The Young and the Brainless?
if you're not a liberal when you're young, you have no heartif you're not a conservative when you're old, you have no brain
I'm sure that's a quote from someone important, or at least someone well known, and not the random man who recited it to me at Starbucks earlier this evening. How I got into a discussion of politics while waiting for my frappucino is less interesting than the theory behind this quote, so I'll explore the latter.
It is a common conception that the young are liberal and the older are conservative. This idea is what prompts leftist groups to push for the youth vote and right-wing politicians to obsess about Social Security. But do we truly lose our heart, our feelings, as we get older and more cynical?
Maybe the age and political persuasion divide has to do with the fact most people in their teens and twenties haven't yet had to work to survive. Many of us are privledged enough to have parents to provide for our every need from Pop Tarts to Seven jeans to a Bachelor's degree. Perhaps even that first decade in the workforce does little to taint our view of liberal politics. Work doesn't seem so bad when we're only paying for ourselves, right?
When a family comes into the picture is when the shift seems to happen. It is then that property, pension, and private school become more important than humanitarianism, civil liberties, and gun control. But is it really all about the Benjamins?
Thoughts? Why are so many young people liberal, and so many older people conservative? And what about the odd balls - the young conservatives and old liberals - what causes this break from the stereotype?
posted by Tina @ 7:31 PM
6 Comments:
An old liberal is a person who will struggle through life with an idealistic view of the world in which we live.
A young conservative is a highly intelligent life form that will grow on to develop unparalleled wisdom as he/she ages.
The world is always worth saving; just remember that we are not always the only ones writing the ground rules. We must constantly adapt to the new challenges dealt to us by others and continue to work toward solutions that benefit the good of all mankind. I believe that's what defines conservative views.
It's not always about political sides, social status or the age of an individual. I believe it's always been about what benefits all Americans and the US as a whole.
I guess none of us can truly say we'll always be one way or another. I do think that when people say "idealogical" they're underestimating our power. If our elected officials really wanted to aid foreign countries and save their fellow man, they could. We have enough money as a world power to do good for the human race. I don't understand how people can justify our administration when hundreds of thousands of people around the world are starving while an unsettling number of US citizens are fat.
If we don't write the ground rules, who does? We have the potential to do so much good, so why not be the pioneers in doing so?
I can't imagine tax breaks being more important than, for example, fighting AIDS...but that's just me :/
Joe
I sort of wonder if its not that becoming old, getting property and family makes us conservative (although I'm sure that IS a big part of it)...as much as that when we get old our "liberal" views are the conservative views of that contemporaries.
Maybe we're all destined to be our parents, and our kids will look at us and say how could we be so closeminded and conservative.
scary thought.
I believe it was Robert Frost who said that.
Young people are normally more idealistic and are attracted to causes and like-minded groups. As for old folks, what's new politically probably frightens them. For example, I think gay marriage will eventually become legal nationwide but it's generational right now.
The older one gets, the more she has to conserve. This is more easily understood if you have children.
When you are young, everything is new and exciting. You want to go out and build your own world.
When you are older, you are used to things the way they are and resist change. You want to cling to the life you have built.
The Young and the Restless.
vs.
The Old and the Content.
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