Millennials: hope…
…for a change.
What a difference a year—and some personal experience with Obamacare—makes.
However, before you think this reaction translates into support for conservatism, note that there’s a general dislike of all politicians, and Republicans come off even worse than Democrats. I’m not sure what that means for the future. Will young people refrain from voting? Will they turn to libertarians or even more extreme fringe movements and candidates? Or will their dislike of government translate into a desire for smaller government, and therefore to votes for conservatives?
Note also that the survey is of 18-to-29-year-olds. Time marches on, and it may be significant that today’s 18-year-olds were only thirteen when Obama was first elected. They hardly know anything else. They also were very small children when 9/11 occurred. Their world has been shaped by very different forces than the world of people even slightly older.
I’m always hoping and praying for our “Low Information” crowd to GET the wake-up call the Infantile Majesty and his squalid bunch hand them each week. My expectations are Ground Zero, but I refuse to give up on the ‘yoots.
Keep at’tum, N-Neocon!!
I work around some bright, sparkly, dedicated ‘kids’ in their early to late twenties. I absolutely adore the rascals and they do give me some true hope.
I think this a good sign. As you’ve written so often, getting mugged by reality is healthy.
The last generation (was it Gen X?) that spent their entire teenage years in terrible economic times (for America) was the one entering adulthood during Reagan’s presidency. I vaguely recall my mom — a fervent Democrat — complaining that when she tried to enroll twenty-somethings during those years, they wanted nothing to do with the party of Jimmy Carter and its palpable scent of dreariness and failure.
So maybe there’s a glimmer of hope.
Revolutions are always Youth Movements.
Let’s hope there are some real human beings in the under-25s. Then the future has a shot.
Their immediate predecessors are a total disgrace as a generation. They are a complete embarrassment to America and are certainly some of the worst Americans (as an age group) there has yet been. They have done zero. They have contributed zero. They have been given things Kings and Queens would have envied. They spat on it and kicked it away. Their parents are simply (as a group) “the worst”. One wonders if they even love their kids. With the amount they spoil and coddle them you’d think not.
On the one hand it is not their fault. They’ve been bullied and brainwashed by Liberals from birth.
On the other hand, previous generations fought back. This current crowd has no soul; no fight in them at all. They are the definition of docile.
Those between 25 and 35 and simply lost. A few may get found but time is running out.
Mike,
Why so down on those 25-35? It was the boomers who brought the New Left to power, it was the adults of 1930-1940 who supported the New Deal and came closest to creating (until now, perhaps) a fascist America.
Don:
Boomers voted overwhelmingly against Obama in 2012.
If the Kids stop voting, that means the most easily fooled bunch are out of the equation. It’s one thing to see somebody fooled. It’s another altogether to see people setting out to fool themselves and to hell with anybody trying to explain reality.
This is a good thing, but not unexpected because no one likes being stiffed with the check of Obamacare. The drag on the messiah will get heavier as millions more lose their current employer based coverage and have to pay more for policies they don’t need or want. LIVs not voting or voting green is a very good thing.
In this same study i believe that a majority of these unhappy millennials said that they would STILL vote for Obama again.
Make up your minds millennials!
A big part of the problem is that most Repubs aren’t carrying the torch for America and the American Way any more.
Our American ideals are nearly bereft of defenders. And the young folks DO respond to ideals.
Anyone else notice that the Dimwits no longer get huffy about their notional “patriotism” being challenged?
In other news: There are NO circulating copies of Whittaker Chambers’ memoir WITNESS in the New York Public Library — None. I mean, it’s not like it was an important book or anything. And I’m sure that the Reds and Pinkos who run the NYPL had nothing to do with this censorship.
Seriously, this is shocking.
Go on NYPL.org and see their Catalog. First, type in Chambers’ name: I got a null result — “no such author.”
What is this,the Soviet Freaking Union?
“Go on NYPL.org and see their Catalog. First, type in Chambers’ name: I got a null result – “no such author.””
