Hard habits to break

Markos Moulitsas has a great column in The Hill. Here's an excerpt:

The Republican belief system, at its core, sanctifies the individual, elevating personal success and accomplishment over the well-being of society at large. It’s a selfish outlook, one proudly and openly hostile to empathy as a valid political value. One doesn’t have to look very far to see this hostility in action — witness the conservative talking points against the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court.

Yet young voters, like most human beings, wholeheartedly embrace empathy. When Daily Kos commissioned Research 2000 to ask adults nationwide whether “empathy” was a value they wanted to see in a Supreme Court justice, 18-to-29-year-olds responded in the affirmative by a stunning 63-17 margin. Even baby boomers lagged behind, at 55-26. Gen Xers, or (roughly) 30-to-44-year-olds, were the most hostile to empathy, clocking in at 47-34 — still a substantial majority.

It’s surely no coincidence that Millennials, the most wired generation in world history, cherish connectedness. MTV beamed music and culture to the entire cohort during their adolescence, while Bravo, BET and other networks created popular shows featuring gays and ethnic minorities, demystifying long-marginalized demographics. The Internet has erased geographic boundaries, and many youngsters have made “friends” across the globe on popular social nets like Facebook and Twitter. It’s no wonder they refuse to demonize entire countries when they’ve long maintained friendships with students in so many nations. And while Republicans rage against engagement with Iran or Democrats or any of their enemies du jour, young adults have a strong faith in the power of dialogue.