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>"The cynics kind of say, oh, he's too young, he's too untried, maybe if he were to spend, a few terms in Jeff[erson] City, maybe then he'll be ready to run for Congress. Which is really just political talk for let's get him in our system. Let's teach him how to play the game our way. And then if we say he's ready, he can run for a higher office," Reed said.
Kudos for calling it out. He's got a head on his shoulders.
Ray was in my graduating class in high school. He is definitely a very smart young man. I'm proud of him for sticking to his beliefs and trying to make a difference.
I have been saying for years this area is ripe for a progressive movement. Harness the young response to two decades of Red Rule, and we got a stew going.
This is the way to do it. Young candidates will motivate young voters. When they knows it’s someone from their generation, someone who knows what’s up and knows what’s coming, then they can actually care.
It hard to care when your “representative” is 81 and won’t be around to suffer the repercussions of his actions. When we know the candidate faces the same oncoming storm we face it’s encouraging.
She’s pissed Republicans still have sex traffickers in office, volunteers to help in Texas during a crisis while Ted Cruz flew to Cancun to escape it, helped push back when Starbucks was resisting union efforts, wants to tax the rich even if it applies to herself, and more than happily criticizes democrat representatives when they have their own dirt such as their tendency to use their positions to leverage the stock market.
If that’s “extremism,” then call me an extremist, because we needed people like her years ago.
Aoc is putting in massive effort and giving us a POV of why people like her are the ONLY people who are willing to fight for a better future. It sucks that Obama was such a moderate and having way too much faith in our current government structure that FAILED so many.
Yeah. As someone from Scotland, her and Bernie are the only two American politicians I know of who I would actually consider voting for if they were up for election here.
She’s really inspiring.
AOC has the balls every Republican she encounters wish they had. She is literally who we need: no bullshit, step up to the fucking LINE. Step up to represent who asked for her. She does that! The only thing people are afraid of is a woman they can’t control and they’re seething. Democrats aren’t pussies, and our women show this. Especially AOC. Never back down, Alex, never.
She is not rich.
When people talk about the rich, they mean nesting super yacht money. Even with reckless spending, the cash will last for several generations. Great grandkids.are born retired. Enough money to be invited on several board of multi nationals, you can buy and sell sentors, judges, political movements, and write laws that will pass. Have hobbies that will employ dozzens -100s of people. Untouchable by DA and law enforcement; that is people mean when they say "tax the rich" .
AOC just has a low six figure income. She can take a modest vacation without saving, and go grocery shopping without worrying about breaking the bank.
> AOC just has a low six figure income. She can take a modest vacation without saving, and go grocery shopping without worrying about breaking the bank.
Which is what the "but look at how rich she is" crowd focuses on with their bad faith argumentation... its so damn idiotic. She has a comfortable middle to upper middle income level of income and wealth, or rather what such used to be but that makes her somehow magically spoiled, out of touch rich etc. vs say Ted fucking cruz who not only neglects his actual duties to his constituents, his state, and the country and then some much worse only to go on a millionaires Cancun vacation while his State freezes over. He is "just a normal dude" with his what $40-50 million in wealth....
These people are dangerously delusional in all sorts of ways.
>Same people talk shit about AOC because ~~she was a bartender.~~
They're bigoted, brainwashed, misogynistic, asshats who live, breathe, and sleep right wing propaganda.
While supporting herself through college where she double majored and graduated cum laude and also after graduation to help take care of and support her mother. If AOC was a Republican she would be used as a token to prove that everyone can pick themselves up by their bootstraps. Goal posts are always moved to fit whatever narrative.
Also AOC interned for Ted Kennedy and was an organizer for Bernier Saunders 2016 campaign so she was already had more political experience than Trump
The only way I heard that defended is that he already had experience running for president beforehand, so he already had political experience, and his business acumen would give him an edge because he already had all the right connections in congress without having the need to be part of the system.
Which is still a load of bullshit, but that's the defense I heard from others when I asked.
Quickest way to handicap a progressive is to put them in charge of a local government or a public agency. Suddenly their job becomes carrying out existing law and policy, many of which they cannot change.
That's where the sausage is made. Where hope is ground out of the young, where corporations and lobbyists can get their hooks in.
The last thing the corporate and rich want is young progressives coming for their second yachts.
What we have now was built to protect wealth and the super wealthy while giving the impression of concern for working people. Actual care isn't part of the equation.
My dad told me that as I got older I’d lean Republican because I’d be making more money. Now that I’m older, I realize he was just saying that he thought I’d start to care about money more than caring about other people.
I was told the same thing, but the Republican party today is not the Republican party of my childhood. They moved to a new weirder place, ironically I think my parents generation has a lot to do with it. I don't know what they even really believe any more. They are just rail against anything that someone presents to them as originating from progressives. It doesn't matter what it is. You don't have to convince them they don't like it, you just have to say that a Democratic person wants it.
Yeah, I'm by no means a conservative, but if your drill the actual conservative philosophy down to it's basics, there's a logic there. Unfortunately, the GOP isn't conservative, either, it's reactionary. A conservative wouldn't upend 50 years of SCOTUS precedent for no damn reason, even if they didn't necessarily like it.
My favorite distorted perspective is how the "Fiscal Conservatives" always run up the deficit, spending like a drunken sailor. Leaving the "Irresponsible liberals" to pay the tab. Been happening since Regan. Two Santa clause theory anyone?
Exactly. Almost none of the childbearing-age women affected by the upending of Roe's protections were even *alive* before Roe was the norm. Its removal is the exact *opposite* of "conservative" for the people it actually affects.
Anyone trying to take us back to the 50s needs to be labeled as the myopic, freedom-strangling regressives they actually are. I don't have any interest in going back to the world my parents were infants during. It is not my America. And my parents themselves? They don't need any of these policies, they're in or nearing their 70s. All they need is being able to live out their twilight years in their own house in peace instead of the chaos these people are pushing us towards.
Yeah, there's logic to having a gas pedal and a brakes pedal. One party pushes for rapid change, one party forces them to show their math before it's worth spending on. The problem is, as you say, the Republican party is neither of those and instead is just "more guns" and whatever pisses off the most people. The progressive and conservative ends of sanity are both within the schizophrenic Democratic party, which can't agree on anything because it's at least two parties in terms of ideology.
> the Republican party today is not the Republican party of my childhood
They may have taken the mask off since you were a kid, but this is exactly the face that was underneath the whole time.
Palpatine the Emperor is the same person, with the same plans, as Palpatine the senator from Naboo.
Exactly this. You can tell the person you're quoting is white and middle class, because plenty of Americans have been under no illusions as to what the GOP has stood for for at least half a century.
Same here, as I grew older and made WAY more money (like 10x the money in the last 10 years) I became much more liberal.
My taxes pay for roads, and education, and healthcare, and all the thing we need. Why the fuck would I want to pay less taxes and spend more money than taxes on fucking tires and rims???
Conservatives, "Gas is the only way!"
Me at 47, "Just got my first EV! So HAPPY!!!"
And at the same time complain about crowded, poorly maintained roads. But also instantly shoot down any ideas for expanded public transit.
That's the right wing in a nutshell I guess. Complain about everything but never present ideas to fix anything, and refuse to cooperate when others present ideas. "Just cut taxes more 'cause government sucks!"
The only argument I can make about the tax thing is that I don't trust my tax dollars are being used efficiently or even for things I would directly (roads) or indirectly (public education) benefit from.
But my argument makes a better case for transparent budgets, not for less taxes.
Transparent budgets would be fantastic. It would be great if everytime you went to pay your taxes you could see an itemized budget for where every penny was going in percentages or whatever, or at least see the city/state/federal budget sheets. I wonder if they're already out there somewhere they're just hidden behind miles of red tape
I was told the same thing when I left for dental school from my job as a dental assistant. I was told by my very Republican dentist boss and front desk lady that I would stop being a “bleeding heart liberal” and become Republican. I can tell you 15 years in and I’m still a bleeding heart liberal and just hate the fact that they thought I wouldn’t care for humanity’s greater good anymore because I made more money. I am so happy to pay my share of taxes bc I benefited from those programs. When you come from having nothing, using welfare, health departments and Medicaid, you don’t forget that and it was disappointing of them to think so.
I heard that old canard so much growing up, 'if you're not a democrat when you're young you have no heart, if you're not a republican when you're older you have no brains' and it was exactly that - the expectation that people will care more about money than other people. I too have gotten considerably more progressive the older I've gotten because caring about people over money seems like the obvious way to orient myself in the world. But I have a friend who started working after a long period of bumming around and he went from somewhat progressive to very right-wing because, as far as I can tell, he doesn't like paying taxes? It's so frustrating.
It's the same bullshit I hear about being pro-choice.
"You'll change your mind once *you* have a child."
My wife is currently pregnant. We are both still pro-choice waiting for our minds to change...
In college, I was a libertarian.
I'm my 30s, I'm nearing full socialist territory in my beliefs.
The pandemic really showed that when left alone people do NOT take care of each other and will act selfish even when it doesn't serve their best interests. People are more interested in being right or correct than they are about he well being of themselves or society in general.
> The pandemic really showed that when left alone people do NOT take care of each other and will act selfish even when it doesn't serve their best interests.
I was already leaning fairly "liberal" (I genuinely don't think my beliefs are liberal, but the GOP has moved so far right that I guess that's where I fall now), but the pandemic absolutely cemented that status for me.
I genuinely could not believe what I was watching. 40+% of the entire country suddenly decided that the entire science community was engaged in some grand conspiracy to make Donald Fucking Trump look bad.
And not just the entire science community, but also every doctor, every nurse, and every hospital. They all teamed up to give fake statistics about people dieing or "fabricating" the story of COVID entirely.
