The Conservative Party, Capitalism, Millennials & Morality
In the recent UK General Election it seems clear that the upsurge in support for the Labour Party had a lot to do with younger voters, the so-called millennials. They seem to have flocked to support a Labour manifesto that promised free university education, cancelling of current student debts, and other goodies.
A lot of reaction to this has been to castigate younger voters as greedy, stupid, or both. They want something for nothing. They cannot understand that the state cannot spend more than it has. Quite apart from the tactical stupidity of insulting potential voters, I think this really misunderstands the millennial mindset.
It is clear to anyone who interacts with this demographic, university lecturers for example, that they tend to be profoundly moral. They are often passionate about justice, fairness, and inclusion. The Labour Party speaks that language. The Conservative Party does not.
I happen to believe that free markets are profoundly moral. They are just, they are fair, they are inclusive. Free markets don’t care about the sexual orientation of someone buying a cake. Free markets are colour blind. Free markets provide the best possible route out of poverty. They create wealth. I could go on.
The fact that Conservatives and free marketeers are not selling this to the millennial generation is not the fault of the millennials. What is needed is a rearticulation of the principles of free market capitalism in language that is meaningful to them. That, rather than lecturing them on their greed and naivety is what will win them over.
[As a postcript, I do recognise the need to address substantive issues like housing and student debt. But that is beyond the scope of this short atricle.]
Even though I dis-agree with you politically, I think thats a good article and I like the idea that its not wise to blame people for how they vote.
If a man is not a socialist by the time he is 20, he has no heart. If he is not a conservative by the time he is 40, he has no brain. – Winston Churchill
I like to add; if he is not a cynic by the time he is 60, he has not been paying attention.
I think most young people like to believe in people as being positive and socialism is ultimately about fairness. The middle aged person may have accumulated some wealth and becomes guarded and fearful of losing it, so they become more right wing. The elderly have seenit all play out before, and know that nothing really ever changes.
I gave you a follow and upvote.
Thank you. I have seen this tendency across the political spectrum - to blame voters when things don't go according to plan, rather than accept that what the party in question was offering was unattractive. I suppose it is human nature. We don't like to accept that we were wrong!
I don't see free markets as all that moral. Of course it's all run by people who can choose to take moral actions, but we see a lot out to just enrich themselves with whatever they can get away with, e.g. paying the absolute minimum, using up scare resources, causing pollution. A lot of this is short-sighted. We need someone to control them so we can all have a future.
Oh, and I think a lot of young people are concerned about what sort of world they will have to live in. They can see the damage previous generations have done.
I wasn't actually making the case for free markets. I might get around to that at some point, though it would probably be a life's work, not a single steemit post!
I do think markets are moral, as they permit free choice. That includes, of course, the ability to chose badly. But enforced morality is no morality. Short sighted actions are ultimately self defeating, of course. In a true free market, workers will take themselves off to the employer who pays a fair wage (free markets require free movement of labour, of course).
I could go on and on, but that wasn't the point of this post; so I won't.
Choice is good, but in a lot of cases people just get to choose between different corporations who will try to exploit them. I think some regulation is required, but it should not be too heavy-handed. We never seem to get the right balance.
Well with choice goes responsibility. Personally I do not wish the state to take those decisions for me. State regulation is based on the assumption that the state is benign, all knowing, wise, etc, etc. I actually think it is a protection racket which enforces its will through its monopoly on violence. I would rather trust the spontaneous order of the free market than the gentleman in Whitehall.
Maybe I will post on this.