The conclusion of a review of the Pew Research Center data:
"Thirty percent of Americans under 29 think Donald Trump was the worst president in American history. Sixty-five percent have an unfavorable view of the former president. Just 18 percent watch Fox News, the primary national vector for viral paranoia and disinformation, regularly…
The conclusion of a review of the Pew Research Center data:
"Thirty percent of Americans under 29 think Donald Trump was the worst president in American history. Sixty-five percent have an unfavorable view of the former president. Just 18 percent watch Fox News, the primary national vector for viral paranoia and disinformation, regularly. The Pew report is just a brutal document for Republicans. And it suggests that the light at the end of the tunnel, far from illuminating a path out of the wilderness for the GOP, is instead an oncoming, hostile generation poised to put Republicans at a decisive disadvantage in national elections for years."
The largest political party in the U.S. is non-voters, the disinterested, the distracted, the apathetic. If we are a 50 / 50 country of voters, we must remember that in even a high turnout election we struggle to turnout 65% of eligible voters. We need to get a significant portion of that other 35% motivated to overcome their disinterest. Trying to convince Republican voters of their folly is a fools errand, figuratively and literally. Overcoming gerrymandered districts and the skewed to rural electoral college requires motivating the disinterested. Interestingly, the actions of the Republican GQP party to concentrate wealth and power may ultimately serve that purpose but require the story to be told loudly and clearly. The actions of Republicans following January 6 may ultimately be Democrats best weapon.
I agree, Bruce. Once again, voter turn out, voter turn out. Your statistics, the 35% who don't vote, would assure Democrat victories. It should be a chief focus of Dems' strategy -- 1) encourage Democrat voters to check their eligibility on their states' websites and 2) arrange/negotiate for cities to provide free bus transportation to the polls.
I would add the overwhelmed to your reasons for not voting. Stressed with trying to get by and raise children politics can be a distant cacaphony of the noise made by chalk on a chalkboard. Biden might appeal to those with his serious attempts to assist with “getting by” and calm reassuring demeanor?
Yes, so real. The stress of raising children. No time to think about politics. The "getting by" appeal could be a good message, imo. Actually, I have a 35-year-old daughter with three kids in that category and her husband is a Trumper! She doesn't vote because she doesn't have time to sort out/disagree with what he believes vs. what we her parents say. I try to provide her general information re what Dems stand for vs. the "Repugnicans." But I think it's hard to live with a Trumper if you outright disagree with him. I tell her voting is like going to confession (she was raised Catholic) -- you don't have to tell anyone what you said to the priest or how you voted, not even your husband.
Kimceann, the headlight of an oncoming generation. I love it!
We must then carefully groom and cultivate this generation in any way that we can, starting with our own kin, even if they are already behind that headlight. How deep is their knowledge of how things got to be the way they are? Are they reading this letter? Are they aware of how much we support them?
This is not a short conflict, and the Repetrolicans know that, and have been coming against Democracy, not for generations, but for centuries. So now they send--from an old playbook-- schemes and laws and lies. We will must also take the long strategy, and send citizen warriors: People. We the People.
In this long war, education--not propaganda--is the long range cannon!
Not sure that I agree with that. The young people I am with….and that can be toddlers to young adults….are very much connected to their upbringing and do not see division in any way as much as we did. I believe the self worth of the young is much more defined and stronger at a younger age than it was in our generation. I’m not referring to self esteem.
Christine, how do you differentiate between "self worth" and "self esteem" ? My experience has been that we have often, but obviously not always, robbed our children of their childhood, short-circuited their sociability, deprived them of a developmental framework and they have difficulty thereafter in working out who they are and what that means in this world.
Lifetime teacher here. You nailed it Stuart. However there are some points I’d make. First of all, this is a relatively recent trend. It’s also *very* much a product of an insecure middle class. The world heaved in the years under Reagan and thereafter. In the 90s and beyond, schools fell hook, line, and sinker for the idea of applying a business methodology to education. Hence the great outbreak of the “testing disease”. It germinated first in England under a ministry called Ofsted, but quickly migrated to the Americas. Bush’s maliciously clever “No Child Left Behind” slogan and program lifted testing into the stratosphere.
Economically insecure parents, victims of trickle-down policy put enormous pressure on their kids to succeed in education as if it’s whole point was to give one a financial ticket for life. Naturally there followed quickly behind all sorts of micro and macro scandals. But that’s another book.
Although it’s not the only factor (the “stranger danger” phenomenon was another), the distortion of education has wrecked, and I use that word advisedly, wrecked millions of children in the way you described so succinctly.
