Kerby Anderson

What is driving the protests by the millennial generation both on campus and in the streets? There are a number of theories. Evan Morrison has this observation: “If you were to come across someone who cried in the streets, who saw the world in terms of black and white and made death threats against strangers, who cowered in a special room and made public displays of naked self-harm and blood letting, you might conclude that they were suffering from a personality disorder.” These are the symptoms of what is called “High Conflict Personality Disorder.” He isn’t suggesting that all millennials have this but he does see a striking similarity to the everyday behaviors of the modern Social Justice Warrior. Michael Brown reminds us that many of them grew up in a “culture of indulgence, a culture of narcissism, a culture of radical, leftist campus ideology.” For a millennial Social Justice Warrior, everyday speech contains a number of “micro-aggressions” that conceal oppression that must be condemned. They need to retreat to “safe spaces” to flee from their victimhood. They claim to fight for freedom but are opposed to true freedom of speech. They believe in a world without boundaries but are obsessed with creating segregated spaces. Nick Pitts reminds us the millennials mistrust institutions. Poling by Harvard University’s Institute of Politics found they distrust the press (88%), Wall Street (86%), public school (74%), and the federal government (74%). Only 19 percent of millennials believe other people can be trusted. He also reminds us that: “Millennials may be the most educated generation in the American experiment, but education does not equate to understanding.” A small percentage is proficient in U.S. history and fall short in various other categories. He concludes that: “Without an understanding of history, and the context implicit within it, everyone turns into Hitler and everything is a civil rights issue.” That is why I believe these millennial protests will be with us for a long time.