Gravitymaster 0 #1 September 17, 2006 Republicans' fertile future Through the past three decades, conservatives have been procreating more than liberals Vicki Haddock, Insight Staff Writer Sunday, September 17, 2006 If you're a liberal, here's what you can do to make Karl Rove a very happy man: Get yourself a labradoodle. Or any other kind of dog, for that matter. Even a cat will do. Just don't have children. That way you'll maintain a fertility gap that already is invisibly working to guarantee the political right will outnumber the left by an ever-growing margin. Over the past three decades, conservatives have been procreating more than liberals -- continuing to seed the future with their genes by filling bassinets coast to coast with tiny Future Republicans of America. 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. Even adjusting for other variables like age and income, there is a gap of 19 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." So what does it mean that the birth rate in Salt Lake City far outstrips that of liberal San Francisco (where dogs supposedly outnumber children)? "Liberals have got a big 'baby problem,' and it risks being the death of them," contends Arthur Brooks, professor at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Public Affairs. He reckons that unless something gives, Democratic politicians in the future may not have many babies to kiss. "When secular-minded Americans decide to have few, or no, children, they unwittingly give a strong evolutionary advantage to the other side of the culture divide," writes Phillip Longman, senior fellow at the New America Foundation. "If 'Metros' don't start having more children, America's future is 'Retro.' " But wait, you may say: the attitudes of the parents don't determine what ideology or political party their offspring will adopt as their own. Yet they usually do. Political scientists have long found that 4 out of 5 people with a party preference grow up to vote the way their parents voted. In fact, while many people experience a temporary rejection of their parents' politics in very early adulthood, virtually nothing is more predictive of your political ideology than that of your parents -- it's more of a determining factor than income, education or any other societal yardstick. There are exceptions: While only 20 percent eschew their parents' ideology, they do, after all, add up to a lot of people. And despite ample instances of Republicans in Southern states being raised by parents who once identified as Democrats, those parents were actually conservative Democrats who became Reagan Democrats and ultimately migrated to the GOP. The party labels changed, but the political ideology remains consistent from generation to generation. "Right now this theory really applies to political parties as well as ideology, because the parties have become incredibly well sorted by ideology," says Marc Hetherington, associate professor of political science at Vanderbilt University who studies political identification. In other words, in 2006 a conservative is going to find a cozy home in the Republican Party, and a liberal can expect the same in the Democratic Party. Thus Democrats will breed Democrats, and Republicans will breed Republicans -- the blue states reddening every day. This phenomenon has prompted writer Steve Sailer to offer a prescription for ensuring a GOP majority to his readers in the American Conservative. "Because Democrats win when Americans don't marry and don't have children," he notes, "publicly label them as what they are: the party that thrives on loneliness." In truth, it's more complicated. As far as sex goes, liberals and conservatives, Republicans and Democrats report having it with equal frequency, according to an online survey taken in November by Ken Berwitz, partner in the market research firm National Qualitative Centers Inc. Liberalism doesn't induce celibacy or frigidity, any more than conservatism can be mistaken for an aphrodisiac. So how else to explain the fertility gap? Limited space is one consideration. Liberals are most concentrated in cities, but such urban dwellers pay more for far less real estate than do rural dwellers -- meaning they have less money to pay for the costs of children, and fewer rooms and smaller yards in which to put them. Religion is another factor. Some of the most ardent conservatives are religious fundamentalists who believe they have been bidden by God to go forth and multiply. These conservatives, now overwhelmingly Republican, see large families as blessings, abortion as sacrilege, birth control as potentially sinful. Indeed people who attend church weekly are twice as likely as those who seldom attend to say their ideal family size is three or more children. (This "relentlessly pro-natal" orientation, Longman contended in a recent issue of the journal Foreign Policy, threatens a not-too-distant future in which zealous Christians and radical Muslims inherit the Earth and usher in "new Dark Ages"). Conversely, other influences depress the number of children born to liberals. Liberal women are statistically more likely to delay childbirth into later years than are conservative women, and they may also be more open to abortion, although the data is unclear. Gays and lesbians, who vote Democratic by a roughly 4-1 ratio, are much less likely to have children than heterosexuals. And some on the left advocate fewer children as "socially responsible" to lessen the toll on the planet's finite resources. When it comes to California, the wildcard is our burgeoning immigrant population. Here, the highest fertility rates are among Latinas, an ethnic group that is historically liberal on economic