No thanks, that raises a red flag at the NSA. My only exposure is commenting on neoneocon. I prefer to keep a low profile as I am defenseless against drones. 😉
Don,
I’m down on the 25-35 because they have no soul, as I said. Listen to their music. Look at their work ethic. Look at their tattoos. Look at their voting records. A spoilt collection of louts, ne’er do wells and ingrates the likes of which America has never seen.
The Boomers get a bad rap, but facts are facts: Boomers have contributed more tax money to the General Handout and Wastage Funds called the Federal (no we don’t even have a) Budget.
We have paid out the whazoo. Paid and paid and paid. And we worked our arses off. Look at the entrepreneurship of the past 30 years – Boomers from start to finish.
Today the little cretins want condoms for free and that is about the extent of their imaginations. The 25-35 would only be cringe-worthy wannabe sociopaths if they hadn’t broken all precedent and gone out and voted for Barack Husein O’Tyrant.
Now the generation just behind them – the 15-25s. They have a chance. They are probably sick of their older brothers and sisters too. Disgusting disgusts eventually. And those 25-35s have done it.
The one-two-three punch of 0-care AND career destruction AND thumping college loan nightmares is going to leave scars.
2016 figures to be a repeat of 1932 — with the parties swapping roles.
0-care is THAT catastrophic.
I’m a conservative and I have a healthy dislike for all politicians. I spend as much time complaining about Republicans as I do Democrats, although sometimes for different reasons.
If young people are growing towards a reflexive distrust of politicians, that would be a huge step forward from the mouth-breathing, drooling fawning of Obama that we were inundated with a few years ago. Unfortunately, while they may eventually turn on Obama, I don’t see them recognizing why he turned out to be so bad (something a lot of us had figured out from the start) and may end up electing someone just as bad to replace him.
Ultimately, a big part of the responsibility rests on parents’ shoulders. All of us who said “who has time to read the kids’ textbooks?” or “I have a job to go to, I can’t spend the energy to sit down with the kids and undo all the indoctrination,” or “I dunno what they’re teaching them, but hey, I went to public school: it wasn’t so bad.”
People who let the government indoctrinate their kids without fighting it tooth and toenail have let themselves in for this. Yes, it’s time-consuming. Yes, it’s a struggle and a pain in the ass. But who else is going to save the kids?
Saw an episode of Duck Dynasty at the gym today: two of the patriarchs went to the local elementary school for some real-world show and tell. That’s how it’s done, people.
Beverly,
I went to nypl.org and did a search on “Chambers, Whittaker” under Authors and got this page of results.
It shows that they do have a downloadable audiobook copy of Witness. They have his other books in hardcopy as well, but they too are all only available to read in the library, except for one, which is in storage, but can be requested and I assume can be checked out.
I don’t think this is necessarily a conspiracy on the part of the library because most libraries don’t have enough shelf space these days and have a cut-off date for many older books, especially those with a low circulation. And I guess it’s possible the ones that can be read in the library only are in bad shape.
If a crack is appearing in the ideologic armor of the millenials, I sure hope conservatives are think about ways to get through it. BTW, I don’t think calling them names is the way to go.
Since I teach college I get to see the 18-22 year old crowd close up. And, I will agree that the Milleniums are a differ bunch from their older siblings of 10 years ago.
Their goal in general is financial and personal security. Race is a non-issue for them, as is sexual orientation. They definitely have a libertarian “live an let live” attitude towards social issues.
And, they are, for the most part, not drinking the Kool-Aid my radical colleagues are trying to feed them. They may not say anything in class against the faculty person as they see college as a hurdle to get through towards their ultimate goal of graduation. The students who I know on a personal basis tell me that they regard PC nonsense they get in courses as pure BS, and they have a very healthy skepticism towards anything political. They are not many Republicans, but there are a lot of independents that have a conservative bent. The fact that they also view the Republicans with skepticism is, in my view, a good thing.
@Physicsguy: I’d assume by your moniker that you get many of the students who are taking hard science/engineering majors. Since airplanes and buildings constructed on wishful thinking tend to crash or collapse, the kids you see likely have a fair grounding in reality to begin with. What about those in the humanities departments? Are they, for the most part, also rejecting the proffered Kool-Aid from your leftist colleagues (understanding that there will always be a few takers)?
