9.  Politics and Millennials

In this chapter, we find statistics showing that Millennials are either moderate (39%) or liberal (31%) in their politics, with relatively few (26%) describing themselves as conservative. The significance of these figures is obvious, as far as politics is concerned, but there is the question of how often Millennials vote in elections. There is also material about high school students now identifying as conservative, compared with earlier years. The statistics about liberal and conservative Millennials suggest we now have a politically polarized society. Statistics from a Los Angeles Times poll shows that there is a correlation between the amount of education people have and their liberalism. It shows that almost fifty percent of people with high school or less education supported Trump while only 36.4% of those with college degrees or higher supported him. An article by Daniel J. Arbess that appeared in The Wall Street Journal dealt with the question of why Millennials who supported Trump voted against their own interests? He suggested that they do not recognize the impact of their voting. This leads to a discussion of the Sanders’ campaign and speculations about why he was so popular with young people. This is followed by a discussion of Millennial voting patterns and statistics from a poll showing that 44% of Millennials saying they would vote either for the Green Party or a libertarian. Other statistics show that fifty percent of Millennials describe themselves as Independents. Though Millennials voted overwhelmingly for Clinton, they didn’t vote for her in large enough numbers to help her win. The chapter concludes with a discussion of Millennials in Britain, who voted in large numbers against the Prime Minister.