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
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