Red-Blue Roundtable: John Zogby
We have pretty well established the many ways in which Americans have figured out to divide ourselves into warring political cultures. There are a number of ways to move beyond this. One of my colleagues has written very eloquently about "microtrends," small little clusters of new demographic groups that provide guideposts for strategists and marketers. My approach has been to find broad areas of commonality, the overarching groupings that tens of millions of Americans find themselves in. That is how we build bridges, reach consensus, and move a nation forward, as opposed to locking it into gridlock and political entropy. And the exciting thing is that these large clusters and meta-movements are being driven by the people themselves. Thus, instead of a quadrillion little pieces of religious fragments, tens of millions of Americans are adopting a Secular Spiritualism – a myriad of ways to reject and avoid materialism and crass consumerism, replacing it with a search for a broader purpose to their lives.
There is a new investor class – The Investor Next Door – who reject the Michael Douglas character and the message of "greed is good" in the movie Wall Street. These new investors have modest expectations for a comfortable retirement and educating their kids and they increasingly prefer socially responsible investments. I even redefine age cohorts and try to fit them into a role they will play in a new America defined by living within limits.
There have been huge tectonic changes in our lives since the 1970s -- remember we lost the war, dealt with stagflation, experienced commodity shortages, were at the knees of an oil embargo, and saw our economy shift. The truth is Americans have come to understand this, whether they experience a shrinking dollar in their own lives or a dollar that just seems to mean less the more they get. There are also tens of millions of Baby Boomers who will face 25 to 35 more years of healthy living after their retirement. These are Americans who are making changes in their own lives and making different kinds of choices as consumers.
It is our institutions and leaders that are seriously lagging. The people get it just fine. There is a new political consensus – for change, for problem-solving, for consensus-building – instead of partisanship and there is a new American consumer. --John Zogby
See the whole Red-Blue Roundtable.
on October 09, 2008 at 07:52 AM
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Best wishes, Ron Robins