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| New Poll Shows Millennials Don't Value Democracy |
| 2018-06-30 |
| [PJ] A new poll shows that a good portion of young people don’t value living in a democracy. The Democracy Project found that of the folks they surveyed, the millennial generation (born in 1982 and the two decades following) and Generation Z (the generation born after millennials) are the least likely to think it’s "absolutely important" to live in a democracy. Fewer than 40 percent of both those generations surveyed value democracy, while nearly 77 percent of those ages 65 and older say it is "absolutely important" to live in a democracy. However, the Democracy Project did find that "the vast majority of the American public wants democracy." These kinds of statistics, while disheartening, are more and more frequent. A 2016 survey by the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation found that just over half of the millennials surveyed thought communism was a problem at all. Not only is there a distinct difference between communism and democracy, but there are obvious age differences between the groups that value democracy and those that don’t. Those that value democracy most, folks 65 and older, lived through the aftermath of World War II, watching as Europe recovered from the Nazi attempt to take over. They lived through Vietnam, the collapse of Soviet Russia, and the destruction of the Berlin wall. Older generations clearly recognize that while communism, socialism, and even fascism might sound good on paper, those philosophies rarely work out in government form very well. Instead of freeing and liberating people, encouraging a free market, and stimulating a high production of goods and services, governments that are not in some way democratic enslave, bind, belittle, and devalue the people who live there ‐ and of course, then, the markets suffer too. (All one need do is look at Venezuela to see how that’s working out.) Still, the fact that fewer than 40 percent of the young people surveyed who will soon be able to vote, raise families, and be a (hopefully productive) part of society value the very democracy that allows them to thrive is disheartening, to say the least. It’s unfortunate that as teenagers, their civics lessons, history assignments, and even family involvement haven’t taught them that the many things they value most are a product of living in a free market system that values the voice of the people. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #14 Weare a representative republic. We're a oligarchy of special interests and tribes. When you have a handful of people sit for life dictating what they believe rather than what the words say, you don't even have a republic. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2018-06-30 19:30 |
| #13 A tag I used: "Remember that a Lynch Mob is very, very democratic. If the "majority" want a hanging they get it, laws be damned." |
| Posted by: magpie 2018-06-30 19:12 |
| #12 Find out which ones don't value democracy and don't ever permit them to vote. Can't imagine they'd have a problem with that. |
| Posted by: charger 2018-06-30 19:02 |
| #11 Thank you, Silentbrick. The hijacking of language is one of the commies’ most successful operations. |
| Posted by: Lowspark 2018-06-30 17:18 |
| #10 just ask em when they lasted voted on a bill |
| Posted by: Frank G 2018-06-30 16:34 |
| #9 True enough, #8, but those of us who point out we live in a republic just come off like grammar ladies to the ignorant hordes. I don't even bother. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2018-06-30 16:16 |
| #8 Nobody should want democracy. That word is used wrong all the freaking time. Democracy is mob rule. We are not a democracy. We are a representative republic. Big difference. |
| Posted by: Silentbrick 2018-06-30 14:56 |
| #7 Those who know are far more dangerous |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2018-06-30 14:48 |
| #6 One told me he was a Socialist, couldn't articulate what a Socialist was, but he sure was one. *Sigh* |
| Posted by: magpie 2018-06-30 14:44 |
| #5 " those philosophies rarely work out in government form very well" Should read those philosophies NEVER work out in government form very well |
| Posted by: newc 2018-06-30 14:19 |
| #4 Need to really push the Peace Corps so these kids can see the third world with their own eyes and realize that it's not the west making them poor. Venezuela could use a lot of millennial helping out right now, lets send anyone who claims to be a socialist so they can get a taste before they try to transform the US into their fantasy image. |
| Posted by: ruprecht 2018-06-30 11:30 |
| #3 There is good reason to fear for the future of democracy in this country. Moneyed interests are more often than not successful in buying elections and the MSM goes merrily along without asking the questions that need to be asked. Trump is a moneyed interest in his own right but he's not one of the elites and their attempted coup is a result. If it had succeeded, and it still might, we could witness a new Dark Ages. |
| Posted by: Abu Uluque 2018-06-30 11:15 |
| #2 I guess if you don't believe in democracy it's a no-brainer to abstain from voting. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2018-06-30 11:11 |
| #1 It’s unfortunate that as teenagers, their civics lessons, history assignments, and even family involvement haven’t taught them that the many things they value most are a product of living in a free market system that values the voice of the people. But not unexpectedly. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2018-06-30 09:48 |