Friday, April 19, 2024

Are Millennials the Socialist Generation? Don’t Believe What You Hear…

Recently RealClearPolitics contributor Joel Kotkin made the case that millennials are fueling a global rise in socialism. As I have previously responded to Kotkin as well as left-wing pundits, there is no Bolshevik oasis out in the distance, it’s a mirage. Millennial Americans are among the most radical free-market capitalists the world has ever seen.

In his latest column, Kotkin reiterates his prior claim that “capitalism is failing” millennials. One doesn’t need to look far to find a counter argument, as Kotkin’s column starts off:

Even as Venezuela falls deeper into crisis, and the former Soviet bloc nations groan under its legacy, socialism is coming back, and in a big way. Its key supporters are not grizzled pensioners yearning for Marxist security, but a whole new generation, most of whom have little memory of socialist failure.

If capitalism is “failing” young Americans, what word is strong enough to describe the plight of those in socialist Venezuela?

Let’s remember that America’s millennial generation (who Kotkin accuses of having “little memory of socialist failure”) has grown up with instant access to the globe at its finger tips. Does this generation look enviously upon Venezuela’s governing structure? You must be kidding.

While the last 15 years of U.S. economic policy have not been particularly kind towards millennials (remember, under Obamacare, young Americans suffer higher health insurance costs in order to help cover those who are older and sicker), and young Americans absolutely feel disenchanted with politics, millennials also actively fight socialism every single day.

You heard it here first: Millennial Generation = Commie Fighters.

One can gauge the attitudes millennials have towards Big Government by examining how this generation votes with its dollar in the marketplace. As I have previously noted:

Take Uber. Uber saves its customers money because their business model circumvents the unnecessary and burdensome regulations foisted on taxi companies by local governments and their unions. Additionally, Uber’s innovative service allows users to rapidly obtain a ride with just a touch of a button. When given the choice between the vastly deregulated Uber or a cab, millennials don’t even blink. In metropolitan hubs (where Uber and taxis compete head to head the most) roughly 75 percent of millennials prefer Uber.

And that’s not all.

In addition to de-regulating the cab industry with Uber, millennials have de-regulated the hotel industry with Airbnb, crippled the “Fight for $15” campaign as the biggest supporters of fast food automation, and are by far the most enthusiastic demographic for drone delivery services. That’s right, millennials are such radical capitalists that they are literally going to de-regulate air.

While columnists will continue to brand millennials as a bunch of whiny Bernie Sanders socialists, our generation has been showing everyone else how to make capitalism work. Millennial’s continuous expectation for faster, cheaper, and more convenient services will always require more personal freedom and less government to achieve. A generation that grew up witnessing the innovation and prosperity brought on by the technological revolution will have zero tolerance for the slow ineptitude of Big Government.

Sorry liberals, millennials are #NotYourGeneration.

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