Millennials are the generation of hypersensitivity. As a 20-year-old collegegoer, it is quite the embarrassment to be associated with an age that takes offense at anything and whines about everything, including colorful beach balls. Yes, you read that correctly. It seems that our youth ultimately wish to silence and censor opposing views bringing us back to the Dark Ages.
The Young Americans for Liberty (YAL), a national Libertarian campus group, at Fresno State University in California recently hosted a Free Speech Ball during which students shared and wrote anything they pleased to celebrate the liberties provided by the First Amendment.
One youth, however, was not feeling the freedom and proceeded to spit on the object and later courageously returned to stab and deflate the innocent sphere, as reported by Campus Reform.
Officers were unable to detain the assailant, but they believe his weapon of choice to have been a fittingly small object, such as a pen or paper clip. The incident marks the second occurrence of the month that a YAL chapter’s Free Speech Ball is targeted. At UC San Diego, Luca Vallino, a sophomore student who refers to himself as Karl Marx (so edgy…), reportedly hid from view and wrote “sic semper tyrannus” on the beach ball. He then proceeded to stab it with a pocket knife and run away to mommy, according to the UCSD Guardian.
The Actions Of “Men”
The phrase sic semper tyrannus is Latin for “thus always to tyrants” and is believed to have originated during the assassination of Julius Caesar. John Wilkes Booth also shouted the phrase following the shooting of President Abraham Lincoln and the expression was worn on a t-shirt by Timothy McVeigh on the day of his Oklahoma City bombing that killed 169 innocent citizens, according to Ford’s Theatre and Museum. As well, it is the state motto of the Commonwealth of Virginia (shown left.) Although no injuries resulted during the deflation, many may fear Vallino’s intentions had he not been found by police. He explained to the UCSD Guardian that offensive writings from colleagues on the beach ball triggered his attack:
“Reactionary, opportunistic, and hypocritical slogans did not, and do not, constitute a free exercise of rights.”
The actions of these “men” out of the California schools perfectly depict the detrimental anti-intellectual outlook some have learned during their time in the classroom. According to the Brookings Institute, a century-old nonprofit research organization, a surprisingly large number of collegegoers agree that it is acceptable to shut down expression they deem distasteful through any means, including violence. It is not uncommon, after all, that far-left professors propose that “reactionary, opportunistic, and hypocritical slogans” should be unprotected by the Constitution. 
There Is Hope
As reported by Liberty Nation, a sociology professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice recently encouraged “throat punching” conservatives due to their supposedly dangerous views. At my campus, the University of Central Florida, Vice President of our YAL chapter Spencer Kovach stated that in certain classes one must hide conservative views and be a “good little commie” to receive extra points from the lecturer.
In fact, UCF’s YAL recently hosted their Free Speech Ball during which hundreds, regardless of political affiliation, came out to celebrate being American and the liberties it entails. It seems Fresno and San Diego liberals could learn a thing or two from us here in Orlando. What may relieve some Americans is the fact that there are quite a few millennials who refuse to be sheep and instead wish for free expression to prosper.
