Life — December 10, 1914 — page 11: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "A Knight of the New Propaganda" This is a dramatic dialogue between an elderly man (labeled "E.M.") and a young college student. The satire critiques the student's socialist ideology and apparent ingratitude toward his father. The father accuses the son of irresponsibility—having accumulated college bills while displaying no sense of duty to repay them. The son responds by invoking broader sociological and economic arguments, suggesting individual debt is merely part of a larger systemic problem. The satire mocks the young man as a "knight of the new propaganda"—someone who adopts fashionable leftist rhetoric to justify personal irresponsibility. The piece suggests this student represents a type: college radicals who embrace socialist ideology while avoiding practical obligations to their parents. The humor targets early 20th-century college socialism and generational conflict.