Did Republicans Break the Millennials?

[Oneuli]

As someone who grew up in a traditionally conservative Asian American immigrant family, I've heard a lot of my elders bemoaning the state of 'kids these days.' Now granted, that's an age-old pastime of the elder generation, but this time I think there's something to it, in the sense that young people today really are markedly different in a number of ways than prior generations of Americans.

For starters, it seems Millennials today are less into consumerism. There's a never-ending line of articles about how "millennials are killing X," where X is often a consumer item that was previously an aspirational or status-displaying purchase for Americans: wines, country clubs, designer brands, golf, sports cars, and so on. At first ,this was attributable to the fact Millennials had little money: they were loaded with college debt and had trouble finding steady work during and for years after the 2008 financial crisis. But with unemployment very low now even for younger people, and incomes rising, we haven't seen a pick-up in those consumerist habits. Instead, if the upwardly-mobile young people I know are any guide, we're getting a surge in millennials looking for ways to define themselves outside of careerism and consumption, and often a focus on retiring young (or paying off loans and then moving to a more fulfilling, low-earning job).

Millennials are also completely disgusted with the GOP. Sure, young people have long preferred the Democrats (since 1992, at least), but the magnitude of that preference has become extreme. Between 1992 and 2004, Democrats won the 18-29 vote by between two and 19 points. Even as late as the 2006 mid-term, it was just 22 points. But in the 2018 Congressional election, it was a stunning 35 point gap in favor of Democrats. And even among the 30-39 demographic, which is nearly always competitive and often tilts to the Republicans, the gap in favor of Democrats was 22 points.

Millennials aren't just rejecting the GOP. They're even rejecting triangulating Democrats, in favor of more radically liberal options. The term "socialist," which was rejected by all but the extreme for most of the period between WWII and the early 2000s is now something electable politicians proudly wear, and millions of young people proudly support.

You can also see a greater focus on "work/life balance," which is showing up in more insistence on paid maternity and paternity leave, and a surprisingly large decline in average annual working hours for full-time workers in the US (from 1834 in 2000 down to 1783 most recently, which is like taking six extra days off per year).

From a conservative/Republican perspective, something has gone terribly wrong with Millennials. But the irony here is that we probably have those very conservatives and Republicans to thank for the dramatic change in mindset of this generation, relative to earlier ones. For over seven decades, young people came up in an atmosphere where, even if they first entered the workforce in tough times, prosperity (and the siren song of 'keeping up with the Joneses') was just a few years away. For example, the early 1990s were rough on Generation X, but the recession was fairly short, and after a couple years of jobless recovery, was followed by a very strong growth cycle. There wasn't time to abandon dreams of material wealth or to give up on establishment politics.

What changed this time was that conservatives in Congress imposed government austerity. You won't find another period like 2009-2016, in American history, in terms of having such absurdly low government spending growth, nor a period so long of government employment shrinkage. You can see it here, in terms of government employment:

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/USGOVT

Before the start of the Obama administration, the longest the nation had ever gone without government payrolls showing net expansion was 73 months -- which entailed the massive demobilization following WWII. Generally, it was rare to go more than a year or two without government payrolls expanding. We've now gone 103 months with a net decline of government payrolls, including all but the first few months of the Obama administration.

You can see a similar pattern with this data, which measures spending levels.

https://www.usgovernmentspending.com/total

You simply won't find a period as long as the present one with so little government spending growth. This is the closest thing to sustained austerity in US economic history. The result is that we've had a whole generation that was all but shut out of stable civil servant positions, and which had little opportunity for material advancement for the better part of a decade. This altered the traditional "rat race" American mentality, in that generation, to something closer to traditional Western European cultural values. Since your chances of being better off than your parents was dwindling, defining success in those terms just wasn't appealing. Instead, the youth culture rejected capitalist values and found meaning along other cultural avenues. In fact, there's a pride in making do with less -- a coupon-clipping, decluttering, reduce/re-use, freegan pride.

This may, in fact, be a good thing, long term. A culture of material acquisition and status competition is dangerous from the perspective of environmental burden. It's better for people to find happiness in less material, more sustainable ways, rather than slaving long hours to buy a bunch of plastic crap they don't need. But from the perspective of a Republican or conservative, this change in culture is unfamiliar and troubling (see the constant freak-outs here about the new socialism). So, it's fascinating that it may ultimately be attributable in large part to the austerity politics they pushed during the Obama years. In essence, they broke the Millennials -- turning them into the first generation in living memory that was genuinely skeptical of capitalism and the traditional US culture of acquisition. They denied the Millennials the "gateway drugs" of capitalism during their formative years, and so an unprecedented chunk of the generation never got hooked.

