Millennials Are Racists (Conservatives)

I’ve spoken a couple times about Millennials and how they really aren’t what people think. People, particularly ideologues, view Millennials as in-the-tank leftists ready to do the bidding of Obama. Indeed, the left pushes this meme in the hopes of creating an inevitability and the right falls for it because... well, they’re stupid. The evidence, however, points to something completely different. Now we have more proof on the issue of race. Observe.

First, some background...

I’ve pointed out repeatedly that the public at large is no longer interested in race.

With 80+% of the public ignoring issues like the Washington Redskin’s name, all but a few thousand people ignoring race-baiting rallies like those in Ferguson, and with only around 20% of Americans thinking that whites and Hispanics are racist, it is safe to say that the public no longer cares about race issues. Indeed, this has become an issue relegated to the fringes.

That is a major win for actual conservatism, as compared to paranoid, race-obsessed “genuine” conservatism or the identity-politics-obsessed left. Indeed, while the left needs everyone to see themselves through their race and hate and fear people of other races and genuine conservatism needs to believe that the darkies are conspiring to destroy white, Christian America, actual conservatism wants a color-blind society. In other words, actual conservatism wants a society in which race isn’t an issue. The public ignoring race is exactly what actual conservatism is about.

So how do Millennials fit into this? Well...

Politico just put out an interesting article in which they try to warn the left that Millennials are not as tolerant as the left wants to believe. This is interesting on several levels. First, it confirms something else I’ve pointed out, which is that while the left has claimed kinship with Millennials, Millennials are showing much more conservatism than the left imagined... so much, in fact, that they are likely to become a conservative-dominant generation.

The reason no one has noticed this until recently is that the left plays the game of “if you keep saying it, it will one day be true,” and the right falls for this. Strengthening this idea, Millennials are very tolerant of gay marriage, which has caused the genuine conservatives to treat them as the enemy. The end result is that everyone has wrongly assumed that Millennials are all leftists, even as the evidence is mounting that they are conservative fiscally and on most social issues, with the exception of gay marriage and drug legalization. (As an aside, they are actually more conservative on many issues like divorce.)

Now we add the issue of race to the puzzle.

This Politico article noted, to the author’s horror, that while it is widely believed that Millennials are “tolerant” of racial issues, the rotten truth is that “the data suggests that millennials aren’t racially tolerant, they’re racially apathetic: They simply ignore structural racism rather than try to fix it.” Oh no!!

What does this mean? It means that Millennials don’t buy into the idea of identity politics. Instead, they simply choose to ignore the issue of race and claims of racism. That means they have adopted the actual conservative position on race!

Victory for us!!

How strong is our victory, you ask? It’s overwhelming actually:

● Only 39% of Millennials believe that “white people have more opportunities today than racial minority groups.” In other words, only 39% believe racial discrimination exists in our economy.

● 70% of Millennials oppose affirmative action or other legislative help for minorities: “it is never fair to give preferential treatment to one race over another, regardless of historical inequalities.”

● 62% of Millennials agreed that Obama’s election “demonstrates that racial minority groups have the same opportunities as white people.”

● 58% of Millennials believe that discrimination affects whites as much as minorities. This is an heretical position on the left.

That means that approximately 60% of Millennials are taking the conservative position on race relations by denying and/or ignoring the issue. And with around 80% of the public denying that the public is racist at all, this is one heck of a conservative victory. It is also an opportunity to point out again to conservatives and Millennials that they believe the same things.

Thoughts?

[+] Read More...

[-] Collapse Post...

How to Talk to Young People: A Quick Primer for the GOP

by Kit

Right now, the GOP has a problem with Millennials. Despite getting one of the worst deals from Obama and the Democrats, the GOP is still struggling with them. Yes, it's true that young voters since at least the 1960's have veered to the left but even Reagan managed to win them in 1984. Right now, the GOP and Conservatism are failing to reach Millennials. I have 4 tips for talking to Millennials.

Now this involves tone and style of delivery, not policy, but the right will need to develop policies on issues like healthcare, the economy, and high student loan debt (the single biggest issue among Millennials). So this is intended to be a starting point for talking to Millennials. So let's start.

