Debunking the myth that millennials are ushering in the end of the Western world

[Dan '82]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk...4cfb1e75de

Quote:Now is the season for democracy’s doomsayers. Between the election of Donald Trump and the rise of the far-right nationalist parties in Europe, some of the world’s most vigorous democracies have been shaken up by political movements with distinctly authoritarian shadings, who have threatened democratic institutions like tolerance, the rule of law, and the free press.  “The challenges confronting western democracies as 2016 draws to a ragged close are of a breadth and intensity not seen since the early 1980s,” The Guardian declared recently.

Some of the best evidence has come in the form of research by political scientists Roberto Stefan Foa and Yascha Mounk that shows that more and more citizens of established democracies are becoming skeptical of democracy’s worth. “[M]odern democracies, including America’s, are far more vulnerable to hostile takeover than you might think,” Mounk wrote recently in a op-ed...



https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk...4cfb1e75de

[Warren Dew]

Not sure how good the debunking is. The researchers claim that even small shifts in the confidence in democracy and the willingness to see military government are signs of impending authoritarian government, based on cases like Chavez. Those shifts do exist, and the fact that they are small doesn't necessarily debunk the theory.

I do wonder if the same shifts were seen among GIs in the 1930s, or if they are entirely new.

[Eric the Green]

The conclusion of the article was: "with inequality on the rise, fake news spreading, and the far-right gaining power, millennial anxiety may not be the most immediate threat to Western democracies."

The article made sure to clarify that Hugo Chavez has nothing to do with this trend, since Venezuela never had a well-functioning democracy to begin with. That doesn't stop the Right in this country from linking Chavez to the Democrats, although it's quite clear that he is much more similar to Donald Trump-- the goon that you guys so foolishly elected.

We already knew millennials were apathetic. That was a big reason the Democrats have lost so much ground. They don't vote in midterms, and so Democrats lost congress and statehouses for a decade in 2010. It doesn't help when your base of support is the most apathetic and unreliable group of voters in the country.

[Warren Dew]

Before commenting on the "debunking" article, it may be worth reading the original article they are "debunking". It's from a far left source, not a conservative source.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/29/world/...cracy.html

[Odin]

NYT is "far-left"?

If you talk to the average American about government this is not very surprising. The whole "THANKS, OBAMA!!!" meme came about exactly because so many people think the president is an elected dictator and are completely ignorant about who their other elected politicians are on the federal, state, and local levels.

[The Wonkette]

(12-05-2016, 11:32 AM)X_4AD_84 Wrote: Looking at only the US, the Millennial vote was against Trump. We can blame the Silents, the Boomers and to an extent, Xers, for Trump. If only Millennials voted, firstly, the Primaries would have yielded different candidates, and secondly, in the General, there is no way someone like Trump would have won.

I think Eric's point, which is valid, is that not enough Millennials voted, particularly in places such as Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Florida.