The impending liberal extinction
Ben Duffy, Collegian columnist
Issue date: 10/10/07 Section: Editorial / Opinion
The future is so bright, I have to wear shades. The good news about the future is that it will be owned by those who have children today. Those who prefer not to pass on their genes will go the way of the dinosaurs.
I'm talking about a species known as the American liberal. As luck would have it, this political affiliation will probably end up on the endangered species list within two or three generations. Liberals, by all accounts, are suffering from a fertility gap - they aren't having children, while their conservative counterparts are being fruitful and multiplying. As time goes on, fruitful conservatives will outnumber childless liberals.
According to a 2006 San Francisco Chronicle article, "Take a randomly selected sample of 100 liberal adults and 100 conservative adults. According to an analysis of the 2004 General Social Survey - a bible of data for social scientists - the liberals would have had 147 kids, while the conservatives would have had 208. That's a fertility gap of 41 percent...Now superimpose this on a map of the United States. The highest fertility rate is found in the most Republican state, Utah, home to the Mormon Church. The lowest fertility belongs to Vermont, a state liberal enough to be the first to sanction gay unions. The states with the next highest fertility rates, according to the latest National Center for Health Statistics survey, are Arizona, Alaska and Texas, otherwise known as 'red states.' States with the next lowest fertility rates are Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, all 'blue states.'"
Contrary to popular belief, conservatives enjoy sex. Meanwhile, liberals are sewing the seeds of their own long-term defeat by limiting family size, for one reason or another. The exact causation is probably complicated and abstract, having to do largely with religion and lifestyle. The urban/suburban/rural trichotomy probably also plays a role, as well as education, income, feminism, and regional culture. They're all valid explanations, but the end result is always the same - fewer liberals in the future.
I'm talking about a species known as the American liberal. As luck would have it, this political affiliation will probably end up on the endangered species list within two or three generations. Liberals, by all accounts, are suffering from a fertility gap - they aren't having children, while their conservative counterparts are being fruitful and multiplying. As time goes on, fruitful conservatives will outnumber childless liberals.
According to a 2006 San Francisco Chronicle article, "Take a randomly selected sample of 100 liberal adults and 100 conservative adults. According to an analysis of the 2004 General Social Survey - a bible of data for social scientists - the liberals would have had 147 kids, while the conservatives would have had 208. That's a fertility gap of 41 percent...Now superimpose this on a map of the United States. The highest fertility rate is found in the most Republican state, Utah, home to the Mormon Church. The lowest fertility belongs to Vermont, a state liberal enough to be the first to sanction gay unions. The states with the next highest fertility rates, according to the latest National Center for Health Statistics survey, are Arizona, Alaska and Texas, otherwise known as 'red states.' States with the next lowest fertility rates are Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, all 'blue states.'"
Contrary to popular belief, conservatives enjoy sex. Meanwhile, liberals are sewing the seeds of their own long-term defeat by limiting family size, for one reason or another. The exact causation is probably complicated and abstract, having to do largely with religion and lifestyle. The urban/suburban/rural trichotomy probably also plays a role, as well as education, income, feminism, and regional culture. They're all valid explanations, but the end result is always the same - fewer liberals in the future.
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 12
ulaikamor
posted 10/10/07 @ 9:00 AM EST
Although they have only themselves to blame, I'm pretty sure they'll find someone else to blame for this. Probably another evil conspiracy by the Bush Admnistration to destroy freedom and democracy. (Continued…)
Steve
posted 10/10/07 @ 9:32 AM EST
wow. nothing like a hate filled republican bashing liberals to start off the day.
One of my favorite ironies is how childish and petty conservative republicans are. (Continued…)
njoriole
posted 10/10/07 @ 5:20 PM EST
That's "sowing" the seeds. (Nobody applies a needle and thread to seeds, now do they?) Otherwise, this article describes fairly well what James taranto of the WS Journal's "Best of the Web Today" blog calls "the Roe effect. (Continued…)
Dave
posted 10/12/07 @ 1:26 AM EST
"silver-haired liberals growing old somewhere in the Pioneer Valley"
I see you've met my sister (now 35) and her boyfriend:
Sister: Birds are nice. (Continued…)
Blair
posted 10/12/07 @ 1:31 PM EST
I disagree that "Contrary to popular belief, conservatives enjoy sex." I think conservatives enjoy sex very much, though I worry about the way they engage appropriately in comparison to their public facade. (Continued…)
Blair
posted 10/12/07 @ 1:32 PM EST
I have several problems with this essay, most are with the merits, and one is on the overall tone. I also contest several references to blatant and false characterizations of liberals and their policies but I will avoid those issues in this response. (Continued…)
anon
posted 10/15/07 @ 10:48 AM EST
Every day, the Editorial Opinion pages are filled with false and unsupported blanket generalizations about groups of people, or columns that sound like a bar room rant that they decided to type up and send. (Continued…)
Dave
posted 10/16/07 @ 3:32 PM EST
What a hoot. Obviously the writer is delusional if he thinks that the US is becoming more conservative, even with "conservatives" having more kids and liberals having only the number they want, often adopting rather than bringing new mouths into the planet to feed. (Continued…)
leebert
posted 10/27/07 @ 10:07 AM EST
The question is ideological drift, and whether the progeny of the next big demographic trend, latin catholics and mormons, will retain their conservative nature in this century. (Continued…)
Kristy
posted 3/05/08 @ 1:07 PM EST
I am Consevative and Child Free. I think you meant the Christian Right will take over sir. The rabid religious faithful that think babies are God's gift and the only purpose one has in life. (Continued…)
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