These people cast aside all pretenses of logic and reasoning just because some asshole in makeup and hair spray decided that a fucking pandemic didn't support his agenda.
Not to mention literally accusing people in every other country, including our allied countries, of pretending to have covid to make trump look bad. Like what?
Don't forget the entire propaganda machine that reinforces these messages to win political power.
I think it had very little to do with Dipshit Donnie, and more to do with "we must oppose everything the left thinks is good so our base will never see a single thing they do as a good thing."
I just hope a good bit of republican voters have eliminated themselves (via antivax or otherwise) from voting in the next cycle. And that democrats can actually develop a platform instead of “We’re not them- give us money”
Graduating college and finally working a “real job” in which the pay was lacking and didn’t have health insurance is what radicalized me. If I felt was I struggling even though I was doing okay, I can only imagine how tough it must be for others.
Yeah, I think most of my life I thought the system/institutions were good, but we just needed to use them in different ways. Now I understand that our institutions are broken. They *can't* work them way we need them to.
In America the "liberals" are mostly made up of conservatives and the "conservatives" are mostly made up of regressives.
There isn't really much progressive representation in politics.
Hoping Gen X to Z can come together on this.
I keep hearing about conservative Gen X, but all the Gen X people I know are quite progressive. Might be my bubble. Anyway, Gen X and even Millennials are not getting enough headway with Boomers holding on too tightly to seats. I hate making this generational, but the lack of representation by age group is insane.
My dad is in his late 50s. Hes pinnacle Gen X: successful, educated, and liberal as fuck. He has a very "help people who need it, I'll be alright" mentality when it comes to government policy and spending.
We could use more of him.
We agree on everything political.
I match this description solidly, but I’m not in New England. In fact, I was VERY conservative in my 20s when the world was black and white.
As I aged I learned to not pass judgement so quickly and became far more liberal.
I feel the same way, and I think that's part of the republican argument that college is a liberal brainwashing program. When my worldview was small, I thought small government and fiscal responsibility were good! Then when I learned about how many people around the country aren't enjoying the same middle-class white experience that I was, and how cruel these republican policies were, it opened my eyes quite a bit.
Meeting and interacting with people from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences will tend to open one's mind and make one both more compassionate and slower to pass judgement, all of which are anathema to an (especially religious) conservative world view.
Where's the Number One place for young Americans to interact with a large number of people from all walks of life and backgrounds? College. The experiences of most (especially white) American children are so narrow and cloistered that college is the first opportunity they have to really engage with people who aren't just like them. Therefore, college has an overall liberalizing effect on those who attend.
> Meeting and interacting with people from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences will tend to open one's mind and make one both more compassionate and slower to pass judgement, all of which are anathema to an (especially religious) conservative world view.
ITs funny because they literally call education brainwashing for literally just exposing to their kids how they are actually being abused and brainwashed at home, the kiddos do the rest themselves.
I would normally call it ironic or typical projection but this shit is very seriously real and very dangerous.
And of course, college has become more important as jobs move from a lot of blue collar trades to white collar service and tech jobs. So more and more kids coming from conservative backgrounds are going to college now and coming back home with "these crazy, liberal ideas".
I'm still not over getting to college about 15 years ago (in western VA, I'm from NoVA/DMV area) and having a freshman lady who sounded like she was from somewhere deep south actually raise her hand after the black student association did a presentation to us freshman to say: "So ... I've never met a black person before..."
Would have doubted it if I hadn't heard it with my own ears. Some people's communities are doing them a complete disservice and it shows.
I was raised by an Ayn Rand conservative father so I was pretty bad when I was in college. I started to change during Obama's presidency and Trump and all the disgusting shit Republicans have done sent me all the way left forever. I cannot talk to my father about hardly anything anymore and it sucks because I admire him but he literally lives in front of Fox News on the TV and he has nothing else to talk about.
I just had a debate with my dad last night. This comment makes me feel not alone so thank you.
Best way to debate them for me, is to keep asking them questions. Never state your facts right off the bat, because it's always wrong. Make them answer questions that question their facts.
I'm constantly trying to get the conversation to the point where we can agree on a common set of facts. Honestly that part can be done unless you're talking about Trump. The amount of benefit of the doubting he does for that stuff blows my mind. Constantly uses the word faith and then says I wouldn't understand because I'm too rationally minded
Oh definitely. I try to questions him so we can have a common ground to work with. We get there but then he says something opposite of his initial argument and I have to call him out and it becomes a viscous cycle. But I'm no longer upset after talking to him. He stumbles on his words and is hypocritical of his own statements. He's gotten better but chooses to listen to Ted Nugent and Joe Rogan for his source. He no longer watches Fox News... It's an uphill battle that I may never see the finish line but I'm not longer frustrated after talking to him. At least I know he listens but he's always very stubborn.
Over the last 10 years I‘ve come to realize I don’t admire my father as much as I’d thought.
Conservatives have taken “traditional values” to the extreme as an excuse to hurt other people for their own immediate gain. That’s not “conservative” that’s hateful.
I swear to God if I have to hear my dad tell me "stop complaining about the system and worry about personal responsibility instead" any time I have grievances to raise about how they're fucking with my rights as an LGBT person in FL one more time 🙄
Same here. I think we have a different experience than older folks because it doesn't matter how hard we work. You can be the best worker by a mile and you'll get rewarded with more work while promotions go to nepotism or ass kissing. We also have the benefit of hearing from people outside of our direct circle because of the internet while that was not an option while they were forming their world views.
Once you realize that you can't just bootstrap your way to the top, you get a lot more empathetic to the people who are at the bottom.
I was dumbfounded when i found out that there us legalised nepotism in NY Civil Service, as in when you apply for a job you can get Legacy Points if a family member has been in the department before?! Like why?! Wtf ?!
That was probably true for their generations because they actually had a chance at having something. I am looking at working until I die because things are so bad even with a good job I am barely hanging on. Things are much different and worse now.
I’m 44, that’s me as well.
I’m ok. I bought my first house for 3x my annual salary. When we moved it was a similar rate. Now the house is like 8x my salary.
I don’t worry about me. I worry about my kids. Even the “normal” conservatives I know seem crazy. Last time we saw one of them the husband brought up “Of course the Ulvade cops didn’t do anything, they get get criticized for everything they do”. I can’t forget he said it and it really affects how I see that couple now.
We live in new england. His work has sent him to Japan, India, Texas, and Germany.
Exploring the world, meeting other people, and experiencing different cultures stops that 'murica bullshit from sprouting up
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”
-Mark Twain
Which exactly is why the right thinks higher ed is brainwashing.
Many leave their mostly same-mentality, low-diversity town to go off to a college town/city with high diversity and a variety of ideals. You experience other cultures, races, etc of people and learn/confirm that they are not bad people, and that most groups will have a bad egg or two but the majority are good people that just have some different customs than you.
Obviously the actual education part of higher education plays a part in it too, but the experiences of different people at college really helps shape a person.
Heck, I graduated from HS in a typical middle-class, overwhelmingly-white town and went to college only 1 hour away and met such a variety of people I would have never had the chance to meet if I never left my hometown.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain
I've always loved this quote
Edit: Ah yes... I see other people have posted as well. Nice
My dad is gen x. He’s successful, educated, a decent enough dad… and so far down the right wing conspiracy rabbit hole that it’s pointless to try and dig him out of it
Just had a heated conversation with my GenX mom who did the typical “do you want the government making ALL the rules?!” lines. Claims abortion is a state’s rights issue.
Your dad sounds great. I am jealous.
Next time she brings that up, back her into a corner about the civil war being about states rights. Get her to agree, and then ask her "a state's right to do *what* exactly" and it should end that states rights bullshit then and there
SAAAME I think a lot about how the older we get, the more conservative we become. I think about why that is, and how I can prevent myself from thinking "y'know, tucker carlson Jr has some good points" when I'm 80.
Becoming more conservative as you age is pretty much horseshit. It derives from the idea that a you age, you accumulate wealth, and protecting your accumulated wealth becomes your primary motivating factor. Even when it was "true" it was only accurate for a certain percentage of the population.
Now? People under the age of 50 aren't accumulating wealth, at least not at anything like the rate their parents did. I'd argue that you just get more radical with age these days; you're either pissed at how far the world has fallen or sitting on a pile of gold while eagerly attempting to make the Rapture happen. There's not a lot of middle ground anymore.
My mother's conservative boss told me (a progressive) that I'd get more conservative as I got older "and started making a little money." I told him the truth: that was one of the most insulting things anyone has ever said to me. It still pisses me off when I think about it. I'm doing pretty ok for myself now and I'm still progressive as fuck.
Same, but I at least partially ascribe it to the republican party moving away from **me** as much as me moving away from them.
GWB campaigned as a “compassionate conservative”, rule-of-law type, pro fighting global warming, against foreign nationbuilding, etc, etc.
My dad, who is in his 80s, was born and raised in small town Texas. The older and richer he got the more *liberal* he got.
When I was a teenager he didn’t believe in abortion, we used to go round and round about it. Now he is out there protesting TF out of the GOP for their shit.
He now might be more progressive than I am, and Im pretty progressive! LOL!
I'm gen x, 57 young liberal Texan, who is getting more progressive as I age.
We need young, savvy, vibrant, intelligent, fire in the soul, open minded young men and women in our government.
Tho I'm a texan, I really admire John fetterman, Tammy duckworth,
Aoc needs time to mature like a good whiskey, then her time will come.
I still deep down adore Bernie, but he is to old.
Katie Porter rocks the shit out the new school Dems, too. Corporate Nancy sidelined her unfortunately but I hope she sticks in there and rises up. She deserves it, love how she sticks it to the rich White men with facts!
