It's been said that the older you get, the more conservative you get.

[Ohiogal]

I think, in my case, I have experienced exactly the opposite.

[unblock]

1. "a liberal is someone who's never been mugged; a conservative is someone who's never been laid"

[Ohiogal]

6. That's a good one!

[raccoon]

54. The way I heard it, "a conservative is a liberal who's been mugged.

A liberal is a conservative who’s been arrested. “

[meow2u3]

80. I heard that "a liberal is a conservative who's been conned"

[niyad]

83. The older my friends and I get (and we are old), the more radical. And I have been mugged, and

threatened, and assaulted. Yet, here I am.

[unblock]

84. Sorry to hear that. It is just a saying.

Obviously not always true for everyone. Hell, I hear a few conservatives have actually gotten laid. Maybe even loved. Go figure.

As for getting mugged and such, it certainly doesn't always change people's views.

I had some older cousins who were very left wing (communists in the 50s!). One time we were in New York City. They drive us in and parked on the street. When we got back, we discovered a window has been smashed and a briefcase had been stolen.

They just shrugged and said there was nothing important in it and it's no big deal. I imagine had they been mugged, they would have simply handed over their money and said take it, you clearly need it more than we do.

Not meaning to minimize your experience as I don't know the details and certainly it was likely quite terrifying. But the long term political reaction, I think often depends on pre-existing attitudes in the first place.

[Runningdawg]

2. Same. Although hubby seems to be following the trend.

[snowybirdie]

3. Me too

My grandchildren think I'm A tad batty!

[Srkdqltr]

4. Me too

[calguy]

5. Same here

I'm 70 and every bit as liberal as I was in my 20's. I was inspired by JFK when I was 10 yrs old and have never looked back.

[CurtEastPoint]

8. DITTO! I am the same age and a raging liberal. AND PROUD!

[Ohiogal]

10. I grew up

In a family where my father spoke about minorities like Archie Bunker and was a staunch Republican.

Guess once I got out in the world I saw how wrong that was.

[LeftInTX]

37. The world has changed...it is always changing

I guess they were afraid of some "unknown" that was told to them..."The world is gonna fall apart"....Maybe they were afraid of interracial marriage..

My kids are sorta mixed racial and my parents objected to our marriage at first. (San Antonio, white and Hispanic..marry all the time now and no one bats an eye, but my parents were afraid I was gonna be stuck in some shack in a bad part of town etc...It could be further from the truth...Around here, hubby was never discriminated against in his work, he always got ahead etc)

In the 1930's and 40's living in shack was unfortunately, very common. There was no sewer in many parts of town back then..so my dad was thinking the world was like it was when he was young...(We got married in 1985)

We never were stuck in a certain part of town, we've always lived in mixed neighborhoods. Our kids went to school with kids who were just like them. No biggy... no nothing..

The only kid who had a problem was my daughter when she went to Texas A&M...everyone was white, but she got over it.

[Ohiogal]

47. I remember my mom

Freaking out because I dated a Jewish guy for a while. (We were brought up Catholic)

She actually told me that Jews are ostracized in many circles of society but I think if I’d married him it would have been hard for her to accept for some reason. She really wasn’t all that staunchly religious so I have no idea where that was coming from. Go figure.

[onethatcares]

7. what if you've been both?

asking for a friend

[Ohiogal]

13. I parroted some of my parents' ideas

Until I left home and formed my own opinions. I believe it’s called having an open mind.

[onethatcares]

72. I think you may have mistaken what I meant

I've been both mugged and laid but not at the same time. I'm trying to reconcile the jangle here.

[overleft]

9. Me Too!!

[Glamrock]

11. Great minds, mama!

Same here!

[Ohiogal]

17. Yep!

I actually parroted some of my parents’ beliefs till I left home and made up my own mind.

And my sister,who grew up in the same house, is still pretty conservative. Weird.