1). Tough Love: Many conservatives seem to believe the best way to talk to Millennials is "tough love". This involves calling them lazy good-for-nothings who don't know anything about the real world and need some good old-fashioned pain to teach them a lesson. However, instead of pushing Millennials to vote conservative it usually ticks them off and makes them more pro-Democrat and pro-liberal. People do not like being called lazy. It puts people on the defensive. There is no more effective way of sucking any sense of humility and gratitude from a person in a matter of seconds than by calling them lazy, ungrateful bums.

The perfect example of this attitude would be Kurt Schlichter's article "Maybe Pain Will Teach You Millennials Not To Vote For Your Own Serfdom". His basic thesis is "You didn’t listen to us. Maybe you’ll listen to pain". Many conservatives feel that this is tough love. However, it comes across as the exact opposite of "love". Let me explain what it felt like, as a Millennial, reading the article. It seemed that, whatever his intentions were, he sounded like he was downright gleeful at the prospect of Millennials facing economic hardship through high unemployment and crippling student loans because they voted for Obama. That attitude doesn't win people, it just angers them.

2). Talk to us as you would talk to an equal. Saying "I respect your views" is not enough if your tone of voice and body language say otherwise (cough —Mitt Romney*—cough), especially if you sound like a Kindergarten teacher or mother telling us how proud you are that they managed to make a Lincoln log house all by themselves! It's very condescending and a huge turn-off.

If we know that even if you disagree with us, you respect respect our views, then you have usually gone up a notch in our eyes. Now, if you can only talk to us in either the "tough love" approach or the "talking to them like they are 3rd graders" approach, the latter is preferable, but both are counter-productive. We are adults with our own opinions, but we don't all have the same opinions and we are amenable to reason. But you have to try to reach us like adults.

Condescending schadenfreude is bad, but so is condescending flattery.

3). College students might lean towards the left but they are not all left-wing Occupy Wall Street activists. Think center/center-left. If you can come across as reasonable, likable, and, most importantly, respectful even to those you disagree with and make calm, rational arguments then you might bring in a few on the center. Maybe even the center-left….

If a liberal student starts attacking your views in the Q&A session remember "You cannot woo him" and that you do not need to attack him personally as the people that would love that are not the ones you need to win. Your targets are the in-betweens. So calmly, rationally, and respectfully respond to his or her arguments and then move on. Don't take the "tough love" approach or the "you are so special" approach I outlined above because you will only tar the entire audience when you do. Take the calm and respectful approach.

If the person continues to demand time then calmly and sternly point out he asked a question, you answered it, and that there are other people who have questions that want to be asked. You do not need to call them selfish. What you've just said paints them as such. IF they continue to demand more time to the point of heckling then you may call for security. If you go Newt Gingrich and start pounding on them from the get-go, then the in-betweens will zone out as all they will see is two idiots screaming at each other. And the people who cheer you on? They already supported you or your position before the speech. You didn't win anyone over.

As for different tastes in music, shows, etc. Don't bring it up as they will assume due to generational differences, that you do have a different taste. They really don't mind you having different tastes in music so long as you don't judge their tastes.

4). Hecklers shouting out of turn, do not merit a response. As above, you have security there for a reason. If the heckler gets cheers, chances are those cheering are in the minority (unless you've been a jerk to the crowd or are speaking before a far-left organization) and won't be swayed by any reason. If it does appear to be a majority, then it was most likely pre-planned and you can complain to the college or group that invited you (if said group was non-partisan, non-political). So, remain calm and let security handle the situation. Shouting them down might feel good but its a waste of energy. Most people will see them as being jerks. Why waste your voice trying to point it out when they are doing a perfectly fine job themselves?

Conclusion: Don't sneer at Millennials, don't try cheap and condescending flattery, be calm and respectful, and always be sincere about it. Millennials aren't the people you think they are and they aren't beyond reach, but you can only reach them with respect. These rules actually apply to any group you are trying to reach. You may not understand their problems but, to them, those problems are usually valid.

[+] Read More...

[-] Collapse Post...