[ThatOwlWoman]

Although it's anecdotal, I definitely see proof of this in both my own kids, and with the kids I go to class with. In addition to these economic issues, they are tend to be far more accepting of diversity and far less racist and nationalistic than older generations.

Well-written and sourced post, Oneuli, thank you.

[NiftyNiblick]

Millennials are indeed different.

I'm a hard left progressive liberal, but at 72 years of age, I drive a seventy thousand dollar car, belong to a nice club, and don't believe in leaving all the trappings of a comfortable life to the right wing oligarchs. These things came quite late in life, well after the constraints of mortgages, aged parental care, kids' tuitions, and other commitments that responsible adults make.

I don't criticize less materialistic millennials if they do indeed exist, but I would have to ask...

What the hell are you looking forward to? If your vision of the future is so stark, perhaps the responsible thing for you is to not procreate.

[Jarod]

I was born before my time, I would have fit in much better with this generation.

[Evmetro]

As someone who grew up in a traditionally conservative Asian American immigrant family, I've heard a lot of my elders bemoaning the state of 'kids these days.' Now granted, that's an age-old pastime of the elder generation, but this time I think there's something to it, in the sense that young people today really are markedly different in a number of ways than prior generations of Americans.

For starters, it seems Millennials today are less into consumerism. There's a never-ending line of articles about how "millennials are killing X," where X is often a consumer item that was previously an aspirational or status-displaying purchase for Americans: wines, country clubs, designer brands, golf, sports cars, and so on. At first ,this was attributable to the fact Millennials had little money: they were loaded with college debt and had trouble finding steady work during and for years after the 2008 financial crisis. But with unemployment very low now even for younger people, and incomes rising, we haven't seen a pick-up in those consumerist habits. Instead, if the upwardly-mobile young people I know are any guide, we're getting a surge in millennials looking for ways to define themselves outside of careerism and consumption, and often a focus on retiring young (or paying off loans and then moving to a more fulfilling, low-earning job).

Millennials are also completely disgusted with the GOP. Sure, young people have long preferred the Democrats (since 1992, at least), but the magnitude of that preference has become extreme. Between 1992 and 2004, Democrats won the 18-29 vote by between two and 19 points. Even as late as the 2006 mid-term, it was just 22 points. But in the 2018 Congressional election, it was a stunning 35 point gap in favor of Democrats. And even among the 30-39 demographic, which is nearly always competitive and often tilts to the Republicans, the gap in favor of Democrats was 22 points.

Millennials aren't just rejecting the GOP. They're even rejecting triangulating Democrats, in favor of more radically liberal options. The term "socialist," which was rejected by all but the extreme for most of the period between WWII and the early 2000s is now something electable politicians proudly wear, and millions of young people proudly support.

You can also see a greater focus on "work/life balance," which is showing up in more insistence on paid maternity and paternity leave, and a surprisingly large decline in average annual working hours for full-time workers in the US (from 1834 in 2000 down to 1783 most recently, which is like taking six extra days off per year).

From a conservative/Republican perspective, something has gone terribly wrong with Millennials. But the irony here is that we probably have those very conservatives and Republicans to thank for the dramatic change in mindset of this generation, relative to earlier ones. For over seven decades, young people came up in an atmosphere where, even if they first entered the workforce in tough times, prosperity (and the siren song of 'keeping up with the Joneses') was just a few years away. For example, the early 1990s were rough on Generation X, but the recession was fairly short, and after a couple years of jobless recovery, was followed by a very strong growth cycle. There wasn't time to abandon dreams of material wealth or to give up on establishment politics.

What changed this time was that conservatives in Congress imposed government austerity. You won't find another period like 2009-2016, in American history, in terms of having such absurdly low government spending growth, nor a period so long of government employment shrinkage. You can see it here, in terms of government employment:

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/USGOVT

Before the start of the Obama administration, the longest the nation had ever gone without government payrolls showing net expansion was 73 months -- which entailed the massive demobilization following WWII. Generally, it was rare to go more than a year or two without government payrolls expanding. We've now gone 103 months with a net decline of government payrolls, including all but the first few months of the Obama administration.

