Do you grow more liberal or conservative as you grow older?

[Downtown Hound]

Two years ago, I hit that magic 30 mark in age. The age when I was supposed to become more conservative and was not to be trusted by anyone younger than me. The thing is, I find that every year I get older, I don't just get more liberal, I get more radical. I'm at the point where I just think corporate society needs to go. It doesn't work and never will. When I was in my 20's I believed that capitalism done correctly could work. I was more of a reform the present system kind of guy rather than throw it out and start anew. Now, I don't really believe that anymore. I think our way of life is both unjust and suicidal, consuming and consuming and consuming until there's nothing left to consume. I've even begun reading different books on anarchism in its many different forms.

I'm interested in hearing what others have to say. I am currently single, no kids, never been married although I did come very close one time, and I work in IT. I think things like having kids and families probably effects your political views a lot. Since I have none, I'm wondering how that might influence the views of those who do. Did having kids change your outlook on politics? Did it maybe make you a little more conservative on issues like drugs, but maybe more concerned about things like global warming?

Vote and discuss if you please....

[liberal N proud]

1. Life long conservatives will try to tell you there are no old liberals

To which I scoff at

[old mark]

6. They will also tell you that Palin would be a good President.

Both are equally bullshit.


mark

[boomerbust]

2. No Brainer

[Ron Green]

3. If you're fundamentally fear-based, you become more conservative. If you're fundamentally

love-oriented, you become more liberal.

That's the way it works.

[EFerrari]

7. If you are teachable, you learn over time that trying to control people

doesn't work very well for very long.

[Jane Austin]

10. You said a mouthful, SFexPat!

Even without learning that, though, these damned Rethuglicans are making a radical out of me. :)

[rucky]

4. At this rate, I'll be left of Chomsky by age 40. n/t

[TahitiNut]

5. By the time I'm 70, I'll be to the left of Fidel Castro..

:rofl:

[EFerrari]

8. We'll be waiting for you on the other side.

:rofl:

[tabbycat31]

9. I've noticed more liberal

of course my age is still at the point where a 2 is the first digit. Politically, in the 3 presidential elections I've voted in, I went from voting for a candidate simply because he shared my birthday (Gore), to donating money and supporting a candidate, but my motive was to get the other guy out of office (Kerry), to really feeling like I was voting for someone and not against the other guy (Obama).

I cast my first and only GOP vote in 2000 because I was sick of the media coverage of Hillary Clinton's Senate run and wanted her to go away. That was the only vote I ever regretted, but I did vote for her in 2006.

I really didn't care much about politics in 2000 and felt that my vote didn't matter (that election changed me). I didn't pay much attention in 2004 until I saw Farenheit 9/11 and watched the debates and DNC with interest. I didn't follow the campaign every day though. This time around, I voted in the primary for the first time (was independent when I lived in NY), I got the text message with the VP announcement, I phone banked, I canvassed, I went to two rallies (one Obama, one Biden), I traveled to my nearest swing state to help out. I watched events that I would normally watch at home at parties with local and not so local Democrats. Instead of jumping for joy and calling/IMing all my friends at home when victory came, I was at a hotel in PA and hugged complete strangers wtih tears in my eyes.

As I get older, I noticed the more I know the more liberal I become. I've only become more conservative on one issue (abortion). I'm still politically pro-choice, but now I am personally pro-life (meaning that I would not encourage anyone to get an abortion nor would I ever get one myself)

[annabanana]

11. I figure I'll be a raving, bomb throwing lunatic by the time

I hit my 80's

[SheilaT]

12. I am 60 years old.

I was probably still a teen when I first heard that asinine quote "If you're not liberal when you're young you have no heart, and if you're not conservative when you're older you have no brain. I thought is was ignorant claptrap more than forty years ago, and I still think it's ignorant claptrap.

Yes, people's views and opinions do often change over time. Mine certainly have. But I still remain a flaming liberal and hope to be so when my grandkids are visiting me in the nursing home.

[Libertyfirst]

13. I'm past 70 and Fidel is a centralist. n/t

[MiniMe]

14. I don't think that now it is because of age, it is because of *

I was always liberal, but I feel like I am pushing back against the last 8 years.

[MedleyMisty]

15. I'm turning 28 tomorrow

In fifth grade I had a subscription to Newsweek and I was probably a moderate liberal. I remember in International Relations at TIP the summer after 8th grade I didn't really identify with the three radical leftist people in the class and felt more in the middle - although I did not like the extreme right wing dude in the class at all. Plus, maybe it was more just that I didn't identify with the far left as expressed by 13 and 14 year old boys.

But I think I started out pretty strongly liberal - reading all the books on the Holocaust in the local library the winter I was nine gave me a nice solid anti-fascist foundation.

But yeah, definitely I've gotten more and more radical in the last decade. I don't know that it's so much a change in attitude though, as the knowledge I've accumulated. I think I always had the same basic principles. I just didn't always know the evils of our system.

I've been married for six and a bit years - no kids and never plan on having them. It does seem that people sell out some when they have kids, but not always - my mother didn't. She's the complete opposite of authoritarian - I hardly ever had any rules or expectations or much of any external structure growing up. For which I am forever grateful, even if it has made it hard to live under other people's forced structures like in school and at work. I wouldn't give up my internal freedom for anything.

[Turbineguy]

16. I am just as conservative now as in my youth.

The US moved to bat-shit crazy right-wing, making me look like a liberal.

[Frustratedlady]

17. I've always leaned more to the liberal side, although I didn't realize it.

I was raised to live and let live, help your neighbor and share with others who didn't have as much or were in need. I think many of us were raised that way, but some forgot it along the way.

The past 8 years have opened my eyes on the vast span between Dems and Repugs. When reading some of the posts on the Republican groups, I found myself shaking my head in disbelief. Their selfish and bigoted demeanor was so far removed from what I believed in, it made me promise myself to NEVER give up my liberal views.

When you have a family, your focus will turn more toward protecting them and their future. You'll pay more attention to education, health, abuse, war, etc. That's only natural. It's a good feeling, as it brings you back to your basics.

I know it sounds wrong, but I think of a conservative as one who wants to make as much money as possible and avoid paying taxes so they can hold onto it whether others are needing help, or not. In other words, they want their cake and eat it, too...and keep their taxes as low as possible. Let others pay the bills.

[Joe the Liberal]

18. Easy one..........

I'm Liberal now and have always been that way but I'm still pretty young (19). I heard that as you age you become more conservative but I doubt that will ever happen to me but only time will tell. Over the last 8 years Ive only become more and more liberal, I believe the environment you grow up in and the people you associate with help in developing your political ideologies.

[scarletwoman]

19. The older I get, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more radical I become.

I started out as a 60s anti-war leftist. I'm 59 now -- and I've only gone further left than I was in my youth. I stepped away from the mainstream well over 40 years ago, and have never stepped back.

sw

[TexasProgresive]

20. People don't change

They just become more of who the really are.