0:00 well hey there and welcome back to
0:00 himler history now we've been going
0:01 through unit four of the AP Government
0:03 curriculum and in this video we're going
0:04 to talk about how important events can
0:06 change or at least affect your political
0:08 beliefs so if you're ready to get them
0:09 brain cows milked then let's get to it
0:11 so in this video here's what we're
0:12 trying to do explain how cultural
0:14 factors influence political attitudes
0:16 and socialization so in the last couple
0:18 of videos we've been talking about a
0:19 phenomenon called political
0:20 socialization which is the process by
0:22 which we come to hold our political
0:24 beliefs and there are a lot of factors
0:25 that go into how we form those beliefs
0:27 from our family of origin to what we're
0:29 taught in school into what generation we
0:31 belong and now we just need to add one
0:32 more factor to the pot of political
0:34 socialization and once we do then baby
0:36 we got a stew going so the factor I'm
0:37 talking about is what the AP overlords
0:39 call political events and basically what
0:41 they mean by that is any event that is
0:43 deemed significant in the life of our
0:45 nation and depending on how significant
0:47 that event is it can have a
0:48 disproportionate effect on our political
0:50 beliefs so let me give you some examples
0:52 and again everything I'm saying here is
0:53 a generalization there are of course
0:55 exceptions so the silent generation who
0:57 if you remember were born roughly in the
0:58 1920s up through 19 45 spent their
1:00 formative years struggling through the
1:02 Great Depression job loss was rampant
1:04 and poverty became more and more common
1:06 in 1932 their parents elected Franklin D
1:08 Roosevelt as president and Roosevelt
1:10 expanded the federal government in ways
1:12 that would make George Washington poop
1:13 his pantaloons but he did this to
1:15 alleviate the suffering of Americans and
1:17 his new deal program created jobs for
1:19 people out of work and created an
1:20 economic Safety Net in the form of
1:22 Social Security now whether you agree
1:23 with those policies or not is not the
1:25 point the point is the silent generation
1:27 grew up in the midst of unimaginable
1:29 hardship and they witnessed the growth
1:30 of the federal government in order to
1:32 step in and help so that major event
1:34 combined with the government's
1:35 performance in World War II LED this
1:37 generation to trust the government to
1:39 intervene for their safety and
1:40 well-being and that in turn influenced
1:43 how they voted now the Baby Boomers
1:44 lived through the Vietnam War and that
1:46 trust in government was sarily flushed
1:48 down the toilet after the release of the
1:49 Pentagon papers which we talked about in
1:51 unit 3 it was made clear that the
1:53 government had been lying about the
1:54 nature and progress of the war in fact
1:56 they also witnessed Richard Nixon resign
1:58 his presidency because he was involved
2:00 in a plot an illegal plot to get
2:02 reelected so by the election of 1980
2:04 Boomers responded to these events with a
2:06 large scale migration from the
2:07 Democratic party to the Republican party
2:09 and why well we could hardly explain it
2:11 better than the man who won the
2:12 presidency in that year Ronald Reagan in
2:14 responding to the problem of the
2:15 economic crisis that had laid the nation
2:17 low he said in this present crisis
2:19 government is not the solution to our
2:21 problem government is the problem so for
2:24 all those Boomers who had seen firsthand
2:25 the problem the government caused during
2:27 the events of Vietnam a candidate who
2:29 said such a thing was able to win a
2:31 majority of their votes and why because
2:33 events influence our voting behavior
2:35 then if we think about Millennials the
2:37 defining event for that generation was
2:38 the terrorist attacks of September 11th
2:40 2001 in the months following that event
2:42 there was a profound unification
2:44 throughout the nation however once the
2:46 dust settled Millennials began to
2:47 articulate how this event didn't just
2:49 come out of nowhere as if we Americans
2:51 were just minding our own business and
2:52 these terrorists came and attacked us
2:53 unprovoked rather Millennials were able
2:55 to see that our world is more connected
2:56 than ever before and 9/11 was a result
2:59 at least partially of American over
3:00 intervention in the Middle East for
3:02 decades so in response to this event
3:04 Millennials have a keen sense of foreign
3:06 policy and how America interacts not
3:07 just with itself but with the wider
3:09 world and so that event led them to vote
3:11 for candidates who Champion cooperation
3:13 and bridge building with foreign Nations
3:15 rather than candidates who ran on a
3:16 platform of aggressive foreign policy so
3:18 again major events have a way of shaping
3:20 how we form our political beliefs and
3:21 ultimately how we end up voting now the
3:23 last thing I'm going to say in all these
3:24 examples that I've given I've shown you
3:26 how an event has influenced people to
3:27 vote for one party or another but again
3:29 those are just examples there were
3:31 plenty of people who opposed the New
3:32 Deal and plenty who grew more devoted to
3:34 the cause of aggressive American
3:35 intervention throughout the world after
3:36 9/11 so I'm not suggesting that these
3:38 political events will necessarily push
3:40 folks to vote one way or the other only
3:42 that these major events will likely have
3:44 a lasting effect on how people are
3:46 politically socialized whichever way
3:48 they end up voting okay thanks for
3:49 watching click right here and gra review
3:50 packet which is going to help you get an
3:51 A in your class and a five on your exam
3:53 in May and if this video helped you and
3:54 you want me to keep making them then you
3:55 can let me know that by subscribing and
3:57 you know me I shall oblige I'm l
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