You can see a similar pattern with this data, which measures spending levels.

https://www.usgovernmentspending.com/total

You simply won't find a period as long as the present one with so little government spending growth. This is the closest thing to sustained austerity in US economic history. The result is that we've had a whole generation that was all but shut out of stable civil servant positions, and which had little opportunity for material advancement for the better part of a decade. This altered the traditional "rat race" American mentality, in that generation, to something closer to traditional Western European cultural values. Since your chances of being better off than your parents was dwindling, defining success in those terms just wasn't appealing. Instead, the youth culture rejected capitalist values and found meaning along other cultural avenues. In fact, there's a pride in making do with less -- a coupon-clipping, decluttering, reduce/re-use, freegan pride.

This may, in fact, be a good thing, long term. A culture of material acquisition and status competition is dangerous from the perspective of environmental burden. It's better for people to find happiness in less material, more sustainable ways, rather than slaving long hours to buy a bunch of plastic crap they don't need. But from the perspective of a Republican or conservative, this change in culture is unfamiliar and troubling (see the constant freak-outs here about the new socialism). So, it's fascinating that it may ultimately be attributable in large part to the austerity politics they pushed during the Obama years. In essence, they broke the Millennials -- turning them into the first generation in living memory that was genuinely skeptical of capitalism and the traditional US culture of acquisition. They denied the Millennials the "gateway drugs" of capitalism during their formative years, and so an unprecedented chunk of the generation never got hooked.

Way back in the early 1960's, the 45 step plan for communists to take over America was read into congressional record.

https://rense.com/general32/americ.htm

None of the 45 goals had been achieved at that time, and the Americans of that time knew that the goals could only be achieved if the country was taken over. When you refer to millennials rejecting the GOP, I agree. Not only do I agree, but I raise you rejection of the Democrat party. Millenials are the manifestation of the 1963 plan to take over America, and they reject both parties as per goal #15 in that plan that I linked above.

[cawacko]

Baby boomers were supposedly tearing down the system, not into money, into civil rights etc. and now they are the ones folks are cheering for to die. Will millennials have the same political beliefs in 20 to 30 years that they have today? It’s possible. But history also shows us people’s beliefs can change as they age.

[Oneuli]

Although it's anecdotal, I definitely see proof of this in both my own kids, and with the kids I go to class with. In addition to these economic issues, they are tend to be far more accepting of diversity and far less racist and nationalistic than older generations.

Well-written and sourced post, Oneuli, thank you.

Thank you. I agree about the acceptance of diversity and the decline of racism and nationalism. There's a bit of a downside to that, in that Millennials can sometimes lose a sense of proportion about these things -- preferring to fight over "micro-aggressions," because that's easy, rather than taking on the big-picture stuff. But I still think the world will be a better place with Millennial attitudes, regardless of the energy my generation sometimes wastes on trivia.

[cawacko]

As someone who grew up in a traditionally conservative Asian American immigrant family, I've heard a lot of my elders bemoaning the state of 'kids these days.' Now granted, that's an age-old pastime of the elder generation, but this time I think there's something to it, in the sense that young people today really are markedly different in a number of ways than prior generations of Americans.

For starters, it seems Millennials today are less into consumerism. There's a never-ending line of articles about how "millennials are killing X," where X is often a consumer item that was previously an aspirational or status-displaying purchase for Americans: wines, country clubs, designer brands, golf, sports cars, and so on. At first ,this was attributable to the fact Millennials had little money: they were loaded with college debt and had trouble finding steady work during and for years after the 2008 financial crisis. But with unemployment very low now even for younger people, and incomes rising, we haven't seen a pick-up in those consumerist habits. Instead, if the upwardly-mobile young people I know are any guide, we're getting a surge in millennials looking for ways to define themselves outside of careerism and consumption, and often a focus on retiring young (or paying off loans and then moving to a more fulfilling, low-earning job).

Millennials are also completely disgusted with the GOP. Sure, young people have long preferred the Democrats (since 1992, at least), but the magnitude of that preference has become extreme. Between 1992 and 2004, Democrats won the 18-29 vote by between two and 19 points. Even as late as the 2006 mid-term, it was just 22 points. But in the 2018 Congressional election, it was a stunning 35 point gap in favor of Democrats. And even among the 30-39 demographic, which is nearly always competitive and often tilts to the Republicans, the gap in favor of Democrats was 22 points.