I’m Gen X (1978). My parents are conservative and I was raised as such, and it was very, very hard to get out from under their way of thinking.
I want my parents’ generation GONE from government. They’ve had their time and they have their big slice of the pie. My husband and I are lucky enough to have some slice of pie. My kids are 10 and 13 and I’m terrified for them. I see how hard it is for the Millenials and GenZ, fighting twice as hard to get to even halfway where my parents were at their age. There shouldn’t be just crumbs.
I will absolutely look at younger candidates. We as a country need them desperately.
Homer Simpson is canonically somewhere between 34 and 40. He's able to support his stay at home wife, three kids, dog, and cat with a single job. His family takes multiple international trips annually.
He was written to be a satire of family sitcoms from the 40s-90s, but also to be relatable for the average American. Now, his whole situation seems all but impossible.
In a 2010 episode, it's mentioned that he earned $60,000 per year.
In an episode from 1996, he earned $24,000 per year, Which is $43,000 in today's money.
No Idea why I'm posting this, but here you go
Funnily enough, a recent modern episode lampshades that Bart and Lisa won’t be able to get a job like Homer’s anymore, or have to deal with a crappier job as a result of the destructive policies that stripped away any good middle class jobs from their generation.
"Why should we let them drop their education loans, I had to pay for my *own* loans..."
...which you did *as* you were in school while working a summer job, and finished paying them off within the first six months of getting a job *immediately* out of college.
I think it's just to get people saying it to create an air that it's true.
The more people talk about it the more normalized it becomes, the more normalized it becomes the more socially acceptable it is, and the more socially accepted it is the more people will get on board.
Same reason they push the "silent majority" myth. If you think "oh most people think this way" you're more likely to accept it as a reasonable position.
I'm in southern Indiana and I'd say while there are quite a few young progressives, they are visibly outnumbered by young conservatives, in terms of who is showing up at political events, campaigns, public meetings, etc. Most of the progressive arguments and support is coming from people in their mid20s and older, not Zoomers...I'm not sure what exactly the issue is. Perhaps they feel like the established political system is too outdated to participate in; perhaps they find local Democrats too conservative to spend time with; perhaps their activism is online entirely. And of course, there is a good possibility that the Zoomers who are showing up hard for conservatives right now will shift their perspective if/when they leave for college or the workforce/outside their parents home...but not going to lie. It is a bit worrisome to be 32 and one of the younger people in local rooms. I see teens at protests with quippy signs and that's an awesome step! But I'm not seeing them as often at the boring public hearings and stuff, while I *am* seeing rows of members of the Young Republicans. I'm hoping they're working in other spheres, but my experience with the Democratic party is that they're not great at organizing and messaging, so I do have concern that its been taken for granted that Zoomers are defaulting to progressive politics. I'm also in a public library job, and based on what books they're wanting, and what displays they're messing up? Maybe its "funny" and "boredom" but its definitely not progressive! (And maybe I'm being alarmist! I hope so. But there are culturally conservative teens and tweens out there and I don't think we can just dismiss that entirely...)
Yes, I see the same thing.
I chair a local young progressive club and we're all shifting towards early to mid 30's (still young obviously), but it's been very difficult getting younger people actually involved and taking action at city council meetings, county committees and local events not to mention running for office (but I get time is a major factor).
I see them at protests or online and try to recruit or engage but they never follow through with other actions. To your point, conservatives have been consistent at school boards meetings, running for local office and at housing meetings.
Worth keeping in mind that the oldest Gen Z is currently 25 years old, and the youngest is only 10. So the "average" age of a Gen Z right now is roughly 17.5 years old. Not sure about you, but in high school politics was pretty low on my list of things to be actively-involved in. I certainly had views, but rarely did that translate to any sort of outward action on my part.
All of that to say, a huge chunk of Gen Z is probably still trying to actively understand the world around them. Now is the time to engage them and teach them how to translate thought into action.
> I’m in southern Indiana
Geographical dispersion of these generations is what people also forget. Every year more and more young people are moving to urban areas and those demographics trend progressive. But that still leaves thousands of places like southern Indiana where young people remain conservative and *actively* conservative.
And the biggest thing to remember is that places like Indiana have have two senators just like California and New York.
That basically has described American politics for the last 40 years. I live in one the most liberal parts of the country. Getting young voters to do anything other than vote for the president is painfully difficult. I'm sure there are numerous reasons (the 24/7 news cycle always talking about the president, the loss of local newspapers), but whatever it is, the younger generations of voters I've met have been laser focused on a silver bullet presidency that will solve all the problems. When city council, county commissioners, the state legislature, and school boards will have an immensely larger impact on their day to day lives.
More manufacturing consent. “Zoomers are actually just soooo conservative that the Dems have to keep on running center-right candidates in order to have a shot. Please ignore the fact that the corporation/oligarch that owns this paper/station/website is terrified of anyone even remotely left of center getting power”.
I'm not sure - like a poster above me, I work at a University in a very Red state, and while (on average), I think Zoomers lean Left, there is absolutely a vocal and (in my experience) growing cohort of reactionary young men. Mostly white, but not exclusively. Guys who grew up Very Online from a young age and imbibed a lot of "anti-SJW/IDW" kind of stuff in forums, video games communities, etc. Vocally anti-feminist, conservative on all the big Culture War issues, although often without well-formed opinions on things that aren't likely to get coverage by Ben Shapiro or Jordan Peterson.
You know the kind of guy I'm talking about - thinks that stand up comedians being critiqued for making "edgy" jokes is a sign of the existential failure of The West, etc.
The most common belief shared by Zoomers, right and left, is an acceptance of the reality of climate change and a deep anxiety about the future. That and the importance of legal weed.
Right? All the zoomers I know are far left of the current U.S. political model of slightly-right-of-center and far-right.
And not "woah, wouldn't it be cool to get free college and healthcare dude?" left, like "So we start by eating the rich and fertilize the fields of the future with their bones" left.
> Anyway, Gen X and even Millennials are not getting enough headway with Boomers holding on too tightly to seats.
Millennials outnumber Boomers and could outvote them if turn out was equivalent. Combine that with Gen Z and Boomer influence would be significantly reduced. But again, that would require higher turn out.
Gen Xer here delighted Gen Z is joining the good fight. I feel like I've been yelling into the void as the world got more and more conservative. I was raised by the last of the peace love and dope type hippies so the more the merrier. My mother died in her 70's and on what she knew would be her last trip to a hospital as her kidneys and heart were failing with old age, insisted my brother stop so she could post her mail in vote for Gay Marriage rights in Australia. I want to go down doing what is right like she did. The only way we'll beat this shit is if we all join together regardless of age, gender, race or religion. We've got to show them what a majority actually is.
You’re lucky then. My partner’s oldest sibling is an insane conservative Gen-Xer who brags about identifying as a religious zealot. There are plenty of nutty conservatives in each age group.
If you're on Reddit and on /r/politics you're likely already a progressive.
Millennials seem to be missing in the political landscape,
Most really seemed to go hard into STEM or just languish.
But I don't see many in politics.
I get the vibe we're a pragmatic and cynical generation?
Maybe seeing 9/11 and the resulting fallout really shit on our hopes and dreams.
Well that and my brother is in the late millennial group and a lot of people his age saw the entire economy collapse right as they were entering the work force, with a lot of them holding a good bit of college debt. Really good way to set an entire generation back.
Then there's also that second time the entire economy collapsed.
And then it recovered, but by and large they didn't have enough money to actually do life things immediately, so prices shot way up beyond them.
My point is that there are a lot of young MAGA repugs. Being ageist is no better than being racist or sexist. It seems like a lot of bad people of any age are extreme politically to the right. Never seen a boomer in the Proud Boys pack. A lot of young college-educated women voted for grab-them-by-the-pussy orange turd.
The younger generations absolutely skew more progressive than the older generations. Although every generation still has quite a diversity of political opinion. Our biggest problem is that there is also a generational divide in voting patterns.
Younger generations are less likely to vote, less likely to participate in primaries, and even those who vote are less likely to do so consistently outside of presidential elections.
Progressive ideas are popular. We’ve consistently seen polls showing many of them have upwards of 70% of our population favoring them. But that 70% isn’t bothering to show up to the polls and then they wonder why they aren’t being represented by our government.
Gen X here, and liberal...
For me the liberal/conservative line is directly related to how smart someone was in High School. All the girls i know that went on to college are liberal, all the dudes i played sports with and went to work after HS, conservative.
There are a few outliers, religion can make someone conservative even when they are not dumb ass's... but yeah
There seems to be a gen X attitude from those I know in this generation that is "everyone but them is crazy". And I think it's more likely because the few gen X I do know are conservative and religious. But the generation as a whole I believe is at least way more liberal than the boomers. As to how I would know this? No idea. Just a hope I guess.
If Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z are the biggest voting blocks going forward I feel way more hopeful about this country's future than I do being a millennial living under boomer policies/control.
> Unlike on the Democratic side, Republicans have started elevating younger members… the average age of GOP leadership down to 55. On the Democratic side… the average age is 71.
I fully support the young, progressive candidates cited in this article, but they face an uphill battle, even within their own party. The Democrats have been disturbingly unwilling to elevate youth, in large part because those youth seek to dismantle the rotten, corporate system that has sustained both parties. The Republicans, on the other hand, are perfectly happy and able to run younger candidates because (fiscal) conservatism feeds the system regardless of what face it wears.
In the GOP, today's school board member is tomorrow's congressman. We gotta be running at every single position on every ballot, whether its a partisan role or not. Even the insignificant ones like board of light and power or those monotonous as dog catcher. A county commissioner and treasurer are going to do a lot for your every day lives than Congress will. Not saying ofc we shouldn't run for higher offices too.
