AMAC Exclusive – By W.J. Lee
Much has been made recently about the Millennial generation – those born between 1981 and 1996 – apparently bucking the long-established political trend in the United States of becoming more conservative with age. But while most analyses explaining this phenomenon focus on factors like leftward trends in education or pop culture, a better explanation may instead be the fewer responsibilities young people take on today.
A report from the Financial Times in January found that Millennials, now reaching 35, the age where previous generations began to lean more conservative, are “by far the least conservative 35-year-olds in recorded history.” Democrat data firm Catalist has also found that Democrats have maintained their vote share among Millennials over the past decade, something which did not occur with prior generations of voters.
Many observers are quick to point out societal changes to explain why this is happening.
One such shift is that more Americans are graduating from a university system increasingly staffed by hardcore left-wing academics. From the late 1960s to the late 1990s, the percentage of college faculty identifying as “liberal” hovered around 44 percent. But starting around the turn of the century, the percentage of college faculty identifying as liberal began rising dramatically, such that their ranks have reached a supermajority on many American campuses.
Today, 50 percent of professors call themselves liberal, compared to just 26 percent who say they are conservative. At elite schools like Harvard, the percentage of liberal professors is even higher, crossing 80 percent.
These professors, empowered by activist-minded administrators, have made it their mission to create a generation of loyal Democrat Party voters.
Other explanations for Millennials’ liberal bent include a decline in religiosity in the United States. The number of Americans who do not identify with any religion is now nearly 30 percent.
Millennials have also been bombarded with liberal messaging from Hollywood and the mainstream media their entire lives. Pop culture became militantly progressive just as these young adults were coming of age.
Each of these explanations for Millennials continuing to cling to liberal ideology as they age are valid, but they nonetheless fall short of the whole picture.
After all, while liberal indoctrination via the education system may have become more aggressive in recent years, it is hardly a new phenomenon. Political movements in the 1960s similarly attempted to co-opt the minds of young Americans through propagating socialist ideology in the classroom.
Those attempts succeeded for a time, but as young Americans graduated from college and started families, they followed the pattern of seeking out a fiscally responsible political party to keep taxes and the cost of living low. Previous generations always became more conservative as they reached life milestones that required them to think more of supporting others and less of themselves.
These milestones can be summed up as the four “M’s” of responsibility: marriage, munchkins, mortgage, and mutual funds. Life experience, it seems, became a more powerful influence that liberal educators in shaping young people’s political beliefs.
But today, fewer and fewer Millennials are getting married, having children, buying homes, or are saving for retirement.
Never before has America seen so many forgo the life milestones that bring rich meaning and purpose to one’s life and to our communities. This year the number of 40-year-olds who have never been married reached an all time high. The decline of marriage over the last 50 years is well documented, but it is time to sound the alarm on how it will permanently change America if the downward trends are not reversed.
The most significant consequence is population collapse. U.S. birth rates from 1980 to 2007 were relatively stable, but since then they have plunged by 20 percent. Researchers thought the Great Recession caused couples to put their plans for a family on hold temporarily, but instead Millennials never had those children.
Relatedly, the stock market collapse and housing crunch in 2008 made the first wave of Millennials into permanent renters with little retirement or savings opportunities. Now the last wave of the Millennial generation is experiencing similar pressures as housing prices continue to soar.
Market catastrophes have bookended Millennials’ adult forming ages. Only within the last year did a majority of Millennials finally become homeowners, making it the slowest generation to reach that threshold. These forces are shaping a whole generation’s outlook on what to prioritize, and homeownership is not high on the list.
Instead, Millennials continue to live the adolescent life of “now” because many of them have chosen a life rid of responsibility. This complex dynamic is equal parts cultural malaise and neglect by the government to address these issues.
Regardless of political party, Americans on the left and the right have a vested interest in ensuring Millennials reach important life milestones. Millennials are poised to change both parties with their historically unique demands devoid of duty to country or responsibility to the future. If responsibility is lacking in their own lives, they won’t be interested in tackling the nation’s much larger problems. Without a drastic shift in Millennial ideology, the United States may be at a historical tipping point.
The much-needed American revival must start by addressing these four “M’s” of responsibility and opportunity for everyone.
Nothing demonstrates more faith in our country or in the future than starting a family, bringing children into the world, and investing in one’s community. If we want Millennials to have more buy-in, then we need to help them reach these life milestones. Policies like former President Donald Trump’s expansion of the child tax credit and more generous maternity and paternity leave are a good place to start.
