The following article, Trump: The Choice of a New Generation, was first published on The Black Sphere.

Image: NBC News

The Torch Has Been Passed

A long-held political myth is that America’s youth tend to lean liberal and vote Democrat. This was untrue during the 1980s, when stylized young urban professionals (aka yuppies) were a core bloc that supported the Reagan Revolution. Sculpted by this era was a young rising billionaire Manhattan tycoon by the name Donald J. Trump.

In-turn Reagan rose from the idealisms inspired by John F. Kennedy, and would later inherit the mantle of conservatism from Barry Goldwater after his famous “A Time for Choosing,” speech where he is remembered for uttering the phrase ‘Rendezvous with Destiny’. Unknowingly at the time, ‘The Speech’ catapulted him into the national spotlight, and onto the road to eventually becoming California’s governor in 1966.

A Step to the Future

As Kennedy and Reagan had previously accomplished, now the stage is set for Trump to step forth and complete the work that he had started eight years ago. Just as we had previously predicted, it would fall to the youth vote to elect Trump:

Forty-one percent of voters under age-30 are voting for Trump. In an earlier GenForward poll, 26% (1 out of 4) of African American men 18-40 and a whopping 44% of young Hispanic in the same age range said that they plan to support Trump.

GenZ, the term used to describe people born between the late 1990s to early 2000s. or specifically 1997-2012. GenZ is the most racially and culturally diverse generation in American history. They grew up amid iPhones and social media revolutions, which are still rewriting the rules of socializing and networking. The cynicisms of their world views were shaped by the economic hypocrisies of the Great Recession of their childhood; had their wills steeled by the tales war (Afghanistan and Iraq); and the communal hermitage under the Covid pandemic at the onset of their adulthood.

Two key GenZ values that few have honed-in on are:

• A unique selflessness to help their families and others close to them to get ahead in life.
• Frugality which will have them looking for secondhand items instead of buying them new.

These values allowed this young generation to develop a distinctive mature trait:  Integrity.

A ‘Lost’ Generation’?

When added together, this should all lead to personal and professional success, but its not leading to personal happiness.

Daily Beast reports:

Young adult Americans are richer than ever before but, according to the Treasury Department, they still feel “an increasing sense of economic fragility.” Research released by the department Wednesday showed that real median wealth for Americans between 25 and 39 climbed to $80,500 in 2022—an increase from $23,750 in 2010, as measured in 2023 dollars. While young American adults have enjoyed a surge in net wealth during the recovery from the pandemic, today’s under-40s are also being hit by a wide array of economic headwinds.

The Treasury research points to real non-housing debt almost doubling between 1989 and 2022—fueled by student loan debt—while the costs of housing, healthcare, and childcare have all risen faster than young adults’ incomes. The report also gave a “special mention” to the aging U.S. population which has meant that the young face increasing competition for jobs and housing from “older, wealthier, and more experienced counterparts.” It’s perhaps small wonder that a recent poll found Gen Zers think they need to earn almost $600,000 to consider themselves “financially successful.”

There has been a decades-long miscommunication of defining what “success” looks like.  Suddenly, it’s definition comes from a generation that has grown up on their phones, watching “influencers” brag about earning 6-7 figures on social media taking friends/neighbors global vacations to: Europe, Caribbean, South America, Australia/South Asia.

The days of the family trip Disneyland/Disneyworld or to the nearby national park is passé. Forget keeping up with the Joneses; keep up with the Kardashians!