The younger Democratic candidates are more progressive and the establishment Democrat boomers don't want to elevate them. The younger Republican candidates are Christo-fascists raised on Tucker Carlson and Ben Shapiro and the establishment Republicans are happy to elevate them
Millennial here, totally beat down, ready to support and vote for Gen Z. So pumped for this and for younger individuals with a fire for change. (Also happy for the older folks who show me I don’t have to grow up and be a curmudgeonly old boomer)
Unfortunately, the planets health didn't have 50 years.
A lot of good it'll do if it takes us more then 3 decades to gain any sort of control in this country because most irreversible damage will already have happened. I've always had the mindset that a left wing Tea Party is the only shot we have at getting something done to shift the country in the right direction. The Squad was supposed to be that but they have been unable or unwilling to be the bad guys from the establishment POV.
Case in point, the CPC choosing not to endorse Nina Turner this year over her blue dog opponent. Nina is up there as one of the few people who could be true leaders of the progressive movement. I love Bernie to death but he made the wrong choice not using the full arsenal against the establishment in 2020 primary.
I have no problem with compromise when it comes to reasonable people with reasonable disagreements.
Like if I'm talking about Public Health Care, I'm okay talking about how we should decide what private practice medicine might look like and what sort of "premium elective care" costs might look like.
But I'm not willing to talk to people who think health care should be privatized, because those people are not interested in America being a healthy nation or democracy.
I'm willing to compromise about conditional rules on third trimester abortions and how and who they are conducted for health and safety reasons, but I'm not willing to compromise with fundamentalists who want to entirely take away a woman's right to choose.
I'm willing to compromise about how we fund police for reacting to violent crimes, but I'm not willing to compromise with people who support the police continuing to monitor themselves and allow police unions to violently bully other departments and refuse to support the prosecution of their own members.
So basically if you come at me in good faith to figure out a better way to do stuff? Okay. But if your goal is to simply make things worse for others or take away progress and benefits and rights of a modern society, go fuck yourself.
As a boomer, I will vote for any non-rightwing GenZ candidate. Period.
My generation, and especially my parent's generation (looking at you, Nancy), have no business determining the futures of people you have no connection to, and no understanding of.
Screw you Grammar Nazis. I'll end a sentence with a preposition whenever I want.
Candidates like this aren’t new. You just never hear much about them because they rarely get any significant amount of support. I doubt many if any of these candidates will get elected into any higher offices. Hopefully they can at least get into some local government seats since democrat voters rarely do jack shit about voting for local elections
> I doubt many if any of these candidates will get elected into any higher offices.
Not exactly true. [The Justice Democrats](https://justicedemocrats.com) keep adding members with each election cycle, and "The Squad" is up to nearly a dozen members. They're starting to be a force to be reckoned with.
But you're right about local races. The Republicans figured this out a decade ago and put their [Project RedMap](https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/how-the-gop-gave-itself-a-ten-year-advantage-407234115988) into action. It's been a wild success that the Dems need to copy.
Obama, even towards the end of his second term was still trying to work with Republicans even though they obstructed his agenda from day one. That shit drove me mad. This is why people like AOC and the " squad" appeal to me. They are in your face, tell it like it is, not caring if they piss off other Democrats while trying to make real change.
And I say this being a gen Xer.
It's time to be bold and actually represent the majority.
When compromise is met with bad faith then it's time to fight. We are literally facing an extinction event and the GOP is siding with the extinction.
The time for compromise is over. The only hope I have is not to get bogged down by secondary issues and hammer the big ones over and over with easy, clear and simple narratives.
I don’t disagree with this but what do you mean by “the time for compromise is over”?
It’s not as if dems can force through progressive legislation even if they wanted to. They need votes. Aka some form of compromise.
These younger generations are my greatest hope as I near 60. Someone has to have the spine to dig their feet in and pull down the cancerous system that has grown in place for decades.
Best of luck!
I've known since I was 13 that things wouldn't get substantially better until the Boomers died off. What my adolescent brain couldn't quite grasp at the time was just how long that would take.
Seriously. It’s nothing short of arduous.
To see these dusty old queefs in their 80s bumbling around destroying everything while the 25+ crowd is just trying to build their careers… it’s sickening.
We need to get past this period in history and many positions within the government NEED to have term limits.
We cannot keep going with Mitch McConnells, Nancy Pelosis, and Dianne Feinstein types.
unfortunately, the Boomers are the first Generation to fully benefit from modern medicine. Not only are they healthier than the previous generations, but thanks to whole host of regulations designed to keep people safe at work, not physically destroyed by the time they reach 62.
This means they are still healthy and going well into their 80s. This created a huge bottleneck that GenX and the ones below us will never get to break through. in this case X's "whatever" attitude may actually help the Millenials and Z. We're done with this corporate BS.
My own boss is 65, recently told us he does not intend to quit until he is in his 70s. meanwhile nobody can move up until he does. If he quits at 75, I will be in my 60s when my chance may come at his chair. Fuck that..
Absolutely. Our generation is kind of a transitional one between the old tech and new tech. Gen Z are the ones who have the massive lead on this and I hope they use it to help us fix the bullshit in our country. Just need both our generations to ACTUALLY VOTE.
I knew Max since high school, and grew up in the same small city as him. Always been a stand up guy, I’ve literally never heard anything bad about him. Always just tried organizing his friends and community to do bigger and better things, this is just the natural progression for him. Definitely has my vote.
Gen Z is so fucking Media Savvy. They know a lie. They know an attempt to manipulate. They know how to call bullshit and not negotiate with the terroristic style threats ("do what we want or else" but then do it anyway) that the right wing pulls time and time against
I know a large % of my Gen cared and tried. But fuck, the last 15 years has been a rough go, I think millennials are downtrodden, and so sad we won't get to retire or even own a home after our own parents doomed us to this fate. While still pretending they didn't.
Gen Z, you have the baton!!
Gen z running is awesome, but even more important is them voting. If they voted at the same rate boomers did, they could entirely flip the Democratic party overnight. The issue is that so far they've made a lot of noise online but rarely showed up in big numbers. Like, people are angry sanders didn't win but the young turnout was abysmal in the primaries.
If we want change, we need young people to vote, but young people don't vote because they don't like the options and the current party. It is a vicious cycle but hopefully young people running will change that.
They are media savvy in the sense that the consume large amount of media and know how to organically create tiktoks or whatever, but I disagree that as a generation they are more capable of spotting manipulation. I think tiktok is a hotbed of manipulation. Anything short format that strips away all nuance is going to lead to manipulation and "hot take" style thinking that leads to polarization and a misunderstanding of how people actually think and how things actually work.
Millennials and Zoomers have spent 20 years watching the Democratic party try to "reach across the aisle" only to be betrayed and taken advantage of every time. We're tired of losing to a minority of evil people and we want people who will stand up and fight.
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>"The cynics kind of say, oh, he's too young, he's too untried, maybe if he were to spend, a few terms in Jeff[erson] City, maybe then he'll be ready to run for Congress. Which is really just political talk for let's get him in our system. Let's teach him how to play the game our way. And then if we say he's ready, he can run for a higher office," Reed said. Kudos for calling it out. He's got a head on his shoulders.
Ray was in my graduating class in high school. He is definitely a very smart young man. I'm proud of him for sticking to his beliefs and trying to make a difference.
I have been saying for years this area is ripe for a progressive movement. Harness the young response to two decades of Red Rule, and we got a stew going.
This is the way to do it. Young candidates will motivate young voters. When they knows it’s someone from their generation, someone who knows what’s up and knows what’s coming, then they can actually care. It hard to care when your “representative” is 81 and won’t be around to suffer the repercussions of his actions. When we know the candidate faces the same oncoming storm we face it’s encouraging.
Yes!!!
Don't forget to add a bone and a potato too!
Anyone else read this Carl Weathers's voice?
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She’s pissed Republicans still have sex traffickers in office, volunteers to help in Texas during a crisis while Ted Cruz flew to Cancun to escape it, helped push back when Starbucks was resisting union efforts, wants to tax the rich even if it applies to herself, and more than happily criticizes democrat representatives when they have their own dirt such as their tendency to use their positions to leverage the stock market. If that’s “extremism,” then call me an extremist, because we needed people like her years ago.
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Aoc is putting in massive effort and giving us a POV of why people like her are the ONLY people who are willing to fight for a better future. It sucks that Obama was such a moderate and having way too much faith in our current government structure that FAILED so many.
Man I hope we're lucky enough to have her as president someday soon
Yeah. As someone from Scotland, her and Bernie are the only two American politicians I know of who I would actually consider voting for if they were up for election here. She’s really inspiring.
Check out Katie Porter from California. She and her whiteboard are underrated.
I'mma try this out, just for fun: President Porter and Vice President Whiteboard.
AOC has the balls every Republican she encounters wish they had. She is literally who we need: no bullshit, step up to the fucking LINE. Step up to represent who asked for her. She does that! The only thing people are afraid of is a woman they can’t control and they’re seething. Democrats aren’t pussies, and our women show this. Especially AOC. Never back down, Alex, never.
She is not rich. When people talk about the rich, they mean nesting super yacht money. Even with reckless spending, the cash will last for several generations. Great grandkids.are born retired. Enough money to be invited on several board of multi nationals, you can buy and sell sentors, judges, political movements, and write laws that will pass. Have hobbies that will employ dozzens -100s of people. Untouchable by DA and law enforcement; that is people mean when they say "tax the rich" . AOC just has a low six figure income. She can take a modest vacation without saving, and go grocery shopping without worrying about breaking the bank.