[Jerry2144]

12. Me too

Way more liberal now than I was then. I voted for the first bush back the first time when I was young and naïve and in the service. Then I saw more of the world and actually learned some history, economics, and read the constitution. Voted for Clinton in 92 and never looked back. I did stay registered as republicans to vote for the same ones in the primary until 2000, then changed to Democratic since there are no sane Repugnants any longer

[Aristus]

14. The older I get, the more liberal I get.

Liberal till I DIE!

[mitch96]

15. I've gotten more conservative with my money. I just give to liberal/medical causes now... nt

[vercetti2021]

16. Yeah not going to happen

They say when you hit 30 you become more conservative. Nope I've become extremely more liberal. Mainly because I'm not a fucking idiot

[Ohiogal]

18. Ha!

[brush]

64. "Mainly because I'm not a fucking idiot." Yes, yes, yes. You nailed it.

DU is my island of sanity in a nation where nearly half voted for a megalomanical idiot.

[Yavin4]

19. Same here.

I have more money today than when I was younger, and I'm far more Progressive today. Far more.

[ProfessorGAC]

55. Ditto!

I think the OP has a basis in a personality that is consistent with "I got mine, screw everyone else."
When one gets a good nest egg, but still worries about others with less, there's no complaining about taxes, no complaining about people getting help from poverty or saying "they don't even have to work."
My complaining is about bad economic models saying taxes chase companies away, when that's far from universal.
My complaining is about building aircraft carriers the Navy says the don't need
My version of fiscal conservatism is to quit spending hundreds of billions on stuff we don't need, but finding ways to help the least advantaged.
And, as I got more financially comfortable, those sentiments have only been reinforced.

[Yavin4]

56. My lived experience showed me how bullshit conservative policies are

I lived through multiple tax cuts from Reagan through Trump, and never really saw any real benefit from them. I had Republican presidents, governor, and mayor and nothing changed for the better.

I consider myself a partisan, but I am also objective. If tax cuts actually showed that they were good for everyone, I would support them, but they don't.

Giving Jeff Bezos a tax cut only helps Jeff Bezos and no one else.

[ProfessorGAC]

58. Spot On! (nt)

[brush]

66. More people are working and things are always better once Dems get in and fix...

the economy republicans have screwed up with corporate-favoring policies and tax cuts (which is their only game). Of all the tax cuts since Reagan through HW Bush, W Bush and trump, all they've done is added enough to my paycheck to buy a couple of gallons of gas and a loaf of bread. And in trump's case, it then sneakily gets taken out our tax returns.

[Yavin4]

69. My taxes went UP under Trump.

When they killed the SALT deduction, I get slaughtered on taxes every year.

[brush]

73. Yeah, that sucks, limits the amount that can be deducted even on property taxes.

What state are you in? I'm a little bit luckier now in Vegas with no state tax than whey I was in NY which has state and city taxes. But even here they get you with high yearly fees for DMV and such.

[Yavin4]

74. NYC

So, yeah. I got screwed.

[brush]

75. You certainly know then.

[Ohiogal]

78. Right on, Yavin4

[BarackTheVote]

20. Two sides to this coin, contemporarily speaking--

On the one hand, people become more conservative as they become prosperous—when you have a lot to lose, you want to conserve what you have. Republicans shot themselves in the foot by creating three consecutive generations that have done worse than the previous; as a cohort, Gen X, Millennials, and Zoomers are both the most educated generations heretofore, and paradoxically also have the least job security and wealth. In short, they haven’t prospered, they have nothing to lose, they did not become conservatives, by and large.

What I have seen, however, is rampant radicalization, especially among the Millennials and Zoomers. You have more self-identified socialists who want to reorient society more toward helping the poor and disenfranchised; but you also have a lot of them who are “irony poisoned”—think The Joker, life’s a joke, and it’s funny to watch the world burn, because what’s this world ever done for me? These types can break in either direction, some are anarchists, and some are meme-lords on 8-Chan. Then you have the ones who have been convinced to turn all of their anger and frustration against minorities and feminists—they aren’t so much traditional conservatives as they are regressives—they don’t want to watch the world burn, except insofar as it takes us back to some idealized picture of the 1950s when white men didn’t have to compete against women and minorities.

