Editor’s note: In this Future View, students discuss young men and first-time voters shifting toward the Republican Party. Next we’ll ask: “President Donald Trump warned that the arrest and possible deportation of Mahmoud Khalil, a leader of anti-Israel activities at Columbia University, will be the first ‘of many to come.’ What do you make of the administration’s push to deport students it alleges support Hamas?” Students should click here to submit opinions of fewer than 250 words by March 17. The best responses will be published Tuesday night.
Young Men Left Behind
As a 21-year-old male first-time voter, I cast my ballot for President Trump—something I would have been reluctant to do 12 months prior. From the left, young men have only been told how bad we are. Strength, assertiveness and ambition are decried as “toxic masculinity.” Well-intentioned diversity initiatives discriminate against men. The American dream feels unachievable but not for illegal immigrants receiving housing, food and healthcare. Young men bear the cost of seemingly endless wars. Young men are more religious than young women, yet Kamala Harris told Christian protesters they’re “at the wrong rally.” Who’s surprised we’re turned off by the Democratic platform?
Contrast this with the Trump campaign. Front and center was the economy, which was the No. 1 issue among men. Mr. Trump campaigned in traditionally male spaces to exchange ideas, and he connected with our desire to be proud of our country. Finally, watching Mr. Trump take a bullet, just to get up and yell “fight, fight, fight!”—that strength spoke to every man I know.
Men want to compete, support their families and be rewarded for hard work and risk-taking. In 2024 those priorities aligned with the GOP. If the left continues to remain indifferent at best and hostile at worst to young men, this divide will grow.
—Timothy Humphries, Baylor University, finance and economics
We Need New Role Models
Gen Z was supposed to be the generation of change, and as a first-time Gen Z voter, I am disappointed with my generation. Young men have experienced the rebirth of toxic masculinity through social media, participating in online communities focused on inflating the male ego. The rise of incel culture and misogynistic niches of the internet has formed a new wave of right-leaning young men who otherwise wouldn’t identify as conservative.
The role models and social-media influencers young men revere—such as Andrew Tate—are setting back our society, especially when a man who has multiple sexual-assault allegations against him and makes intolerant remarks on national television is elected president. Our young men need better role models to make informed decisions and not doom society with extreme conservativeness.
—Yvonne Moreira-Andrade, Macalester College, biology
The Left’s Religious Fallout
A tyranny of leftist religion has weighed down Gen Z: in their classrooms, jobs and personal relationships. Instead of the Ten Commandments, the left’s credo consists of critical race theory and land acknowledgments. Complete with a denial of American values, the left rewrote the principles that govern reality. Gen Z has endured the ritual of cancel culture, stolen athletic competitions and the corruption of common sense.
After years of compelled speech, young voters rebelled. This turn to the right from Gen Z wasn’t a principled pivot. Young people aren’t chanting the value of free-market economics or organized religion. When the leftist religion disappears, so will the stimulus of Gen Z’s Republican shift.
—Ashley Dowdney, University of North Carolina, classics
The Politics of Disappointment
The politics of this decade can be expressed in one word: disappointment. Americans want well-paid jobs. They want to own a house and raise a family. These milestones of the American dream have become increasingly remote—wages keep stagnating, prices keep growing, and the U.S. has become more polarized. The Biden presidency failed to correct these problems, and Ms. Harris promised more of the same.
Mr. Trump promised uncertainty, so Americans chose to take a measured gamble. Rather than a sweeping mandate, the politics of disappointment gave Mr. Trump a narrow popular-vote plurality and a solid but not overwhelming electoral-vote majority.
Mr. Trump seems set on becoming the next disappointment. His foreign policy makes the U.S. look insecure and indecisive. The Department of Government Efficiency should be renamed the Department of Government Inefficiency, as all it seems to do is keep agencies from doing their jobs. Mr. Trump’s executive orders show contempt for the rule of law and balance of government powers. The Trump administration is creating uncertainty and barriers to commerce that seem to be leading the U.S. toward a recession.
Disappointed with Mr. Trump, don’t be surprised if those who voted for him this time will swing toward Democrats next election.
—Evan Carlisle, the University of Texas at Austin, law
A New Election Battlefield
The 2024 election was the first to use a new campaigning tool: long-form podcasts. Joe Rogan, Lex Fridman, Theo Von and many others interviewed Mr. Trump and gained millions of views. These podcasts were then cut into bite-size clips and siphoned off to TikTok, Instagram, X and other platforms. The long appearances allowed hundreds of creators to recycle the content for free. Mr. Trump and his constant barrage of comments and opinions placed a chokehold on social media—the main news source for my generation.
Mr. Trump has set the standard for how to run a platform on social media, and if Democrats don’t follow suit, they will fall behind. The days of focusing on physical rallies and undervaluing online platforms are over. Social media is the new battlefield, and Mr. Trump has set the blueprint.
—Alejandro Gonzalez-Betancourt, Georgia Institute of Technology, business administration
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/why-generation-z-embraced-donald-trump-young-voters-election-99c59054
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