. At least they've got convictions.'"

Not unlike the pursuit of knowledge (see below).