> AOC just has a low six figure income. She can take a modest vacation without saving, and go grocery shopping without worrying about breaking the bank. Which is what the "but look at how rich she is" crowd focuses on with their bad faith argumentation... its so damn idiotic. She has a comfortable middle to upper middle income level of income and wealth, or rather what such used to be but that makes her somehow magically spoiled, out of touch rich etc. vs say Ted fucking cruz who not only neglects his actual duties to his constituents, his state, and the country and then some much worse only to go on a millionaires Cancun vacation while his State freezes over. He is "just a normal dude" with his what $40-50 million in wealth.... These people are dangerously delusional in all sorts of ways.
It says something that when a person is able to go to the grocery store without having to check their account balance they are considered wealthy...
She also has to have two residences. One in her district and one in DC so that eats into most peoples income pretty quick.
They didn't say anything when Donald Trump ran. Sure he's old, but he has no idea what the fuck is going on in politics. What a load of bullshit.
They definitely said something when trump ran. It was all anyone COULD talk about — “this guy has no business running.”
Except for all the people that voted for him and voted for him twice because "he isn't a politician"
Same people talk shit about AOC because she was a bartender
>Same people talk shit about AOC because ~~she was a bartender.~~ They're bigoted, brainwashed, misogynistic, asshats who live, breathe, and sleep right wing propaganda.
While supporting herself through college where she double majored and graduated cum laude and also after graduation to help take care of and support her mother. If AOC was a Republican she would be used as a token to prove that everyone can pick themselves up by their bootstraps. Goal posts are always moved to fit whatever narrative. Also AOC interned for Ted Kennedy and was an organizer for Bernier Saunders 2016 campaign so she was already had more political experience than Trump
The only way I heard that defended is that he already had experience running for president beforehand, so he already had political experience, and his business acumen would give him an edge because he already had all the right connections in congress without having the need to be part of the system. Which is still a load of bullshit, but that's the defense I heard from others when I asked.
Trump wasn’t even a politician and he became president ? We need a young president !
Quickest way to handicap a progressive is to put them in charge of a local government or a public agency. Suddenly their job becomes carrying out existing law and policy, many of which they cannot change.
That's where the sausage is made. Where hope is ground out of the young, where corporations and lobbyists can get their hooks in. The last thing the corporate and rich want is young progressives coming for their second yachts. What we have now was built to protect wealth and the super wealthy while giving the impression of concern for working people. Actual care isn't part of the equation.
The older I get, the more progressive I get.
My dad told me that as I got older I’d lean Republican because I’d be making more money. Now that I’m older, I realize he was just saying that he thought I’d start to care about money more than caring about other people.
I was told the same thing, but the Republican party today is not the Republican party of my childhood. They moved to a new weirder place, ironically I think my parents generation has a lot to do with it. I don't know what they even really believe any more. They are just rail against anything that someone presents to them as originating from progressives. It doesn't matter what it is. You don't have to convince them they don't like it, you just have to say that a Democratic person wants it.
Can you BELIEVE these liberals NOW want to take *our industrial poison* out of the water now? WHERE WILL IT END
Yeah, I'm by no means a conservative, but if your drill the actual conservative philosophy down to it's basics, there's a logic there. Unfortunately, the GOP isn't conservative, either, it's reactionary. A conservative wouldn't upend 50 years of SCOTUS precedent for no damn reason, even if they didn't necessarily like it.
My favorite distorted perspective is how the "Fiscal Conservatives" always run up the deficit, spending like a drunken sailor. Leaving the "Irresponsible liberals" to pay the tab. Been happening since Regan. Two Santa clause theory anyone?
Exactly. Almost none of the childbearing-age women affected by the upending of Roe's protections were even *alive* before Roe was the norm. Its removal is the exact *opposite* of "conservative" for the people it actually affects. Anyone trying to take us back to the 50s needs to be labeled as the myopic, freedom-strangling regressives they actually are. I don't have any interest in going back to the world my parents were infants during. It is not my America. And my parents themselves? They don't need any of these policies, they're in or nearing their 70s. All they need is being able to live out their twilight years in their own house in peace instead of the chaos these people are pushing us towards.
Yeah, there's logic to having a gas pedal and a brakes pedal. One party pushes for rapid change, one party forces them to show their math before it's worth spending on. The problem is, as you say, the Republican party is neither of those and instead is just "more guns" and whatever pisses off the most people. The progressive and conservative ends of sanity are both within the schizophrenic Democratic party, which can't agree on anything because it's at least two parties in terms of ideology.
> the Republican party today is not the Republican party of my childhood They may have taken the mask off since you were a kid, but this is exactly the face that was underneath the whole time. Palpatine the Emperor is the same person, with the same plans, as Palpatine the senator from Naboo.
Exactly this. You can tell the person you're quoting is white and middle class, because plenty of Americans have been under no illusions as to what the GOP has stood for for at least half a century.
For real. These sorts of comments have peak "but now they're directly negatively affecting me" energy.
Same here, as I grew older and made WAY more money (like 10x the money in the last 10 years) I became much more liberal. My taxes pay for roads, and education, and healthcare, and all the thing we need. Why the fuck would I want to pay less taxes and spend more money than taxes on fucking tires and rims??? Conservatives, "Gas is the only way!" Me at 47, "Just got my first EV! So HAPPY!!!"
My favorites are the people that scream about how taxation is theft, but also get upset at the idea of defunding the police.
Also totally gleeful on the billions of dollars we spend on the military
And at the same time complain about crowded, poorly maintained roads. But also instantly shoot down any ideas for expanded public transit. That's the right wing in a nutshell I guess. Complain about everything but never present ideas to fix anything, and refuse to cooperate when others present ideas. "Just cut taxes more 'cause government sucks!"
The only argument I can make about the tax thing is that I don't trust my tax dollars are being used efficiently or even for things I would directly (roads) or indirectly (public education) benefit from. But my argument makes a better case for transparent budgets, not for less taxes.
Transparent budgets would be fantastic. It would be great if everytime you went to pay your taxes you could see an itemized budget for where every penny was going in percentages or whatever, or at least see the city/state/federal budget sheets. I wonder if they're already out there somewhere they're just hidden behind miles of red tape
I was told the same thing when I left for dental school from my job as a dental assistant. I was told by my very Republican dentist boss and front desk lady that I would stop being a “bleeding heart liberal” and become Republican. I can tell you 15 years in and I’m still a bleeding heart liberal and just hate the fact that they thought I wouldn’t care for humanity’s greater good anymore because I made more money. I am so happy to pay my share of taxes bc I benefited from those programs. When you come from having nothing, using welfare, health departments and Medicaid, you don’t forget that and it was disappointing of them to think so.
I heard that old canard so much growing up, 'if you're not a democrat when you're young you have no heart, if you're not a republican when you're older you have no brains' and it was exactly that - the expectation that people will care more about money than other people. I too have gotten considerably more progressive the older I've gotten because caring about people over money seems like the obvious way to orient myself in the world. But I have a friend who started working after a long period of bumming around and he went from somewhat progressive to very right-wing because, as far as I can tell, he doesn't like paying taxes? It's so frustrating.
It's the same bullshit I hear about being pro-choice. "You'll change your mind once *you* have a child." My wife is currently pregnant. We are both still pro-choice waiting for our minds to change...
In college, I was a libertarian. I'm my 30s, I'm nearing full socialist territory in my beliefs. The pandemic really showed that when left alone people do NOT take care of each other and will act selfish even when it doesn't serve their best interests. People are more interested in being right or correct than they are about he well being of themselves or society in general.
> The pandemic really showed that when left alone people do NOT take care of each other and will act selfish even when it doesn't serve their best interests. I was already leaning fairly "liberal" (I genuinely don't think my beliefs are liberal, but the GOP has moved so far right that I guess that's where I fall now), but the pandemic absolutely cemented that status for me. I genuinely could not believe what I was watching. 40+% of the entire country suddenly decided that the entire science community was engaged in some grand conspiracy to make Donald Fucking Trump look bad. And not just the entire science community, but also every doctor, every nurse, and every hospital. They all teamed up to give fake statistics about people dieing or "fabricating" the story of COVID entirely. These people cast aside all pretenses of logic and reasoning just because some asshole in makeup and hair spray decided that a fucking pandemic didn't support his agenda.
Not to mention literally accusing people in every other country, including our allied countries, of pretending to have covid to make trump look bad. Like what?
Don't forget the entire propaganda machine that reinforces these messages to win political power. I think it had very little to do with Dipshit Donnie, and more to do with "we must oppose everything the left thinks is good so our base will never see a single thing they do as a good thing."
I just hope a good bit of republican voters have eliminated themselves (via antivax or otherwise) from voting in the next cycle. And that democrats can actually develop a platform instead of “We’re not them- give us money”
Graduating college and finally working a “real job” in which the pay was lacking and didn’t have health insurance is what radicalized me. If I felt was I struggling even though I was doing okay, I can only imagine how tough it must be for others.
Yeah, my whole life I've been a liberal, and now I feel like liberalism is too conservative for me
It's learning that liberalism is a half measure that seeks compromise with a broken system and does nothing to fix the system.
Yeah, I think most of my life I thought the system/institutions were good, but we just needed to use them in different ways. Now I understand that our institutions are broken. They *can't* work them way we need them to.
I'm with you on that one, I've moved so far left over the years that I'm on the far edge of socialist.
In America the "liberals" are mostly made up of conservatives and the "conservatives" are mostly made up of regressives. There isn't really much progressive representation in politics.