If you want to read an incredibly chilling book, get Excellent Sheep by William Deresiewicz. You will never forget it.
In the past few years standardized testing has gotten some strong critical blowback. The success of the Finns who lead the world in educational attainment with a radically different approach has led other countries to begin pulling back in this area.
Nothing is 100% of course, but far, far too many children have had their childhood aborted, have not learned valuable lessons through play and remain “children” in need of succour well into adulthood. Interestingly boys suffer most at school age. Girls cope well by doing their level best to meet all demands, regardless of how dumb some of them are. They thrive, or seem to, well into adulthood. But then, for many a breakdown comes at the intersection of marriage, work, and parenting. I have heard many stories from mothers about their own breakdowns later in life.
And the rule of thumb is - the smarter the kid, the more problems (s)he will experience.
Thankfully I see this fever just beginning to break. But there can be a lot of damage in 30 years and I’ve witnessed it.
Eric, Thank you for a thoughtful and first perspective analysis from the inside of our educational system. While I am a strong supporter of public schools and public education, I also believe that this is just a part of a larger essential framework for building balanced life skills. I believe in the importance also of adult mentoring, from parents, family, coaches, neighbors, and others in building those life skills. I also recognize the importance of friendships and a wider social circle of influencers as important also. Lastly, I also believe in the importance of taking personal responsibility for building those life skills and completing a balanced education. I believe most expect too much from the schools and teachers alone. The necessary components of a good education and building those life skills require more than the educational system alone can impart.
I wish there were a better word for people like your son. "Gifted" rubs me the wrong way, as if all the rest of us have no gifts of our own. Can't we come up with something more appropriately descriptive? What happened to "genius"?
I assume you are not even including this subset in your comments. They are just the tip of the iceberg. But yes more college educated parents means understanding human growth and development means generations are having those needs met more appropriately so the future looks brighter. Perhaps someday we can actually teach six year olds how to nurture and nourish themselves and others bodies and minds. What a radical thought 😳 https://www.acf.hhs.gov/media/press/2020/2020/child-abuse-neglect-data-released
That has not been my experience at all and my career in public education is long with a perspective that I bring to my comments about the young in this forum.
I completely agree, Kathy. Hilary Clinton was totally correct in the emphasis of her message….it takes a village to raise children. We are seeing the benefit of that more so with this younger generation than at any other time. Though independent, they are more comfortably interdependent. That’s a good thing when it comes to improving equity of opportunity. They see it as a given.
Oh I wish it were so, Kathy. I raised my daughter with all the “right” values and a sense of what democracy stood for. Then she married someone who is now a Trumpet. His friends and the crap he now listens to has turned her and I can’t get through to her. For the peace of the family we have agreed to not talk politics. I try in ever so subtle ways to bring her back, but no success so far and I am despondent about that.
I am so sorry. I truly can’t imagine. One of my kids is so far left, and has a tendency to pontificate, that we, too don’t talk politics anymore. But at least I feel like his heart is in the right place.
That doesn't mean you didn't do a great job raising her, Annette, or that she isn't a good person. Sometimes it just skips a generation, said my Republican father of 3 Democrat daughters (and a son who did a 180 from liberal to libertarian).
Stuart, I totally agree with you. Yes, we screwed it all up.
But now, with that hindsight and hopefully the wisdom we may have acquired, and the information we share with each other here, isn't it imperative that we try to equip and motivate the next generations? I'm having a little success, and it inspires me to try harder!
What good is it for us to right the ship we foundered,, only to turn the helm over to ernest but inexperienced crew? (Like we were, once).
Oh yes. They need us just like we need them. Stacy Abrams and Jim Clyburn saved the election for us in 2020. If any single element of our coalition start thinking they stand alone and can win the day, we are all screwed.
Yes Gustav. It’s why they are so stupid about Critical Race Theory. Which enhances the instruction, not the curriculum that they target. The common good of public education is always a stumbling block for, what did you call them, the Repetrolicans??? Ha!
I am so encouraged by the people that I know that fall into that 18-30 age group. Through my involvement with the U of O Music School, I have come to know quite a few people in this age range. They make my heart sing. They are becoming teachers in great numbers and are up front and vocal about their positions on the rights of all, and the need for redress and condemnation of systemic racism.
I see that also Ally as is evident from my comments about education. If I may quote Gustav from yesterday…my political will and interest is “quickened” participating with the young people. Their interdependence is so satisfying to me. Cornerstone of equality and equity.
