Cognitive dissonance occurs when an individual’s thoughts or beliefs are rooted in inconsistency, which is precisely what modern liberalism wallows in. Under the auspices of effete liberal intellectuals, postmodernism is prevalent in academia where it enfeebles budding liberals’ thoughts with nihilistic notions that ravage objective truths. The resultant relativism engenders delusions and waywardness amongst malleable students – particularly in the soft social sciences that the would-be social activists pursue. Is it any wonder, when combined with their addiction to social media, that depression is the most common health problem afflicting college students ?

Modern liberalism is diseased. It is wrought by mental maladies exacerbated by postmodernism’s delusional insistence that empirical facts are figments of white male rule. This warped view subverts reality if it doesn’t conform to their revisionist left-wing propaganda. Eight years ago, Michael Savage made this call in his book, Liberalism is a Mental Disorder . The mass malady also foments mental discontinuity and cognitive dissonance, ensnaring misguided college students in particular.

Whereas classical liberalism underpins much of America’s greatness, modern liberalism dallies with madness that develops in the contrived curricula that pervades the humanities, sociology, and women’s studies. Research in these fields is tainted by biased academicians who manipulate their methodologies to predispose positive results that favor social activism. Often motivated by the “publish or perish” syndrome, null results are given short shrift, skewing social science literature towards leftist tautologies. And skewering the impressionable minds of their dutiful minions-cum-social warriors who are all too willing to intimidate non-believers and desecrate the public square.

Stifled by an overwhelmingly liberal orthodoxy on campus, even instructors risk professional peril should they dare jump off the bandwagon bias. What chance do the gullible students stand other than to embrace the pathos of resentment and bitterness toward Western Civilization, and America itself? The susceptible students are even conditioned to question whether America is the land of opportunity. They are told that America was never really that great, even as many of the world’s wretched masses have been entranced by our brilliant beacon of freedom throughout our magnificent history.

These perverted teachings reverberating around campus do not nurture happy, well-adjusted people. Instead, postmodern liberalism provokes mental discomfort when confronted with empirical facts. For example, migrant caravans continue to assemble on our southern border – not so much in search of asylum, as they wave their home nation’s flags, but better economic opportunities, especially under President Trump. Liberals -- who put globalism over nationalism, and illegals over citizens -- welcome the disruptive hordes. Nevertheless, they deny their obvious motivation: seeking a better life in the land of opportunity, the last great hope of earth. Now that’s madness, but it gets even more dissonant when the postmodern intelligentsia root for the United Nations over America; when they will a recession; and when they make a mockery of superb economic indicators.

Even as liberal media outlets such as the AP recently proclaimed that “Democrats fight vibrant economy in bid for House,” and the NY Times conceded that the economy is firing on all cylinders, college kids are being hoodwinked into the benefits of socialism. I wonder if they could even find Venezuela, North Korea or Cuba on a map since their propagandizing professors have glossed over the human misery socialism hath wrought?

Mental illness is often accompanied by a break from reality, such as believing something to be true that is false, or vice-versa. Such delusions may explain why misguided youth support socialism, and why polling indicates that most Dems do not approve of President Trump’s handling of the economy, arguing his deregulatory agenda and tax cuts are merely a “sugar fix.” Actually, they incentivize production and profits, and repatriate factories.

Whereas defeatist Obama defiantly told us that manufacturing jobs weren’t coming back to America, Trump is bringing them back. Manufacturing and industrial production indicators are generally bullish. One has to be delusional to deny that policies have stimulated record low unemployment, and have inspired record high consumer and small business confidence. But that doesn’t stop today’s perseverating liberals from conjuring a dystopian reality.

Harboring such misguided sentiments in the face of overwhelming contradictory evidence can usher cognitive dissonance or other mad stuff like dissociative disorder. Now, there are more job openings than candidates. Now, the soft-science snowflakes can escape indulgent mommy’s yoke and embark on a rewarding career. Now is simply not the time to be dallying with socialism. One wonders if they actually prefer Marxist mobs over jobs. Perhaps their liberal disease has progressed so insidiously that they are actually disassociated from the here and now.

It’s a shame they have been inculcated with such postmodern pessimism proclaiming, “You’re in danger, you’re in danger. You can’t succeed.” That’s so Obama, and guaranteed to elicit mental discontinuity from the quantifiable economic optimism prevalent under Trump. Many impressionable students haven’t developed the mental faculties to resist the tenured faculty; they simply succumb to absurdism marked by distorted views of their perceived plight and contorted views of reality.

Examples abound, but perhaps none are more poignant than the wayward female student who’s up on assault charges after disrespecting her male counterparts by indignantly throwing chocolate milk over nice College Republicans at Florida State University. They remained composed as she went on a bizarre tirade about fascism, apparently lacking any self-awareness or her own antics. Talk about a dissociative mental case! This tantrum-throwing girl, and her ilk, cannot be allowed to run amok. She’ll now have to undergo cognitive behavioral therapy to quell her intermittent explosive disorder, and soothe her tormented liberal mind.

The college years are fertile ground for cognitive development in young adults, so it’s a shame they are imbued with leftist dogma which contrives a new “reality” to suit their postmodern sensibilities. Anyone who strays too far from the liberal asylum is labelled as sexist, misogynist or racist. But just consider the source – they’re a bunch of delusional socialists.

Vibrant debate born of classical liberalism bequeathed our great birthright, the last great hope of earth. Today’s liberalism mollycoddles the precious little cupcakes whose delicate psyches cannot withstand the rigors of free speech. Faced with existential crisis every time they are contradicted, their behavior becomes disturbingly bi-polar. They either retreat to sympathetic safe spaces, or engage in rapacious, mob-like intimidation that is more reminiscent of the socialist upheavals they bizarrely favor, than a flourishing marketplace of freely exchanged ideas.

George Orwell observed that, “[w]e are all capable of believing things which we know to be untrue, and then, when we are finally proved wrong, impudently twisting the facts so as to show that we were right.” There sure is a lot of cognitive twisting going on within the impudent liberal intelligentsia as they manufacture prejudiced research to sustain their postmodern madness.

Image credit: Max Pixel