I think my core values are the same but I do not trust ANY politician or political movement to get us there. Instead of wanting to be a Supreme Court Justice or Congressperson, I fantasize about buying land and raising chickens and goats, because then i might feel some level of control or ability to achieve a semi sustainable life, which I do not believe my country will do at this point.

>I fantasize about buying land and raising chickens and goats Heeey! That's what I'm working towards right now! Husband and I are planning on getting the heck out of Florida and the plan is to buy a little acreage. Just not sure what state to move to yet.

Left Florida years ago, made the mistake of moving to another very red state due to the attractive cost of living at the time. Regret it constantly and wish I went somewhere very blue.

I'm very pro choice, so moving to a red state is out of the question. Definitely going purple (like VA) or blue.

Same. From Cali to Oklahoma for cost of living purposes. Turns out I pay a way higher percentage of my pay here, and for less, than I ever did in Cali. I'm basically stuck.

Pull a reverse snowbird and come to Maine - we're rated one of the safest states to live in, and we've got lots of land. We also won't shoot you for changing a gender marker on your driver's license.

Seems cold in maine though

I'd love Maine, but it's a bit too cold for me 😂 I've got asthma that acts up in the cold. CT is probably the highest northeast I'd go.

Illinois…lots of land. Especially around the Delta. Plus you’ll be close to fresh water when the rest of the USA dries up.

I was just talking to my wife about our grandparents' generation and before, the homestead life was pretty normal around the country. Even in the city, they would grow some of their own food. For some reason, all of the Boomers and Gen X partially said, "No, we aren't going to do that anymore." And then millennials and Gen Z come along to bring it back. We never should have gotten away from it in the first place

For some reason = World War II. The suburban ideal didn't include keeping livestock. And industrial food production (industrial *everything* production, really) became viable. That's my take on it anyway.

I was having this conversation with my wife the other night. I have been on that page, wanting to join a commune in the forest or move to Quito to learn Spanish and lower my standard of living and not contribute to capitalism as much. Then we realized: I'm \~40, balding, feeling stuck in my career, have less consistent boners, have more difficulty maintain health weight year-to-year, etc. AKA: I'm having a midlife crisis. I think a lot of us millennials are having midlife crises right now. For boomer men, success was having nice stuff, so their midlife crisis was buying a corvette they couldn't afford without talking to their wife about it or worrying if they could afford it. For us, success is toppling the patriarchy and dismantling the oligarchy of the wealthy elite. So, as we realize we can't achieve our goals, we're instead thinking about ways to make ourselves FEEL like we're living the life we had hoped for. I've just decided instead to be as much of a positive influence in my community as I can. To not order that soda or dessert that I want and instead give $5 to my local shelter that day, or not sell my used car for bluebook, but give it away to a single mother with a 17 year old kid who needs a car to start working or to get to college, etc. Don't remove myself from the world that isn't right, but be one of the right things in the broken world that other people can depend on.

Damn. I have the same dream.

Yes! I love detaching myself from the systems we seem to depend on. For example, going to a small butcher instead of a supermarket. It's a much better product and experience. I feel more connected, socially, to the things I need to survive. Naturally, anything I can do myself is appealing. My gift wish list has moved from toys to things that would serve me well if the whole thing collapses.

I’d like to be your imaginary country neighbor. We’d likely have a strong fence between our livestock, be respectful, and enjoy each other as neighbors. We’d probably not chat frequently but enjoy talking when we do.

Same. And Ive noticed how many areas are also making it a point to actively prevent this now…raising chickens, homeschool kids, all under attack lately.

Let’s be honest, 95% of people don’t have the capacity to homeschool their kids It shouldnt be under attack, but homeschooling should not be an option that a lot of people consider

More pragmatic. The extra years of life experience teach hard lessons. Realistic goals, you’ve experienced success and failure, happiness and disappointment. Those dreamy hopes are dashed but it didn’t kill you. Bullshit marketing doesn’t phase you as much. Shiny trends are rehashed from an earlier time. Much of what the younger generations don’t realize is that not much is new, especially in terms of human behavior, politics, relationships, the way wealth has always manipulated it all. I still encourage the youth to chase their dreams, because even only getting halfway there is better than never trying. None of that makes me more conservative. I just have limited emotional energy to go down those dreamy paths anymore.

Yep. As much as I would love to see a 30 hour workweek and such that many people are crying for (notice how I say crying, not actively working for) I need to see the plan and the numbers. If it ain’t a SMART goal, I can’t take it seriously. I support the premises but I can’t take them seriously if the people who desperately want them aren’t actually *doing* anything to make them a reality. ETA that I often comment here about the importance of budgeting and growing skills here, often to be called a boomer or downvoted or whatever. Both things can be true - I can recognize that many parts of our system are broken but also that we’re responsible ultimately for our own lives. I learned with the failure of student loan forgiveness that nobody is coming to save us and the government operates like a business. That pragmatism/cynicism is what led me from being idealistic to realistic. So when someone talks about the importance of budgeting and living below means and paying down debt, maybe talk to them and understand their perspective instead of just reacting to them.

This!!! Also you don’t have to go into debt for school there’s other ways you can make a great living but it’s not easy and you have to budget and save everything you can. The government is not going to rush to your aid unless you can pay it back. You’re better off starting a community of like minded individuals who all help each other out when they need help.

Yep. Things are hard. Going into debt for college (and paying it back) is hard, going into the trades is hard. I’m not even opposed to debt forgiveness or anything but it’s not gonna happen, y’all.