Also, in 2020, Trump won the over-75 idiots I've had to put up with since they were 10-year old morons by only 5 percentage points, rather than the 12 points he won by in 2016. Fortunately, the majority of my high school graduating class has finally beautified America by their permanent departures, something that should be only moreso by 2024.
The only trouble is TC that they are replaced in considerable numbers....not as much as the baby boomers but.....people tend towards the conservative end of the political polarity with aging.
Morning Stuart! Here is perhaps a more hopeful (albeit perhaps not entirely verifiable) trend: straight women, especially those whose lives get shaken up by divorce, tend to become leftier as they age (non-straight women tend to be super lefty in any case). And women vote far more regularly and consistently than do men. This is apparently connected to the issue of straight women having to accommodate men while in their fertile years, but not needing to worry about that stuff after a certain age. In addition, women are being vaccinated in larger numbers than are men in the states that are being run by genocidal arses (like Mike Parson) who I think want to keep Covid alive and thriving in their states in the mistaken belief that it will kill more POC than whites (which someone admitted a few days ago was precisely the White House strategy back in the spring of 2020, although I wonder about the accuracy of that report). So as the male over 50s are getting sick, the women are holding on. And, of course, women are the majority in the population in most western countries in any case.
So--TC and Stuart--it might be that, as usual, women save the day. She says without a note of irony. 🤪🤣
Yes, yes, and yes! True even of the Greatest Generation, not just Boomers and later. Let’s also never forget who handed us the last election either. Women of color worked their collective butts off. We owe them a debt we cannot repay for having Biden’s back. Or was it Harris’s back (she says without a note of irony either) 🤣
Women are indeed the best hope for retaining some sanity in politics. Well except for the few of those of the QOP tribe. We need more of them to run for office and all of them to vote.
I am one of those lefty women but I was disheartened to read in the Pew report that white women increased their support from ‘16 - ‘20 for the former guy
Morning, Stuart!! And then there are some of us boomers who once recoiled at the thought of Medicare for All and other social safety nets but now will vote for their passage.
Yeh....morning Lynell..., but when you get into the masses, the tendencies are clear. What is important with such deep trends is the definition of what "conservative" means. That too can change with the ages.
Hey, Norman. Not knowing how "stuff" works, I was stuck in and believed the idea that it was not fair to those of us who spent 40+ years paying into Medicare system. Now I know better.
Fortunately it is some and not all of us that tend towards conservatism as we age. In the course of talking to people over the last five and a half years I have been heartened by the number of folks older than myself (67) who are not DiJiT fans or even GQP fans.
Growing older (80) does not mean growing more conservative. That is a conscious choice. Watching national and world politics, it is certain that we cannot continue this top-heavy, nondemocratic, unconstitutional system. This is not governance. This is ruling as authoritarians.
“This is not just a Black thing. This is a fear of the American people, a fear of Black and white and Brown and Asian and Native people coming together and pushing this nation forward.”
Rev. William Barber, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign
Just to illustrate the attitude of GOP legislators, this statement was made in public. Most of them are more careful about saying what they believe:
“Even though my constituents voted for this lie, I’m going to protect them,” he said. “I am proud to stand against the will of the people.”
Rep. Justin Hill, Mo.
He was speaking on the expansion of Medicare. This is where our representative government has fallen to. The will of the peo[ple is immaterial to them.
Stuart, yesterday on here I posted the site kimceann posted waaaaaaay above, as well as a link to the Pew Research Center data (which is a lot to wade through). What it did show was that trends tend to favour the Democrats in terms of demographic "replacement" (i.e. us 75+, baby-boomer Republican-voting old farts dying out vs younger and/or first-time voters coming on to voter rolls). The GOP's voter bloc is shrinking a bit faster--and they KNOW it. That's why they're grabbing power as fast as they can.
Stuart, you are correct and it would be a concern if we were talking about conservatives. Have you ever heard of a "conservative" , or "conservatives" trying to overthrow an election????? Neither have I.
On the other hand fascists frequently used that to try to gain power and that is who we are dealing with not conservatives.
Joe, in principle, conservatives seek to preserve all that is "good" in a society. Obviously that depends on your definition of "good" . Fascists find that the "good" has been lost a long time ago and they need to break everythingto be able to reimpose what has been "lost" .
Been saying it Kimceann, sister. It is the “youngsters” that are clear eyed about progressive, responsible, doable change to improve government, climate, equity of opportunity, health, family, education…. Just about any topic that concerns involvement of, by, and for the people. It is their votes that are crucial to restoring our country to the country that they were promised as they were raised.
There is a certain age when "youngsters" question the things their parents have taught them and realize that their elders are full of sh*t. Whether they stay with that opinion is influenced by subsequent experience.
