Is Gen Z Reviving Conservatism?
Gen Z could actually be more conservative than their predecessors
What is conservatism? What do conservatives stand for? It’s a question that often gets thrown around by many of my left-of-center friends when they question what policies the Republican party stands for.
The accusation that the Republicans ‘have no platform’ is true — if you are a progressive who believes that the solution to every problem is found in a radical expansion of the Federal government and massive societal change steered by the government. Conservatism is a far simpler ideology — one I would define as simply pushing the brakes on changes to society because the truth is not every change that society undergoes is beneficial and, in fact, more often than not, can be harmful.
The true conservative ‘utopia,’ if one could be achieved in the United States, would be a nation where each citizen is bestowed freedom of choice— where equality of outcome, an often promised goal in socialist regimes that is unattainable, is not guaranteed but equality of opportunity is. Where every citizen is committed to upholding these principles; those of the Declaration of Independence—that our creator guarantees us inalienable rights, that governments exist to enforce this natural law, and that, as Saint Thomas Aquinas wrote: “Every human law has just so much of the character of law as it is derived from the law of nature. But if in any point it differs from the law of nature, it is no longer a law but a corruption of law.”
Those who adhere to the principles of American conservatism uphold the Constitution of the United States and our founding documents as the greatest guarantees of freedom known to mankind. The checks and balances created by the framers are not viewed as burdens to progress but rather as allowing a nation whose actions and behaviors are grounded in the rule of law and not the whims of men. It is why conservatives view government as a ‘necessary evil’, in the sense that it is important to have a government capable of enforcing the laws and protecting the natural rights of every man and woman, but that government must be kept within limitation.
And, of course, there is the social conservatism, based on Judeo-Christian values, that witnessed a strong resurgence in the 1970s, courtesy of Jerry Falwell, and culminated in the ascension of Ronald Reagan to the presidency. Mr. Falwell embarked upon what could best be described as a crusade against the “demonic” cultural change of the 1960s. From mega-churches and radio stations, these Protestant evangelical groups began to dominate the grassroots of the Republican party. In 1979, Mr. Falwell founded the Moral Majority, which advocated against Roe v. Wade, promoted low tax policies, believed the Federal government should not plan the economy, and advocated for reintroduction of school prayer. The Moral Majority also championed a return to traditional gender roles, which had been challenged by many of the liberal demonstrators of the 60s.
The strong resurgence in conservatism in the 1970s came when the United States was being tested. Cultural changes at home, induced during the 1960s, led to the rise of an antiwar progressive left, with Lyndon B. Johnson, the president, ushering in expansionary legislation, the Great Society, that fundamentally transformed the power and scale of the Federal government. After years of New Deal liberalism, voters grew weary of big government and decided to embark upon a change in course.
In the present day, we are witnessing a similar resurgence of economic malaise and social upheaval. Ever since the Great Recession “broke” politics, the housing market, and the global economy — there has been a Carteresque “crisis of confidence” among many of America’s youth. Gen Z are quite panicked about the state of the economy - they do not believe they will ever be able to own a home or retire comfortably, and many of them believe the American dream is slipping away. Their concern isn’t unfounded; a recent Wall Street Journal/NORC poll revealed that 78 percent of people believe their children will be financially worse off than they were and that their children’s lives will be worse.
The United States is undergoing a period of rapid change. A bigger gap is growing between the rich and poor; many believe the middle class has been utterly hollowed out. Whether or not you believe this is true, it does not matter as the perception becomes reality. A free market society does not fall from inequalities — inequalities have always existed. They fall when envy and resentment become commonplace, and those with less feel cheated and cannot elevate their social station. At the same time, when those who have wealth accumulate more, those are the situations in which revolutions spawn.
The gloomy economic outlook coupled with an extreme onslaught of social progressivism, massive amounts of immigration, and an incredibly globalized and digital landscape, increasing competition in all aspects of life, including university admissions and employment, have all contributed to rapid change. Though most change happens over the course of decades and almost centuries, the truth is that the world of 2024 would be unrecognizable to a time traveler from 2000. These differences have shifted many Western countries to a ‘right-wing populist’ approach, best exemplified by Donald Trump, who rallied against these forces in his successful 2016 presidential campaign.
But I find it fascinating how the generation growing up during these changes is operating. What influences them? Gen Z is often misclassified as just a social media generation.
Now, yes, Gen Z overwhelmingly uses social media—as a Gen Zer, I can affirm that we have had the internet and screens present in our lives from birth. But Gen Z is also intriguing because it is the first generation in which the “traditional” family structure is not present in the way it is for the older ones. Census data shows that Gen Z in two-parent households are overwhelmingly likely to have had two parents working full-time. Interestingly, only 38 percent of Gen Z reported having meals with their family daily, whereas 76 percent of boomers reported having these as a regular childhood experience1.
Gen Z is also far more likely to have grown up in single-parent households than the previous generations. This does not come as a surprise, as you look at the uptick in divorce in the United States among adults there is a similar correlation. However, what is fascinating is how the generation reacts to these elements.
Estee Williams is a 25-year-old TikTok influencer with over 140,600 followers and has received millions of views. She is the most famous face of the ‘tradwife’ movement that has gone viral on the social media app. As of publication, the #Tradwife hashtag, used to categorize videos of this nature, has received 317.1 million views.
Mrs. Williams, speaking with the New York Post, explained that “I’ve never believed that women should work full-time if a woman is married or has children…we as women have realized we CAN compete with men. Yes, but at what cost?” She elaborated that she believes women are “moving away from their roots to compete with men.”