Americans often quote President Ronald Regan in saying that “freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.” Of course, teaching our youth about the miracle of our constitutional republic and how it safeguards our freedom is important, but it will all be for nothing if our children do not know how to exercise responsibility in their own lives.
The four “M’s” of responsibility are tutors to young people before they become the leaders, professors, and business owners of this country. If they can’t get their own house in order, what hope do they have to run the nation?
How will Millennials dutifully sacrifice to maintain our freedom if they don’t know from experience in their own lives what it means to put the needs of others first?
The stake of America’s future is at a crossroads. Millennials should be becoming more conservative in political ideology at this point in their lives. Their reluctance is not an aversion to the principles of conservatism, but an unwillingness to accept the responsibility to take care of others – something which is caused by factors both in their control and outside their control.
Elected officials nationally and locally should focus their efforts on incentivizing America’s younger generations to get married, stay married, have children, own a home, and to save for the future. Reaching these life milestones will have a more significant influence on how Millennials view the world than any of the woke politics they learned in college or are being bombarded with by corporate newsrooms or on social media.
The only way to significantly course correct Millennials as a whole is to set them on a path that encourages personal responsibility.
W.J. Lee has served in the White House, NASA, on multiple political campaigns, and in nearly all levels of government. In his free time, he enjoys the “three R’s” – reading, writing, and running.
Kind of late to try and “course correct” the Millennial generation. That ship has sailed. Same for a lot of Gen Z at this point, as they have been well marinated in the ideology of socialism most of their lives and haven’t been taught history, science or even mathematics properly. So, there is no counter-reference for them to fall back on, even if you successfully purge the socialist brainwashing from their system.
Seems like each generation of parents tries to make things better for their children. But each generation of children then thinks they deserve more and expect more handed to them. When children are given everything they don’t learn the value of work or finances, or personal responsibility.
As I am a Baby Boomer, I will be dead and gone when this nonsense circles back and bits them in the ass. So be it, their choice, their consequences. I have zero empathy for them. I have absolutely nothing to offer them, as they know everything.
God has become less and less important in people’s lives and that’s very true of millennials. Conservatism doesn’t lead people to wanting to know God; it’s the other way around. Christian conservatives are far more likely to reach those “milestones” than completely secular millennials. More importantly, Christian conservatives are able to discern what leftism truly is…liberty crushing evil, and life has always been a battle of good vs evil.
Who says brainwashing doesn’t work? . . . When the majority of school teachers are Progressively Communist wannabe Democrats, the End Justifys the Means! Jack*ss Joe Biden, the Great Unifier! His policies are so stupid, they keep shooting themselves in the foot. His push for Electric Cars for instance, has greatly angered the largest Union in the country, the United Auto Workers because they are losing members as the Auto Factories convert to EV’s. STUPID IS, STUPID DOES!
Blame it on education if you wish, anything to make the entitled teaching class uncomfortable is fine by me. The real problem with Millennials and their followers lay in the way they were raised LONG before the collegiate level. SImply put, there is no parenting going on any longer and its been that way for a while. Kids are raised in the day care system. Who is employed at daycare centers? The uneducated, not academically nor by life that tend to be unable to get employment elsewhere and are at least for short terms, willing to accept the low pay and…….unpleasant working conditions. Now what kind of child “thrives” in daycare? The loudest and most obnoxious that is who. The underpaid, disinterested staff will take the easiest approach to quiet such brats, give them a treat, a shiny toy, whatever, anything to stop the annoyance. Rewarding these negative behaviors is of course witnessed by the rest of the group and to gain reward they mimic the obnoxious behavior that leads to rewards and thus we have modern young people. Look at these kids post public school. They mass for riots they cannot explain the reason for. A junkie dies of an overdose during an arrest in Minnesota and the country burns for an entire summer. Some lonely woman proclaims sexual abuse from 30 years prior and blames a particular party and whats the result? The daycare syndrome. Without due process the accused is proclaimed guilty from an accusation and nobody ever asks “why did you wait 30 years to say anything?”.
Flush this country, its smells.
Thank you, W.J.Lee….having read your “Liberal America Ahead” review you’ve given a very reasonable ‘history’ of what has transposed our citizenry over these many years. And, yes, major changes have done as they always do – transformation of what one end to the other end has transpired. And it’s also an answer to what daily circumstances of everyone can do – change the future in whatever direction the peoples determine to be the best. …majority does usually rule. Prayers from everyone are always listened to by God……..hopefully the majority will be for the good of our United States! God Bless America!