I think the GOP is well aware of the miscalculations they have made, but they are far too deep in the downward spiral to try to change course now. It is do or die time for them. With the backing of the Supreme Court, they can halt elections. They have seen what the black voters did in Georgia last time and they see this young multiracial force that is now taking place becoming more motivated to take part in their government, and they are terrified. But, there is something to be said about the ferocity of a trapped rat.
I am working on that in regards to my two young helpers. Told them both to get registered and if they are registered by the end of the year, I would come to their house and make sure they are. Same with voting (cept we all get mail in voting), if they haven't voted before election day, I would be coming to their house to take them to the polls.
I also talk to them about their vote is their voice and it is more powerful than they know.
As they have often been "short-changed" on the side of history education and don't have a frame of reference for understanding what is going on and what it all means.
My thought has always been, as a retired museum historian, that most people don't appreciate history until they have a history themselves -- they can now see themselves in the whole scheme of things. Can't count how many of my museum volunteers have told me "I hated history in school, but I love it now." Perhaps I loved it from the beginning because I had a couple of great history teachers.
Hence the importance of the "acceptability criteria and the verification/certification process. Not enough attention is being given, in my opinion to the latter.
I pray the younger generation is not too late in turning this around. If Republicans get control in 2022 I fear all bets are off for generations to come.
I find it interesting that we seem always to look to the younger generation to save us. Indeed I hope to see them gain interest and show up in greater numbers to the polls. However, turnout numbers show we are more likely to be saved by our black and brown sisters. Women of color delivered us two Democratic Senators in Georgia. This is, by % of eligible voters showing up, the most powerful force in the Democratic power at the polls and knocking on doors. Honor, respect, and mobilize them. They are a force to be reckoned with.
I look to the young along with the emerging dynamic of increased participation of BIPOC voters. Participation is the key. I recognize every force that votes for truth and saving our democracy.
I totally agree with you, Sharon. I hate to say it, but Democrats needs to get more ferocious in the ring with Republicans. In the end, Democrats only chance of retaining power is to rise up with historical voter turnout, despite new suppression laws.
Thank you, Kimceann. I needed to see this, after finally making myself watch the entire NYTimes insurrection video. My daughter is a millennial. She sent me a TikToc video yesterday that was a millennial talking to her therapist, ticking off the major time stamps of her life so far (being in middle school when Columbine happened, and on and on on that score), graduating college in the teeth of "the worst recession since the Great Depression", tons of student debt, oh, yeah, and 9/11, etc., culminating with the Trump fiasco. It was sad and funny at the same time.
I have a Millennial friend* who writes for Medium; she has posted this same thing many times. (Hanna Brooks Olsen, if you're curious.)
*Technically the daughter of a former coworker, but still a friend. This former coworker and I were bastions of left thought on our department. We both got directives about our hair length (me: too short; him: too long, while our hair was the exact same length. Come to find out that Sergeant is, if all possible, more liberal than either of us.)
I don't think there is any doubt the majority of Americans do not want Trump as their president. The majority didn't want him in 2016. Voter suppression and gerrymandering are the enemy. If a minority that has seized power decides what votes get counted and where, they can control the outcome. The GOP doesn't want to win elections, they want to establish an authoritarian regime.
kimceann - Thank you for posting that link! Made me think there may be some hope for the future. The job ahead of us is to continue to find ways to keep those younger people engaged in the political process.
The conclusion of a review of the Pew Research Center data:
"Thirty percent of Americans under 29 think Donald Trump was the worst president in American history. Sixty-five percent have an unfavorable view of the former president. Just 18 percent watch Fox News, the primary national vector for viral paranoia and disinformation, regularly. The Pew report is just a brutal document for Republicans. And it suggests that the light at the end of the tunnel, far from illuminating a path out of the wilderness for the GOP, is instead an oncoming, hostile generation poised to put Republicans at a decisive disadvantage in national elections for years."
From:
https://theweek.com/republicans/1002288/a-fresh-look-at-2020-electorate?utm_campaign=afternoon_newsletter_20210706&utm_source=afternoon_newsletter&utm_medium=email&refid=%7EREFERENCE_ID%7E
The largest political party in the U.S. is non-voters, the disinterested, the distracted, the apathetic. If we are a 50 / 50 country of voters, we must remember that in even a high turnout election we struggle to turnout 65% of eligible voters. We need to get a significant portion of that other 35% motivated to overcome their disinterest. Trying to convince Republican voters of their folly is a fools errand, figuratively and literally. Overcoming gerrymandered districts and the skewed to rural electoral college requires motivating the disinterested. Interestingly, the actions of the Republican GQP party to concentrate wealth and power may ultimately serve that purpose but require the story to be told loudly and clearly. The actions of Republicans following January 6 may ultimately be Democrats best weapon.