Millennials aren't just rejecting the GOP. They're even rejecting triangulating Democrats, in favor of more radically liberal options. The term "socialist," which was rejected by all but the extreme for most of the period between WWII and the early 2000s is now something electable politicians proudly wear, and millions of young people proudly support.

You can also see a greater focus on "work/life balance," which is showing up in more insistence on paid maternity and paternity leave, and a surprisingly large decline in average annual working hours for full-time workers in the US (from 1834 in 2000 down to 1783 most recently, which is like taking six extra days off per year).

From a conservative/Republican perspective, something has gone terribly wrong with Millennials. But the irony here is that we probably have those very conservatives and Republicans to thank for the dramatic change in mindset of this generation, relative to earlier ones. For over seven decades, young people came up in an atmosphere where, even if they first entered the workforce in tough times, prosperity (and the siren song of 'keeping up with the Joneses') was just a few years away. For example, the early 1990s were rough on Generation X, but the recession was fairly short, and after a couple years of jobless recovery, was followed by a very strong growth cycle. There wasn't time to abandon dreams of material wealth or to give up on establishment politics.

What changed this time was that conservatives in Congress imposed government austerity. You won't find another period like 2009-2016, in American history, in terms of having such absurdly low government spending growth, nor a period so long of government employment shrinkage. You can see it here, in terms of government employment:

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/USGOVT

Before the start of the Obama administration, the longest the nation had ever gone without government payrolls showing net expansion was 73 months -- which entailed the massive demobilization following WWII. Generally, it was rare to go more than a year or two without government payrolls expanding. We've now gone 103 months with a net decline of government payrolls, including all but the first few months of the Obama administration.

You can see a similar pattern with this data, which measures spending levels.

https://www.usgovernmentspending.com/total

You simply won't find a period as long as the present one with so little government spending growth. This is the closest thing to sustained austerity in US economic history. The result is that we've had a whole generation that was all but shut out of stable civil servant positions, and which had little opportunity for material advancement for the better part of a decade. This altered the traditional "rat race" American mentality, in that generation, to something closer to traditional Western European cultural values. Since your chances of being better off than your parents was dwindling, defining success in those terms just wasn't appealing. Instead, the youth culture rejected capitalist values and found meaning along other cultural avenues. In fact, there's a pride in making do with less -- a coupon-clipping, decluttering, reduce/re-use, freegan pride.

This may, in fact, be a good thing, long term. A culture of material acquisition and status competition is dangerous from the perspective of environmental burden. It's better for people to find happiness in less material, more sustainable ways, rather than slaving long hours to buy a bunch of plastic crap they don't need. But from the perspective of a Republican or conservative, this change in culture is unfamiliar and troubling (see the constant freak-outs here about the new socialism). So, it's fascinating that it may ultimately be attributable in large part to the austerity politics they pushed during the Obama years. In essence, they broke the Millennials -- turning them into the first generation in living memory that was genuinely skeptical of capitalism and the traditional US culture of acquisition. They denied the Millennials the "gateway drugs" of capitalism during their formative years, and so an unprecedented chunk of the generation never got hooked.

We’re having trillion dollar deficits and trillions of dollars added to the national debt and you’re lamenting a lack of government spending?

[LV426]

Baby boomers were supposedly tearing down the system, not into money, into civil rights etc. and now they are the ones folks are cheering for to die. Will millennials have the same political beliefs in 20 to 30 years that they have today? It’s possible. But history also shows us people’s beliefs can change as they age.

Why would Millennials change their beliefs to be more racist and bigoted?

If anything, they are going to be more liberal as they age because of the shitty example you set for them.

[Oneuli]

Millennials are indeed different.

I'm a hard left progressive liberal, but at 72 years of age, I drive a seventy thousand dollar car, belong to a nice club, and don't believe in leaving all the trappings of a comfortable life to the right wing oligarchs. These things came quite late in life, well after the constraints of mortgages, aged parental care, kids' tuitions, and other commitments that responsible adults make.

I don't criticize less materialistic millennials if they do indeed exist, but I would have to ask...

What the hell are you looking forward to? If your vision of the future is so stark, perhaps the responsible thing for you is to not procreate.