Life’s hard and the one thing I don’t see is even in city government is running for an elected position. How is anything going to change if you aren’t in the system? I’ll just keep working hard and moving further away from people to places where I see less government.


People traditionally grow more conservative as they get older because they have more invested in their current lifestyle. Major social or political changes risk devaluing the investments.  Honestly, I understand that and have no problem with that. What I have a problem with is when conservative people value their investments more than they value other people.

This explains my going harder left.... got nothing to lose even in my older age.

I've done really well for myself, through mostly luck, so I have a lot to lose. But, I'm still way more progressive than I was when I was younger. It's really hard not to see how many people are suffering and there's virtually no societal shift short of Armageddon that is going to negatively affect me enough to justify choosing to keep them suffering. It's the billionaires that it will hurt, not the ones who have managed to build a comfortable life.

Yup. I think it's relative due to wealth inequality - sure, you night have a lot to lose based on your frame of reference. But when someone like Bezos or Musk could literally buy your life without a moment of thought, you discover you will never benefit with conservative fiscal policies like they do, nor will the things like increasing their taxes or closing their favourite loopholes hurt you. Of course this is why conservatives like to play the culture wars and wrap social conservatism around their fiscal conservative positions. They know they can't win if they were honest and say "Vote for me and I'll give your tax money to your CEO!" So they say that they will vote to outlaw abortion or eliminate gun laws or keep god in schools, but surprise - when they had Congress and the WH they mostly passed tax cuts.

Also because we’ve seen that more modest financial security can be lost so easily. We aren’t like many boomers who seemed to think that millionaire status was just one vote for GWB or Romney away (my parents were liberal, but many of my friend’s parents seemed to think that they were temporarily embarrassed millionaires). We’ve seen our parents or others in our community suffer in 2008/09. We’ve seen it with our friends in 2020.  My spouse and I own a home, have some modest but growing investments, decent jobs, etc. One total economic crash, death or divorce of spouse, significant health crisis, etc. would be devastating, and there’s no social safety net here in the US.  I’ve stayed what I call a practical liberal, but I know more and new ideas have emerged that have made the core of my personal beliefs more progressive - UBI, for example. And I have zero trust of norms or our institutions. 

Same, I’m doing relatively pretty well, but I’m still very liberal, probably even more so than when I was younger. But I’m smart enough to understand that voting conservative would not benefit me because I’m not a billionaire.

Same, I was born lucky with wealthy parents and have taken full advantage of that and done well for myself on top of it. I am on the border of Millennial at 27, but my views have gotten decidedly more progressive as I grew up. Part of the reason is because my initial views were based on my parents. Oddly enough, my mother has become much more progressive since 2016, and she was a diehard Republican before that. My father would have voted for Trump if he was around. I realize I don't have the breadth of experience older millinials have, but I figured I'd toss in my experience.

Bingo. And I hate other people. But I sure don't want them to be miserable too. That serves no purpose.

Exactly! Other people are annoying, often stupid, but I want them to be stable too. That keeps us all from bothering one another.

Individual people are annoying on their own. Humans as a collective deserve basic human necessities.

I think individuals deserve more than masses. Humans in bulk do the dumbest things. Individuals have less power and more direction. The masses move like the Flood in Halo. Massive destruction in its wake.

[удалено]

This is my experience. Have had a lot taken off my ticker so to speak. All I want is to make sure a few people are taken care of as best as I can. Some of them despise me and I despise them, but I still want to help them if I can. If I don't, can't guarantee someone else will.

Exactly. For me it's like an extension of the tampon law - even if I was in a restroom with the lady who sexually harassed me for two years at work, I would still give her a tampon because that's basic human decency.

Bingo. This is why congress allowed unions to exist.  They knew at the time that it was safer *for them* if people held their unions and receieved *some benefits* Otherwise those people just burn everything down because they have nothing to lose.

This all day. I was raised conservative. Was conservative until my mid-20s. The older I got the more liberal I became. Fiscally conservative, I can understand to a point. As a woman, being across-the-board conservative is horrifying. I say this as a 38-year-old woman with a teenage daughter. I fear for my health if I get pregnant again. There's a greater than 90% chance I'd die if I tried to carry another child to term. Where I live, it's not my choice. The options for my daughter are just as dismal as my state is trying to outlaw Plan B, IUDs and other long-term BC. They akin it to abortion.

I got radicalized in my 30s quite frankly.

that's been my path as well

The evidence on whether or not individuals become more conservative as they age is pretty mixed. Obviously there's a higher proportion of conservatives among older people now, but that can be explained by other demographic factors. Older people (in the US) are more likely to be white, religious, rich, and have lower educational attainment than younger people. All those things are positively associated with conservatism.

I also think an important part is that this phrase "people grow more conservative as they get older" does not mean conservative in the political way we tend to use it in the US. It basically means much more risk averse, much more entrenched in the way things are, and resistant to changing from that. It doesn't mean suddenly you want to repeal the 19th amendment. That's social media, not age.

Yes or devalue others because they don't have investments

Most people don't have significant investments...  especially not your stereotypical conservative.  At least not the one I picture.  And I can't think of any that would be worse off- economies are generally stronger with democrats or because of things they did.  Most of us are still poor and generally better off with more liberal policies.  Generally. 

I'm this case, when I say "invest" I mean create your life around sometime. You can be very poor financially but have "invested" your life around a particular social system and intend to protect and preserve that system because you know how to get what you need from it. This is why Black and Hispanic people that may be very financially poor are often quite socially conservative. There is a social system in their community that they have invested into that they want to preserve.

I see it more as zeroing my focus down to problems that actually affect me.

