The Personal Is The Apolitical

In popular stereotype, the freewheeling young are forever rebelling against the stodgy old. The reality is more complex. Polling commissioned by The Washington Post, Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard University finds 18-29-year-olds more conservative than their elders in some respects. And even on matters where it’s less traditionalist, the young cohort is scarcely a hotbed of countercultural sentiment. For instance, 24 percent of 18-29s say religion is “the most important thing” in their lives, and another 33 percent say it’s “very important” to them.