I agree, Bruce. Once again, voter turn out, voter turn out. Your statistics, the 35% who don't vote, would assure Democrat victories. It should be a chief focus of Dems' strategy -- 1) encourage Democrat voters to check their eligibility on their states' websites and 2) arrange/negotiate for cities to provide free bus transportation to the polls.
I would add the overwhelmed to your reasons for not voting. Stressed with trying to get by and raise children politics can be a distant cacaphony of the noise made by chalk on a chalkboard. Biden might appeal to those with his serious attempts to assist with “getting by” and calm reassuring demeanor?
Yes, so real. The stress of raising children. No time to think about politics. The "getting by" appeal could be a good message, imo. Actually, I have a 35-year-old daughter with three kids in that category and her husband is a Trumper! She doesn't vote because she doesn't have time to sort out/disagree with what he believes vs. what we her parents say. I try to provide her general information re what Dems stand for vs. the "Repugnicans." But I think it's hard to live with a Trumper if you outright disagree with him. I tell her voting is like going to confession (she was raised Catholic) -- you don't have to tell anyone what you said to the priest or how you voted, not even your husband.
Kimceann, the headlight of an oncoming generation. I love it!
We must then carefully groom and cultivate this generation in any way that we can, starting with our own kin, even if they are already behind that headlight. How deep is their knowledge of how things got to be the way they are? Are they reading this letter? Are they aware of how much we support them?
This is not a short conflict, and the Repetrolicans know that, and have been coming against Democracy, not for generations, but for centuries. So now they send--from an old playbook-- schemes and laws and lies. We will must also take the long strategy, and send citizen warriors: People. We the People.
In this long war, education--not propaganda--is the long range cannon!
However, Gustav, I'm not sure that they need us as they probably consider that we are the ones that screwed up. The numbers are already very clear.
Not sure that I agree with that. The young people I am with….and that can be toddlers to young adults….are very much connected to their upbringing and do not see division in any way as much as we did. I believe the self worth of the young is much more defined and stronger at a younger age than it was in our generation. I’m not referring to self esteem.
Christine, how do you differentiate between "self worth" and "self esteem" ? My experience has been that we have often, but obviously not always, robbed our children of their childhood, short-circuited their sociability, deprived them of a developmental framework and they have difficulty thereafter in working out who they are and what that means in this world.
Lifetime teacher here. You nailed it Stuart. However there are some points I’d make. First of all, this is a relatively recent trend. It’s also *very* much a product of an insecure middle class. The world heaved in the years under Reagan and thereafter. In the 90s and beyond, schools fell hook, line, and sinker for the idea of applying a business methodology to education. Hence the great outbreak of the “testing disease”. It germinated first in England under a ministry called Ofsted, but quickly migrated to the Americas. Bush’s maliciously clever “No Child Left Behind” slogan and program lifted testing into the stratosphere.
Economically insecure parents, victims of trickle-down policy put enormous pressure on their kids to succeed in education as if it’s whole point was to give one a financial ticket for life. Naturally there followed quickly behind all sorts of micro and macro scandals. But that’s another book.
Although it’s not the only factor (the “stranger danger” phenomenon was another), the distortion of education has wrecked, and I use that word advisedly, wrecked millions of children in the way you described so succinctly.
If you want to read an incredibly chilling book, get Excellent Sheep by William Deresiewicz. You will never forget it.
In the past few years standardized testing has gotten some strong critical blowback. The success of the Finns who lead the world in educational attainment with a radically different approach has led other countries to begin pulling back in this area.
Nothing is 100% of course, but far, far too many children have had their childhood aborted, have not learned valuable lessons through play and remain “children” in need of succour well into adulthood. Interestingly boys suffer most at school age. Girls cope well by doing their level best to meet all demands, regardless of how dumb some of them are. They thrive, or seem to, well into adulthood. But then, for many a breakdown comes at the intersection of marriage, work, and parenting. I have heard many stories from mothers about their own breakdowns later in life.
And the rule of thumb is - the smarter the kid, the more problems (s)he will experience.
Thankfully I see this fever just beginning to break. But there can be a lot of damage in 30 years and I’ve witnessed it.