San Luis Obispo Tribune observed:

Rich Generation Z residents are moving out of California at one of the highest rates in the nation, according to a new SmartAsset study.
“Due to their age and income, they may be more prone to moving for economic and lifestyle opportunities than some older counterparts,” SmartAsset managing editor Jaclyn DeJohn wrote in a Sept. 17 article titled “Where Wealthy Gen Zers Are Moving.”
California landed at No. 9 on SmartAsset’s list of the 10 states that are losing the most wealthy Generation Z residents, with a net loss of 52 households.
That’s based on IRS data from the 2021 and 2022 tax years, the latest information available.
A total of 847 high-earning Gen Z households moved to the Golden State during that time frame, while 899 moved out.
California has a total of 9,379 Gen Z households earning $200,00 or more each year, SmartAsset said.
According to the study, Gen Zers comprise a tiny fraction of all wealthy households in the state: 0.53%.
Like their younger counterparts, rich millennials are also leaving California, according to a separate SmartAsset study.
The Golden State had a net loss of 9,181 wealthy millennial households, the most out of any state in the nation, The Sacramento Bee previously reported.
New York experienced the highest increase in wealthy Gen Z households, according to the SmartAsset study.
In one year, the Empire State saw a net gain of 773 Gen Z households earning $200,000 or more annually, the study found.
That’s about eight times more than Florida, which came in second place with a net gain of 89 high-earning Gen Z households.

Image:  NAR

As the new generation enters the modern workforce at a time when there are more opportunities, more diversity, and more demand for new employees than at anytime in the last 50 years. There is one drawback, GenZ in unable to hold onto these jobs, and are being let go from high level positions in huge numbers.

Fortune explains why:

Three-quarters of the companies surveyed said some or all of their recent graduate hires were unsatisfactory in some way.
Employers’ gripe with young people today is their lack of motivation or initiative—50% of the leaders surveyed cited that as the reason why things didn’t work out with their new hire.
Bosses also pointed to Gen Z being unprofessional, unorganized, and having poor communication skills as their top reasons for having to sack grads.
Leaders say they have struggled with the latest generation’s tangible challenges, including being late to work and meetings often, not wearing office-appropriate clothing, and using language appropriate for the workspace.
Now more than half of hiring managers have come to the conclusion that college grads are unprepared for the world of work. Meanwhile, over 20% say they can’t handle the workload.

Doomed From the Start

This is a generation that was setup for failure. A standardized education system based on common core testing that then funneled our young ones into ‘college industrial complex’ like cattle. Then upon entering their careers, saddled with a near six-figured college loan debt, and are trying to get ahead in some of America’s biggest (and most expensive) cities.

It is not unusual that the job right out of college for many is their first job ever! No working on the family farm or part-time job after school at McDonalds. In the Great Recession they were competing against grown adults who had just been laid off for those part-time positions. In college many were so maxed out on class units by their counselors who advised them not to work. Only to be further driven into debt when Covid hit, unable to land the dream job due to the lockdowns while bills continue piled up.

When one also takes into account the conditions of our K-12 public schools, the high rates of divorced-single parents in this country, it should be of little surprise that our young adult population were so ill-prepared for the trial of early adulthood. The onus of the blame should rest with We The People, for failing to:

“Secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity”

Yet not all is lost. In addition to ‘Integrity’, there is another mature trait that this young generation developed well beyond their years: Resourcefulness.

Society failed them. (Many) of their families failed them. Academia failed them. They are turning to their own wits and are applying age-old vocational skills that just a generation before were thought to have been anticipated.

NPR gets schooled on the trade school renaissance:

…the growing number of young people who have chosen to swap college for vocational schools that offer paid, on-the-job training.
More than half of Gen Zers say it’s possible to get a well-paying job with only a high school diploma, provided one acquires other skills. That’s according to a survey by New America, a Washington Think Tank that focuses on a range of public policy issues, including technology, education and the economy.
With that price tag increasing, many Gen Zers say they’ve been left with no choice but to leave the college path. Many say living with their parents until they can pay off their college debt isn’t an option.
The high cost of college isn’t the only factor driving many young people toward skilled trades. With the use of artificial intelligence on the rise, many Gen Zers see manual labor as less vulnerable to the emerging technology than white-collar alternatives. They also say vocational schools are a straight path to well-paying jobs.
Data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center shows the number of students enrolled in vocational-focused community colleges increased 16% from 2022 to 2023.

With the fortitude of the Greatest Generation, the flexibility of Boomers, the tenacity of GenX, and the doggedness of Millennials…this generation has the potential to Make America GREAT Again.

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