The American Teenager

This is an issue of a socialist magazine published in the United States at the height of the Cold War. “The American Socialist” was the house organ of the Socialist Union, a crypto-Trotskyist group evolving in an ex-Trotskyist direction. This issue contains critical articles on U.S. foreign policy and more positive appraisals of the anti-colonialist revolution in Africa and elsewhere. One article deals with Nasser's Egypt. The contributors hope that a “third force” will emerge in between the competing Western and Soviet power blocs. They criticize the U.S. for alienating potential “third force” partners, and also call for détente between the United States and the Soviet Union.

One short piece entitled “The American Teenager” is extremely amusing. Apparently, teenagers were extremely “reactionary” (conservative) during the Cold War. For instance, almost half of them were ready to dispense with the freedom of the press, 83% supported wiretapping, 60% approved of censorship of books, and over half agreed with the proposition that most Americans aren't capable of deciding what's wrong and what's right by themselves. Some also wanted the proper authorities to stop labor strikes. The United Mine Workers Journal had commented the survey, stating “what we need in this country are more radical young teenagers”!

Be careful what you wish for, commander… :D