THERE IS ONLY ONE SURE AND PERMANENT WAY TO STOP THE CANCEROUS, ANTI-AMERICAN, CHEATING, LYING, libs AND IT’S NOT THRU ELECTIONS……….
Important topic Mr. Lee , you did very good identifying some of the issues at the root of this situation that has to do with responsibility. Culture is not removed from political ideology, it is part of political ideology; culture is not removed from economics , it is part of economics. If a society is built on a foundation that is corrupt, then there is going to be a tendency by the younger members of that society, who lack knowledge of anything else, who lack experience with an honest, honorable way of approaching life to do what influences them the most. I was born in 1950 ; consider myself very fortunate to have had parents who wanted me to have an understanding of American history , we visited Washington , District of Columbia in 1961, later that year visited Independence Hall in Philadelphia ; visited New York the following year. The statue of Liberty was explained for it’s significance — why it was built, what it represented. Visited Valley Forge , Pennsylvania after that. I appreciate what you wrote in this article Mr. Lee, there is much to do in order to help defend Conservative thought here in the United States of America, you have made a great contribution to that effort with this article. Well Done !
Ill start with chores, the completion of which back then were non negotiable. We all hated chores but in our day chosing not to do them wasn’t an option. There were consequences. Next, very few millies had part time jobs in hs or college. Cash flowed from parents, not only for tuition but fun stuff. As a result they didnt see a pay stub till 22-25, if then. Finally, obligatory sports did away with family dinner. Instead, mom frantically drove kids to soccer practice after school. By the end of that the kids were ravenous and the drive thru beckoned. After that was homework. There was little time to ascertain what commie propaganda junior was fed earlier. In our day the only people playing organized sports were the athletically gifted. Now theres mortal terror that if the kid doesnt flail around on a soccer field he’ll be left behind. Everything is a choice and has trade offs.
I love the quote by Ronald Reagan “FREEDOM IS NEVER MORE THAN ONE GENERATION AWAY FROM EXTINCTION” as that tells us all what America is & has been for 200-years. Every generation needs to know our history & how much we have vs. other countries in the world & especially ones that operate under SOCIALISM.
We, the Baby Boomers KNOW this has been happening for quite awhile! We’ve watched as Government has taken it upon themselves to take responsibility for every child by putting in laws about how parents can raise their children. Generations now of “Children” raised to believe they cannot be treated badly, they can always win, they always deserve awards/good treatment and have no responsibility for their actions! An entire generation of children have been raised by parents that do everything for their child! From cleaning up after them, refusing to make their children understand responsibility by removing simple “Chores” from their lives and allowing these child to believe that they receive money simply because they are living. Shame on these parents! These parents are to blame for giving into societal pressure and not fighting back against the control taken from them.
Now we find some parents fighting against what is being presented to their children in their earliest years. The pressure from so many “Groups” to sway the Federal Education System with garbage is astounding to me personally. Education needs to be given to the States and a board made of Parents needs to be setup with revolving seats as children grow and move on, so do the parents! The involvement of the parent is critical in our schools! Once we had Parents that Volunteered to assist the Teachers, while reminding students that Mom & Dad know what is happening in the classrooms. That has been removed and now criminal.Once we had cirriculums that taught from the earliest years everything a child needs to know about our Country, our History, the steps in having a family and taking care of them as in Home Economics, we once had classes that prepared children to seek their individual talents and take this talent to a higher level, as in Shop Classes/Mechanics Classes, these types of classes have been deemed ineffectual for some reason and not offered due to budget cuts and lack of interest but again, Parents were asked to Volunteer for assistance helping teachers with the students. Again no more…I believe that once this new brand of Parent grabs the reins from the Administration and demand they be allowed to be involved with their child’s education things may change but it maybe far to late. Once there was the P.T.A. but unknown to me why this association was removed from schools, it allowed the parents to be involved with their childs education… again no more…
Government cannot be involved with how Parents raise their children, that is not their purpose! Parents need to Take Control Back and speak up against this involvement! They need to stop the illusion of “The Perfect Family” that social media has focused on and their competition of who is the best parent!! The Child comes first always and that starts with the first day you allow them to leave your home and enter into the Education system!