Eric, Thank you for a thoughtful and first perspective analysis from the inside of our educational system. While I am a strong supporter of public schools and public education, I also believe that this is just a part of a larger essential framework for building balanced life skills. I believe in the importance also of adult mentoring, from parents, family, coaches, neighbors, and others in building those life skills. I also recognize the importance of friendships and a wider social circle of influencers as important also. Lastly, I also believe in the importance of taking personal responsibility for building those life skills and completing a balanced education. I believe most expect too much from the schools and teachers alone. The necessary components of a good education and building those life skills require more than the educational system alone can impart.
"Regardless of how dumb they (girls) are??????
I think the tule you state is very troublesome. “the smarter the kid, the more problems he-she will experience”? What in the world?
I wish there were a better word for people like your son. "Gifted" rubs me the wrong way, as if all the rest of us have no gifts of our own. Can't we come up with something more appropriately descriptive? What happened to "genius"?
I assume you are not even including this subset in your comments. They are just the tip of the iceberg. But yes more college educated parents means understanding human growth and development means generations are having those needs met more appropriately so the future looks brighter. Perhaps someday we can actually teach six year olds how to nurture and nourish themselves and others bodies and minds. What a radical thought 😳 https://www.acf.hhs.gov/media/press/2020/2020/child-abuse-neglect-data-released
To many “means”. Whatever, some day I’ll learn to check it before posting it 🤷🏻♀️
That has not been my experience at all and my career in public education is long with a perspective that I bring to my comments about the young in this forum.
Our generation may have screwed up a lot, but one thing we got right was the raising of our children.
I completely agree, Kathy. Hilary Clinton was totally correct in the emphasis of her message….it takes a village to raise children. We are seeing the benefit of that more so with this younger generation than at any other time. Though independent, they are more comfortably interdependent. That’s a good thing when it comes to improving equity of opportunity. They see it as a given.
Oh I wish it were so, Kathy. I raised my daughter with all the “right” values and a sense of what democracy stood for. Then she married someone who is now a Trumpet. His friends and the crap he now listens to has turned her and I can’t get through to her. For the peace of the family we have agreed to not talk politics. I try in ever so subtle ways to bring her back, but no success so far and I am despondent about that.
I am so sorry. I truly can’t imagine. One of my kids is so far left, and has a tendency to pontificate, that we, too don’t talk politics anymore. But at least I feel like his heart is in the right place.
That doesn't mean you didn't do a great job raising her, Annette, or that she isn't a good person. Sometimes it just skips a generation, said my Republican father of 3 Democrat daughters (and a son who did a 180 from liberal to libertarian).
😔
HEAR! HEAR!
Stuart, I totally agree with you. Yes, we screwed it all up.
But now, with that hindsight and hopefully the wisdom we may have acquired, and the information we share with each other here, isn't it imperative that we try to equip and motivate the next generations? I'm having a little success, and it inspires me to try harder!
What good is it for us to right the ship we foundered,, only to turn the helm over to ernest but inexperienced crew? (Like we were, once).
Or am I too full of myself? I pray not.
Oh yes. They need us just like we need them. Stacy Abrams and Jim Clyburn saved the election for us in 2020. If any single element of our coalition start thinking they stand alone and can win the day, we are all screwed.
Yes Gustav. It’s why they are so stupid about Critical Race Theory. Which enhances the instruction, not the curriculum that they target. The common good of public education is always a stumbling block for, what did you call them, the Repetrolicans??? Ha!
I am so encouraged by the people that I know that fall into that 18-30 age group. Through my involvement with the U of O Music School, I have come to know quite a few people in this age range. They make my heart sing. They are becoming teachers in great numbers and are up front and vocal about their positions on the rights of all, and the need for redress and condemnation of systemic racism.
I see that also Ally as is evident from my comments about education. If I may quote Gustav from yesterday…my political will and interest is “quickened” participating with the young people. Their interdependence is so satisfying to me. Cornerstone of equality and equity.
you are so right on!
Doing my part with teen daughters who are passionate, vocal, and action-oriented!
May the HEADLIGHT lead us far away from CRIMINOCRACY and such wretched ilk!
Many thanks, Stuart and kimceann!!
Also, in 2020, Trump won the over-75 idiots I've had to put up with since they were 10-year old morons by only 5 percentage points, rather than the 12 points he won by in 2016. Fortunately, the majority of my high school graduating class has finally beautified America by their permanent departures, something that should be only moreso by 2024.
The only trouble is TC that they are replaced in considerable numbers....not as much as the baby boomers but.....people tend towards the conservative end of the political polarity with aging.