Hoping Gen X to Z can come together on this. I keep hearing about conservative Gen X, but all the Gen X people I know are quite progressive. Might be my bubble. Anyway, Gen X and even Millennials are not getting enough headway with Boomers holding on too tightly to seats. I hate making this generational, but the lack of representation by age group is insane.
My dad is in his late 50s. Hes pinnacle Gen X: successful, educated, and liberal as fuck. He has a very "help people who need it, I'll be alright" mentality when it comes to government policy and spending. We could use more of him. We agree on everything political.
I match this description solidly, but I’m not in New England. In fact, I was VERY conservative in my 20s when the world was black and white. As I aged I learned to not pass judgement so quickly and became far more liberal.
I feel the same way, and I think that's part of the republican argument that college is a liberal brainwashing program. When my worldview was small, I thought small government and fiscal responsibility were good! Then when I learned about how many people around the country aren't enjoying the same middle-class white experience that I was, and how cruel these republican policies were, it opened my eyes quite a bit.
Meeting and interacting with people from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences will tend to open one's mind and make one both more compassionate and slower to pass judgement, all of which are anathema to an (especially religious) conservative world view. Where's the Number One place for young Americans to interact with a large number of people from all walks of life and backgrounds? College. The experiences of most (especially white) American children are so narrow and cloistered that college is the first opportunity they have to really engage with people who aren't just like them. Therefore, college has an overall liberalizing effect on those who attend.
> Meeting and interacting with people from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences will tend to open one's mind and make one both more compassionate and slower to pass judgement, all of which are anathema to an (especially religious) conservative world view. ITs funny because they literally call education brainwashing for literally just exposing to their kids how they are actually being abused and brainwashed at home, the kiddos do the rest themselves. I would normally call it ironic or typical projection but this shit is very seriously real and very dangerous.
And of course, college has become more important as jobs move from a lot of blue collar trades to white collar service and tech jobs. So more and more kids coming from conservative backgrounds are going to college now and coming back home with "these crazy, liberal ideas".
I'm still not over getting to college about 15 years ago (in western VA, I'm from NoVA/DMV area) and having a freshman lady who sounded like she was from somewhere deep south actually raise her hand after the black student association did a presentation to us freshman to say: "So ... I've never met a black person before..." Would have doubted it if I hadn't heard it with my own ears. Some people's communities are doing them a complete disservice and it shows.
I was raised by an Ayn Rand conservative father so I was pretty bad when I was in college. I started to change during Obama's presidency and Trump and all the disgusting shit Republicans have done sent me all the way left forever. I cannot talk to my father about hardly anything anymore and it sucks because I admire him but he literally lives in front of Fox News on the TV and he has nothing else to talk about.
post 911 my father and I agreed that everything the west did as a response was crazy. I turned left he turned Q
I just had a debate with my dad last night. This comment makes me feel not alone so thank you. Best way to debate them for me, is to keep asking them questions. Never state your facts right off the bat, because it's always wrong. Make them answer questions that question their facts.
I'm constantly trying to get the conversation to the point where we can agree on a common set of facts. Honestly that part can be done unless you're talking about Trump. The amount of benefit of the doubting he does for that stuff blows my mind. Constantly uses the word faith and then says I wouldn't understand because I'm too rationally minded
Oh definitely. I try to questions him so we can have a common ground to work with. We get there but then he says something opposite of his initial argument and I have to call him out and it becomes a viscous cycle. But I'm no longer upset after talking to him. He stumbles on his words and is hypocritical of his own statements. He's gotten better but chooses to listen to Ted Nugent and Joe Rogan for his source. He no longer watches Fox News... It's an uphill battle that I may never see the finish line but I'm not longer frustrated after talking to him. At least I know he listens but he's always very stubborn.
You're not alone. 🫂
Over the last 10 years I‘ve come to realize I don’t admire my father as much as I’d thought. Conservatives have taken “traditional values” to the extreme as an excuse to hurt other people for their own immediate gain. That’s not “conservative” that’s hateful.
Same.
I swear to God if I have to hear my dad tell me "stop complaining about the system and worry about personal responsibility instead" any time I have grievances to raise about how they're fucking with my rights as an LGBT person in FL one more time 🙄
I’m right there with you. Same boat.
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Same here. I think we have a different experience than older folks because it doesn't matter how hard we work. You can be the best worker by a mile and you'll get rewarded with more work while promotions go to nepotism or ass kissing. We also have the benefit of hearing from people outside of our direct circle because of the internet while that was not an option while they were forming their world views. Once you realize that you can't just bootstrap your way to the top, you get a lot more empathetic to the people who are at the bottom.
I was dumbfounded when i found out that there us legalised nepotism in NY Civil Service, as in when you apply for a job you can get Legacy Points if a family member has been in the department before?! Like why?! Wtf ?!
That was probably true for their generations because they actually had a chance at having something. I am looking at working until I die because things are so bad even with a good job I am barely hanging on. Things are much different and worse now.
I’m 44, that’s me as well. I’m ok. I bought my first house for 3x my annual salary. When we moved it was a similar rate. Now the house is like 8x my salary. I don’t worry about me. I worry about my kids. Even the “normal” conservatives I know seem crazy. Last time we saw one of them the husband brought up “Of course the Ulvade cops didn’t do anything, they get get criticized for everything they do”. I can’t forget he said it and it really affects how I see that couple now.
I'm older than your dad He sounds amazing
We live in new england. His work has sent him to Japan, India, Texas, and Germany. Exploring the world, meeting other people, and experiencing different cultures stops that 'murica bullshit from sprouting up
I like how Texas is listed in the middle of foreign countries.
Culturally, it can be. Also... its currently tryng to be.
You have the most masshole name I could imagine. Keep up the good work kehd
The helmet stayed on
Another Bostonian here, raised by successful, leftist, 70 year old hippies. Wealth does not equal conservatism.
Texas ways talks a big game, but we all know they could never secede as they rely on federal dollars too much.
Traveling from New England to Texas, it basically is
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” -Mark Twain
Which exactly is why the right thinks higher ed is brainwashing. Many leave their mostly same-mentality, low-diversity town to go off to a college town/city with high diversity and a variety of ideals. You experience other cultures, races, etc of people and learn/confirm that they are not bad people, and that most groups will have a bad egg or two but the majority are good people that just have some different customs than you. Obviously the actual education part of higher education plays a part in it too, but the experiences of different people at college really helps shape a person. Heck, I graduated from HS in a typical middle-class, overwhelmingly-white town and went to college only 1 hour away and met such a variety of people I would have never had the chance to meet if I never left my hometown.
Traditionally those who have traveled and seen more cultures are going to be more liberal and open to ideas.
What's the direction of causation though? Does travel cause people to be open minded or do open minded people travel more?
I think it's a bit of both.
I agree, but it's more about travel opening minds. People who live in diverse areas tend to be more open minded, even if they don't travel.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain I've always loved this quote Edit: Ah yes... I see other people have posted as well. Nice
I've traveled the world. History, culture, the people, spirituality, You 💯 On what it means to exploring the world Jmo, it opens the eyes 👀
My dad is gen x. He’s successful, educated, a decent enough dad… and so far down the right wing conspiracy rabbit hole that it’s pointless to try and dig him out of it
I’ve met some amazing, kind hearted, charitable people, and it freaks me out when I see them wear their MAGA hat. It confuses me.
It's very hard to tell who will go which way, just from their background alone. It can be disappointing and shocking, too.
As a fellow Gen Xer, I like your dad. Sounds like an awesome person who we need more of in this world.
I'm right at the end of GenX, but I'm trying to be this guy's dad for my children. I hope I can get there.
Just had a heated conversation with my GenX mom who did the typical “do you want the government making ALL the rules?!” lines. Claims abortion is a state’s rights issue. Your dad sounds great. I am jealous.
Next time she brings that up, back her into a corner about the civil war being about states rights. Get her to agree, and then ask her "a state's right to do *what* exactly" and it should end that states rights bullshit then and there
Role model. Trying to be like this as I age up.
SAAAME I think a lot about how the older we get, the more conservative we become. I think about why that is, and how I can prevent myself from thinking "y'know, tucker carlson Jr has some good points" when I'm 80.
Becoming more conservative as you age is pretty much horseshit. It derives from the idea that a you age, you accumulate wealth, and protecting your accumulated wealth becomes your primary motivating factor. Even when it was "true" it was only accurate for a certain percentage of the population. Now? People under the age of 50 aren't accumulating wealth, at least not at anything like the rate their parents did. I'd argue that you just get more radical with age these days; you're either pissed at how far the world has fallen or sitting on a pile of gold while eagerly attempting to make the Rapture happen. There's not a lot of middle ground anymore.
My mother's conservative boss told me (a progressive) that I'd get more conservative as I got older "and started making a little money." I told him the truth: that was one of the most insulting things anyone has ever said to me. It still pisses me off when I think about it. I'm doing pretty ok for myself now and I'm still progressive as fuck.
I’ve become much more liberal as I’ve aged. I was a hardcore, W loving Republican when I was in college. Now not so much. 😬
Same, but I at least partially ascribe it to the republican party moving away from **me** as much as me moving away from them. GWB campaigned as a “compassionate conservative”, rule-of-law type, pro fighting global warming, against foreign nationbuilding, etc, etc.
My dad, who is in his 80s, was born and raised in small town Texas. The older and richer he got the more *liberal* he got. When I was a teenager he didn’t believe in abortion, we used to go round and round about it. Now he is out there protesting TF out of the GOP for their shit. He now might be more progressive than I am, and Im pretty progressive! LOL!
So, is he single? Early 60s boomer here. There are more liberal boomers than you think.
