I read an article in The Atlantic by a conservative writer about how they win back Millennials. Its a very enlightening read.
She laments that Republicans no longer practice what they used to preach…but this paragraph was what I found interesting.
As Alex Muresianu has argued , we already have conservative policies that speak to young Americans’ worries, in particular the affordability of the middle-class lifestyle. Reducing regulation to bring down the cost of housing and health care, boosting competition to cut the cost of higher education, encouraging market-friendly solutions for climate change, rebalancing entitlement programs’ intergenerational transfers of wealth—these are all conservative means to deliver what young Americans want.
I would strongly recommend reading the piece she links to as well. While I can find some value in the need for zoning regulations a couple steps up from local control, the rest of it is delusional if you are being kind. I think the author might have done herself a service by reading the comments after the piece she linked to as a remedy for what ails conservatism. There were 24 comments, and none found the policies remotely adequate.
How can you address the cost of education and never mention the scourge of “for profit” institutions. What exactly are the “market friendly” solutions conservatives favor for climate change?
They’ve shot down and demonized cap and trade which is a market driven solution even though its completely inadequate. How do you fight climate change while reducing regulation? It makes no sense.
She is concerned about the transfer of wealth of entitlements but nothing about tax cuts that transfer wealth upward.
If this is the best she has got…you might as well say bye bye to millennials for good. This isnt going to sway them in the least.
What I find most interesting about some remarks especially as it pertains to climate Change is the arguments themselves are disingenuous and when debate on such issues challenges the merits of the substance of such arguments in which one side refuses to engage in then progress can’t be made to reach a general consensus, climate change is one such issue! Furthermore this one conservative’s whose views is only one of many is merely putting forth a hypotheses about a certain age group of people that is currently fragmented along the lines of tribal politics! The reality is the most important voter base are the independents who clearly want to make more informed decisions based on what’s is factual vs. what is hyperbole and pandering! So Democrats are losing the narrative due to failing to put forth a convincing argument that they have better solutions to solving problems than conservatives!
The other part of this equation that this presenter fails to see or acknowledge is one of the cultural Paradigm shift taking place. The mass media and commercial consumption is the dominant culture and the counter culture is the rise of nationalism in which a war for hearts and minds is being waged! At the end of the day substance over excess is where such arguments are made and won to convince voters what is more important; being part of and submitting to oligarical collectivism or individual liberty and self determinism. If one side is determine to rule by force rather to engage and defend their arguments to convince the populace of their ideas, then conflict ensues between two opposing sides that become adversaries in a fight for the death! The latter is what’s playing out in current day discourse of left and right ideologies!
My observation is that the biggest issue for millenials about the GOP is the one she barely touched on–just how far right the party is on social issues. Millenials view the Republicans, mostly, as a bunch of old white dudes still stuck in the stone age. From attacking Roe, to anti-gay and anti-immigrant rhetoric, etc. The GOP also hitched its wagon to the evangelicals awhile back and that sure isn’t changing anytime soon.
I don’t think the GOP will fully understand how big of a problem their stances on social issues are for millenials until they begin to consistently lose elections and are forced to accept the reality. This isn’t happening yet.
This is where you are wrong and you prove that most of your voting base inaccurately mischaraterize conservatives and don’t really understand conservatives at all! It is people like you whose arrogance in thinking you are smarter than the people you oppose is what is ultimately failing your base in winning elections! It comes down to the message, if you can’t convince the populace regardless of party affiliations in voting for your social issues then your ideas must not be very good to begin with! It’s the difference of effort and being lazy in the causes you championed to go out and knock on doors to have such conversations with people as opposed to demonizing an entire group of people with violence, subversion and underhanded tactics to steal elections, all losing strategies that will continue to exacerbate the progressives demise! Don’t kid yourself into thinking otherwise, if you underestimate this basic function of American politics you will continue losing elections, it’s quite that simple!
