rightwinger
Award Winning USMB Paid Messageboard Poster
- Aug 4, 2009
- 284,967
- 157,474
- 2,615
Ask any conservative...Winston Churchill is reputed to have said that if you are not a "liberal" when you are young then you have no heart; if you are not a "conservative" when you are old, you have no brain. He probably never said it, at least using those terms, as they were not used in the contemporary way in England in his day, but the thought is much-believed among today's American Conservatives. It is also said that a "conservative" is a "liberal" who has been mugged.
So what's the point? In recent past generations, it was common, at least in the "educated" classes, for young men to be rather liberal when in college, and then as life's experiences begin to take hold (paying taxes, starting a family, raising kids), the influences of the Real World start to take effect, and the liberal views of criminal laws, the welfare state, taxation, and so forth start to take a beating. Then, on some fateful day, the now-less-committed Liberal young man happens to tune into - let's say - the Rush Limbaugh radio program, and he finds that "conservatism" actually makes sense. A conservative is born.
I cite myself as Exhibit A, and several of my friends, relations, and acquaintances had similar "growth" over the years.
Today, one notes that all of the various named generations under 40 years old (millennials, Gen-X, etc) are conspicuously liberal or liberal-libertarian in their outlook. They are notably less religious, but I'm not sure whether that is relevant to the political conversion.
My question is, will this generation undergo similar conversions as they accumulate more and more real life experiences? Or will the initial 16 years of Liberal indoctrination have a permanent effect on their political outlook?
I'm inclined to think not, for a number of reasons:
Other views?
- Public schools are much more openly socialist in their attitudes now,
- They seem to be much more inclined to seek out "government" solutions to their problems,
- They are more inclined to pursue "bullshit" careers (government, non-profit, academe), which tend to insulate one from the Real World,
- They are more protected by their parents than past generations, which softens the impact of Real World problems.
After reading your post, one doesn't mature into conservatism, rather they revert into childlike greed of give me its mine.
Says the person pushing for FREE college, FREE healthcare, FREE income....go figure.
All Republicans offer is FREE prison
You make like that's bad thing.
We can’t afford healthcare, can’t afford education, can’t afford infrastructure
But they always find the money for more prisons