So much needs to be changed and its time We, the Elders need to be supportive of these parents and give them our experience, our advice and our shoulders to hold them up in supporting their fight to gain control of their Childs Education and training! A child can only become what they are taught, by how they are treated with love and trust from their parents doing the right things to teach them responsibility and accountability for themselves. Parents are the cornerstone of a childs growth into adulthood, Government plays no part and anything less is complete failure!
They are all a bunch of brain-dead pot smoking fools who agree with being enslaved to the elitists. Just give us more drugs we will do what ever you want.
Liberals are an evil plague that needs to be stamped out and gotten rid of by whatever means possible!!!
Not to worry: when the communists are running things under the leadership of China, they’ll be motivated… or else.
Its due to:
Family lifestyle
Home Life
Indoc from schools
Peer pressures
Hmmm… One wonders if our “Public Servants” in DC hadn’t set up a program where adversarial countries “invest” in our educational system and their pockets for decades, we may not have this problem.
Yes! There is even a reporting system that requires our Universities to disclose our enemies “donations” every year. They weren’t enforcing the reporting rule so Trump’s DeVos tried making them and those like Harvard sued to not follow the reporting law. Most have no idea our youth are taught by our enemies because WHO DOES THAT!
Qatar and China were the largest “donors” to our educational system last I looked. As for China opening Confucius Schools in K-12 here in America, those numbers of schools aren’t known since reporting requirements were never set up for CCP indoctrinated K-12 students, last I read.
I hired college students for 30 years and watched the Nanny State destruction get progressively worse over time. I retired in 2017 and started researching this issue. The first article I came across was the UN had Chinese youth groups teaching American youth. I have been researching the UN ever since as they are the CCP/Globalist’s vehicle towards their King/Surf program you are witnessing us going through right now.
They are gutting the middle class as planned.
How sad to be so self-focused and miss some of life’s great adventures with someone you love. We all die alone, but memories of family can make aging bearable.
That is what is lacking by the democrats, personal responsibility. I am not surprised that millennials act and live that way. Killing people or robbing a store is as normal to them as breathing. You never hear a millennial say anything about this. These occurrences happen daily many many times and yet they don’t speak out. Why is that? Let’s look no further than the White House. No responsibility is taken bij them they blame it on Trump or his supporters. Why should millennials? We are reaping what ole Joe has sowed.
They’re bucking the trend by not becoming total idiots when they get older.
Lack of responsibility leads to lack of character
Hard times make strong men.
Strong men make good times.
Good times make weak men.
Weak men make hard times.
I liked your article and have also read each of the comments about it. Sadly they are all correct. I was born in 1943 from a poor family, but one that valued hard work, responsibility, traditional family values and education. in the course of my life I did everything from working at my fathers gas station when I was 7 or 8 on Saturdays for 25 cents an hour to eventually going to college and studying physics in undergraduate school and then going to law school and working first in the “poverty” programs and then as a trial lawyer for 39 years. In the course of my life I went from a 60s left winger to a very conservative person which happened after seeing the slow but steady decline and corruption of all of our institutions and values. I think that it is probably to late to change the direction of this country. History teaches over and over again that those who ignore it are bound to repeat it. It is the story of the rise and fall of great nations and empires and there has never been one which hasn’t managed to avoid this. This country went from being the richest and most powerful country in the world at the end of WW2 to a country that owes more money than the rest of the world put together. Our students went from being in the top 3 nations in science, mathematics and general knowledge to no being ranked among the lowest rated countries in the world. Our family system has become a joke and it started in the 60s with the start of no fault divorce which destroyed so many marriages which could easily have been saved. Our economic system began to fall into the control of the Federal Government and those who really were in control of the banking industry and other very large corporations. The Federal government got bigger and bigger until now it has become totally disconnected from most of the American population. The 2 major political parties have become enemies, the wokeness insanity just keeps spreading and now infects even the military we now have a President who is not only the most the most politically and economically corrupt but also needs to be in a nursing home There is much more that I could point out but I fear it is all a waste of time. Finally I agree with those who say that the 2024 elections will be the most important election in this country since the election of Abraham Lincoln as this country seems to be headed for a Civil war which will leave it a broken and poverty stricken people.
Follow the leader seems to be the game plan for today’s people. Less work and energy to follow the leader than to be a sound thinker for oneself. Growing up I didn’t like to be told what to do and how to think. I didn’t wasn’t going to be bossed by someone else. God gave a good brain to use.