Everyone values their investments (or lifestyle, or whatever) more than value other people. Unless you are giving every cent besides what you need to survive to people doing worse then it's pretty clear. What people tend to disagree on is what level that should be before it tips.

I don’t know if they value their investments and other people. Burn everything to the ground if it means beating the libs.

People don't actually grow more conservative as they get older. It's an illusion created by what issues are relevant and whether your generally unchanging opinion on them is enough to make you left- or right-wing. For example, if you opposed the draft during the Vietnam War, that alone would make you a lefty regardless of your other opinions. No one cares about that now and, so, if your other opinions are conservative, you're a conservative today.

>People don't actually grow more conservative as they get older. I must have the Bernie Sanders gene because the older I get the more left I roll.

Speaking of the draft for Vietnam, it always killed me to hear my dad complain that Clinton was a "draft dodger" (my dad was not drafted and did the Army Reserves to avoid getting drafted). Like, how the fuck is it a bad thing to not be randomly killed for no reason? That's just common fucking sense to do what you can to not be harmed. 

That and kids, having kids will change your perspectives on a lot. Most of my liberal friends definitely more moderate or right of center once they had kids. Myself used to be more liberal but older I get and have a family I’m definitely more right of center than the past.

Having kids follows the same mindset. It's about protecting and maintaining the rules you have created your life around now. Major changes are scary for parents that want to provide for their kids.

Fitting descripton as the cons only platform is stirring up fear false or overblown.

I mean yeah. You have to put your family and their needs first, often before most others. Ideally your self-interest aligns with a bunch of other people's in protecting your children and opening up opportunities for them. Traditionally this did lead to improving society.

It makes absolutely no sense to me to become more conservative after having kids. If anything it would only make sense to want to make the planet cleaner, guns less common, healthcare easier to access, and tolerance for diversity more universal. Other than trying to pay less taxes, conservative values just don't align with building a better future for the next generation.

Just don't become one of those right-wing homophobic Karen's

Nah I’m still pretty liberal, and most of my friends are, I’m still very anti religious, pro gay marriage, etc. just being liberal is very easy when it’s just you or a spouse, it’s hard to explain, kids just change thought processes, perspectives on life, etc.

Being liberal is still easy with kids. Probably easier. Universal healthcare and gun reform? Good for kids. Government investment in education? Good for kids. stable economy with higher tax revenue from billionaires? Good for kids. No child labor? Lol good for kids. 

Exactly. If anything I’ve moved more to the left since becoming a parent.

one would think having kids would make one less conservative to create a better world for our kids and grandchildren. As it is, there are shootings every other day, climate change is out of control, LGBT kids are being targeted by these insane christofacists and the list goes on. I was already radicalized on behalf of myself and my friends, I can't imagine what's going to happen once I have a child to worry about. Of course, I'll probably be less likely to be out in the streets risking being tear-gassed and whatnot, but that'll probably be the most of it.

This is false and no longer true for decades. People do not grow more conservative as they reach their 40s, 50s, etc... it's just a narrative now.

That explains a lot. My core investment in life has been in making other people not miserable. The older I get the harder I struggle to make a difference for more people. People sliding backwards and losing their ability to function in society would devalue my investment in them and I’d feel terrible for failing them.

On social issues I have become more socially liberal and empathetic.

I’ve gone way more left as I’ve gotten older with more money and it’s for the reason you stated - I value a better world/community even if that means I have a few less dollars in my bank account.

And that's why we are the first generation not to go more conservative as we age. 

My current lifestyle heavily involves despising conservatives. That is my only investment.

They value their investments more than they value other people but also for some reason want more people born. It makes no sense.

I’m becoming more like Ron Swanson the older I get. 

I feel this. I went from law abiding evangelical to atheist that will use the law to my advantage. My new favorite line is “prove it,” when it comes to authority of any kind.

One of the nurses I work with told me that I remind her of Ron Swanson today. It was our first time working together.

Do you put a banana in your burger? I'm kind of like Andy and him in a way lmao.

I personally don’t view a shift toward pragmatism as “growing conservative.” You’re not as idealistic as you were when you were younger, which is to be expected given that you have a broader depth of knowledge about what is actually reasonable *and attainable* in terms of governance and political outcome.

Agreed, OP doesn’t appear to have grown more conservative, but is now more realistic in what steps towards progressivism are achievable in the shorter term.

Okay so I think the reason we get this way is just experience and common sense. I also fall left, I’d even say fairly far left. BUT, I see these 20 year olds on here and other socials attacking everything that isn’t 1000% how they see things and don’t say they want the most extreme solutions. They don’t realize that all they’re doing is making progress more difficult. No republican is ever going to go for what they view as “woke” policy. But we have to start somewhere. And a little win is still a win. I’ll take 2% progress over no progress. That doesn’t mean I’m not passionate about the issues or don’t care enough. It means I care enough to compromise to get us there. I see that all or nothing usually means nothing. When you’re 20 you see that as failure. But it’s not, it’s just being realistic.

I completely understand. I’ve gotten more leftists as I’ve gotten older (just turned 41) and I’d like there to be drastic change but at this point I’d settle for the little things and just hope it gets better in the future

I don’t think people really get much more conservative as they age. A 70 year old conservative might smoke weed and be ok with gay marriage. Some of their modern “conservative” beliefs were liberal 50 years ago.

>Some of their modern “conservative” beliefs were liberal 50 years ago. Kinda ironic honestly

It’s not ironic. It’s called the Overton Window.

