Gen -Z

One of the storylines from the recent Presidential election was the fact that Gen-Z men turned out in larger than expected numbers for Trump and were instrumental in putting him over the top against Harris. I find it fascinating that this group would be so right leaning that I wanted to do some research to find out why they are moving to the right.

What is important to know is that, overwhelmingly, this group is still very much a left leaning collection and it is because women in this group are nearly ninety percent more progressive then the men. Since there are more of them it makes the numbers skew in their favor but what is undeniable is that the men have serious issues that are not being addressed by the Democrats so they are turning to the GOP for direction.

There is not just one issue that has gotten them to move right but according to multiple polls it is a collection of these issues that are driving the movement towards the GOP.

Culture Issues

Restrictions during Covid that hurt their educational experiences

Cost of Living

Down on everything and everyone in politics

Feel the left hates them

When you talk to them their reasons for turning to the GOP are both interesting and scary. Interesting because the reasons they give in many cases don't align with the actual beliefs in the new GOP/MAGA party. Scary because they are all over the map and clearly have no idea what they want, really, except that they feel downtrodden. Here are some of the quotes from polls of these young men.

"My friends are obsessed with masculinity. Who is sleeping with whom, how much money do their male friends earn, and how many guns do they have."

"We are learning new and scary concepts in middle school and then it is reinforced by friends in high school and college. Things like making fun of women, joking about kidnapping and assaulting people."

"Many of us are lonely and social media feeds our fear by telling us that we are hated by everyone."

You can see above that those that call themselves Democrats feel strongly that violence, climate, LGBTQ+ rights, and legalizing marijuana are the most important issues while those leaning towards the Republicans feel that never allowing abortions, ending the cancel culture, and finding nothing wrong with ripping children from the arms of their parents are all OK by them.

Many of these young men say that they are socially conservative but fiscally liberal. They believe the government should pay for most things like healthcare, school, and that increasing taxes on the wealthy is good by them. They also want more jobs created, lower interest rates, and lower prices for houses and food. These wants are more aligned with the Democrats than the Republicans yet they feel the GOP is the answer for them.

Gen-Z women have much different views on life in America today.

They feel all the issues above are more important than their male group members feel except for two issues where the men are more interested. Jobs/Unemployment and Infrastructure. Pretty surprising.

Social media, podcasts, and polling when looking for reason why men are leaning towards the GOP tells more about them.

They feel there are no positive examples of powerful men on the left and so they are getting positive reinforcement of their feelings from the right. They are being told that it is OK to resent women and they don't have to treat them with respect if they don't feel like it. They feel the left shames them for their beliefs.

The right offers them a vision of confidence, pride in being a man, and toughness.

They resent women being self sufficient and the right feeds their resentment. They also feel a simmering resentment to feminism and have an anti establishment sentiment.

They feel the Democrats treat them like statistics while Trump and the GOP treat them as people - even if he is lying to their faces. Their words, not mine.

Clearly these young people have issues just like many other young people in the past. That is why they call it growing up and we all do it. Because the right has so many more podcasts directed at young men today they are being led down the path that the right wants them led down. It is all about the control of ideas. This is the main playbook for the MAGA movement and it has now been adopted by the GOP fully.

Everything is about the world hating them for their feelings and beliefs and the right only has the correct answers. Don't believe what you see, only believe what you are being told by the leaders. It is OK to feel beaten down by life because that is what the left is doing to everyone, beating them into submission. Life is unfair and everyone is against you.

Here is the reality. I've said this before and I still believe it with all my heart. Most of this nonsense by these young men is a direct result of everyone getting participation trophy's as kids with them never having to go through the heartbreak of not being picked first or not being as good as Billy is at baseball.

Learning how to handle rejection and disappointment is one of the most important things we learn as kids. It is much easier to get over not being as good of a basketball player as Larry then it is to be rejected for not being as good in school or work as Larry. Teaching these kids that everyone is the same was not helpful and we are now seeing the dangerous effects it is having on an entire generation of young men.

The proof of this is that we are not seeing the same thing from the women of Gen-Z. Why? Because most of them never got participation trophy's. They learned early on that Sally played soccer better then they did and that Mary was better in school because she studied and worked harder then they did so she got better grades. And guess what, Debbie was cuter then they were and she got the good looking football player for a boyfriend. Life lessons learned.

If these lazy clowns actually took the time to look around they would see that there are plenty of great examples of what being a man really is on the left. Barak Obama, Adam Schiff, Jamie Raskin, Mark Cuban, and Bill Gates are just a few that come to mind quickly.

Being a strong man is not about how many guns you have or how many women you assaulted. It is about how to treat people with respect and be happy for those that succeed. Life is hard. Shame on the parents of these men for allowing them to grow up thinking life is a cake walk.