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The Call @ Hedgeye | March 28, 2024

Newswire: 5/21/20

We are moving to a new format for the NewsWire. Instead of publishing one large weekly issue, we will be publishing daily commentary six days a week, Monday through Saturday. We will begin each week with our feature story. 

  • According to a new report, most college students (81%) want a campus environment where they are exposed to all types of speech, even if it’s offensive. At the same time, almost as many (78%) favor having “safe spaces,” and the shares who believe certain types of speech should be restricted have grown since 2016. (Knight Foundation and Gallup)
    • NH: It makes older generations cringe when they read about Millennials and "safe spaces." But the stereotypes around snowflake Millennials and free speech are often overblown. 81% of college students still believe universities should allow speech even if it's "offensive." See "Is Free Speech Dead on College Campuses?"
    • So how can Millennials both want free speech and safe spaces? As it affects the individual, most are fine with offensive language. But as it affects the broader community, they worry someone else will be offended. They want to build an inclusive environment that protects the most vulnerable. Very few colleges actually have physical "safe spaces." The concept is more of an ideal than a reality. 
    • But a "safe culture" is an ideal with consequences. As Millennials mature into the age of national leadership, I do predict they will tighten up on permissible speech. It's already happening in social media (often to the ire of conservatives), where apps like Twitter ban controversial figures like Alex Jones and Roger Stone. 
    • Older generations should keep this in mind: In imposing restrictions on public discourse--that is, in trying to cleanse the culture of nastiness--Millennials are following in the footsteps of many powerful generations before them. Just look at the GI Generation and what they did after coming home from World War II. From the late 1940s to the early 1960s, the GIs purged the culture of all the danger and meanness they recalled from their Roaring Twenties' childhood. For midlife GI leaders during the American High, if it wasn't wholesome, positive, mainstream, and nice, it just wasn't allowed. (Their young Boomer offspring hated them for this, of course... but that's another story.)
    • Could Millennials be following the G.Is footsteps? I think so. They are already changing entertainment. (See "All Aboard the Smile Train" and "Niceness is Taking Over TV."). Give them another couple of decades, and they will change everything else.

Will Millennials Suppress Free Speech? NewsWire - May18 Chart3

Will Millennials Suppress Free Speech? NewsWire - May18 Chart4

  • The Pew Research Center has released its first big analysis comparing Generation Z (those born after 1996) to older generations. When it comes to most issues facing the country, Gen Z’s views match those of Millennials, but in some cases their views are stronger or more intense. (Pew Research Center)
    • NH: You have to be careful with surveys like this. Pew defines Gen Z as anyone born after 1996. By this definition, its oldest members are college graduates, living alone for the first time. In this phase of life, every generation experiments a bit with new beliefs and lifestyles. It's well documented, for example, that the young adults of any generation tend to lose interest in traditional religion when they first leave home--but then tend to reacquire that interest once they get married and start having children.
    • Still, with that caveat, what did this study find? Mostly what we have been saying for years. Early wave Gen Zers are very similar to late wave Millennials. 48% of Gen Zers and 47% of Millennials say same-sex marriage is good for society. 54% of Gen Zers and 56% of Millennials say humans cause climate change. And 50% of Gen Zers and 47% of Millennials think society is not accepting of gender-neutral people. See "Millennials and Their Continuity of Generational Traits."
    • One place Gen Z is more intense than Millennials is their want of an activist government. 70% of Gen Zers say the government should do more to solve the world's problems, while only 64% of Millennials say the same thing.  

Will Millennials Suppress Free Speech? NewsWire - May18 Chart5

Will Millennials Suppress Free Speech? NewsWire - May18 Chart6