A while ago someone asked me how to appeal to young people, so I thought up some answers that might help.
I'm gonna be honest, no one I know under the age of 20 has a high opinion of the GOP or the conservative ecosystem in general. It's hard to get anyone my age interested in politics as it is but being vaguely liberal is definitely the default position.
Here's what I think should change:
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No more bootstrapping. Young people aren't proud of the fact that they might have to work hard every day doing something they hate just to survive. Gen-Z generally sees productivity in a negative light, because the general vibe it gives is that of being stressed, rushed, and forced to do something that feels completely unnatural. I think a lot of zoomers turn to socialism because they hate how much of their lives are dominated by economic considerations. Everything from picking a major in college to choosing where to live to choosing whether or not to have a family is downstream from the pressure to compete in an economy and stay financially afloat. Everyone hates this.
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No more Cold War / War on Terrorism rhetoric. We were born after 9/11 and every example we've seen of going to war or doing regime change is seen as a total disaster. We don't care about "defending our allies" or "making America strong in the world" or anything like that. Our lives are being decided here in this country, not in Ukraine or China or Israel. The best Zoomer-friendly foreign policy position is trying to make friends with everyone and making compromises to achieve that.
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Being an "institutionalist" in this century is completely out of step with the times. Young people want revolution. We want to take part in a new era of history that's completely different from the shitty world we're experiencing now. Something great and exciting, not just a return to legal precedent or the founding fathers. Pretty much everyone I know thinks the Constitution is either outdated or something that should be interpreted very loosely. The few Trump supporters and Young Republicans I know are more interested in handing power over to an inspiring leader like Trump who will use his judgment instead of going by a pretty limited historical document.
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This is a smaller one, but politician speak really needs to die. "When we do this, they do that." Talking about the kitchen table or "everyday Americans." The cringe turn of phrases and canned lines written by someone who has obviously never had a real conversation before. Basically don't be Ron DeSantis or Tim Scott lol. The president we grew up under was Trump, not Ronald Reagan. Talking about Reagan or trying to sound like him is like trying to make Calvin Coolidge a big thing in the 80s. It doesn't make sense for this generation.
I'll try to think of more soon.
My first thoughts after reading your comments:
Looking at things strictly from the perspective of how the world is right now, the problem with your generation is that most young people think the entire world revolves around them. It doesn't. Now before you go off about how I'm just attacking your generation, I'm not. My generation was exactly the same AT THAT AGE, and so was every other generation before me. But right now, at this moment in time, it's your generation that is at that self-absorbed age where you think that everything revolves around you, and everything in the world should be catered to YOUR needs and desires. Your generation is currently experiencing the same rude awakening that all the rest of us have already gone through.
All of your suggestions seem to imply that everyone else on the planet should change their behaviors and approach young people by coming 100% over to their way of thinking and interact with them 100% on THEIR terms. Life doesn't work that way, and it never has. Your generation is currently at that point that every generation goes through, where you are all learning that you are not the most important thing in the universe, and there are many unpleasant realities in life that you are going to have to start dealing with. Realizing this, and shifting your mindset accordingly, is a very important and crucial step in growing up and maturing as a person. If everyone approaches young people on bended knee and accepts their premise that they are the center of the universe, it does them no favors at all. I began to understand The Constitution and our other founding documents at that age, as well as our form of government, and I grew from that point to where I love our founding documents and understand that they are sacred documents, consecrated by God. I am not going to change my behavior or thinking or way of interacting with others just so that I don't bore/scare/push away younger people.
The younger generation needs to (and will be forced to eventually, at some point) gain enough maturity to understand the importance of history, of our founding documents, our founding fathers, and of all of their ancestors and the critical things those people did, both good and bad. Many are starting to gradually learn about these things, just as their parents and grandparents did when they were young. The worst thing that we can do for your generation is to approach them and interact with them completely on their terms as you seem to imply that we should. All that will do is to provide confirmation in their minds that their current perspective is correct, and the rest of us are all just old, feeble-minded idiots who simply don't understand anything about the modern world. They need to be jolted out of that way of thinking, not made to feel even more comfortable remaining in it.
I'm glad to see that you are one of those young people who has started to understand that there are more important things than you realized before, and that you have begun the process of maturing and growing out of the self-absorbed and self-centered way of thinking that is the bane of all young people from every generation throughout time. Keep growing!
I came to the comments to say what you said, but you had already said it.
I spent my 30s learning what a dipshit I was in my 20s and how much time I wasted back then.
Wanted to make this point too. OP sounds like I probably did at one time, but if there’s one singular thing I’ve learned since then: you can’t control what people say or do, it’s foolish to try, and it tends to reflect worse back at you if you try it.
That principle basically is how the cabal operates - get everyone into an emotional frenzy, then create conditions so everyone in opposition “looks bad”. You don’t control the narrative by playing their game by their rules, you do it by showing everyone how stupid it all actually is.
This is great insight. Fantastic comment and advice for all of us to think about.
And the importance of " this time" in history
Yes.
It's very hard to get people who aren't religious to think the world revolves around anything else. We're kind of taught from day 1 that truth is something people construct to justify empowering themselves. So everything goes down to self interest.
And that's where it all went wrong for you.
Ditch that premise all together and there might be hope yet.
So then it should be self evident why meeting people like that 100% on their own terms in order to try and lure them to support you and your cause is about the worst thing you can possibly do. Sooner or later they will all learn that they are not the most important thing in the universe, and that God is real, and that there are far more important things to consider than just what they want to eat for dinner tonight. Some will learn quickly, some (like me) will be thick-headed slow learners that have to learn everything the hard way, and some won't learn until after they pass from this earth. But everyone has to learn the truth eventually, and WILL learn it eventually. What good does it do to help them remain in their ignorance longer just so you can try and attract them to your cause? Help them to learn the important truths faster if they will let you, if not then just stay out of their way and let them learn on their own the hard way. Don't waste your time and sabotage your own efforts by trying to pursue them while they refuse to leave their own little self-centered world.