America's cultural generation gap

NYC street
A crowd of people cross the street in midtown Manhattan on October 31, 2011 in New York City.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

The latest demographic data shows two major trends in America that could reshape the country's policies. As America becomes more racially diverse among the youngest section of the population, much of the country is also aging and predominately white.

Ron Brownstein, whose directing the National Journal's project "The Next America," wrote about this dynamic:

"These twin developments are creating what could be called a generational mismatch, or a 'cultural generation gap' as [demographer William Frey of the Brookings Institution] labels it," Brownstein wrote. "A contrast in needs, attitudes, and priorities is arising between a heavily (and soon majority) nonwhite population of young people and an overwhelmingly white cohort of older people. Like tectonic plates, these slow-moving but irreversible forces may generate enormous turbulence as they grind against each other in the years ahead."

Brownstein joined The Daily Circuit to talk about how these changes in America's demographics will shape public life in the future.

KERRI'S TAKEAWAY

Age and race are changing the face of America and there are a lot of political and social issues that go along with that.

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