President Ronald Reagan said freedom was never more than one generation away from extinction, emphasizing the importance of vigilance to preserve American values.
That’s the subject of 18-year-old political commentator Brylin Hollyhand’s new book “One Generation Away: Why Now is the Time to Restore American Freedom,” which he discussed Wednesday on “1819 News: The Podcast.”
Hollyhand said Gen Z has earned a reputation for being left-leaning “snowflakes” and being poorly informed of the issues. However, he said he believes that definition only applies to a “loud minority” and that many in his generation are getting involved, spurred on by the failures of the Biden-Haris administration.
“We joked about the Kamala and she's unburdened by what has been, but what we're seeing right now is her trying to unburden herself from Biden and kind of separate herself from that. But we can't let them get away with that. We cannot let Kamala Harris attempt to say she's separated from this Biden-Harris administration,” he said.
He continued, “It was the Biden-Harris administration because she sat in the Oval Office, she sat in the Situation Room, she lied to the American people for three and a half years, looked us in the face, and said he's sharp as a tack, fit as a fiddle, and clearly he has not been. And so that's something that we have to call them out on, and I think that's why Gen Z is getting involved. You mentioned it's historically proven that Gen Z isn't necessarily conservative-leaning, historically, and you mentioned the snowflake reference, which has been kind of the definition of my generation."
"But what I think is so important there is that's been the loud part of my generation… We're the silent majority; they're the loud minority," Hollyhand added. "And they're really the ones out there who are going to scream and bang the drums and have the protest and shut down campuses and cancel graduations. But really, when you look at it, it's like 25 to 30 people, and the other thousands of students are just moving on with their day because they have jobs and they're working. So really, it's the unemployed, blue-haired liberals who have been so loud for so many years and have been identified as the leaders of our generation because they're the only ones with time to go stand in front of cameras all day.”
Hollyhand said many conservative students are afraid to speak out on campus for fear of the academic and social consequences.
“That's what makes it so difficult to go to a campus and stand in front of a room of 100 to 200 students in a classroom and say, ‘I need you tomorrow morning to start speaking out. I need you to get off the sidelines to be a bold conservative, share your Christian conservative morals and values, post on your Instagram story, hold group organizations with your turning point or CR chapter, do this.’ And they're like, ‘I'm going to get you to class. I'm going to get you to my fraternity. I'm going to lose my friends, lose my family.’ And you think they're exaggerating, but they're not. They're exactly right," he explained.
Despite the challenges, Hollyhand said he was excited to see the next generation of political leaders stepping up to save the country.
“We're electing people, you know, like Carolyn Dobson in AL-2," he said, "It's really, really exciting to see young people running and stepping up and getting off the sidelines. Young people and real conservatives. That's kind of my bigger thing, that are sticking to their values.”
To connect with the story's author or comment, email daniel.taylor@1819news.com or find him on X and Facebook.
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