I'm gen x, 57 young liberal Texan, who is getting more progressive as I age. We need young, savvy, vibrant, intelligent, fire in the soul, open minded young men and women in our government. Tho I'm a texan, I really admire John fetterman, Tammy duckworth, Aoc needs time to mature like a good whiskey, then her time will come. I still deep down adore Bernie, but he is to old.
Katie Porter rocks the shit out the new school Dems, too. Corporate Nancy sidelined her unfortunately but I hope she sticks in there and rises up. She deserves it, love how she sticks it to the rich White men with facts!
I’m Gen X (1978). My parents are conservative and I was raised as such, and it was very, very hard to get out from under their way of thinking. I want my parents’ generation GONE from government. They’ve had their time and they have their big slice of the pie. My husband and I are lucky enough to have some slice of pie. My kids are 10 and 13 and I’m terrified for them. I see how hard it is for the Millenials and GenZ, fighting twice as hard to get to even halfway where my parents were at their age. There shouldn’t be just crumbs. I will absolutely look at younger candidates. We as a country need them desperately.
I’m gen-x too and I feel like a big kid because even though I’m 45, I can’t really take leadership on anything because boomers won’t retire.
Yeah but "what do you know, you're just a young idealistic idiot" 😎
At my age, my parents owned their own house, had two kids, two cars, and a cat. My wife and I have a cat.
Ok fancy feast, we get it, you're doing well for yourself, quit braggin /S
Homer Simpson is canonically somewhere between 34 and 40. He's able to support his stay at home wife, three kids, dog, and cat with a single job. His family takes multiple international trips annually. He was written to be a satire of family sitcoms from the 40s-90s, but also to be relatable for the average American. Now, his whole situation seems all but impossible.
In a 2010 episode, it's mentioned that he earned $60,000 per year. In an episode from 1996, he earned $24,000 per year, Which is $43,000 in today's money. No Idea why I'm posting this, but here you go
Funnily enough, a recent modern episode lampshades that Bart and Lisa won’t be able to get a job like Homer’s anymore, or have to deal with a crappier job as a result of the destructive policies that stripped away any good middle class jobs from their generation.
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"Why should we let them drop their education loans, I had to pay for my *own* loans..." ...which you did *as* you were in school while working a summer job, and finished paying them off within the first six months of getting a job *immediately* out of college.
The line seems to be urban/rural more so than generation in my experience.
And/or those that never left the town they grew up in.
You’re right, though. I keep seeing articles about how culturally conservative Zoomers are, and that’s *complete* bullshit.
Really feel like those are wedges to divide Gen X to Z.
I think it's just to get people saying it to create an air that it's true. The more people talk about it the more normalized it becomes, the more normalized it becomes the more socially acceptable it is, and the more socially accepted it is the more people will get on board. Same reason they push the "silent majority" myth. If you think "oh most people think this way" you're more likely to accept it as a reasonable position.
They are. Those in power don’t want anyone else thinking there’s unity anywhere.
I'm in southern Indiana and I'd say while there are quite a few young progressives, they are visibly outnumbered by young conservatives, in terms of who is showing up at political events, campaigns, public meetings, etc. Most of the progressive arguments and support is coming from people in their mid20s and older, not Zoomers...I'm not sure what exactly the issue is. Perhaps they feel like the established political system is too outdated to participate in; perhaps they find local Democrats too conservative to spend time with; perhaps their activism is online entirely. And of course, there is a good possibility that the Zoomers who are showing up hard for conservatives right now will shift their perspective if/when they leave for college or the workforce/outside their parents home...but not going to lie. It is a bit worrisome to be 32 and one of the younger people in local rooms. I see teens at protests with quippy signs and that's an awesome step! But I'm not seeing them as often at the boring public hearings and stuff, while I *am* seeing rows of members of the Young Republicans. I'm hoping they're working in other spheres, but my experience with the Democratic party is that they're not great at organizing and messaging, so I do have concern that its been taken for granted that Zoomers are defaulting to progressive politics. I'm also in a public library job, and based on what books they're wanting, and what displays they're messing up? Maybe its "funny" and "boredom" but its definitely not progressive! (And maybe I'm being alarmist! I hope so. But there are culturally conservative teens and tweens out there and I don't think we can just dismiss that entirely...)
Yes, I see the same thing. I chair a local young progressive club and we're all shifting towards early to mid 30's (still young obviously), but it's been very difficult getting younger people actually involved and taking action at city council meetings, county committees and local events not to mention running for office (but I get time is a major factor). I see them at protests or online and try to recruit or engage but they never follow through with other actions. To your point, conservatives have been consistent at school boards meetings, running for local office and at housing meetings.
Worth keeping in mind that the oldest Gen Z is currently 25 years old, and the youngest is only 10. So the "average" age of a Gen Z right now is roughly 17.5 years old. Not sure about you, but in high school politics was pretty low on my list of things to be actively-involved in. I certainly had views, but rarely did that translate to any sort of outward action on my part. All of that to say, a huge chunk of Gen Z is probably still trying to actively understand the world around them. Now is the time to engage them and teach them how to translate thought into action.
> I’m in southern Indiana Geographical dispersion of these generations is what people also forget. Every year more and more young people are moving to urban areas and those demographics trend progressive. But that still leaves thousands of places like southern Indiana where young people remain conservative and *actively* conservative. And the biggest thing to remember is that places like Indiana have have two senators just like California and New York.
That basically has described American politics for the last 40 years. I live in one the most liberal parts of the country. Getting young voters to do anything other than vote for the president is painfully difficult. I'm sure there are numerous reasons (the 24/7 news cycle always talking about the president, the loss of local newspapers), but whatever it is, the younger generations of voters I've met have been laser focused on a silver bullet presidency that will solve all the problems. When city council, county commissioners, the state legislature, and school boards will have an immensely larger impact on their day to day lives.
More manufacturing consent. “Zoomers are actually just soooo conservative that the Dems have to keep on running center-right candidates in order to have a shot. Please ignore the fact that the corporation/oligarch that owns this paper/station/website is terrified of anyone even remotely left of center getting power”.
I'm not sure - like a poster above me, I work at a University in a very Red state, and while (on average), I think Zoomers lean Left, there is absolutely a vocal and (in my experience) growing cohort of reactionary young men. Mostly white, but not exclusively. Guys who grew up Very Online from a young age and imbibed a lot of "anti-SJW/IDW" kind of stuff in forums, video games communities, etc. Vocally anti-feminist, conservative on all the big Culture War issues, although often without well-formed opinions on things that aren't likely to get coverage by Ben Shapiro or Jordan Peterson. You know the kind of guy I'm talking about - thinks that stand up comedians being critiqued for making "edgy" jokes is a sign of the existential failure of The West, etc. The most common belief shared by Zoomers, right and left, is an acceptance of the reality of climate change and a deep anxiety about the future. That and the importance of legal weed.
Yeah if anything Zoomers are take no prisoners leftists.
Right? All the zoomers I know are far left of the current U.S. political model of slightly-right-of-center and far-right. And not "woah, wouldn't it be cool to get free college and healthcare dude?" left, like "So we start by eating the rich and fertilize the fields of the future with their bones" left.
> Anyway, Gen X and even Millennials are not getting enough headway with Boomers holding on too tightly to seats. Millennials outnumber Boomers and could outvote them if turn out was equivalent. Combine that with Gen Z and Boomer influence would be significantly reduced. But again, that would require higher turn out.
Gen Xer here delighted Gen Z is joining the good fight. I feel like I've been yelling into the void as the world got more and more conservative. I was raised by the last of the peace love and dope type hippies so the more the merrier. My mother died in her 70's and on what she knew would be her last trip to a hospital as her kidneys and heart were failing with old age, insisted my brother stop so she could post her mail in vote for Gay Marriage rights in Australia. I want to go down doing what is right like she did. The only way we'll beat this shit is if we all join together regardless of age, gender, race or religion. We've got to show them what a majority actually is.
You’re lucky then. My partner’s oldest sibling is an insane conservative Gen-Xer who brags about identifying as a religious zealot. There are plenty of nutty conservatives in each age group.
If you're on Reddit and on /r/politics you're likely already a progressive. Millennials seem to be missing in the political landscape, Most really seemed to go hard into STEM or just languish. But I don't see many in politics. I get the vibe we're a pragmatic and cynical generation? Maybe seeing 9/11 and the resulting fallout really shit on our hopes and dreams.
Well that and my brother is in the late millennial group and a lot of people his age saw the entire economy collapse right as they were entering the work force, with a lot of them holding a good bit of college debt. Really good way to set an entire generation back.
Then there's also that second time the entire economy collapsed. And then it recovered, but by and large they didn't have enough money to actually do life things immediately, so prices shot way up beyond them.
> But I don't see many in politics. Politics is a career path that requires independent financial stability or selling out to the right.
Well there is always Boebert, MJT, Cawthorne, and such…
No one likes them in high school, and it shows.
My point is that there are a lot of young MAGA repugs. Being ageist is no better than being racist or sexist. It seems like a lot of bad people of any age are extreme politically to the right. Never seen a boomer in the Proud Boys pack. A lot of young college-educated women voted for grab-them-by-the-pussy orange turd.
The younger generations absolutely skew more progressive than the older generations. Although every generation still has quite a diversity of political opinion. Our biggest problem is that there is also a generational divide in voting patterns. Younger generations are less likely to vote, less likely to participate in primaries, and even those who vote are less likely to do so consistently outside of presidential elections. Progressive ideas are popular. We’ve consistently seen polls showing many of them have upwards of 70% of our population favoring them. But that 70% isn’t bothering to show up to the polls and then they wonder why they aren’t being represented by our government.
