Death Knell of the Hipster Era...
Paul Ryan is, in many ways, the harbinger of our time, a leading indicator of what is happening to America—despite what you may have read. “Rep. Paul Ryan is "smart" but that doesn't mean he is qualified or conservative enough to lead the people's House. Just like John Boehner, Ryan scores terribly with conservatives, punishes dissenters and demands obedience from conservatives.” (see more at www.firepaulryan.com)
Serving Wisconsin’s First Congressional District since 1999, Senator Paul Ryan is not someone to be ignored. In case you forgot, he was Mitt Romney’s running mate in the failed campaign against Obama in the last rodeo. Granted, he is the first person from Wisconsin to hold the position of Speaker of the House and he has not been put under the major media microscope , but as responsible citizens we should examine the man who was once considered too far right for most Republicans, and the shift of that opinion to one that now proclaims him to be too far left.
When checking the go-to website for information these days, the average person will find this: “While the Tea Party.. had wanted a nominee other than Romney, it had gotten "one of its ideological heroes" in the Vice Presidential slot... Ryan supports the Tea Party's belief in "individual rights, distrust of big government and an allegorical embrace of the Founding Fathers.”
Now, however, especially since he has grown a beard, perhaps a sham lure to bring unwitting urban hipsters to his camp, right-wingnuts are chanting that they want Paul Ryan’s dick on a stick. Public Policy Polling's new national poll finds “...pretty good numbers for Paul Ryan as he begins his Speakership. 41% of voters nationally have a positive opinion of him to 35% with a negative one. That actually gives him a better net favorability rating than anyone running for President has[!]”
On one hand, the fifth generation Wisconsin native has a great story. According to his own website, “Paul Ryan has spent his life advocating for real solutions that will expand opportunity for all Americans.” Sounds good to me, as he studied economics and political science at Miami University of Ohio. An original Public Ivy League University, Miami was established in 1809. It ranked 82nd in U.S. News and World Report’s top American university list.
Where the water gets muddy for me is his initial embrace of the philosophy of Ayn Rand, and subsequent rejection of it as being too “aesthetic,” or being too concerned with beauty. He said Rand "reduces human interactions down to mere contracts.” One might think that he has simply matured politically, from his days pandering to conservatives in the Objectivist movement, who split from the Ayn Rand Institute, to now when he is second in the line of presidential succession. His time spent witnessing the mechanizations of our governmental process and his participation in town hall-style meetings around country have somehow made him a better person, a seasoned individual in the game.
While I think I want people like him on my team, I still do not trust him very much. When I was an editor for a university newspaper, back in the 1990s, I thought the economic conditions of the 1930s had combined with the social activism with the 1960s. Little did I know, how bad (or good, depending on your perspective) things were going to get in the “Twenty-teens.”
We call the recent past the “Great Recession,” our poorest economy since the Great Depression, when FDR served as President. Obama was elected to be our savior. Whether he has achieved the goals he has set forth is a topic for another discussion. With the rise of social media, social consciousness has magnified. If one wants to be active in a cause, just check out all the funding projects available at gofundme, indigogo or kickstarter. Even I have started my own charity! However, our focus today is on the death of the Hipster era in America.
Guys, when the Speaker of House looks “hip,” we should ALL be afraid. We all know people like Paul Ryan, whether he reminds you of your grandson, fraternity brother, boss or simply THAT guy in church. Now, he is trying to grab more of the middle supporters of political opinion. I guess he has image consultants, and they are trying to get him to appeal to the conscious individuals in the Millennial Generation.
Millennials are the demographic cohort following Generation X. There are no precise dates when the generation starts and ends; most researchers and commentators use birth years ranging from the early 1980s to the early 2000s. According the Pew Social Report, “the Millennial generation is forging a distinctive path into adulthood. Now ranging in age from 18 to 33, they are relatively unattached to organized politics and religion, linked by social media, burdened by debt, distrustful of people, in no rush to marry— and optimistic about the future.
And one of the largest groups of Millennials are the “Hipsters.” The subculture is composed of affluent or middle class young Bohemians who reside primarily in gentrifying neighborhoods. It has been asked if the whole movement has been a marketing ploy, and with fashion stables like Urban Outfitters having reached their peak, I think it is a good bet that it is. We Gen Xers, the precursors to this generation, are doubting their “coolness.”
Several publications have been saying it is hip to be square again. In a 2009 article, Rob Horning states that the hipster might be the "embodiment of postmodernism as a spent force, revealing what happens when pastiche and irony exhaust themselves as aesthetics." As an original Gen X punk rock grrl, I find myself still wrapped in the post-Beat, gonzo, “I am comfortable with violence” mindset. Fuck hipsters, and now that Paul Ryan has embraced the beard, fuck that too, fellas.
Facial pubes have been all the rage, much to the chagrin of those of us who are follically-challenged. Bushes are the “in” look, as long as they remain above the waist. ZZ Top is making a comeback in cool factor. The wilder and woolier the better, until the Speaker of the fucking House of Representatives tries to get in on the act...
I mean, now that Rand Paul has let his face grow long, I bet we go back to punk haircuts from the fashion forward (my wife, for example). Do you really think your girl is gonna wanna get close to that fur, when all she sees is the philosophical spawn of Satan and Ayn Rand? Really? Start shaving, guys, but keep the pussy bumper...
