Quote (bogie160 @ Oct 28 2020 02:02pm)
To a certain extent this problem takes care of itself. Left economic policies appeal to low income, low education demographics. The youth tend to check off both boxes. They're not in a great situation and someone is promising them the moon. That's more appealing than a diet of hard work and sacrifice. As people age, there's a mild but general tendency for them to move (economically) to the right/center, if only because they now have financial assets worth protecting.
The right (specifically eschewing the word "conservative") needs to seize back control of education. We underestimate the impact that public teaching, as currently constructed, has on the youth. Teachers are low paid, poorly qualified union workers whose one job perk is benefits and job security. It should be a surprise to no one that they largely champion job security and tenure over meritocracy and benefits over higher salary. To change the culture you must first change the economic circumstances. Make teachers higher paid and increase qualifications. Dismantle teacher unions and fire inadequate teachers.
On the other side of the spectrum, the right needs to more broadly incorporate some elements of economic populism. Similar to how Bismarck introduced social welfare as the "carrot" to his "stick (a heavy handed crackdown on socialists), the right needs to incentivize ideological loyalty. You cannot expect to be backed by voters whose basic material needs you refuse to meet.
I think some of this isn't completely accurate when looking at available data. Left-wing ideology is most resonate with both low-income AND high-education demographics. In particular, I think that "low-income" considerations also involve geographical considerations. Left-wing policies seem to be more supported in low-income suburban/urban areas whereas low-income rural areas still skew their support to the right. While there is also a general tendency for people to refine their political positions as they age, I think that the generational trajectory is not something that is on-course to "take care of itself". It seems like effortful change will need to occur in order for right-wing ideology to regain momentum and support as subsequent generations come and go. This could result from the Left self-imploding and having a blowback that brings support back to the Right, but I don't know how likely that will be.
If history has taught us anything, it is that the only constant in life and in society is "change". There's very little, I think, examples of societies across the globe that have stagnated or fortified around a status quo when looking at a generational perspective. Certainly there are governments and movements that have achieved short-term versions of these plans, but once someone starts looking at decades and centuries of history we find that change is assured. Especially if/when thinking about globalization and competition. Hard to find a base that wants to preserve a status quo when major powers across the globe are making advancements in healthcare, education, technology, and civil rights.
I do agree with you though that the Right has made an enemy of education, particularly higher-education (and higher-education has made right-wing ideology an enemy, to be fair), when the reality is that every ideological movement should view education as a source of power and influence. To Surf's earlier point, we see that people who are low-income and highly-educated tend to skew to the Left, and Gen Z is on track to be both the highest-educated generation we've ever seen in terms of college degrees while also being one of the lowest income earners with respect to the cost of living.
These all, of course, are largely economic concerns brought up in this thread thus far. Beyond this, it seems like the Right has its work cut for them in terms of reaching new/upcoming generations on social policy positions.
Edit: Also, thanks for your serious response, Bogie. You often approach threads with a level of sincerity, which I appreciate.
This post was edited by Handcuffs on Oct 28 2020 04:56pm