Alexia Delarosa is another famous 'tradwife' influencer who defends the traditional lifestyle. Speaking to the Daily Mail, she articulated that “It is so important to have a parent in the home [who] is consistently there for the kids. I used to be a nanny, and I was there for so many special and cute moments with the kids I was nannying for,” adding that “they were such special times and it made me realize that I wanted to be there for all of these moments when I had my own kids.”
The popularity of this trend on social media correlated with the similar rise of the “soft girl” trend, which influencer Mia Jones sparked in a self-recorded TikTok rant. “I don’t want to be a girl boss, I don’t want to hustle, I simply want to live my life slowly and lay in a bed of moss with my lover and enjoy the rest of my existence, reading books and creating art and loving the people in my life” she declared.
Whether the popularity of these influencers and their beliefs can be solely attributed to a shift in the mindset of young people or rather it is merely attracting attention due to shock value, the reality is that this content is gaining popularity for some reason. Young people often drive rebellions against the ‘culture’ and the institutions, but when society has shifted so far to the left and many of the institutions become dominated by the liberal lens, conservatism and the traditions of yesteryear have become new.
Andrew Tate is probably the most infamous man on the planet. The most googled person in the world in 2022, Mr. Tate is a former kickboxer turned businessman who operates an online platform called “The Real World”, formerly Hustlers University, designed to teach online business with the goal of financial self-sufficiency to “escape the Matrix.” Mr. Tate’s rhetoric has drawn criticism for being misogynistic, and the negative media attention he has attracted is second only to that of Donald Trump. But ‘Top G,’ as he is nicknamed, is so popular among so many young men because he has emerged as an unlikely role model.
In today’s world, saying the most controversial things is the way that you garner attention and a platform. We are in an attention-based economy, and this is, for instance, how social media influencers make their money. Donald Trump made inflammatory statements for the deliberate purpose of getting free media coverage. Andrew Tate says controversial things to get attention and followers to promote his brand. This is the only type of content circulating in the present world of social media and cable news.
With a majority of Americans, 62 percent to be precise2, admitting they have views they are too afraid to share - for fear of being punished at university, fired from employment, social ostracization, or social media ban— these social sanctions have made anyone who says anything controversial labeled as courageous. Courage has always been extolled as a virtue, with Winston Churchill saying, “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak.”
Mr. Tate’s controversial views and his atypical delivery style have drawn a lot of fire and have thus made him a “martyr” among many young men. Given how little many trust the government, the mainstream media, and our institutions, there is a simple formula to explain his and many others’ popularity. Person X says something, and the media slams Person X and declares his message wrong and bad. Therefore, Person X must be telling the truth.
What is it that Mr. Tate says that seems to resonate with so many men? “As a man, you are born with no base value; the best thing about being a man is you get to build your character from the ground up. You're not born with any value; you're born as a blank slate,” Mr. Tate declared. His attitude towards men is that they need to work hard, they are exactly where they deserve to be, and if they are not where they want to be, the prescription is to change how they live. On his website, Mr. Tate has a series of “41 tenents” describing what men should do, how they should live, and their purpose.
The reason for the popularity of Mr. Tate, whether you agree or disagree with him, is simply that there is a crisis among young men who are underrepresented in many institutions. They are also falling behind women in almost every conceivable metric. Here are some statistics found in a USAToday article worth noting:
Women first received more than half of the bachelor's degrees awarded in the 1981-82 academic year; today they earn about 57 percent of bachelor's degrees.
Men are three times more likely to die of overdoses than women.
Men accounted for 80 percent of all suicides in 2021.
Girls outperform boys in reading by more than 40 percent of a grade level in every state.
Men are struggling. The problem is that masculinity is not defined easily in today's modern culture. And when phrases like 'toxic masculinity' are brought up, many men feel as if they are being attacked for being themselves.
There is a lack of community for men as well. The Boy Scouts have experienced an incredible drop in membership, with Boy Scouts enrollment dropping by 62 percent from 2019 to 2021. Men participate less in clubs and youth athletics and are less likely to be raised in Religious communities. Recruitment for the United States armed forces, a traditionally male-dominated community, is the worst since the institution of an all-volunteer force a half-century ago.
It also seems that men have opted out of pursuing jobs in industries, such as teaching, dominated by women - but this has left a big absence of positive male role models. There is not a clear definition of masculinity anymore, and this void seems to have left many men adrift— not knowing what to do. The result?
According to a recent Gallup survey, almost 49 percent of young men identified as conservatives. While Gen Z has been a predominantly liberal voting block, as more Gen Z men come of voting age, the number of those who self-identify as conservative increases as well.
A plurality of young men say there is discrimination against men in American society, 4 in 10 say women have an advantage over men in society, and only 47 percent of Gen Z men believe “feminism has made America a better place.” This is an astonishing trend, particularly as many women in Gen Z are overwhelmingly liberal. Young voters have always been overwhelmingly liberal—as historically, voters typically grow more conservative with age. This means that if 49 percent of young men identify as conservative, how many will it be twenty years from now?
What caused this spike now? A backlash against COVID-19 restrictions? The rise of wokeness? The influence of Mr. Tate? The widening success gap between men and women? Could it just be dissatisfaction with the Biden administration? It is likely a combination of many factors, too many to detail just now.
The cultural, electoral, and societal ramifications of this remain to be seen. Still, one thing is clear: Given all of these indicators, social media phenomena, and the steady rise of a young conservative male voting block—the idea of Gen Z being an electoral monolith of pure liberalism is a falsehood. With this year’s presidential election looming just around the corner and former president Donald Trump leading Biden among Gen Z voters, it could be that, rather than a polling aberration—Gen Z may be the key to handing the Republicans the keys to the White House.
https://www.americansurveycenter.org/research/emerging-trends-and-enduring-patterns-in-american-family-life/
https://www.cato.org/survey-reports/poll-62-americans-say-they-have-political-views-theyre-afraid-share