An article that was published in ?The Economist' on the 26th of July 2003, deals with an ?upturn in conservatism' among young American people. Indeed, according to this article, more and more students support the republican ideology, and are in favor of US military interventions. However, simultaneously there is a fraction of the citizens who share a tolerant view point about moral issues like homosexual marriage. We may therefore wonder whether this upturn in conservatism can be observed among young people in France, which is presently involved in examining the different meanings of ?conservatism.' From the political point of view, conservatism is often combined with right-wing ideas. This political view point is inclusive of not all the right-wing ideas which are conservative. However it also includes ideas such as nationalism, order, the refusal of innovations, or even a will to return to the past and to traditional values. From a cultural point of view, conservatism highlights traditional values such as marriage (especially religious marriage), family life, religion, and is rather opposed to moral ?innovations', such as abortion or homosexuality. In a nutshell, a conservative person appraises the past and ignores the future and its associated privileges which are existing in all kinds of traditions (i.e. cultural, religious, and political) in a person's life. Is this trend influencing the youngsters in France and are they anxious to adopt this antique tradition? The truth is, we need to understand that the young people are accepting and getting more conservative in the present age. Further, the buzzing thought is the extent to which, this trend can be linked to the evolution of our society.
[...] Many young people no longer consider marriage as a life-commitment because they are aware that they are likely to change their mind and they know they can get divorced later. Thus in the Ile-de-France region, one marriage out of two ends by a divorce. As far as work is concerned, young people do not want to be devoted to their work as their parents were; they are much less involved in their work as in the past. Reduction in working time allows them to put a lot more into their personal life and their entertainment, hence the look-out for a more comfortable life, even if it means driving a lot more everyday to work, in order to have a bigger house with a fireplace and a garden for the children. [...]
[...] Are conservative values back among young people? An article published in The Economist of July 26th 2003 deals with an "upturn in conservatism" among young American people. Indeed, according to this article, more and more students support the republican ideology, are in favour of US military interventions, but, at the same time, share tolerant points of view about moral issues like homosexual marriage. We may therefore wonder whether this upturn in conservatism can be observed among young people in France, examining the different meanings of "conservatism". [...]
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