issues and allied with the Democratic Party. This might seem to suggest that time is on the side of liberals in the Golden State, which already has become bluer since the Reagan years. Conversely, the highest fertility rates are among Latinas who are in the country illegally, lacking voting rights. As they move through the cycles of first-, second- and third-generation immigration, their fertility rates drop and they may become more economically conservative precisely at the time they are more likely to vote. Already they identify as conservative on social issues such as abortion and gay rights. So are their offspring destined to be liberal or conservative? "Therein lies the interesting political question," observed Michael Alvarez, professor of political science at the California Institute of Technology. "Depending on how the political parties react to Hispanics in the near term, and the future, they could largely gravitate to one party over the other -- or they could evolve into a swing electorate." Such uncertainties about behavior and demographics make some experts like Alvarez wary of forecasts that liberals will become an endangered species. Demographics are, almost by definition, processes of distilling complexity into generality, messy diversity into neatly tied bundles of averages. Several caveats could belie a liberal "baby bust." Party identification could wane, or a third party emerge. And a cataclysmic political event might shake up the sorting that makes the Democratic Party indisputably for liberals and the GOP the only choice for conservatives, prompting offspring to remain faithful to their parents' ideology while switching parties. Example: Another major terrorist attack might prompt the GOP to nominate a candidate like former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who is also pro-choice on abortion and a supporter of gay rights and gun control. In the meantime, liberals might mull over their options for thwarting Rove by bridging the fertility gap. In the Italian city of Venice, vendors sell tourists wishing to feed the ubiquitous pigeons bags of birdseed surreptitiously laced with birth control. But infiltrating the water system in Salt Lake City seems a rather diabolical tactic in pursuit of political domination. Syracuse's Brooks offers this suggestion to Democrats instead: Quit having pets. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lucky... 0 #2 September 17, 2006 QuoteTake a randomly selected sample of 100 liberal adults and 100 conservative adults Such a great sample size, must be a reliable, representative survey. Also, look at the Regan son, he was abron coserv, yet now very lib; libs are often made from too much conservatism, so I don't see an absolute correlation between conserv parents and conserv offspring. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gravitymaster 0 #3 September 17, 2006 QuoteQuoteTake a randomly selected sample of 100 liberal adults and 100 conservative adults Such a great sample size, must be a reliable, representative survey. Also, look at the Regan son, he was abron coserv, yet now very lib; libs are often made from too much conservatism, so I don't see an absolute correlation between conserv parents and conserv offspring. I only posted because I found it amusing. I didn't actually expect anyone to take it seriously and dissect it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kallend 2,148 #4 September 17, 2006 QuoteQuoteQuoteTake a randomly selected sample of 100 liberal adults and 100 conservative adults Such a great sample size, must be a reliable, representative survey. Also, look at the Regan son, he was abron coserv, yet now very lib; libs are often made from too much conservatism, so I don't see an absolute correlation between conserv parents and conserv offspring. I only posted because I found it amusing. I didn't actually expect anyone to take it seriously and dissect it. Well, there goes the "welfare mother popping them out" myth.... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andy9o8 2 #5 September 17, 2006 Actually, you make a valid point: Now more than ever, conservatives need to go fuck themselves. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lucky... 0 #6 September 18, 2006 QuoteQuoteQuoteTake a randomly selected sample of 100 liberal adults and 100 conservative adults Such a great sample size, must be a reliable, representative survey. Also, look at the Regan son, he was abron coserv, yet now very lib; libs are often made from too much conservatism, so I don't see an absolute correlation between conserv parents and conserv offspring. I only posted because I found it amusing. I didn't actually expect anyone to take it seriously and dissect it. Next time you post an articel you think is a joke, just say so. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lucky... 0 #7 September 18, 2006 QuoteActually, you make a valid point: Now more than ever, conservatives need to go fuck themselves.------> Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