I think people of my generation are looking forward to things other than material acquisition. Some of that won't be cheap, but it won't take the form of acquiring stuff. For example, if I hit it big over the next decade or so, my dream would be to retire in my 40s and travel the world. I'm not talking fancy resorts, either. I'd love to be able to travel while I'm still young and healthy enough to through-hike the Appalachian trail or one of the old pilgrimage routes in Europe, visit Buddhist monasteries in Nepal, hang out at an ashram, and so on. I'm also picturing volunteering to teach English in various places, or doing a stint digging wells in Africa, etc. I'm picturing having enough money I can pay for decent food and drinks along the way, and cheap hotel rooms and AirBnBs, along with coach flights or train trips from destination to destination, without having to work for money, but that's it. I'm looking for a life liberated from the rat race.

As for having kids, we'll see. However, if I do, I'm picturing one or, at most, two kids, so I'm not putting a big burden on population, and I'm hoping to shelter my kid from that tendency to become addicted to materialism. Hedonistic adaptation is a trap, not a path to happiness.

[Phantasmal]

Millennials are indeed different.

I'm a hard left progressive liberal, but at 72 years of age, I drive a seventy thousand dollar car, belong to a nice club, and don't believe in leaving all the trappings of a comfortable life to the right wing oligarchs. These things came quite late in life, well after the constraints of mortgages, aged parental care, kids' tuitions, and other commitments that responsible adults make.

I don't criticize less materialistic millennials if they do indeed exist, but I would have to ask...

What the hell are you looking forward to? If your vision of the future is so stark, perhaps the responsible thing for you is to not procreate.

My children vary, two love the finer things in life, their jobs allow them discrecionary income. The other two have good jobs, but are less materialist. My sons love to travel and are doing as much as they can, now, before starting families. Three out of the four own homes. All four seem less concerned with keeping up with the Jones’ All four are progressives, three very involved in politics, the one daughter could care less. My sons friends who are 30-32 the males are having a harder time than the other groups. There was a high rate of opioid use and five deaths. I considered myself so blessed that my son did not choose to use.

[Oneuli]

Way back in the early 1960's, the 45 step plan for communists to take over America was read into congressional record.

https://rense.com/general32/americ.htm

None of the 45 goals had been achieved at that time, and the Americans of that time knew that the goals could only be achieved if the country was taken over. When you refer to millennials rejecting the GOP, I agree. Not only do I agree, but I raise you rejection of the Democrat party. Millenials are the manifestation of the 1963 plan to take over America, and they reject both parties as per goal #15 in that plan that I linked above.

I don't think my generation rejects the Democratic party. In the last election, the majority of millennials who voted did so for a Democrat -- outnumbering all other parties combined by a wide margin. Sure, millennials have trouble getting excited about triangulating Democrats, whom they see as "GOP Lite." But once you move even as far left as Obama or Clinton (neither of whom is radical), you'll find huge numbers of millennial supporters.

[Phantasmal]

I think people of my generation are looking forward to things other than material acquisition. Some of that won't be cheap, but it won't take the form of acquiring stuff. For example, if I hit it big over the next decade or so, my dream would be to retire in my 40s and travel the world. I'm not talking fancy resorts, either. I'd love to be able to travel while I'm still young and healthy enough to through-hike the Appalachian trail or one of the old pilgrimage routes in Europe, visit Buddhist monasteries in Nepal, hang out at an ashram, and so on. I'm also picturing volunteering to teach English in various places, or doing a stint digging wells in Africa, etc. I'm picturing having enough money I can pay for decent food and drinks along the way, and cheap hotel rooms and AirBnBs, along with coach flights or train trips from destination to destination, without having to work for money, but that's it. I'm looking for a life liberated from the rat race.

As for having kids, we'll see. However, if I do, I'm picturing one or, at most, two kids, so I'm not putting a big burden on population, and I'm hoping to shelter my kid from that tendency to become addicted to materialism. Hedonistic adaptation is a trap, not a path to happiness.

Great plan, best wishes.

[Bourbon]

I lot of may family members are in Mixed Relationships and have Mixed children.

This is something the Right can never get a grip on, when they Knowing or Unknowingly speak their minds ... people remember what they say and what they do.

I've been saying all along, just keep on doing what you're doing and everything will work it's self out.

The last election proves out that point.

[Irish Exit]

I am not sure where that so little government spending growth came from. Have you bothered to look at the national debt?