There are plenty of pragmatic Xers, Millennials, and Zoomers, don’t get me wrong; but the defining quality of those three generations is that society hasn’t kept its promises to them, and there’s a lot of anger there.

[LeftInTX]

44. Yep

And it's not the 50's anymore and even Trump was still a kid in the 50s....

A generation ago, our parents fondly remembered the 50s, but I was born in 1956...I don't remember anything about the 50s, except our clunky car, being stuck home all day, watching Dennis the Menace and my tricycle...

[brush]

68. We have to get them informed as to who's responsible for their cohorts not prospering.

Reagan and trickle down economics are big culprits—in other words, republicans. More people have jobs and some disposable income when Democrats get in and fix the mess republicans always make with their tax cuts for the rich/corporations, their only policy ever that they disguise with wedge issues like school prayer/bathrooms, gay marraige, abortion and religious freedom bullshit that fools their megat followers to vote against their own economic issues.

It works quite often and the nation unfortunately swings on a pendulum from voting in idiots like trump to pragmatic Dems who right things until the fools get back in again. I hope the genXers, millennials and zoomers who feel left out stay pissed but not so pissed that they blame everyone instead of the ones responsible—republicans.

[GulfCoast66]

70. Not all fit your pattern. When we were poor the wife and I voted Republican

And were non-religious conservatives.

As we gained wealth we began moving left. Now that we are well off we are both very liberal.

The reason? Working for a diverse company that has for the past 30 years had very liberal policies and a high percentage of LGBT employees. Add in spending several months cumulative visiting and working overseas in both Europe and Asia. We realize all the ‘exceptionalism’ we had been taught about our country is nothing but nationalist propaganda. And as mentioned earlier, not religious.

But I think your assessment is generally true.

[LeftInTX]

21. I confess, I voted for Ford in 1976 (my first election)

But when Reagan came along, I was like WTF??? I'm like, "Now I know why all my friends are Democrats."

I'm just a person who wants our country to work, therefore I am a Democrat. The other guys are crazy.

I think this probably true for Archie Bunker's generation, but that was before the Proud Boys, Gun Humpers etc...Trump tried to stoke that old culture war with Portland this summer, but it didn't work.

[Arkansas Granny]

22. I'm much more liberal than I was 20 years ago. A lot of my attitudes have changed

on LGBT, abortion, death penalty and immigration, to name a few.

[central scrutinizer]

23. I woke up when I read the Kerner Commission Report, 1968

Raised in a small community in Nebraska. Was in the young Republicans in high school. Joined SDS in college. Never looked back.

[Ohiogal]

36. I remember reading how

John Kasich was this huge fan of Richard Nixon when he was a young guy. College age, ? I’m not sure.

I can’t think of ONE person I even remotely knew from school back then (early 70s) who I could call a “fan of Nixon”. Except the sons of the country club set, maybe. Certainly no one I hung around with.

[NRaleighLiberal]

24. my wife and I are as liberal at 64 as we were at 23.

the general move to the right in the country (so it appears) makes us appear to be moving more left.

[Ohiogal]

27. That's very true.

[LeftInTX]

46. Agree

[ananda]

25. Same.

I always considered myself a liberal Democrat,
but I have moved considerably to the left in
some areas over the years.

[spanone]

26. me too.

[renegade000]

28. Something I've come to realize and become frustrated about...

Is the fact that left-wing vs. right-wing is conflated with radical vs. conservative.

I do think as I've gotten older I've become more temperamentally conservative and pragmatic, but I've also grown more left-leaning in my political positions. I don't think this is a contradiction. In fact, I think the frame of left-wing = radical, right-wing = conservative is actually in contradiction to many of the key points in American history. Think about Reconstruction, the right-wing used radical, terroristic means to usurp and regain political control to establish again a racial-caste society that could ignore the newly amended Constitution (the amendment of which was made feasible because much of the South disenfranchised itself by secession -- another radical step).