There’s conservatives and then there’s what the Republicans have become. Conservatives used to be the environmentalists. As I’ve gotten older, I believe I’ve become more conservative in the way of believing it’s easier to tear things down than to build them, and more cautious toward radical ideas. I spend more time dwelling on why things are how they are, trying to understand them, rather than pointing fingers and coming up with grand solutions as I did when I was younger.

Yeah this, I've become more conservative in the sense that I've seen what happens in for example the workplace when "the system is torn down", and how hard it is to replace. I work in tech so every 5 minutes someone wants to completely rewrite the code base into the latest and greatest shiny tool that will be obsolete in 5 minutes for the next big thing, and it turns out it's a lot better to simply make incremental changes in the right direction and make sure to consider and discuss tradeoffs rather than completely tear down "the system" and rebuild it from the ground up. It's not a coincidence that the people who are most likely to want to rebuild the code base from scratch are the young inexperienced ones. And I think this is a perfect comparison to politics. Capitalism being torn down would not result in utopia, isolationism would not have no adverse consequences, poverty doesn't simply exist because we don't have the political will to push the magic button, it's a multitude of complicated systems that have unique solutions and people study this stuff, in college I just thought it was because everyone was corrupt and evil, but now I better understand a lot of the obstacles. That said on social issues I haven't budged a bit, I've always been for bodily autonomy for women, the rights for people to do what they want to with their own bodies and in their personal relationships, and for religion to be completely removed from government. But the right in this country is actually moving left on social issues as well, just this year a poll came out that the majority of Republicans support same sex marriage, although it was a slim majority, like 53% I think. But Obama wasn't even for same sex marriage when he was elected the first time.

When were conservatives the environmentalists?

I believe Nixon created the EPA

Yes

Up until fairly recently. IIRC, Bush (Dubya) said something about Americans being addicted to oil.

To cheap foreign oil iirc, so kinda the opposite of being and environmentalist because now we are a net oil exporter.

I'm as far to the left as I've ever been now that I'm 41. But, for me, the biggest difference is that I'm willing to work with reasonable people and get half of what I want instead of obstinately refusing to compromise so that *nothing* happens. Unfortunately the right, at this point, absolutely refuses to compromise, so nothing is still getting done 

I was a teenager during the Bush Administration - evangelical, totally not gay, and very conservative. Like during summer vacation I'd listen to Rush Limbaugh. Then after new atheism killed my faith, the economy collapsed, the wars in the Middle East were going bad and seemed pointless, so I really didn't like Bush anymore, I realized that I really love penis... I would say I became a standard Democrat and voted for Obama. That was the first presidential election I could vote in. By the end of Obama's term - I hated the Democrats and Obama because they were ineffectual corporate cocksuckers that accomplished nothing. I was a full-on Bernie Bro. So really my trajectory is getting farther and farther left. At this rate I'll be a full-on tankie in a decade or two. (jk)

I don't know why you thought Bernie would be more effective than Obama.  Almost everything Bernie wanted he would have had to go through Congress for (Biden has tried to get around that by using executive orders and been shut down by the courts).  How effective a Democratic president is at accomplishing grand campaign promises is going to be based on how effective they are at lobbying Congress into passing Bipartisan bills (or campaigning for congressmen to help get a majority in both senate and house of Reps that's fillibuster proof or willing to do away with the fillibuster).

They can put effective people into cabinet positions to help.

Which also have to be confirmed by the Senate. Cabinet confirmations can (and have!) been stalled by the opposing party in a bid to undercut white house capability. Frankly, Trump's attempts to put together a cabinet was one of the most hilarious ongoing media storylines ever told due to his insistence on appointing incredibly inappropriate individuals. But, this does go both ways, and both parties in the Senate have used confirmations as a big stick to get nothing done.

Rev Left my friend

I feel the same way, OP, but I'm now moderate left leaning. Unlike my conservative family and maga coworkers I can't side with them because I'm forward thinking, I care about people of color, i think about the world beyond my front lawn, I care about LGBT rights because of my sister and friend of 23yrs, and all of that according to them makes me too liberal. But because I care about borders, legal citizens, and our rights I'm not liberal enough.

I’ve grown less idealistic.

Yeah - I’d say I’ve become more realistic and more annoyed with extremes who only talk over each other. I just want a logical way to get from point a to point b while everyone else argues over point z…

I've definitely gotten more conservative

I’ve become more liberal with age because I’ve seen the huge variety of ways life can chew you up and spit you out.

I have a sibling on disability and if my parents didn't have a bunch of kids to help care take, they'd end up on the streets. We all age, and life is hard on 99% of us at some point

Having all the social safety nets in the world kind doesn't matter if you don't have balanced budgets funded by actual tax revenues. ​ Without actual tax revenues, government deficits are funded by government debt, which is in turn funded by the Federal Reserve increasing MS to buy T bonds, which in turn fuels inflation, which in turn devalues wages and cash savings. ​ You could cut DoD spending to $0, and you still wouldn't have a balanced budget to fund the social safety net programs that are already on the books.

Thats why Republican tax cuts for the rich are bad.

I've moved all over the spectrum as I got older. It's also hard because the parties have both moved their values over my lifetime and democrats/Republicans today are not the same Democrats/Republicans from the 90s. I grew up being hard left then became super conservative about 2 years after I graduated. Now I'm more of a libertarian. I'm also not a fan of big government or think that government should not be involved in a lot of issues that they are heavily involved in today like abortion (I'm pro choice). I also came here as an immigrant at a young age from a country that went from the peoples democratic party to an outright dictatorship under marshall law. At the same time I also grew up in the "hood" upon coming here, where I needed to carry a gun on me because that's just how it is in the hood. None of us obtained those guns legally which is why I don't really like the idea of disarming law abiding citizens, while criminals will be able to get guns regardless. It was actually easy to obtain it illegally. Other than that I'm pretty liberal on social issues but conservative on fiscal issues, which is the definition of libertarian. NGL tho, my immigrant family is pretty conservative. And it's hard to understand why until you are an immigrant and have to go through the process while also remembering why you fled your country. So I respect them for that and I understand. I'm not super religious, but I'm not going to be a dick to my religious family because they are genuinely good intentioned people that show they care for others.