I look forward to seeing them suffer when they are older.
it is hard to be conservative, when you have nothing but a paycheck. You rent an apartment. Lease furniture. ride public transportation. Order food delivered to you. and whine that you have no money left to pay your student loans on the useless degree you took 6 years to get. I have watched a young man go from Liberal to conservative. He worked hard. Got screwed a few times in business. Kept at it. Married a girl with an autistic child and they have a new baby- Suddenly- he is Conservative. He has something to protect.
At this point in time there is little hope in this corrupt government that they will do anything right. The Godless leaders are Marxists bent on destroying this country’s republic. We need to get rid of the Marxist government as we show this millennial generation that the constitutional republic is the way to go. Those college professors lied to you. Damn them all.
That makes no sense
With these gas prices and inflation no wonder.
Mr. Lee, I don’t know where you got all your info from, but in my family and friends, and friends of friends, there have been at least 10 or more weddings a year in these past couple of years, and this year it’s like one every couple of months either getting married or having children. As a matter of fact, I am going to a wedding this Saturday. And I may add there was 2 births in the past month, and two more on the way.
All these weddings and births are from our Millennial kids, and oh my, they are all Conservative’s. Give or take a couple of our Liberal friends who’s kids are also Liberal. All are family oriented, have good jobs, all educated and went to different Colleges around the country with no problems of so called Liberal Professors. I believe a lot has to do with upbringing.
I think the Millennials are given a bad rap, not to mention having to deal with a screwed up world. God Bless them All????
The last prophecy of the children of Fatima stated that there will be a battle in which the evil one focuses on destruction of the family. Feels like we are engaged in that battle.
Put the blame where it really belongs. The “Greatest Generation:! Those who survived the Great Depression and fought and won WWII. They determined that they did not want their children to suffer like they did. So they conveniently forgot to teach their children the meaning of the word “NO!” Now we have generations of GIMME Gimme Me… Me… ME!!!
Socialism is Anti-American; time to let those who follow socialism know that if they don’t like it here there is always communist North Korea they can go to. Planes, and boats leaving America with that destination every day. They won’t be missed!
The marriage rate is falling, Worse the divorce rate among those who DO marry, hovers around 50%. Furthermore at least 85% of the divorces are initiated by the wives. What is going on?
Well, the divorce laws in many states punishes the husband, and rewards the wife. It only takes a few horror stories in a social circle to convince the guys that marriage can be a losing bet. The father can lose his children, money and home, while the wife fares much better. The divorced wife can always look for another top two percent guy to hook into another marriage.
The Cause? The femmanization movement convinced women that they “deserve” the two percent of the guys who have six figure incomes and have actor like looks. It’s no surprise then that these women will continue to fool around while looking for Mr. Right until they approach 30-years of age. Then they start to become panicky because their reproductive clocks are running out.
The results? Guys might hook up with girls but they won’t “date” them. The words commitment and relationship have become four letter words. The future of the wrong headed women? They will become bitter old ladies sharing their residences with cats.
Women don’t need men, …………. until they do.
I like the comment that we are not teaching history, science & math like the prior generations. My opinion: Think it is teaching technology as that is easier for most & is pushed daily & even Trump on Twitter & Truth Social as being real news & not fake news. Take a look at the most valuable companies & stock market & you see the Twitter, Facebook,Google, Microsoft , etc. at the top. I question whether they produce a product that is a benefit to our GNP as they do not really produce a product that is a benefit to all Americans and USA. And why the fight over news media as i would like to remind everyone that that is one of Communist goals back in 1950s & that is to control the news media.
Millennials and Gen Z’ers are a bunch of lazy @$$ bastards. They will NEVER amount to anything. I blame the parents.
It’s kind if sick, but I’m hoping to live long enough to see the collapse, so I can tell all these naive young people (my children included,) I told you so.
That’s the thing, we millennials do not have faith in this country or our future. We weren’t indoctrined by professors; as someone who only got an associates and without taking on any loans, I see second-hand where an education gets you — in debt, which is right where you want us. I did my own independent research from books like Vance Packards “the waste makers” which revealed our countries practice of “forced obsolescence” and Edward Bernays book “Crystallizing public opinion” about the invention of propaganda and how the founder of modern consumerism used the teachings of his uncle Sigmund Freud to psychologically manipulate the public with advertising techniques we still use today. Some of us are smart enough to not fall for the Ponzie scheme this country is riddled with and because of that, no children for you. If that means the end of the country or existence, so be it. Stay mad.