I think this is a frame that needs to be fought against, because too many voters buy into it, and it hurts. Too much right-wing radicalism and too much left-wing pragmatism is brushed aside because it doesn't fit into this way of viewing the world.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

29. I have yet to experience that shift. Doubt that I will.

I remember someone telling me that once I started earning paychecks and seeing the deductions from my income, it would make me grow angry and anti-tax and government and thus economically conservative. Even as my income grew, I still have yet to care about my tax bracket or income deductions. So they were dead wrong in that department.

My parents had voted Democratic as long as I could remember (although my mom had never bothered to change her initial registration from Republican dating back to the days of Nixon). They loved Carter, hated Reagan and disliked Bush Sr. And maybe that rubbed off on me and my own beliefs, but I'm glad I did.

When I became of voting age, I first insisted on registering as an independent. Then I purposefully sat out the 2000 Presidential election--even though I like Gore far more than Bush--because neither candidate represented 100% of my beliefs. (Insert facepalm here).

Long story short, I immediately regretted my decision the day after Election Day 2000 and quickly registered as a Democrat.

Since then, I would classify myself not as a super liberal but still solidly left. Economically left, socially a little more moderate; but even with the latter area I've always maintained a flexibility to move with the times. (E.g., I don't think I ever opposed gay marriage, but my active support for it was something that came with time.)

I will say this: Although I'm solidly left politically, I am a small "c" conservative; I am conservative in just about everything except my politics. I'm not flashy or provocative; I'm pretty tame when it comes to my tastes and how I dress and act, and I'm not one who enjoys confrontation or causing a scene. I generally don't like change when it comes to my tastes, and if I like something or someone, I have a tendency to stick with it, even if it might be in my better interest to change things up.

[TruckFump]

30. Same here...older I get, the more liberal my vibes.

I did not think it possible for a 60s anti-VN war demonstrator to get more liberal. Guess what? It is possible!

[LiberalFighter]

31. What may be considered liberal years ago might be considered conservative

on a different scale.

[roamer65]

32. More fiscally conservative, but definitely more socially liberal for me.

I’d like to see heavy cuts to the defense budget. Also, elimination of all agricultural subsidies.

Also, a single payor Medicare like Canada.

[LAS14]

33. Me to. nt

[Hassin Bin Sober]

34. That was an excuse made up for boomers so they could benefit from all the benefits ...

... to society that came with higher marginal tax rates. So they wouldn’t feel guilty about pulling up the ladder behind them while whining about kids wanting the same near free college education they received.

It was spouted by 80s Republicans and Reagan Democrats

[PJMcK]

35. I'm with you, Ohiogal

That cliche has been one that Republicans use when they want to act superior to Democratic liberals and progressives. It's as meaningless an adage as the one that says there aren't any atheists in a foxhole. They're both bullshit.

I've been a Democrat since before I could vote. My views ands opinions, however have become even more progressive as I've gotten older.

I'm in my early 60s and we're fairly comfortable financially. Nonetheless, my liberal bonafides have become more pronounced as time has gone by. I suspect this is because the GOP has become so radicalized since Reagan's presidency. Following the rise of the tea baggers, the Republican Party has ceased to be an honest broker of ideas. This pisses me off to no end! Their "no compromise" stance is not what the Founders had in mind and the GOP's rule of the minority is not what democracy is about.

[Ohiogal]

41. Well put, PJMcK!

I’ve had family members insinuate I am “naive”, a “bleeding heart”, “misinformed,” “you’ll grow up some day”, etc. well I’m about the same age as you and still need to “grow up” I guess.

And all this reverence for Reagan? Who’s being naive and misinformed there?

[PJMcK]

48. Off topic thought

I guess I still need to "grow up," too.

But as Joni Mitchell wrote:

"Grow up!" I cried.
And as, the smoke was clearing, he said,
"Give me one good reason why."

Peter and Patty Pan are we, eh?!

[Ohiogal]

57. Yep!

I just don’t want to be a grumpy old lady who lives comfortably but complains about “those people “ getting “free stuff”

[DavidDvorkin]

38. A lot of things are said

Without evidence to support the statements.

[Digger]

39. 78 here,

been a liberal thinker as far back as I can remember.

