“The [GOP] does rely too much on older and white voters, and especially in rural areas, deaths from this group can be significant,” says William Frey, demography expert at the Brookings Institution. “But millennials (born 1981 to 1997) now are larger in numbers than baby boomers ([born] 1946 to 1964), and how they vote will make the big difference. And the data says that if Republicans focus on economic issues and stay away from social ones like gay marriage, they can make serious inroads with millennials.” [reported at Politico.com, 5/17/15, “The GOP Is Dying Off. Literally.”]
Frey’s opinion is based on numbers and facts, and it makes a lot of logical sense to me.
Many younger people don’t believe that there will be Social Security and Medicare programs for them by the time they get old. One poll reported by huffingtonpost.com in 2011 indicates that half of young people expect those programs to be gone by the time they retire, and that poll is typical. Young people might not fully grasp that they’re being forced to pay for these programs now, for the people who benefit from them; yet this has no bearing on whether they will have these programs themselves.
More than that, why should they be forced to rely on these programs? Why should they not have more choice with medical care, retirement planning, and the like? Particularly since they have so much more time to rationally plan for it?
People presently in their 70s have made plans based on the assumption that Medicare and Social Security would be part of the mental and economic landscape; but if half of people currently in their 20s don’t even expect to have Medicare or Social Security, isn’t it possible that politicians who appeal to their future would appeal to them?
That’s not what young people hear from Republicans, at least to date. Republicans generally emphasize things like the need to preserve marriage, in legal terms, as between a man and a woman; and the desire to outlaw abortion, even (some say) in cases of rape and incest.
Wherever one stands on these issues, how appealing is it to make these the central priorities — especially since most young people do not appear to even agree with them on these issues?
Here are some questions candidates running for President as Republicans might address to young people in their 20s or even younger:
Based on the current numbers, you will not have Medicare or Social Security when you’re older. If you’re to be forced to pay for these benefits for those who are older, shouldn’t you at least have the right to a free marketplace in retirement and medical care to decide for yourself?
Shouldn’t government be deregulating health care and health insurance rather than forcing just about everyone into either Medicare or Medicaid?
When people — parents, adults, or others — make demands on you for your time or money, not because they deserve it but just because they feel entitled, how does that make you feel? Now how do you feel when the entire federal government puts those demands on you, before you’ve even had a chance to start your lives and careers?
We’re told that there’s a right to health care, a right to a free education. Why? Nobody explains why. How does one person’s right to something place an obligation on someone else to provide it? Aren’t you violating the right of another by forcing them to pay your way; and don’t they violate your right by forcing you to pay theirs?
Of course it’s fine to help anyone you wish. But don’t you want the final say over whom to help, or whether you help at all? And shouldn’t you make sure your own house is in order before you give away 10 or 30 percent of your hard-earned money?
Are you your brother’s keeper, as Obama and Hillary Clinton insist? Or are you your own keeper? How can you be expected to play both roles? And why are you expected to be others’ keepers, while those you’re forced to help are off the hook?
If you’re worried about your student loans, then what’s the solution? More taxes? More taxes on the rich, you say? But at your age, nearly everyone is rich compared to you. Those you consider rich are not as rich as you think they are. They’re the ones you’re counting on for the jobs, the salaries, the benefits, or the loans required to start your own business, or do whatever you’re seeking to do.
Why impose more stress and force on the people you’re counting on for help? Business people — whether the 1 percent ultra-rich or the vast majority who are not as rich as you think they are … they are the ones you need right now, as you get your start in life. Stop voting for the politicians who keep them from being as productive as they could be.
What kind of environment would it be without fossil fuels? Did you read in school about what life was like in the 19th Century, or the Middle Ages? Virtually none of the technology we have today would be possible without fossil fuels. The evidence for global warming is questionable, at best. But what’s your answer … to return to the Dark Ages? Or to further improve technology? The environmentalists want to limit our future and force us to return to the old days. How “progressive” is that?
So you want to be a millionaire? Want to own your own business some day? Then why don’t you support the reduction or repeal of most taxes and regulations now? Otherwise, your dreams won’t ever come true, and you’ll never know what might have been, if only we didn’t have all this government.
Right now, I don’t hear or see Republican candidates talking about these issues. If they want to reach young people, they should be. And according to the numbers detailed in this Politico.com article, Republicans desperately need young people in order to win — or even survive at all, as a party.
Don’t offer young people something for nothing. The Democrats do that in spades, and they will always have the good will and votes of people seeking something for nothing.
Republicans since Reagan (whose term ended before many of these young people were born) have talked repeatedly about their commitment to the free market, private property and capitalism. There is none of that in the Democratic Party, not anymore, and it’s not coming back. Obama and Hillary Clinton are about as hard core leftist/socialist as they come, and the future — with the likes of Elizabeth Warren or Martin O’Malley from Maryland — may be even more hard core.
The Republicans are the only chance these young people have of living in a country, down the line, that looks anything like the America those of us in our 40s and older have known. Stop fixating and moralizing about social issues and get to the things that really matter — and upon which all of our survival depend.
Everybody needs material prosperity, and only capitalism can provide it. Young people are going to need it for a lot longer. They ought to be voting for people they have reason to believe really care about this fact.
Life, liberty, private property and the pursuit of happiness without a bossy, busybody government disrupting either the privacy of your life or the amount of your bank account. These are timeless — and ageless — values.
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