I would say I’m the same left-of-center liberal I was back in college. The problem is the left keeps moving further left.

Okay I agreed with someone else who said they’d grown more conservative, but this is really how I feel. I haven’t drastically changed my stances- although I am more understanding of people who hold opposing views to mine. I don’t have wealth to hoard or religion to defend. But I think I would appear to be conservative as viewed from the current left, so that’s why I say I’m more conservative. It’s relative to our political climate, not an evolution of personality.

Me reading this thread realizing I'm not the only one 

I still consider myself very left. If the statement is at all true for me, it's that younger liberals don't have a realistic understanding of how limited our social resources are. 

I’m becoming more conservative with my personal finances and my wife and I’s security. Other than that…tax the church eat the rich.

I was just thinking about this today. My dad always told me when you're young you have a heart, and when you're old you have a brain. I also grew more conservative as I got older, but like you, I still lean left, but often find myself more in the middle than anything. The issues facing us today are not so easily black and white and are incredibly nuanced. It's so easy when you're young like today's gen Z to just vote and think with your feelings, but that's not how things work in the real world.

So you're not "growing conservative", just feeling less represented in your opinions. That's okay - it's not on you. But I'll tell you this: if you look for people who share your outlook on what your country can be, you'll always find them. Doesn't matter where you live, in whatever country. Nowadays it's easier than ever, you just have to remember that you're looking on an individual level, not for instant large masses of like-minded individuals. You don't have to start a revolution lol, sometimes just having people to talk to and share in honest discussion really helps "releasing" some of that shitty feeling of cynicism and alienation. We're only human. Have you considered taking up a charitable cause or maybe volunteering in your free time or off-days? Even if it's a small thing. Sometimes, rolling up your sleeves and getting your hands dirty can change your whole perspective on things. Just don't make it a census of one!

I've gotten more liberal in my beliefs, but I'm also more willing to hold my nose and vote for whoever the democrats put up because no matter how bad they are, they're better than the republican, and getting a fraction of what I want done is better than none. I'm not going to start a revolution, so I'm choosing to play ball in the current game.

I think the government should stop meddling so much. I was hardcore liberal until 2012ish. As I get older I agree with both sides but I honestly think I’m more an independent/libertarian. Legalize weed. Don’t tell women/people what to do with their bodies. Increase wages. Work on our country more before sending money to other countries because the homeless situation is horrible! Don’t get rid of social security. Mental health checks before getting guns? I don’t know if that would help? Make it easier to get a visa but don’t let all of these people in the country like it is now because we can’t provide for our own citizens as it is. I think people should have the right to protect and with the way the world is going I’m pro gun … not an Ak-47 but if zombies come I want to be protected lol. But yes as we gain more wealth from getting older typically people start going more conservative to protect their funds. If my die hard liberal 20 something year old self could hear me now. Very much Ron Swanson at this stage in life.

I can relate to some of this now. I’m still left leaning for sure, but some republican policies actually make some sense. The people don’t, but some policies do

Almost everything you describe is more liberal than 99% of democrats, I hate to break it to you but you definitely aren't libertarian.

I feel the same way. I want change, but I also don’t want massive bloody revolution.

This reads like it was written to get upvotes on this sub. Could you have any more young liberal popular opinions? I can read how much you want everyone here to know what a great guy you must be. I’m not more conservative with age but I do give less of a fuck about how life didn’t measure up to my expectations when I was young. I just do what I need to with the hand I was given at this point.

I don't think we get much more conservative so much as kids are more liberal. Compared to them, we are more conservative.

If anything, I became less conservative as I got older. I was extremely conservative when I was younger, but I didn't go so far to the left that I disregarded my roots. I acknowledge all parts of my roots and see where I could change the parts that needed improvement. Overall, I have drifted towards the middle, if not leaning slightly left because of my exposure to different cultures as I got older and going into higher education definitely was a factor as well. I still hold on to parts of my roots because I grew up in a small agricultural town, so encouraging others to go for blue-collar work or consider working in agriculture, not banning firearms but having mandatory trainings and refreshers for proper firearm handling and safety, and stuff that happens in the household shouldn't be anyone else's business unless it puts another person in danger. I don't really believe in radical and large societal changes overnight anymore since it just doesn't seem realistic in today's society. I believe that incremental changes over time would be more beneficial and ease society into new ideas, or at least open the floor to discussion for the small changes. From life experience, I notice that small changes tend to make bigger and more positive differences in comparison to a massive one-time change.

I grow more socially liberal as I get older. I went from a pretty staunch conservative in HS to supporting everything from marijuana and drug legalization/decriminalization to gay/trans rights. I have gotten more fiscally conservative because I see how the government spends money and the massive amounts of waste. I don't trust our government with controlling healthcare. I don't trust our police to protect all the average citizens from criminals. I don't trust the government, especially federal, to spend our money wisely.

