Some things the Democrats might be missing...
According to demographers and sociology researchers, Generation Z is likely to be the most conservative generation since WWII. They've grown up in a world where large governments have failed to provide security on any level, and Gen Z is being raised to understand that they might have to be their own first line of defense physically, emotionally, financially and intellectually. That sort of upbringing produces a very conservative-libertarian attitude.
Also, people tend to slowly become more conservative as they age. Millennials are going to do that faster than any generation before them. They've already started. Ten or fifteen years from now, Millennials could be just as conservative as Gen Z are starting to become. Millennials are already slightly more conservative (or should I say "less liberal") than the Democrats think they are. That explains the massive drop in support for Democrats from Millennials in the last couple of years. Democrats have lost the White House, both houses of Congress and around a THOUSAND state legislature seats over the last eight years to the Republicans. Our grandparents aren't the ones who did that.
Another point is that the left wing activists and foot soldiers are far less welcoming to opposing viewpoints than the right wingers are. Here's an example from my own experience: I work with a guy, I'll call him John, he's nearing his mid-twenties, so he's probably a Millennial, though some demographers are acknowledging a major overlap between the Millennials and Gen Z. That's irrelevant though. What's more important is how John would be received at a left wing street demonstration versus how he would be received at a similar right wing street event.
John firmly believes that man-made global climate change is real, dangerous and one of the most serious problems we face. He supports restrictions on businesses in order to curb the effects of climate change, and has stated that he doesn't care if some of the research supporting it is false. However, he also firmly supports the Second Amendment and opposes almost all government restrictions on the People's right to keep and bear arms.
At a right wing, street level event, John would be disagreed with on some points and probably would not like everything he hears. He might even find some of it abhorrent. However, John would still be welcome and would likely have a lot of people trying to engage him in one on one conversation.
At a similar left wing demonstration, John's position on the Second Amendment would spell big trouble, of John was stupid enough to make it known. It wouldn't matter at all what else he believed. He would be shouted down and called a "Nazi" and a racist. He'd be labeled as right wing infiltrator, a provocateur, a probe. John would have a difficult time escaping the scene without being assaulted. The safest place for him to be at that point would probably be across the street with the right wing counter-demonstrators. If AntiFa is present at the scene, John would be knocked to the ground and kicked repeatedly, or beaten with sticks. John is also a white male, which wouldn't help his cause with the left wingers at all.
You think that might affect how John votes in future elections?
The way the left treats those they disagree with contrasted against the way the right treats those that they disagree with are like night and day, and I believe that has had and will continue to have a serious effect on the way Millennials and Generation Z view and respond to the world around them.
While Republicans are not doing a very good job of governing and aren't winning over very many fans right now, the Democrats have lost their collective minds and are tearing themselves apart at the seams. They seem totally unable to connect with the vast majority of Americans in any meaningful way, and they seem unable to recognize that they are beginning to lose Millennials and have possibly already lost Generation Z.
I'm not complaining. Just saying.
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