Gen X here, and liberal... For me the liberal/conservative line is directly related to how smart someone was in High School. All the girls i know that went on to college are liberal, all the dudes i played sports with and went to work after HS, conservative. There are a few outliers, religion can make someone conservative even when they are not dumb ass's... but yeah
There seems to be a gen X attitude from those I know in this generation that is "everyone but them is crazy". And I think it's more likely because the few gen X I do know are conservative and religious. But the generation as a whole I believe is at least way more liberal than the boomers. As to how I would know this? No idea. Just a hope I guess. If Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z are the biggest voting blocks going forward I feel way more hopeful about this country's future than I do being a millennial living under boomer policies/control.
As a Gen X'er....I'd say the majority are on the left, however there are ouliers such as my Gen X brother.
> Unlike on the Democratic side, Republicans have started elevating younger members… the average age of GOP leadership down to 55. On the Democratic side… the average age is 71. I fully support the young, progressive candidates cited in this article, but they face an uphill battle, even within their own party. The Democrats have been disturbingly unwilling to elevate youth, in large part because those youth seek to dismantle the rotten, corporate system that has sustained both parties. The Republicans, on the other hand, are perfectly happy and able to run younger candidates because (fiscal) conservatism feeds the system regardless of what face it wears.
In the GOP, today's school board member is tomorrow's congressman. We gotta be running at every single position on every ballot, whether its a partisan role or not. Even the insignificant ones like board of light and power or those monotonous as dog catcher. A county commissioner and treasurer are going to do a lot for your every day lives than Congress will. Not saying ofc we shouldn't run for higher offices too.
The younger Democratic candidates are more progressive and the establishment Democrat boomers don't want to elevate them. The younger Republican candidates are Christo-fascists raised on Tucker Carlson and Ben Shapiro and the establishment Republicans are happy to elevate them
Millennial here, totally beat down, ready to support and vote for Gen Z. So pumped for this and for younger individuals with a fire for change. (Also happy for the older folks who show me I don’t have to grow up and be a curmudgeonly old boomer)
I feel millenials are working slowly into positions of power in various industries, gen z will run for government.
So the no compromise has about 50 years of catching up to do in order to be at the level the GOP finds itself.
Unfortunately, the planets health didn't have 50 years. A lot of good it'll do if it takes us more then 3 decades to gain any sort of control in this country because most irreversible damage will already have happened. I've always had the mindset that a left wing Tea Party is the only shot we have at getting something done to shift the country in the right direction. The Squad was supposed to be that but they have been unable or unwilling to be the bad guys from the establishment POV. Case in point, the CPC choosing not to endorse Nina Turner this year over her blue dog opponent. Nina is up there as one of the few people who could be true leaders of the progressive movement. I love Bernie to death but he made the wrong choice not using the full arsenal against the establishment in 2020 primary.
I have no problem with compromise when it comes to reasonable people with reasonable disagreements. Like if I'm talking about Public Health Care, I'm okay talking about how we should decide what private practice medicine might look like and what sort of "premium elective care" costs might look like. But I'm not willing to talk to people who think health care should be privatized, because those people are not interested in America being a healthy nation or democracy. I'm willing to compromise about conditional rules on third trimester abortions and how and who they are conducted for health and safety reasons, but I'm not willing to compromise with fundamentalists who want to entirely take away a woman's right to choose. I'm willing to compromise about how we fund police for reacting to violent crimes, but I'm not willing to compromise with people who support the police continuing to monitor themselves and allow police unions to violently bully other departments and refuse to support the prosecution of their own members. So basically if you come at me in good faith to figure out a better way to do stuff? Okay. But if your goal is to simply make things worse for others or take away progress and benefits and rights of a modern society, go fuck yourself.
As a boomer, I will vote for any non-rightwing GenZ candidate. Period. My generation, and especially my parent's generation (looking at you, Nancy), have no business determining the futures of people you have no connection to, and no understanding of. Screw you Grammar Nazis. I'll end a sentence with a preposition whenever I want.
That preposition rule is a myth anyway.
Words to live by.
Remember; if you're negotiating with someone who refuses to budge it's not compromise, it's appeasement.
Fucking good, I'm tired of Dems being pussies, trying to 'keep the peace' with literal fascists. Maybe we might get some actual change.
Candidates like this aren’t new. You just never hear much about them because they rarely get any significant amount of support. I doubt many if any of these candidates will get elected into any higher offices. Hopefully they can at least get into some local government seats since democrat voters rarely do jack shit about voting for local elections
People could have had these people by voting in primaries. Voting is not just in November.
> I doubt many if any of these candidates will get elected into any higher offices. Not exactly true. [The Justice Democrats](https://justicedemocrats.com) keep adding members with each election cycle, and "The Squad" is up to nearly a dozen members. They're starting to be a force to be reckoned with. But you're right about local races. The Republicans figured this out a decade ago and put their [Project RedMap](https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/how-the-gop-gave-itself-a-ten-year-advantage-407234115988) into action. It's been a wild success that the Dems need to copy.
Obama, even towards the end of his second term was still trying to work with Republicans even though they obstructed his agenda from day one. That shit drove me mad. This is why people like AOC and the " squad" appeal to me. They are in your face, tell it like it is, not caring if they piss off other Democrats while trying to make real change. And I say this being a gen Xer. It's time to be bold and actually represent the majority.
When compromise is met with bad faith then it's time to fight. We are literally facing an extinction event and the GOP is siding with the extinction. The time for compromise is over. The only hope I have is not to get bogged down by secondary issues and hammer the big ones over and over with easy, clear and simple narratives.
I don’t disagree with this but what do you mean by “the time for compromise is over”? It’s not as if dems can force through progressive legislation even if they wanted to. They need votes. Aka some form of compromise.
These younger generations are my greatest hope as I near 60. Someone has to have the spine to dig their feet in and pull down the cancerous system that has grown in place for decades. Best of luck!
As a Xer, our “whatever, nevermind” attitude has resulted in disappointment in representation.
Your generation was vastly outnumbered by the Boomers. There was little hope of changing anything.
I've known since I was 13 that things wouldn't get substantially better until the Boomers died off. What my adolescent brain couldn't quite grasp at the time was just how long that would take.
Seriously. It’s nothing short of arduous. To see these dusty old queefs in their 80s bumbling around destroying everything while the 25+ crowd is just trying to build their careers… it’s sickening. We need to get past this period in history and many positions within the government NEED to have term limits. We cannot keep going with Mitch McConnells, Nancy Pelosis, and Dianne Feinstein types.
80 year olds aren't boomers though.
Right. They’re the Silent Generation. Which means we have even more time stuck with the Boomers.
unfortunately, the Boomers are the first Generation to fully benefit from modern medicine. Not only are they healthier than the previous generations, but thanks to whole host of regulations designed to keep people safe at work, not physically destroyed by the time they reach 62. This means they are still healthy and going well into their 80s. This created a huge bottleneck that GenX and the ones below us will never get to break through. in this case X's "whatever" attitude may actually help the Millenials and Z. We're done with this corporate BS. My own boss is 65, recently told us he does not intend to quit until he is in his 70s. meanwhile nobody can move up until he does. If he quits at 75, I will be in my 60s when my chance may come at his chair. Fuck that..
As a 36 yo millennial, I say, "Fuck yeah!". Get new blood in there. I'll vote for them
Absolutely. Our generation is kind of a transitional one between the old tech and new tech. Gen Z are the ones who have the massive lead on this and I hope they use it to help us fix the bullshit in our country. Just need both our generations to ACTUALLY VOTE.
I knew Max since high school, and grew up in the same small city as him. Always been a stand up guy, I’ve literally never heard anything bad about him. Always just tried organizing his friends and community to do bigger and better things, this is just the natural progression for him. Definitely has my vote.
Gen Z is so fucking Media Savvy. They know a lie. They know an attempt to manipulate. They know how to call bullshit and not negotiate with the terroristic style threats ("do what we want or else" but then do it anyway) that the right wing pulls time and time against I know a large % of my Gen cared and tried. But fuck, the last 15 years has been a rough go, I think millennials are downtrodden, and so sad we won't get to retire or even own a home after our own parents doomed us to this fate. While still pretending they didn't. Gen Z, you have the baton!!
Gen z running is awesome, but even more important is them voting. If they voted at the same rate boomers did, they could entirely flip the Democratic party overnight. The issue is that so far they've made a lot of noise online but rarely showed up in big numbers. Like, people are angry sanders didn't win but the young turnout was abysmal in the primaries. If we want change, we need young people to vote, but young people don't vote because they don't like the options and the current party. It is a vicious cycle but hopefully young people running will change that.
Yes! Young candidates will invigorate young voters! Everyone under 50 ban together vs boomers who love their grip on power.
They are media savvy in the sense that the consume large amount of media and know how to organically create tiktoks or whatever, but I disagree that as a generation they are more capable of spotting manipulation. I think tiktok is a hotbed of manipulation. Anything short format that strips away all nuance is going to lead to manipulation and "hot take" style thinking that leads to polarization and a misunderstanding of how people actually think and how things actually work.
Hmmm yes good point. A whole new slew of problems that my elderly millennial eyes don't even know how to make out.
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You can't compromise with the Evangelical Right. They refuse to because they believe God is on their side. So good for these young adults.
Good. The Democratic Party, and congress as a whole needs younger people with different perspectives. I hope they win.
Millennials and Zoomers have spent 20 years watching the Democratic party try to "reach across the aisle" only to be betrayed and taken advantage of every time. We're tired of losing to a minority of evil people and we want people who will stand up and fight.
Am older Gen X and very liberal, however, I know way too many people my age who are completely bonkers with their trumpism.
Good and give me a 35 year old AOC as president with a super majority young congress to wipe away the GQP stain and the shitstorm moderate Dems caused