[doc03]

40. Me too I voted for Reagan in 1980 that was a big mistake nt

[OhZone]

42. That adage might have made sense back when conservatives were really conservative -

Now more than ever they only want to conserve rich white male power and nothing else. Other than that, Cons are more radical - and insane than conservative.

I can see people wanting to take more control of their finances and get more serious as they get older, but other than that, no the people in my life are not getting more conservative. My aunt and uncle are just as wind and crazy liberal as ever. ha

[Hortensis]

43. Nah, not true. Kids who are seduced to the far left

by idealistic rhetoric eventually learn the dishonest radicalism and irrationality that keeps it from accomplishing anything and move to the progressive liberal main stream. That can happen at any age of greater enlightenment.

Some young conservatives who imagine they’re liberal because they’re young discover their true selves and turn into their parents. If their parents are liberal, the parents already know it about their kids.

The single most conservatizing factor, though, and it acts on virtually everyone to at least a little degree, is parenthood. People get less silly, a lot more sober about Things that could affect their kids, and start washing their hands a lot more.

But through it all, most liberals remain pretty much what they always were and were always going to be. We’re not the bundles of negative reactions that So many conservatives tend to be.

[Under The Radar]

45. He who is not a liberal when young, hath no heart. ....

He who is not a conservative in older years hath no brain”
That was said to be a Winston Churchill quote that we had adapted from this.
“He who is not a républicain at twenty compels one to doubt the generosity of his heart; but he who, after thirty, persists, compels one to doubt the soundness of his mind.”
Anselme Polycarpe Batbie (19th century academic jurist).

[Magoo48]

49. Yup, me too.

[Butterflylady]

50. More liberal here and a lot smarter.

[tblue37]

51. Bernie Sanders suggests otherwise. I also am extremely liberal at age 70.

[treestar]

52. I've heard that you become conservative when you have something

to conserve.

Doesn't explain rich liberals, but it does for materialistic right wingers.

[raccoon]

53. Me too. Nt

[brush]

59. Back in my Berkeley days I voted for the Gus Hall/Angela Davis...

ticket so I agree with you. I haven't gotten more conservative, just more pragmatic. I want to figure out who can kick conservatives' asses in present day America—like Joe Biden instead of Bernie Sanders.

[JanMichael]

63. When I was 12 I watched Somoza's troops shoot the CBS reporter.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Stewart_(journalist)

I drifted left, then flowed far Left. Further Left today.

I vote for Democrat's because that's the two party power world I live in. Plus most are relatively nice.

[Mendocino]

60. I voted for Carter

in my first year eligible, Democrat ever since.

[Towlie]

61. Conservatives and liberals agree that the world is unfair. The difference is...

 
←

... conservatives want to keep it that way.

[Happy Hoosier]

62. Not me.... drifting left in my old age. NT

[shrike3]

65. Same for me. n/t

[dhill926]

67. my Dad blew by me on the left....

his last 15 to 20 years. It was something to behold. I'm like "really, Dad?" But I was proud of him...

[Codeine]

71. Same here.

I’ve never been anything but liberal, but it’s just getting moreso over time.

[pansypoo53219]

76. hippie.

wing emogi.

[pecosbob]

77. My grandmother was conservative. I liked her.

Labels are always relative. Eisenhower was conservative...so was Obama.

[AwakeAtLast]

79. ABSOLUTELY!

[Ahpook]

81. I didn't pay attention to politics

Until Gore was ripped off in 2000. Way to busy raising hell in rock bands to care prior to that. Young and dumb

I've always leaned left, though. Compassion, love and understanding has been my mantra! I'd think most of us haven't changed, but our country has.

We are called "leftists" as if that term is supposed to enrage. We are called "radical" when asking for basic things like affordable healthcare. The "socialist" card is always a hoot.

The idiots need better insults than that!

[Ohiogal]

82. IKR?

Affordable healthcare, a clean environment, a living wage, Equal opportunities for everyone are such radical leftist commie concepts! Who knew!

[Greybnk48]

85. Opposite here as well.

I've been hard core liberal since the 60's, and have no plans on changing.

[MustLoveBeagles]

86. Same here

Now I have one planted in the center lane and the other in the left lane.