livetofall 0 #8 September 18, 2006 QuoteQuoteQuoteTake a randomly selected sample of 100 liberal adults and 100 conservative adults Such a great sample size, must be a reliable, representative survey. Also, look at the Regan son, he was abron coserv, yet now very lib; libs are often made from too much conservatism, so I don't see an absolute correlation between conserv parents and conserv offspring. I only posted because I found it amusing. I didn't actually expect anyone to take it seriously and dissect it. You think this is bad? please visit my thread"how liberals spent our tax dollars" the fact is that alot of us that grew up middleclass, blue collar dad,mom at home, grew up Dem and were taught Dem. things have changed. Clinton broke the camels back with China free trade. Most went green party. Fact is now that the Dem party represents gun control, special queer rights, the infliction of the Rite of marriage. Affirmative action-the anti-white bill, taking God out of the Pledge of alligiance, oh and the big one..teach gradeschoolers about butt pirates..thats it enough..keep your perversion to the bedroom and quit trying to convince kids that it is "normal", it confuses their innocent minds. Sex ed is not suppose to be till high school anyway. This is why there is more red than blue, they have lost their honest workingman family vote. Hope this clears this up to some..you might just find out your a closet conservative!www.911missinglinks.com the definitive truth of 9/11..the who and why, not how You can handle the TRUTH www.theforbiddentruth.net Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lucky... 0 #9 September 18, 2006 QuoteQuoteQuoteQuoteTake a randomly selected sample of 100 liberal adults and 100 conservative adults Such a great sample size, must be a reliable, representative survey. Also, look at the Regan son, he was abron coserv, yet now very lib; libs are often made from too much conservatism, so I don't see an absolute correlation between conserv parents and conserv offspring. I only posted because I found it amusing. I didn't actually expect anyone to take it seriously and dissect it. You think this is bad? please visit my thread"how liberals spent our tax dollars" the fact is that alot of us that grew up middleclass, blue collar dad,mom at home, grew up Dem and were taught Dem. things have changed. Clinton broke the camels back with China free trade. Most went green party. Fact is now that the Dem party represents gun control, special queer rights, the infliction of the Rite of marriage. Affirmative action-the anti-white bill, taking God out of the Pledge of alligiance, oh and the big one..teach gradeschoolers about butt pirates..thats it enough..keep your perversion to the bedroom and quit trying to convince kids that it is "normal", it confuses their innocent minds. Sex ed is not suppose to be till high school anyway. This is why there is more red than blue, they have lost their honest workingman family vote. Hope this clears this up to some..you might just find out your a closet conservative! Quotethe fact is that alot of us that grew up middleclass, blue collar dad,mom at home, grew up Dem and were taught Dem. things have changed. How old are you, 80? If you are less than that then the Repubs were in power, so I don't get your persoanl rendition of Norman Rockewell's Democratic Americana. QuoteClinton broke the camels back with China free trade. Oh, that thing the Republican Congress put thru in 93? WHat has Bush and his Republican Congress done about it other than expand it? I suppose NAFTA was all Clinton's doing too, even tho Bush 1 initiated it. QuoteMost went green party. So the Green Party has 30%+ populous vote? Hmmmm, you might be wrong here. QuoteFact is now that the Dem party represents gun control,... Really? Why did the NRA revoke Bush1's membership? Why did Bush 2 promise to sign Clinton's Assault Weapon's Ban if Congress passed it to him? You might want to rethink that one. Quotespecial queer rights Which rights? Are you a homophobe? Quotethe infliction of the Rite of marriage. Is that a yes? QuoteAffirmative action-the anti-white bill, Did you ever know, or are you just ignoring the U of Michigan case where a white female sued for not being admitted into their law school, the SCOTUS decided 7-2 to uphold AA and affirm the lower courts - rubber stamped AA for at least the next 25 years. BTW, the SCOTUS is packed by Republican presidents at a 7-2 ratio. Are you sure AA is a Dem thing? Quotetaking God out of the Pledge of alligiance, That is a horrible thing. If the pledge wasn't in there we couldn't continue to forcibly shove religion down the throats of our kids, as the US Const protects us against. Only 2 other countries have had a mandated pledge in their schools: Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Quoteteach gradeschoolers about butt pirates Arrrrrggggghhhh mattie, whatcher talkin 'bout? Specifically what are you talking about? Quotekeep your perversion to the bedroom and quit trying to convince kids that it is "normal", it confuses their innocent minds. Sex ed is not suppose to be till high school anyway. And so the Catholic Church is full of liberals? BTW, what are you talking about with your techings? QuoteThis is why there is more red than blue, they have lost their honest workingman family vote. Actually, no. The Dems have their faithful following, but the right has the GOP fiscal oldies and the moral right. These numbers are too large to upset, so it's taking a total fucking of the gov, such as they have done with the 3 recent Repub presidents being responsible for 70% of the 8.5T debt, meaningless wars and non-existent healthcare to cause a waking of the people. Unfortunatley the people can't just forsee these things, they have to wait until we're in the cellar. But all the fearmingering you have demonstrated is part of the swing to the right. War on Communism against a feeble enemy, war on drugs, war on terrorism; all these are designed to muster fear, thus votes for the great protectors against ghost enemies. What really threw the thing to the Repubs was LBJ's minority legislation he signed. Yellow dog Dems switched and since then we've had only 2 dem presidents, both from the south. That is what really precipitated the switch. As for the workingman's family, do you think the Ergonomics Bill, SCOTUS HMO decision, the Bankruptcy Law and the Overtime Law are helpers to working families? You can't be serious... QuoteHope this clears this up to some.. Not really, because much of what you posted either isn't true or isn't exclusively attributable to the Dems..... but I do appreciate your angry RW rhetoric, Strom Thurmond. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SpeedRacer 1 #10 September 18, 2006 Quote Conservatives Outbreeding Liberals <> "Have yer seen the Conservatives that moved in next door?" "Oh, yes. There goes the neighborhood!" "And they breed like rabbits!" Speed Racer -------------------------------------------------- Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