Well, this is one Millennial who gets the mess we are in and voted for Romney. Can’t say much about my generational colleagues. I have to agree with Physicsguy on the general outlook, though I’d label it more indifference to the old hot button issues then a real libertarian ideal. Something that got pounded into me a few weeks ago after a long discussion with my early-boomer mother in law who sees everything though the prism of race and convenient group identities – social and political, that I find irritating and nonsensical. A big problem is a general lack of understanding historical context in any kind of depth, most have at best a movie version of history. I find it ironic that virtually everyone has more information at their disposal then ever before, but conversely its also very easy to distract with a few flashing lights and memes.
I prefer to keep a low profile as I am defenseless against drones.
Good idea.
Btw, one of the better ways to pass keyword and data analyst passes is to act like an Islamic, a gay activist, or a pro union/ pro abortion member of the State Farm.
They don’t expect livestock or weapons to be disobey the State.
Of course, if you proclaim a loyalty to Leftist movements or ideas, like Sarah Palin on feminism, yet demonstrate you are an independent human that is able to judge based upon their own conscience, then they’ll come get ya.
The Democrats are just as happy with a vote against the Republicans as they are with a vote for a Democrat. They know as long as the GOP stays vilified, the Democrats have a lot of cushion. They understand popular history is mostly myth, and so have concentrated on injecting a lot of false narrative into the zeitgeist.
How many people who seem smart and educated have said they believe Bush is the worst President of all time and when you ask them why, their reasons range from nonsensical to flimsy to plain inaccurate?
There should be a repetitive popular campaign to reform the zeitgeist by cataloging and correcting all the Democrats propaganda since 9/11 and in doing so rehabilitate the legacy of the Bush administration. (Interestingly, when considered critically, conservatives have more reason to object and liberals have more reason to applaud the liberal-leaning record of the Bush admin.)
If the vote-against Bush/GOP strawman is taken away from the Democrats, they will become very vulnerable.
Add: The search function on nypl.org, especially on its front page, is funky. Otherwise, NYPL has a broad collection and is normally helpful finding or acquiring relatively obscure books.
I continue to be impressed with Strauss & Howe’s “The Fourth Turning”.
Interesting reading for all ages. 😀
Strauss & Howe’s “The Fourth Turning: These guys would have benefited history more by working for McDonalds. It’s all a bunch of manipulation of defintions and types and general truths.
I liked your support of West. These guys? Not so much.
“Boomers voted overwhelmingly against Obama in 2012.” neo
What! Where oh where have all the stereotypes gone?
The wake-up call that will finally get through to the low-info crowd will be the sound of the lock clicking shut on the chains that they have, through their votes, forged for themselves.
Then, there shall be much wailing and gnashing of teeth.
It takes repeated blows upside the head from reality’s ‘two-by-four’ for the ideological true believer to awaken.
George Washington University Constitutional Law Professor Jonathan Turley is demonstrable proof of that assertion. He’s merely ‘concerned’ by Obama’s ‘apparent’ disregard for some constitutional provisions, which is proof that he’s far from being willing to look below the tip of the iceberg. So too with the rest. They can’t face that they’re being played for fools. It’s all some kind of a ‘misunderstanding’.
Ymarsakar:
I aint gonna work on Maggie’s farm no more
Well, I try my best
To be just like I am
But everybody wants you
To be just like them
They say sing while you slave and I just get bored
I ain’t gonna work on Maggie’s farm no more.
One of the issues with central taxation and authority is that people claim the large amount of good things it can do. But as with education, centralized control is also very good for making people do evil when they don’t want to. Citizens and parents have to pay taxes and those taxes are used in the war against children and independent consciences, whether this is the intent or not.
So if a good person is dictator, good things may come from centralized authority. But an evil leader can just as well force everyone to do and participate evil. People often think the bad guys are a military superpower like Nazi Germany, but it often starts in a much more personal context. Being made to cuss out a target because your Group Leader demanded it, for example.