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Notes -
And now, to add another data point to the ongoing motte argument about "are people actually sick of woke?"
Social Conservatism in U.S. Highest in About a Decade
So reads the title of this Gallup report, which I have to admit warmed my cold dead once-a-libertarian heart. People identifying as "very conservative" or "conservative" made up 38% of respondents, while those identifying as "liberal" or "very liberal" made up 29%. This is now the second year in a row more people have identified as conservative than the previous, which is enough to constitute a "trend" according to my old stats professor. Cue celebratory balloons.
Most, but not all, of the increase is due to a much smaller percentage of Republicans self-identifying as moderates (32% in 2021 to 18% in 2023) but Independents are trending more conservative as well (up to 29% identifying as conservative from 24% in 2021).
It also appears that the long-repeated and sometimes despaired-of switch to conservatism among millennials is finally happening.
The 30-49 age bracket had a 13 point move towards conservatism, compared to the only 11 point shift in the 50-64 year olds. But even the Zoomers are getting more conservative, as the 18-29 year olds saw a 6 point shift.
Economic conservatism also ticked up but it's the social conservatism that's really interesting.
This won't reverse institutional capture, it won't stop Biden from hanging a pride flag on the white house (which could not look more like the flag of a conquering nation if it tried) but it's a shift. It could simply be a natural reaction to Democratic supremacy in the government, but the historical numbers don't track to party changes. I personally think it's probably just the right becoming more right, and no longer identifying as independent, but it's interesting none the less.
As others have posited, this might just be a backlash/increasing disgust with what liberalism presents itself as.
For instance that transgender influencer pulling out her breasts in full view of cameras on the White House lawn. Sam Brinton, a man wearing lipstick and full women's clothing... that he evidently stole from somebody else's luggage, being a relatively high-ranked Government official. The increasingly aggressive push to permit kids to get gender reassignment surgery. And Disney mucking about with their classic stories to wokeify them probably wouldn't help.
Basically it is entirely possible that people's personal beliefs aren't changing much, but their personal and policy preferences are getting more conservative because they're not happy with the current trajectory of the zeitgeist and, while they don't necessarily want to ban or restrict LGBTQ rights, they'd rather keep the worst of its' excesses away from themselves and their families. Basically "I have literally no problem with gay or trans people but I also don't need to hear about them 24/7 in the news or have them inserted into every piece of media I consume." Cultural conservatism, so to speak.
This is probably just wishful thinking on my part. But I do honestly believe we're going to see a political split that is basically drawn along the lines of "people who spend all their time screaming about victimization and acting like children" and "people who had to put up with the former group and are sick of it."
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