Heres a happy bit of polling. Apparently while their elders continue shoveling its coal, young Democrats see the oncoming train at the other end of the tunnel. From Thomas B. Edsall in the New York Times: Back in April, Pew researchers wrote that huge generation gaps have opened up in our political and social values, our economic well-being, our family structure, our racial and ethnic identity, our gender norms, our religious affiliation, and our technology use. These trends, Pew noted, point toward a future marked by the most striking social, racial, and economic shifts the country has seen in a century. I asked Andrew Kohut, the founding director of the Pew Center, what he made of these results. He emailed me his thoughts: There is a libertarian streak that is apparent among these left-of-center young people. Socially liberal but very wary of government. Why? They came of age in an anti-government era when government doesnt work. They are very liberal on interpersonal racial dimension, but reject classic liberal notions about ways of achieving social progress for minorities. According to Pew, the older group believes, 73-20, that government should do more to solve problems. Only 44 percent of the younger group agrees -- and of younger respondents, 50 percent believe that government is trying to do too much. Eighty-three percent of the older group of Democratic voters believes that circumstances are to blame for poverty; only 9 percent blame a lack of effort. The younger group of pro-Democratic voters is split, with 47 percent blaming circumstances and 42 percent blaming lack of effort. An overwhelming majority of the older cohort, 83-12, believes that government should do more to help needy Americans, even if it means more debt, while a majority of the younger Democratic respondents, 56-39, believes government cannot afford to do much more. A 56 percent majority of the younger group of Democrats believes that Wall Street helps the American economy more than it hurts, with just 36 percent believing that Wall Street hurts the economy. Older Democrats have almost exactly the opposite view. 56 percent believe that Wall Street hurts the economy; 36 percent believe it helps. Asked by Pew to choose between two statements -- Racial discrimination is the main reason why many blacks cant get ahead and Blacks who cant get ahead are mostly responsible for their own condition -- the older Democratic cohort blamed discrimination, by an 80 to 10 margin. In contrast, only 19 percent of the younger group of Democrats blamed discrimination, with 68 percent saying that blacks are mostly responsible for their own condition. Some 91 percent of the older group said the U.S. needs to continue making changes to give blacks equal rights, and just 6 percent said the U.S. has made the changes needed to give blacks equal rights. 67 percent of the younger group said the United States has done enough for blacks, and 28 percent said that the country needs to do more to give blacks equal rights.
Posted on: Thu, 17 Jul 2014 14:26:08 +0000
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