The cultural chasm that’s not going away.

When colour television came of age in the 1970s, the big three networks (all we had back then) had a field day. While politicians prattled on about a colour-blind society (didn’t work), television’s graphic artists colour-coded everything. Long story, but that’s how we got the red state-blue state paradigm where Republican voting states are red states and Democratic voting states are blue.  

Today the terms "red state" and "blue state" are staples in the national lexicon. Swing states that vote either way are purple states.

However, red and blue states differ in more than voting patterns. Red states have higher birth rates than blue states.

According to the 2020 Census, the top ten states with the highest birth rates are all red states. They are, from highest to lowest: South Dakota, North Dakota, Alaska, Nebraska, Utah, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Iowa. All of them voted for President Trump in 2020.

The bottom ten birthrate states, starting with the lowest, are Vermont, Rhode Island, Oregon, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Connecticut, Colorado, California and New Mexico. Every one of them went for President Biden in 2020.

Different values

Red states are more culturally conservative than blue states. This reveals something interesting about American society. CatholicVote.org covered this well:

[A]ccording to Fox News, there are three factors that statistically relate to higher birth rates and these factors are seen in the states with more births. The factors are a state’s cost of living (a lower cost of living associated with a higher birth rate); the share of residents who seldom or never attend religious services (with a lower connection to organized religion associated with lower birth rates); and the 2020 vote for Joe Biden (with states that gave Biden the largest share having the lowest birth rates).

There you have it. Blue state costs of living are higher than red states, blue state folks are significantly less religious, they tend to vote for “progressive” Democrats, and have fewer children per capita.

This hasn’t always been the case. While division is nothing new in America, today’s deep-seated conflict of values is without precedent in American history. Even opposing sides in the Civil War agreed on the definitions of man, woman and family and shared common standards of decency and decorum which secularist Modernism has since swept away. Pronatalism was the norm, and children were considered a blessing by people of radically different social, political and religious perspectives.    

What happened?

Family tensions

Back in the 1950s, the postwar baby boom took off. American fertility jumped to a rate of 3.7, almost 60 percent above the 2.1 replacement level. With postwar prosperity the US became more affluent, more “culturally liberal,” and head-over-heels consumerist. Globalism set in, and everything, including families and children, was commoditised. This morphed into a pressure cooker for the American family. While wages and salaries increased, two-income families became a necessity as the value of money diminished (thank you, Federal Reserve). Many homes became dormitories. The mass importation of cheap labour justified by “diversity” agitprop eroded social cohesion.

An integral part of this was consumerism. Spending stimulates the economy! Surveys revealed that television sets were on for several hours daily in American homes, and operant conditioning via advertising did its work. Priorities changed. Skyrocketing consumer debt brought instant gratification. The latest creature comforts became social necessities. The concept of “saving up” for something was so old hat. It was as if government, the education establishment and popular culture colluded to telegraph the message that children hinder progress, tax the environment, impede career success and are financially burdensome.

But children are progress. Yes, they are a career choice, but obviously much more than that. Financially burdensome? Yes, if children are seen as a burden rather than a blessing. Children are family, love, continuity and much else not quantifiable in the material realm.