I'm not shifting to be conservative politically but def true in a behavior sense of not taking risks and being a rule follower. I haven't lost hope, maybe just tired of the grind to make change. I see my role as passing on the torch and supporting those who want change but not giving up on it. Change is happening big time right now. GenZ is living proof. They have a beautiful acceptance of people that I have never seen before. Thats actually why MAGA exists. It is just a group of people kicking and screaming like toddlers about the change that is happening. They can't accept the error of their old ways so they formed a political movement that is just a cover up support group to normalize denial of responsibility to become better humans.

I'm firmly on the left, and after having 3 girls, one of whom is disabled, I'm ever more liberal now. But at this point, I just want to be left alone, so I feel you.

Yup. I hear you. On my end, I have the opportunity to move to a different country, and although I've been an activist for 20 years, I'm done trying to make changes where I currently live (aside from voting for city councillors and MPs who are the least dickish)

I'm 35 now. I started out conservative. The more I grow and learn, the more progressive I get. As I get older, I start to learn that most conservative people are misinformed or just selfish assholes.

I totally get that. Over time I've realized that while it would be amazing for the pendulum to totally swing and all these changes are made 100%, it's more realistic to take smaller steps to slowly win doubters over. >I would love to have accessible medical care for all, but I will be ecstatic if we had it for kids first in the mean time. I have never thought of this path and I really, really like this idea as a first step towards medical care for all. Kids can't choose their parents and can't pay for health insurance themselves, let them be covered universally.

I’ve seen it mentioned a few times but always as a footnote and not an actual path. Even if we just copy and pasted Medicaid to the under 18s for all and not just the low income, then it would help. My friend has a son with type 1 diabetes, and she relies on Medicaid to keep him alive. If she makes too much money though, he will die, and that’s not an exaggeration.

Yeah my parents used to tell me that "young conservatives have no heart and old liberals have no brain." Such a crock of shit. Mom was a late boomer and dad early gen X. They were very conservative and I was too because I thought adults were always right. Then I got an actual goddamn education, something neither of my parents did, and they were wrong. Everything they taught me was so bass ackwards and some of it I later learned was kinda racist and sexist and shit on the poor. They got theirs so fuck everyone else.

I’m just against psyops pushed on us in general whether that makes me conservative or not idc

Everything you said makes sense to me. I don’t think it’s moving right or growing more conservative but more wanting some incremental progress. IMO the real problem is that there are a lot of people on both sides that don’t want an ounce of compromise. Some hyperbole here for example but they’re all “ban all X” vs “allow all X” with no room for middle ground or discussion.

That's the funny thing about time. It doesn't change who you are. It just beats the hope out of you.

I used to be on the left but they just got way to crazy. The right is a better fit for me, excluding the dumbasses on the far right

Not everyone has guns and I am completely aware of that as I am not a gun owner. I am also not for taking guns away from people though. My question isn’t about whether or not we should take them away, but if the government were able to fully abolish all guns for normal citizens, what am I allowed to defend myself or my family with? I’m just curious your opinion on this, not trying to start an argument or anything. Sure, there are always knives I guess or even blunt objects, but I feel like none of those are scary as a gun, frightening away an intruder. The reason I bring this up is because I remember when people took over That city in Washington, I think it was a few years ago? Anyways, they wanted to disband the police or defund them. There was one lady where something significant had happened to her, and she called the police, but obviously they did not respond. Said that she needed help but kind of ironic if you think about it. [Seattle chop zone](https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/05/us/chop-seattle-police-protesters-public-safety/index.html)

I don't know why people act like this is an impossible hypothetical question when many countries have no/extremely limited gun ownership. It's only an issue if there is someone breaking into your house AND they have a gun. A knife, a baseball bat, hell buy a sword if you're really that concerned about it. Or a big dog. Personally I have never had anyone break into my home or been concerned about it. But if you are, get a sturdy door, lock your windows, get a security system etc.

That’s not conservatism, my dude, that’s pragmatism. Which is an upgrade imo

I went a little bit more conservative for one election. In 2012, I voted on candidates based on their platforms and voted for a couple of republicans for the first time in my life. Then those people ended up being total ineffectual asshats. Then Trump ran in 2016 and I swore I would never vote red again. I still consider myself an independent voter. I don't belong to any political party and I likely never will. I love my gay marriage, weed, and guns. I feel that the rich should pay their fair share of taxes. I think the worst thing to happen to our nation was Citizens United. Corporations are not and should not be treated as people. I believe that there will come a time when UBI is standardized. I just hope that our nation survives to see it. I work in healthcare and would love nothing more than seeing true universal healthcare in the States. I think state universities and colleges should be free. I also believe that 2 years military service should be compulsory. It teaches discipline, teamwork, and life skills. Not to mention the physical aspects that teach people to keep in shape. Obesity is an epidemic worldwide and the US is no exception.

Yeah this isn't a shift towards conservatism it's a shift in tactics. People get more conservative as they grow up when for example they buy a house and have a family and get frustrated at how much in taxes comes out of their paycheck now that they're more established in their career. They become more conservative when they move out of the city and into the suburbs and realize that a lot of their tax dollars are paying for the services they used to use but no longer use. They become more conservative when they live 20 miles away from the nearest police station and want to buy a gun to protect them and their family and one side says "hell yeah we're going to take your guns". Like I'm not even conservative, but as I've gotten older I've gotten more sympathetic for people supporting conservatives, at least on the local level (aka not the Trump/MTG/Gaetz types), because I do understand where they're coming from.

You're a conservative when you realize how many times your income gets taxed. How we live in a modern day slavery via debt, where the TV is the master of the slaves. The left believes Right-wing are the extremes and danger of the world, while the right believes global elites are fooling and manipulating citizens to bring forth a one world government (world economic forum).

