Millennial hipsters, whatever generation follows them, and late Gen Xers have spent a lot of cultural capital ironically appropriating Americana, like trucker hats, lumberjack beards, and pearl button western shirts. But then a funny thing happened along the way to empty, wry, anti-fashion signaling.
When ironic stances become so ingrained (either by choice or necessitated by indigence) they’re indistinguishable from sincere adoption. I think this is what’s happening now among, yes, the faggiest, most hypersensitive and solipsistic generation in American history: the Millennials.
There are reports from the urban trenches of murmurings of Millennial patriotism — real patriotism that includes support for immigration controls and a genuine desire to connect with heartland America. Is it real and lasting? I don’t know, but Trumperica exerts a preternatural pull on its most constitutionally intransigent foes, turning them ever so slowly toward enlightenment. I don’t have the data before me, but I recall reading that Millennials voted the LEAST liberal and Democreep in 2016 of any youth generation before it.
America is very ill, but don’t count her out yet. That red pill is on the way.