I would like for you to provide some proof and evidence that backs up this claim. I am so sick and tired of Dimocrats citing voter suppression as something that Republicans do. There is never any proof. It is a completely made up claim. Dimocrats are just trying to take the spotlight of all the illegals they have voting in elections.
I’d imagine there are a lot of democrats who don’t want to see late term abortions applauded nor do they believe in abortion as a form of birth control.
Most Republicans are not anti-gay. What they are against is the push to make it a norm, especially with our children and in our schools. The forcing of the matter as with the Colorado bakery suit.
Most Republicans aren’t anti-immigrant. Republicans are anti-illegal immigrant. If you can come to this country, abide by the laws and be a productive part of it by needing no government assistance, then it is a net plus to the country.
I think the posters statement you are responding to has more to do with conservatives who advocate for a Voter ID law, which the left has no real substantive argument to counter, especially when you consider that such a law would provide every voter a ID free of charge provided they can prove they are US citizens! When they make such silly arguments they only discredit themselves for having done so, hence another example why progressives continue to lose in the overall culture war that is being waged, their reasons to oppose such ideas is not rooted in sound logic, only that they want to advocate for open borders!
The notion that the GOP wants voter suppression is something pumped incessantly by a media industry that dominates the culture. As a result, far too many people believe it. Russian meddling. Inhumane border treatment, “control your womb”, … so many false narratives that absolutely flood the consciousness of society in general. And far too many people buy it.
We see who, in any discussion, have been snagged by these things.
Correct! Glad someone is seeing things in proper order!
Remember music bands like “The Who”, Sex Pistols”, “The Clash”, “The Romones” just to name a few? At the time when their voices were belting over the airwaves they were what was considered the counter culture and Institutional conservatism was the dominant culture. Today those roles are virtually flipped! It’s cyclical in nature to which it passes from generation to generation.
What the Progressives don’t get is that they are part of promoting current day dominant culture that is fighting a losing war in the midst of a paradigm shift! Also they don’t understand that all the philosophers who started out by championing socialism and Marxist ideologies hid behind post modernism because socialism had failed so miserably thus they sought to quickly distance themselves from being labeled a Marxist by using Post modernism as their pulpit!
History repeats itself until it doesn’t! Today’s millennial’s are void of a deeper thought to put these basic concepts into proper perspective and is a reason maybe why most here are afraid to debate anyone because they fear their arguments would not stand up to the scrutiny of wiser more intelligent people who lived through times where such ideologies they advocate for was witnessed first hand! As the saying goes “silly rabbit, trix are for kids”!
Private for profit educational institutions have to actually produce to survive, state funded schools do not.
Conservatism goes through occasional transformations just like liberalism has.
Slavery was a hallmark of conservatism in 1860, equal rights was the hallmark of conservatism by 1990 along wit fiscal responsiblity and individual freedom and relief from excess gov’t regulation.
“The People” having become addicted to gov’t programs and the spending that go with them simply didn’t care enough about things like a balanced budget anymore and republicans who kept preaching it were for the most part eventually laughed out of party once the Tea Party Movement had been crushed by the IRS and other federal agencies making their lives hell.
As a result the “Cosnervative Movement” is once again trying to find new ways to appeal to the public.
Trump’s platform in 2016 obviously appealed to enough of them to start getting control back. The failure of congress to implement it cost them the election in 2018.
From all appearances the hard left dive by the democrats to the left is reenergizing the “Trump Coalition” so odds are pretty good Trump keeps the presidency and republicans regain control of the house next year.
If Trump does get reelected he’d most likely get at least 1-2 more picks added to the SCOTUS plus hundreds more to the lower courts and courts of appeals and that’s where we’ll see the most power, and permanent power taking the country back to the right over coming decades.
Politicians get the spotlight and make all the noise, the courts are where our country however was undone and that’s where it’ll have to be taken back if it is going to be taken back by peaceful means at all.
The problem with that theory if we look back through our history is that the bigger the gov’t gets the more problems it creates needing to be solved by an even bigger gov’t.