jonathan krohn.
at 14 years old, he wrote a book called "defining conservatism", which is basically just a huge hard on for republicans and conservatism. scariest far right bullshit ever, coming from a fucking kid whose balls haven't dropped yet and still has a prepubescent voice. although i am all for a more informed, educated, opinionated youth, becoming a george bush clone/republican drone at the age of 14 (even younger, he's been speaking at republican conventions for years) scares the shit out of me. i tried to psychoanalyze the deep fear that this kid/book seem to spark in me, and asked myself if i would be so upset if a 14 year old was spewing liberal bullshit all over the place. this would imply that the kid would probably have a different image, and definitely different social and political ideals. although this kid's image seems much easier to manage (oh, say, wearing casual clothes rather than a presidential suit every day of your fucking life), i still don't like the idea of a kid being so thoroughly ingrained in something that really can affect people's lives and minds. i am all for kids having strong beliefs, especially mistaken beliefs, when they are younger, because that is the learning/maturation process, and it really speaks to one's spirit and individuality to hold strong to a particular belief. however, this refers to things outside the sphere of politics, more appropriate kid beliefs such as "no one ever should get divorced" or "dinosaurs still exist." these are the types of beliefs that form one's mind in order to make later beliefs, such as political beliefs. however, to be gun ho republican at the age of 14, it does not appear as if this kid has any space to grow or learn or change his mind. his mind has already been made up for him, he will most likely continue to blindly believe these conservative ideals even after he has a better ability to reason and make accurate judgments. also, although we usually hail kid geniuses as being revolutionary and as heroes of sorts, for some reason this kid sticks out like a sore thumb in the genius category. although he has an incredible vocabulary and has written what appears to be a well-argued, intelligent book, he isn't really contributing anything to the world or to himself. other kid geniuses have gone to college early, have started research to cure diseases, have plans to save the environment, and what has he done? he has basically summed up conservatism in 200 pages. a hefty task for anyone, especially a 14 year old, but not nearly on par with the beautiful, more community based things that other young brilliants have aspired to or accomplished. he isn't even using his genius to better himself, by pursuing a more equal, well-rounded education, he is only interested in this one subject, which is sad to me. is this the future of our youth?