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Some conservatives, like some Christians, have had a problem with being easily star-struck. If a celebrity or demographic starts to drift in a direction that those on the Right agree with, then said celebrity and/or demographic are hailed as new converts and portents of things to come. And sometimes that is true, and sometimes people get their hopes up for no reason. Never celebrate too soon.
The Post Millennial is citing a Yale Youth Poll that indicates that an increasing number of Gen Z voters are moving to the right. Many in that demographic are young men who are worried about getting a job, buying a home, starting a family, and are sick of being the most despised class on the planet since the last major continental drift. These men, along with a growing number of women, are part of the rightward shift.
From the Post Millennial piece:
Gen Z appears to be divided in politics primarily between how they experienced the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the latest Yale Youth Poll, there is an 18-point gap between younger and older members of Generation Z. Those between the ages of 22-29 favor Democrats by 6.4 points, while those aged 18-21 favor Republicans by 11.7 points.
Youth political analyst Rachel Janfaza broke Gen Z down into two groups, with one being comprised of those who graduated before the COVID-19 pandemic and those who were in high school or middle school during this time. The latter group appears to view policies that fall under “MAGA” as counter-cultural and more appealing.
“It’s part of this shift among Gen Z post-COVID,” explained youth political analyst Janfaza said, according to Axios. “They got really tired of being told what they could or could not do and what they could or could not say.”
Once you take a look at the hard numbers, you will see that Gen Z is more of a mixed bag when it comes to various positions. The takeaway for me was that while many in Gen Z still hold some progressive views, they are more likely to consider data and ideas that other people were willing to dismiss out of hand.
As someone who was raised on the Left, I can tell you that the constant barrage of propaganda, indignation, outrage, and activism gets old after a while. At some point, you yearn for a normal life. Many of the adults in my life were still protesting the Vietnam War into the ’80s, and I envied my friends who had Big Wheels, did regular kid stuff, got Happy Meals instead of sprout sandwiches, and just got to be kids. Not everything needs to come with a side dish of woke.
My life wasn’t like that all the time. I did have some fun times. That said, while a trip to the Dayton Art Institute is important, so is a trip to King’s Island to ride The Beast once in a while.
Some of my fondest childhood memories were of a family friend. He and his wife desperately wanted to conceive but could not. He wanted a son. He noticed that I was lacking in the ways of traditional manhood, so he volunteered to take me out fishing now and then.
He was the direct descendant of some of the first settlers in Kentucky. He taught me how to find the good fishing spots, how to cast a line, and how to clean crappies and bluegill. He also showed me how to skin deer and rabbit, and even “hired” me to work on a construction job with him one weekend.
I didn’t do anything complicated or dangerous; I mostly lugged tools and material around for him. It was hard, back-breaking work, and I loved every second of it. But most of all, I felt like a regular guy. I felt normal. No anti-military sentiments, no lectures about civil rights or feminism, just two guys on a job site or a boat reeling in panfish.
I suspect many members of Gen Z still feel the same way about many issues as they did when they were younger. But they are also exhausted from being hectored to be outraged at every little thing. They are sick of seeing protests, explosions, and graffiti. They want to go out and get a pizza and a beer without having to run the virtue-signal gauntlet.
They are burned out from seeing Palestinian and rainbow flags on every pole, window, and flat surface. They want to meet someone for a date and not have to play a demonic version of 20 Questions to see if there is going to be a fight with their potential mate before the evening is out, and who will pick up the check. They don’t want to be told they are racist, sexist, or whatever-phobic because of their genetic makeup. They are also tired of the constant drumbeat of doom.
If Gen Z is shifting, it is, in many cases, likely for the same reason that so many people voted for Trump the second time around: the Left offered nothing but chaos, and many people just wanted to shove the pendulum back toward the center and get on with their lives. The Left overplayed its outrage hand, and now the whole thing is just annoying and more than a little dangerous. Gen Z may not be hardcore MAGA, but the revolution has worn them out, and they want a return to normalcy. And I don’t blame them a bit.
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