I'm in my early 40s, and I'm more of a leftist today than I was when I was 18.
this post was submitted on 28 Aug 2023
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As I get older I realize how much shittier of a world we are leaving for our kids. I’m 52 and much more cognizant of my more liberal views and how much more “correct” they are now than I was was in my early 20s. My age and wisdom have taught me this.
The entire premise of conservatism is that the way things are now (or how they recently were), and the projection of this into the future, is the best possible way for things to be. How absolutely stupid do you have to be to believe that?
"Let's just stop here, things are as good as they're going to get. No improvements can be made."
You can look at it too for looking at what causes people to be conservative.
Conservatism at its core psychological roots is fear of change. In a vacuum, people who are well served by the status quo are the ones least likely to want change. The historical adage of people becoming more conservative as they age was basically a result of that: when you're young you don't have much to lose from change. As you age you gain the opportunity to buy a house, to get married, to have kids, to get promoted at work and see your income go up significantly, to develop some meaningful job security. And so on. Thus, as people age they gained things, status, accomplishments, all the various life goals being accomplished. Even if change would probably make things better for them, they didn't want to risk it. Things were OK.
The reason we see that adage breakdown is because we've seen the core causes breakdown too. Buying a home five years ago was a struggle compared to how it was historically. Buying a home today costs so much that it makes buying a home five years ago look trivial. Many couples are now intentionally delaying or forgoing becoming parents because children cost so much: just giving birth can cost tens of thousands of dollars, and that's just to get them to day 1 of existence. Education costs keep going up. Job security is down. Wage increases are seen as something that even the "professional class" has to fight for, requiring a job hop to get a raise instead of getting one as par for the course from staying at an employer.
In light of that breakdown... far fewer people are afraid of the risk of change. The 30-something of today has a lot less at risk from change. Even much of the lower half of the upper middle class of today is far more able to stomach the risk of change.
It's really not a surprise at all.
It's actually simpler than that. Conservatism does not actually express any positive philosophy at all. Its premise is entirely reactionary.
This is the truth. I didn't have the education to articulate how I could tell that the world was fucked up when I was eighteen. Now I do, and I'm fucking furious at how dumb, hurtful, and hateful this world is. It doesn't have to be this way and never did.
Amen.
I thought there might be some truth to it as a kid. As a 40-something, I realize it was just selfish dicks trying to rationalize their own shitty "fuck you, I got mine" worldview as maturity somehow.
Same in my late 40s...
Conservatism only works when you have something to conserve.
We’re inheriting a dying world. Why would I want to conserve the actions and attitudes that precipitated that?
Exactly. It happened with older generations because they bought property. Most people under 40 can barely afford rent.
Hey now, as an older than 40 who has never been reasonably able to afford rent, don't forget us olds.
Honestly, same shit was happening to Gen X, which is why everyone was so aloof and "over it," just more of them managed to be brainwashed than millennials and Gen Z. It was a lot harder to fight against the indoctrination when literally every stupid fuck around you would parrot this shit until their deathbed, and their generation massively outnumbered yours.
Now Gen Z and millennials are more populous, and the script has indeed been flipped.
Bit over 40 here stressing about my next place to live. It's getting so expensive. When I started thus latest job I was a bit desperate due ro a year without work, and I basically asked for pay that would allow me to afford a single room apartment at the time. I've had raises since, and it still feels like I can barely afford the same thing. One of my uncles thinks my opinion doesn't matter because I don't own a home, so I'm "unsuccessful", and we should listen to successful home owners like them.
We're incapable of mounting a defence of our objectively moronic positions, so we'll just smugly insist you'll understand when you grow up.
Brought to you by the entitled cunts that robbed the global economy and destroyed the environment, dooming the entire species.
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AFAIK turning conservative in your 30's only happens when you own property, and don't fully understand how you made it.
I own a property and don't fully understand how I made it but I'm not conservative. Fake it till you make it baby.
Also I'm aware generalisations always have anomalies, maybe I'm an anomaly.
I own property and I've only become more liberal over the years.
Helps if you grew up with a low but consistent daily dose of lead.
As I've gotten older, conservatism has gone from "opinions I don't share" with to "opinions I vehemently oppose".
Conservatives have offered NOTHING of value during my lifetime. It's all hate and fear mongering and pulling up ladders.
I have no interest in any of that.
I have a feeling whoever came up with that catchy saying was always a conservative douche and was just trying to make himself feel better about it.
I think a lot of it shook out of the hippie movement, where some people were just self serving narcissists that wanted to do drugs, have sex, and didn't want fight in a war. Then when they got families and jobs they didn't want government "stealing" their money to help other people, and so they "became" conservatives.
So they just assume narcissistic motivation applies to everyone.
I'll never forget the reason one boomer told me. They used to be a "leftist" hippy, but is now your typical conservative sucker. When I asked what happened to cause that change, I got the answer, "Just stopped caring about others." That's exaxtly the attitude you're describing.
Yeah, when boomers were getting into their thirties, the free-loving sixties were being replaced by the threat of AIDs and nuclear war. I guess I can get why those things might make people "conservative". Not that that word means what it meant then anymore.
The sad thing is, in the US at least, we really need the conservatives to do actual conservative things. There is a definite benefit to looking at government action with a critical viewpoint, and saying "Should we be paying for this? Should it cost this much? Should we even be allowed to do this?" Unfortunately, they've abandoned that important role in favor of deepthroating corporations, peddling FSB propaganda, and forcing their version of the bible on everyone.
Absolutely agree. But like you said, Republicans are no longer small government nor fiscal responsibility.
As others have pointed out, the likely cause is that politics doesn't change with age, it changes with one's investment in the status quo. The most likely reason that this effect is breaking down is because most people born after Reagan's presidency were never given any means to become invested in this system. If you've got no assets and lots of debt, fearmongering that immigrants are coming to take your job or wealth doesn't work.
"You'll get more conservative when you start paying taxes."
I have rubbed a bunch of faces in this one as well.
That's even dumber. You're paying taxes either way, the difference is what you're paying for with them. I'd rather them go towards healthcare than corporate bailouts and military contractors.
For that to work tough enough people have to be better off than their folks. Boomers hoarded the power and money, and now they try to cheat to keep it as the next two generations remain more liberal than expected with age.
bernie lived so long that turned around the globe and now he's a leftist
Reposted in 3 hours, job well done
I apologize, I thought I crossposted it to another meme group. I was going to argue with you, but it looks like this one's on me. Should I delete it?
Fuck it. It makes us reddit refugees feel at home.
I mean, that's arguably incredibly conservative. "The old ways" and all that.
I don't hate proto-conservativism
That's as conservative as it gets
Wait, are we supposed to be adults? collarPull
Which band/album is this from? Looks vaguely like Heilung.
I started voting conservative at 18, because my parents did and I didn't know who to vote for (we have compulsory voting in my country). Swapped to the other side late 20s and now mid 30s I can't see it changing anytime soon.
I swing both ways depending on the wind
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