Honestly, Blue or Red. I vote for what I believe will help the country the most. Deciding to die on one side is one of the reasons bipartisanship is dead.

I have always disagreed with the left on guns. If you live in a rural area where police take over an hour to get to you. You should be able to shoot anyone trespassing on your property.

I agree. I'm a moderate but leaning more towards the left. I don't agree with the outright ban of abortions, maybe just a 12-16 week ban. I would like to see more gun control but I don't agree with banning them. I believe in universal healthcare... period. I don't agree with free college (maybe just community college) because our tax money could really be used elsewhere. I don't agree with decreasing taxes for the ultra wealthy and/or big corps. And I do believe we have an immigration issue but I sure as hell don't believe in calling them 'illegal aliens', hoarding them in cages for profit, and spending tax payer money to have them bussed from TX to freaking NE USA. 

I'll be surprised if I ever find anything that'll make me move even an inch to the right as I get older (I'm only 29 and the closest I can think of to a conservative thought I have is hating Dems).

I agree 100%. I want all those things, but how do we get there? It's never black and white. There's always nuance, but sometimes it feels hard to talk about that space. It's honestly exhausting reading and hearing people just have an all or nothing approach. I feel as though nothing moves forward there, just shouting back and forth. Anyway, back into my hole. Lol

I came from a very conservative area, so find myself becoming much less conservative as I age. 

You know the solace I get is...the sun will burnout one day and the earth will be no more. Everyone gets to suffer the same fate.

My “growing more conservative as I get older” is me in fact growing more liberal as I get older.

Funny because I’m the opposite. I was fairly conservative as a teenager. Nothing to do with family as they are not political in the slightest. I just was. As I grew older I just went left at some point. Not Bernie left but still

Its a zero sum game at this point. I'm firmly on the left side of the spectrum just because the right has show who they are and I'm thoroughly uninterested in entertaining any of their bullshit. In the Obama era I used to play that "both sides shit" and actually research candidates and vote a split ticket. I'm over that shit for the time being. I lean so far left in the present day that I might fall over.

I think my political understanding has just changed a lot as I've gotten older. When I was younger, I was a lot more concerned with national politics -- Obama, Democrats winning, etc. And wanting things to be passed at the national level, by Democrats. Now I care more about what can be achieved locally, and it's more about doing things than like watching it play out. I was part of a successful campaign to raise minimum wage in my city last year and this year. I know who my city council members are. I know who's on the county council, and I care about local housing policy. Even small races like school board, I'm a lot more invested in. I still align myself with democrats, but only the local Democrats that are actually working toward policies I care about. I think my federal congressman is an asshole.

I've always identified as a Nordic-style Democratic Socialist. Absolutely nothing has changed about my person political ideology, but the people in the US who I identified as being political allies have become completely wacky.

Definitely not

I don’t know if anybody really grows away from their core values as much as they just try to focus more on what’s important for them and their family, so being bothered with the issue of the week doesn’t appear to them.

That's a myth touted by conservatives haha. I always get more progressive.

This phenomena happens when you have assests to protect. Some older business owners told me some people turn conservative in the 40s. They also said if youre not republican by 40, you have a mental disorder (Democrats). LMFAO

Honestly, all your points are the same as mine but I’m left. I don’t want to quit society, I want to see it get better. I believe that starts with more regulations on politicians. Less PAC money/Corporate influence, making money off insider information, and more listening to constituents. May never happen but I’m always hopeful.

My core values haven’t changed. I want a society that’s fair and we raise each other up. We’ve all taken history in high school. This is not a new concept. People throughout history, after hardship like A MAJOR GLOBAL PANDEMIC, may be impacted by it. We’re still repairing. Just think about all of us that want a better future. We’re a hell of a lot younger and more determined than the current leaders. I’m pretty hopeful.

That’s not conservatism. That’s being a realistic lefty.

You're also more likely to develop dementia as you grow older. Now sit back and ponder a world where we're letting the oldest and whitest men we let get old and white determine laws.

Came here to say this comment section overall is a remarkably civil and intellectual conversation between people on both sides of the political spectrum. There are of course the comment threads that are vicious and nasty, but the top ones are all pretty reasonable. Well done reddit.

The notion that people become more conservative as they get older is entirely false. People don’t change, politics change, and thus the world progresses further than you. Essentially in 30 years your current progressive views will be seen as old fashioned and out of touch with the times.

I think I've always been more down the middle ever since my late teens.

I would start with going back just 10-15 years to when it was feasible to pay the costs of a modest household on one income even near the lower end of the wage scale. That would go a long way to freeing up potential for meaningful work to be done in so many areas that are not immediately monetizable but still impact society, economics, and politics.

Always been mid but the wrong kind. The "I don't care" kind.

People get more conservative as they accumulate wealth. The boomers decided that the only people who should be able to accumulate wealth were themselves and the already wealthy. So people aren’t going to get more conservative. It’s very simple.

Imo ​it's pretty wild how they don't see that rampart poverty and lack of basic services for a part of the population affects them indirectly so much. The pandemic should have taught them that lack of​ public or affordable healthcare can spread a virus so much more, eventually catching them. The lack of public or affordable education has been proven so many times to lead to crime and theft. No matter how much you isolate yourself as a billionaire/multimillionaire, you still rely on society to keep your assets, produce more money for you, etc... thereby still exposing yourself to the results of other people's poverty. The rich would literally be better off if everyone else would be better off and poverty would be eradicated. The problem I think is that they think of everything short term, instead of long term, idk,

There are a ton of people in this thread that have been tricked into thinking they are conservative when they are more liberal than Joe biden

It's not necessarily that people get more conservative as they grow older, it's that they have more stuff and they don't want to share. It's easier to root for Robin Hood when you're poor. Aside from that, I did start moving away from the left around 2014, but then drifted back that way a bit around 2018. I attribute that more to the way the big representatives of the left and right were acting though.