Morning Stuart! Here is perhaps a more hopeful (albeit perhaps not entirely verifiable) trend: straight women, especially those whose lives get shaken up by divorce, tend to become leftier as they age (non-straight women tend to be super lefty in any case). And women vote far more regularly and consistently than do men. This is apparently connected to the issue of straight women having to accommodate men while in their fertile years, but not needing to worry about that stuff after a certain age. In addition, women are being vaccinated in larger numbers than are men in the states that are being run by genocidal arses (like Mike Parson) who I think want to keep Covid alive and thriving in their states in the mistaken belief that it will kill more POC than whites (which someone admitted a few days ago was precisely the White House strategy back in the spring of 2020, although I wonder about the accuracy of that report). So as the male over 50s are getting sick, the women are holding on. And, of course, women are the majority in the population in most western countries in any case.
So--TC and Stuart--it might be that, as usual, women save the day. She says without a note of irony. 🤪🤣
Yes, yes, and yes! True even of the Greatest Generation, not just Boomers and later. Let’s also never forget who handed us the last election either. Women of color worked their collective butts off. We owe them a debt we cannot repay for having Biden’s back. Or was it Harris’s back (she says without a note of irony either) 🤣
Women are indeed the best hope for retaining some sanity in politics. Well except for the few of those of the QOP tribe. We need more of them to run for office and all of them to vote.
Goodness gracious, Linda. This one's an eye-catcher. Loving It!
I am one of those lefty women but I was disheartened to read in the Pew report that white women increased their support from ‘16 - ‘20 for the former guy
Me too, very disheartened.
😒
Hear, hear, Linda❣️
"Leftier"?!
MaryPat, I started lefty and it has gotten only leftier the older I get! I tone it down for this lovely community. 🙃
My relatives in their 90s are Democrats! They were republicans when they were younger.
Love It!
More left(ier)?
Morning, Stuart!! And then there are some of us boomers who once recoiled at the thought of Medicare for All and other social safety nets but now will vote for their passage.
Yeh....morning Lynell..., but when you get into the masses, the tendencies are clear. What is important with such deep trends is the definition of what "conservative" means. That too can change with the ages.
Why in the world did you once recoil at the thought…?
Hey, Norman. Not knowing how "stuff" works, I was stuck in and believed the idea that it was not fair to those of us who spent 40+ years paying into Medicare system. Now I know better.
Well, that is understandable. Thank you for your candid reply, Lynell! And thank you for your regular contributions to the conversations here.
Fortunately it is some and not all of us that tend towards conservatism as we age. In the course of talking to people over the last five and a half years I have been heartened by the number of folks older than myself (67) who are not DiJiT fans or even GQP fans.
I was a hippy growing up in LA. I am hippier now than ever...
Growing older (80) does not mean growing more conservative. That is a conscious choice. Watching national and world politics, it is certain that we cannot continue this top-heavy, nondemocratic, unconstitutional system. This is not governance. This is ruling as authoritarians.
“This is not just a Black thing. This is a fear of the American people, a fear of Black and white and Brown and Asian and Native people coming together and pushing this nation forward.”
Rev. William Barber, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign
Just to illustrate the attitude of GOP legislators, this statement was made in public. Most of them are more careful about saying what they believe:
“Even though my constituents voted for this lie, I’m going to protect them,” he said. “I am proud to stand against the will of the people.”
Rep. Justin Hill, Mo.
He was speaking on the expansion of Medicare. This is where our representative government has fallen to. The will of the peo[ple is immaterial to them.
Stuart, yesterday on here I posted the site kimceann posted waaaaaaay above, as well as a link to the Pew Research Center data (which is a lot to wade through). What it did show was that trends tend to favour the Democrats in terms of demographic "replacement" (i.e. us 75+, baby-boomer Republican-voting old farts dying out vs younger and/or first-time voters coming on to voter rolls). The GOP's voter bloc is shrinking a bit faster--and they KNOW it. That's why they're grabbing power as fast as they can.
Stuart, you are correct and it would be a concern if we were talking about conservatives. Have you ever heard of a "conservative" , or "conservatives" trying to overthrow an election????? Neither have I.
On the other hand fascists frequently used that to try to gain power and that is who we are dealing with not conservatives.
Joe, in principle, conservatives seek to preserve all that is "good" in a society. Obviously that depends on your definition of "good" . Fascists find that the "good" has been lost a long time ago and they need to break everythingto be able to reimpose what has been "lost" .
Ah,, but we have seen how fascism works in real life: death and destruction.
Been saying it Kimceann, sister. It is the “youngsters” that are clear eyed about progressive, responsible, doable change to improve government, climate, equity of opportunity, health, family, education…. Just about any topic that concerns involvement of, by, and for the people. It is their votes that are crucial to restoring our country to the country that they were promised as they were raised.