idrankwhat 0 #11 September 18, 2006 QuoteRepublicans' fertile future Through the past three decades, conservatives have been procreating more than liberals Yea, and here's the resulting offspring http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=2455343&page=1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lucky... 0 #12 September 18, 2006 QuoteQuoteRepublicans' fertile future Through the past three decades, conservatives have been procreating more than liberals Yea, and here's the resulting offspring http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=2455343&page=1 Maybe that's how abortion doctor killers get started..... How sick these same people denounce Arab terrorists when they breed the same ideologies of hate, exclusion and non-acceptance. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amazon 7 #13 September 18, 2006 GM.. this is a good thing.. LOTS of believers to send off to war in the name of Neo-Conservatism and the New World Order.... IF you can get them to enlist They dont have a real good record on that based on the statistics of the current administration..they have taken their parents advice and stayed home in DROVES. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SpeedRacer 1 #14 September 18, 2006 don't think that's true, actually. only the rich "fortunate sons" are staying home. Speed Racer -------------------------------------------------- Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amazon 7 #15 September 18, 2006 Quotedon't think that's true, actually. only the rich "fortunate sons" are staying home. Remember that once upon a time.. that leaders actually led... from the front of their armies... at least the great ones did... I am being sooooooo last millenium huh. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lucky... 0 #16 September 18, 2006 QuoteGM.. this is a good thing.. LOTS of believers to send off to war in the name of Neo-Conservatism and the New World Order.... IF you can get them to enlist They dont have a real good record on that based on the statistics of the current administration..they have taken their parents advice and stayed home in DROVES. It used to be considered an honor for the rich and elite to go into battle and die there if neccessary. I don't know when it turned, but reading about Elvis enlisting prety much exemplifies anyone with status enlisting. They seem to be used as fodder for the poor to enlist. A break from that would be Pat Tillman, but I think he was just plain fucking nutty. What the rich do now is complain about tax money going to the poor, until it's time to spend that tax money on a war, then they demand the poor go into battle and create exceptions for college kids, often from 'good' homes to stay home. Total classim and exploitation, wrapped in a very burnable flag Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lucky... 0 #17 September 18, 2006 Are ya MIA???? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SkyDekker 1,465 #18 September 18, 2006 Well Duh, we all know conservatives don't believe in blowjobs Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nightingale 0 #19 September 18, 2006 Seems to me that kids raised in an extremist environment tend to end up exactly the opposite of what their parents expect. Just in my own life, I've seen: Children of hippies ending up corporate lawyers Children of athiests ending up finding religion Children of strong conservatives ending up ACLU members Children of born-again Christians ending up Wiccan Children of academics ending up high school dropouts Children of people afraid of risk ending up jumping out of planes (that'd be me) I think it's that so much parental pressure comes from a single direction that sooner or later, the kid has to push back or roll over. Most of the kids I know pushed back. YMMV. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
goofyjumper 0 #20 September 18, 2006 QuoteQuoteGM.. this is a good thing.. LOTS of believers to send off to war in the name of Neo-Conservatism and the New World Order.... IF you can get them to enlist They dont have a real good record on that based on the statistics of the current administration..they have taken their parents advice and stayed home in DROVES. It used to be considered an honor for the rich and elite to go into battle and die there if neccessary. I don't know when it turned, but reading about Elvis enlisting prety much exemplifies anyone with status enlisting. They seem to be used as fodder for the poor to enlist. A break from that would be Pat Tillman, but I think he was just plain fucking nutty. What the rich do now is complain about tax money going to the poor, until it's time to spend that tax money on a war, then they demand the poor go into battle and create exceptions for college kids, often from 'good' homes to stay home. Total classim and exploitation, wrapped in a very burnable flag Amen to that!----------------- I love and Miss you so much Honey! Orfun #3 ~ Darla Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