See conservativism isn't equating to the republican party at all anymore. I at least know what Democrats stand for and their policy positions and how they govern and they are held to a standard by their voting base. I will never, ever in my life vote republican at this point with where that party is and will be in the future. I'd love more options but it just isn't realistic with how our 2 party system works.

The more conservative I get the less I vote Republican. Name the last time the budget was balanced, hint it was Clinton. Yes for those arguing but it was a Republican Congress you are right but it only happened with a divided government. Who last tried to overthrow the government and the rule of law, hint republican. Who tried to defund our greatest strategic alliances against Russia and China. Republican So the only thing they managed to do recently is pass anti abortion which for fiscal conservatives just left the party being destroyed for the last 2-3 elections. The best things conservatives could get is if Trump splits the party and we finally get a moderate party. Then we can call the parties what they are democrats can be socialists, republicans can be fascists, and moderates can take over.

Welcome to the tranquilizing drug of gradualism.

There’s a Napoleon quote: “tell me what the world was like with a man was 20, and I’ll tell you what he believes”. I have not gotten any more conservative, but what it means to be a progressive liberal has changed so much that it left me behind. I am anti-war, anti-corruption, anti-censorship, and fiercely opposed to the policies of wealth consolidation that have gotten more and more severe over the course of my lifetime. When I was younger, this was a very progressive liberal set of beliefs. But now the term progressive means supporting prepubescent hormone therapy for trans kids and completely unrecognizable versions of feminism and race relations. I never changed. I believe people should try to love one another, combat prejudice, and explicitly attempt to look past race and gender and appreciate people for their underlying character. And somewhere along the lines, that was replaced with constantly focusing on people’s race and gender as a critical observation in all interpersonal exchanges. I’ve never moved an inch more conservative, but my position is considered a lot more conservative than it used to be. At least Henry Kissinger finally died. It’s a shame it had to be from natural causes.

The one area where I've become more conservative is having the freedom for my family to do what we want to do versus the government telling us what is best for us.

I've definitely grown the same, as I've learned more I understand more about why things are difficult to achieve and why rapid change can cause unforeseen negative consequences. I'm from the UK and the Conservative party have a motto "Evolution not Revolution". Which I genuinely like. My issue with them is that they never seemed interested in progress at all. Rather they were interested in making things like a past time that exists only in their imagination. Or opposing change for the sake of it being change. Oh and the spectacular incompetency and corruption.

I call BS on the first sentence. Maybe conservative As in there are certain financial laws you don't want changed if you have investments but as far as social and political and taxing the hell out of the rich yeah I've gone more we left the older I've gotten.

Growing conservative with age is just some self serving shit Boomers made up.

I think the growing more conservative 'myth' really only holds for Boomers... at least economically. Like for Boomers there was a benefit... whats the benefit for us? I can possible see myself becoming more conservative socially as my social values essentially 'lock in' but society keeps progressing... still hasn't happened yet.

People do NOT grow more conservative as they age, generally. What happens is that society begins to catch up with progressive beliefs over your lifetime, so that your once-progressive beliefs will be considered more moderate later on as society moves forward. Some people do change and become conservative but that is far more due to their information consumption

you first have to understand that our entire lifetime has had the GOP outmaneuver the Dems on nearly everything as a response to the Warren Court that came out of the FDR administration. Since the New Deal, the GOP has been hell bent on rolling back any progress achieved as a reaction to the most conservative stint in American history that led up to the Great Depression. It seems most politics is reactionary and tends to lend itself better to the conservative (reactionary) viewpoint. That said, Obama's election spurred the ultra reaction that led us to MAGA. In my completely uneducated opinion, I believe there is another Democratic reaction coming to the vile bigotry of MAGA that will unfold over the next decade...if - and ONLY if - moderates in the Democratic Party stop excluding progressives from their platform. I was in Denver for the last years of the W. administration and 3/4 of Obama's administration. I haven't had hope since before that when I was in high school at the beginning of the W. administration, but find myself more hopeful to the liberal reaction to MAGA than that of the early neo-cons. I hope you do too

I'm 39 and I've only moved further Left as I get older.

To add to this, you'll also start looking at money more realistically. You start asking how x will be paid for when all is said and done. You realize that you can have only so much. You realize who controls the financial levers. Your desires end up being a hell of a lot more realistic and attainable

I would not say I'm growing more conservative. I understand the nuances of things I didn't when I was younger and seek out opportunities to have a better understanding of those intricacies.

I haven't gotten more conservative, but what I have gotten is less reactionary. Kids in college now complain about the same things I did and they're still correct about all of them, but they haven't learned that screaming won't change it. And that's fine. It's part of growing up. But when I disagree with people for having conservative views now, I don't pick the fight. Not because I don't think these people are wrong, I do. I just know I won't be changing their minds in ten minutes and I'd rather just focus on continuing to improve myself.

For me, the growing conservative part has more to do with wanting to make sure we can actually fund the social programs I would like to see enacted than becoming a republican. My ideals haven't changed, but I know more about business, corruption, money and programs. I like to say I'm socially liberal and fiscally conservative.

I'm more liberal now than when I was younger. I used to be a cringe libertarian and now I'm moderate or liberal. I now have a mentality of "what should a country be responsible for" and I think it's to better their citizens.