Millennials Are Changing the World, Whether You Like It Or Not

By SAM URETSKY

When Donald John Trump ran for president he used the slogan “Make America Great Again.” He won the election with the help of Russia and a quirk in the Constitution. Sadly, his version of greatness was “America First” a phrase once used by the America First Committee, a group opposed to the United States’ entry into World War II, and was associated with anti-Semitism. Mr. Trump’s ideas of America’s greatness seem rooted in the past, with no recognition of how the world has changed and will continue changing as the Millennials, people aged 20 to 35 in 2016, overtake Baby Boomers in population by 2019.

The traits of the millennials have been well studied. They are less religious and more tolerant of differences than their parents, and while they may be the first generation to have fewer material assets than their parents, they are optimistic about the future. They aren’t buying President Trumps version of America. Literally.

For a quick example, in the 1970s there was a notorious, if not very popular song “You’re Gonna Get Killed In a Japanese Car,” but in 2018, the best selling passenger vehicle in the United States was the Nissan Rogue, followed by the Toyota RAV, Honda CR-V, Toyota Camry and Honda Civic. Next, finally, came the first US branded vehicle, the Chevrolet Equinox.

Some of the attitudes and opinions of the Millennials may come from their news sources. President Trump notoriously ignores briefings from his intelligence agencies, and relies on Fox News, but in a Sept. 12, 2012 report “ Demographics and Political Views of News Audiences” 30% of the readers of what President Trump continues to describe as “the failing New York Times” were under the age of 30 and only 12% were over the age of 65. Meanwhile, Fox News’ had only 19% of its viewers from Generation Y and 24% from the Baby Boomer group. Steven Colbert had the highest percentage of younger viewers (43%) and only 6% of viewers age 65+. In contrast, Fox’ Sean Hannity was at the bottom of the list with 3% of viewers under 30 and 42% of the audience carrying Medicare cards.

As a side note, a few years ago the New York Times really was failing while General Electric was the quintessential widows and orphans stock. That has changed. The newspaper has a rapidly growing on-line subscribership and is now paying a 5¢ dividend. General Electric was dropped from the Dow Jones Industrial Average and its dividend is only 1¢.

Buying habits of Millennials have changed in other ways. They’re less tolerant of artificial food and mass produced food products. Ad Age (10/11/18) headlined a report “Millennials Kill Again. The Latest Victim? American Cheese” “American cheese will never die. It has too many preservatives. But it’s melting away. … One by one, America’s food outlets are abandoning the century-old American staple. In many cases, they’re replacing it with fancier cheeses.” Fast food outlets, never themselves models of good nutrition, are replacing the popular yellow cheese with Asiago (Wendy’s), a preservative free version of American cheese (McDonald’s) while A&W, at least in Canada, has replaced American cheese with cheddar. As for Panera Bread’s cheeseburger:

1-1/2 oz. Fontina cheese, sliced.

1-1/2 oz. Gruyere cheese, sliced or shredded.

1-1/2 oz. sharp Cheddar cheese, sliced.

Other industries are subject to changes in buying habits as well. The beer industry has been the subject of considerable attention, with headlines like “Millennials Are Killing Beer.” That’s not quite true. Millennials are turning away from the mass produced beers like Budweiser and Miller and turning to craft beers. Michael Broerman, in the web site moderntreatis.com, wrote “… The notion that millennials are killing the beer industry couldn’t be further from the truth. A much more accurate, but far less eye-catching headline would be, “Millennials Are Killing Name-Brand Beer and Are Instead Supporting Locally Owned Breweries That Otherwise Wouldn’t Exist Without Their Patronage.” The surveys limit themselves to mass produced beers, distributed nationally, and don’t consider the impact of local brewpubs with limited distriubution. They can measure sales of Miller and Bud Light, but not of de Garde Brewing’s The Broken Truck or Toppling Goliath Brewing Company’s Kentucky Brunch Brand Stout (which comes from Decorah, Iowa).

The shopping patterns of the millennials are a reflection of their voting patterns, which is why the Republican Party has targeted college students as part of their voter suppression efforts along with African-Americans and Hispanics. A Union of Concerned Scientists blog entry said “… dozens of states have implemented voter identification requirements, some of which either exclude student identification as a valid form of ID, or require proof of residency with forms (electric bills, etc.) that students living on campus are less likely to have. A University of Michigan study has demonstrated the recent decline of drivers’ license ownership among college students, a form of identification frequently used in states with strict voter ID laws.” That may buy time, but that’s all. According to projections, this is the year that the torch will be passed to a new generation of Americans – and not a minute too soon.

Sam Uretsky is a writer and pharmacist living in Louisville, Ky. Email sdu01@outlook.com.

From The Progressive Populist, April 1, 2019

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