There is a certain age when "youngsters" question the things their parents have taught them and realize that their elders are full of sh*t. Whether they stay with that opinion is influenced by subsequent experience.
True. I’m just glad that many parents teach them to question! Always glad to read your comments Lanita Grace!
I think the GOP is well aware of the miscalculations they have made, but they are far too deep in the downward spiral to try to change course now. It is do or die time for them. With the backing of the Supreme Court, they can halt elections. They have seen what the black voters did in Georgia last time and they see this young multiracial force that is now taking place becoming more motivated to take part in their government, and they are terrified. But, there is something to be said about the ferocity of a trapped rat.
As long as they follow through and vote.
I am working on that in regards to my two young helpers. Told them both to get registered and if they are registered by the end of the year, I would come to their house and make sure they are. Same with voting (cept we all get mail in voting), if they haven't voted before election day, I would be coming to their house to take them to the polls.
I also talk to them about their vote is their voice and it is more powerful than they know.
As they have often been "short-changed" on the side of history education and don't have a frame of reference for understanding what is going on and what it all means.
Short changed? How bout blind Stuart? Maybe our historical curiosity gene doesn't turn on until after we attend our school of hard knocks?
My thought has always been, as a retired museum historian, that most people don't appreciate history until they have a history themselves -- they can now see themselves in the whole scheme of things. Can't count how many of my museum volunteers have told me "I hated history in school, but I love it now." Perhaps I loved it from the beginning because I had a couple of great history teachers.
As long as their are counted.
Hence the importance of the "acceptability criteria and the verification/certification process. Not enough attention is being given, in my opinion to the latter.
As long as their votes are counted.
Morning, Kim!! Here's one I saw a few days ago. Thanks for the lead-in!
https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/06/30/presidential-rankings-2021-cspan-historians/?utm_campaign=wp_afternoon_buzz&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_buzz&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F340c625%2F60dcd00a9d2fda8060efd554%2F5e865b08ade4e21f59b0a68d%2F24%2F57%2F60dcd00a9d2fda8060efd554
Morning Lynell! Fascinating we are; I mean, the article.
Thanks so much for sharing this news. Of course the key is getting young voters to turn out en masse, even as Republican states erect obstacles.
I pray the younger generation is not too late in turning this around. If Republicans get control in 2022 I fear all bets are off for generations to come.
I find it interesting that we seem always to look to the younger generation to save us. Indeed I hope to see them gain interest and show up in greater numbers to the polls. However, turnout numbers show we are more likely to be saved by our black and brown sisters. Women of color delivered us two Democratic Senators in Georgia. This is, by % of eligible voters showing up, the most powerful force in the Democratic power at the polls and knocking on doors. Honor, respect, and mobilize them. They are a force to be reckoned with.
I look to the young along with the emerging dynamic of increased participation of BIPOC voters. Participation is the key. I recognize every force that votes for truth and saving our democracy.
I totally agree with you, Sharon. I hate to say it, but Democrats needs to get more ferocious in the ring with Republicans. In the end, Democrats only chance of retaining power is to rise up with historical voter turnout, despite new suppression laws.
Yes, to get out the vote regardless of suppression attempts -- a key to winning.
Thank you, Kimceann. I needed to see this, after finally making myself watch the entire NYTimes insurrection video. My daughter is a millennial. She sent me a TikToc video yesterday that was a millennial talking to her therapist, ticking off the major time stamps of her life so far (being in middle school when Columbine happened, and on and on on that score), graduating college in the teeth of "the worst recession since the Great Depression", tons of student debt, oh, yeah, and 9/11, etc., culminating with the Trump fiasco. It was sad and funny at the same time.
I have a Millennial friend* who writes for Medium; she has posted this same thing many times. (Hanna Brooks Olsen, if you're curious.)
*Technically the daughter of a former coworker, but still a friend. This former coworker and I were bastions of left thought on our department. We both got directives about our hair length (me: too short; him: too long, while our hair was the exact same length. Come to find out that Sergeant is, if all possible, more liberal than either of us.)
I don't think there is any doubt the majority of Americans do not want Trump as their president. The majority didn't want him in 2016. Voter suppression and gerrymandering are the enemy. If a minority that has seized power decides what votes get counted and where, they can control the outcome. The GOP doesn't want to win elections, they want to establish an authoritarian regime.
Thank you. The media is obsessed with the Big Lie folks who are older and whiter.
kimceann - Thank you for posting that link! Made me think there may be some hope for the future. The job ahead of us is to continue to find ways to keep those younger people engaged in the political process.