Liberalism among ABCDs, part 1
posted in liberalism |ABCD (American Born Confused Desis) is pejorative abbreviation referring to second generation South Asians in America, especially those born and brought up here. Since, we are entirely politically in-correct on this site, I am going to refer to them as ABCDs, short and sweet.
It is almost a rule that ABCDs are politically, socially and fiscally liberal. I have met hundreds of them, within my family, at college, and elsewhere, and I am rarely disappointed. It seems that liberalism is the only common characteristic in this group, that is otherwise very diverse, in terms of geography and even culture.
The same is quite true about other Asian Americans. We had 3 Asian American organizations on my campus and all 3 were almost radically liberal. There wasn’t a conservative soul among them. Likewise, the Asian American alumni organization leans far to the left. South Asian organizations were also heavily involved with Democratic campaigns and groups. Pro-abortion, pro-gay rights, pro-gay marriage, pro-everything lefty.
I can attest to the fact that South Asian culture is overwhelmingly conservative, although things are changing rapidly under Western influence. The conservative-liberal divide in India, for instance, is not about whether abortion is wrong or right, but actually deals with more primitive issues. Liberal families in India are those in which the women folk take up jobs, for instance. The gist of the matter is that South Asians tend to come from conservative families, and, yet, once in the United States, they seem to forget their identities and adopt American principles, albeit not necessarily the right ones.
In the current political mess, South Asians and ABCDs are not divided between the GOP and DNC camps but between the Obama and Clinton camps. Hilary has numerous ABCD advisors as does Obama. South Asians for Clinton is quite active, although not necessarily under this exact name. South Asians for McCain is almost non-existent. South Asians are also enamored by Edwards, who turned out to be the most populist of them all.
My friends on facebook provide good examples of this phenomena. Almost all of my South Asian friends, whether ABCD or FOB, is “liberal,” “very liberal” or at best “libertarian,” which is really an elitist way of saying “liberal.” All of them support Democratic candidates - the Obama application is especially popular. Exactly one declares himself to be “conservative,” but I am not quite sure if he supports McCain.
The question is what are the causes of this almost stereotypical liberalism among ABCDs?