Posted on Mar 3, 2016
Why does the older generation tend to be conservative while the younger generation today is more liberal?
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I will always be about progress, I will always be about moving forward as a society. So why is it people cling onto outdated ideology? by which I mean those who are against things like interracial relationship, the LGBT movement, or anything that was generally accepted as the norm over 60+ years ago. why is it that some people don't want society to change?
Politics
Liberal
Conservative
Posted 10 y ago
Responses: 48
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Old People Fear and there are Plenty in Society that are willing to Prey on that Fear. Young Folks tend to be a bit Fearless and willing to take chances, Sometimes Good and Sometimes Not.
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SFC (Join to see)
Good point, there is a lot of check an balance that goes along with the old and young. There are pros and cons to both sides. I think the strengths and weaknesses of both parties can feed off of each other in a symbiotic relationship as opposed to a competing one.
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CPT (Join to see)
I don't necessarily think it's fear. It may just be that we have gained a bit of wisdom that young folks don't yet possess.
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I hate to tell you Alexander but your grandfather was probably a liberal before he became conservative. I am a baby boomer and I voted for McGovern (very liberal Presidential nominee) back in 1968. But, I haven't voted for any Presidential nominee except a Republican since. We were indoctrinated in school from high school to College it was all liberal and we bit hook, line, and sinker. Life, will teach you to be a conservative. I am not to sure that anyone kept track of the x generation but the millennial generation is headed the same as the Baby Boom and you can really tell by the way the generation is voting in the Democratic primaries. Overwhelmingly Sanders, I am not sure that they know exactly what Socialism is but he camouflages it by calling Democratic Socialism. It is one and the same. Perhaps you have been to one of his rally's or caught one on TV but have you seen what he is offering in the way of freebies. Free College, free medical, increasing medicare and basically redistributing wealth throughout the country. The Wall Street Journal tallied up Sanders' policy proposals and estimated the cost at $18 trillion over 10 years, a sum not officially disputed by the Sanders campaign. (Wall Street Journal, Laura Meckler,Sept. 14, 2015 6:58 p.m. ET). Now do you think that a College student might be enticed to come to the Democrats table. Now the older folks who have paid for their own insurance and education don't particularly want to pay for someone else's.
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Because they have been promised more free stuff and don't realize someday they will have to pay for that stuff.
In other words..... Life and responsibility have not affected their wants/need ratio.
In other words..... Life and responsibility have not affected their wants/need ratio.
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While I have no axe to grind with the specific examples you've mentioned I believe their is a fundamental flaw in what I consider the liberal mindset. A right for you requires no more from me that to leave you alone. It doesn't seem that that is enough for liberals. Tolerance is not enough, I must hold heartedly embrace and endorse a liberals beliefs and policies, or I am a hater. What about tolerance for me and my outdated mores and values.
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CPL Geoffrey A. Pfister Sr
Sir, The day that our "outdated morals and values" truly become outdated is the day my sworn oath no longer applies because that is not representing the God, nation, nor the ideals that I swore to protect...and it appears that day is rapidly approaching. We are charged to protect our founding principles and ideals while our gov't indoctrinates the people into the opposite. It appears that the time of which Thomas Jefferson speaks of is nearly, if not already upon us...I have served for 22 years in the National Guard Infantry, Deployed to serve in OIF lll, and am retired due to injuries sustained...but have yet to honor my oath...Who stands with me to water the tree of liberty?
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SSG (Join to see)
Why do you care that some liberals might considers you a hater? As long as you are not actually hurting anyone, your perfectly free to hate or not hate as much as you want. They don't have to like your mindset any more than you have to like theirs.
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Maj John Bell
The point is I'm not a hater. I think is my duty as a human being to meet all people on a friendly and positive basis. I should not judge a person by how they identify themselves, or can be identified by others. I judge them by how they interact with people in their sphere of influence. I don't approve of alcoholism. That doesn't mean I cannot be a friend to an alcoholic.
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SSG Gerhard S.
Maj John Bell, you are truly on to something with your statement. While the left does claim it want's "tolerance", for all matter of things, what it really wants is for people to go out of their way to "accept", and to "welcome" and to "sacrifice" for their ideals.
"Tolerance - the ability or willingness to tolerate something, in particular the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not necessarily agree with."
And you are right... simple tolerance isn't enough, for anything short of acceptance, and praise for their beliefs, does get one labeled with the vilest of insults. I see them often on the Rallypoint forum, among others. Words like racist, bigot, sexist, homophobe, evil, devil, satanic, facist all for a perceived lack of enthusiasm toward their cause celebre.
It makes one wonder...particularly when some "member" of some group chooses to go into a bakery, or a florist, or another place of business, and expects the vendor to provide a product, or service the vendor finds personally repugnant. Is denying such a product or service good for business? Likely not, but one has to ask.... The customer has the choice, for their own personal reasons, to engage in commerce with a particular business, or to not do so, or to make purchases with ANY other business that provides the same, or a similar service or product. Why does the vendor not have the same choice to conduct, or to not conduct commerce with any person in for their own reasons? Again, is making such discriminations good for business? Likely, not so, but it is the vendor's choice to engage in exclusionary behavior in this manner, and to suffer the consequences of doing so in the form of lost revenue.
"Tolerance - the ability or willingness to tolerate something, in particular the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not necessarily agree with."
And you are right... simple tolerance isn't enough, for anything short of acceptance, and praise for their beliefs, does get one labeled with the vilest of insults. I see them often on the Rallypoint forum, among others. Words like racist, bigot, sexist, homophobe, evil, devil, satanic, facist all for a perceived lack of enthusiasm toward their cause celebre.
It makes one wonder...particularly when some "member" of some group chooses to go into a bakery, or a florist, or another place of business, and expects the vendor to provide a product, or service the vendor finds personally repugnant. Is denying such a product or service good for business? Likely not, but one has to ask.... The customer has the choice, for their own personal reasons, to engage in commerce with a particular business, or to not do so, or to make purchases with ANY other business that provides the same, or a similar service or product. Why does the vendor not have the same choice to conduct, or to not conduct commerce with any person in for their own reasons? Again, is making such discriminations good for business? Likely, not so, but it is the vendor's choice to engage in exclusionary behavior in this manner, and to suffer the consequences of doing so in the form of lost revenue.
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If You Are Not a Liberal at 25, You Have No Heart. If You Are Not a Conservative at 35 You Have No Brain
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SSG (Join to see)
and if you are not a liberal again by the time your 50... you have chosen to listen to people who tell you what you want to hear instead of paying attention to what goes on around you.
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It's not just about age. I'm thirty-eight, and about as "conservative" as my father...my wife's twenty-five, and she's a little "right" of my positions on many things.
The biggest reason some of us are opposed to a few things is our faith. Ironically, the same faith makes me ideologically "left" on many economic/foreign policy issues (though I also believe you can't help anyone by taking something from someone else, or call an oxcart a spade and expect to plant potatoes).
I'm a Christian...while that may mean different things to different people, to me, it means that I believe all people, all nations, and all governments exist only under the mercy of an all-powerful, all-knowing God. It means I accept as literal fact that He sent us a Savior...simply because on our own, we can never and will never be truly "righteous". By emulating His example, and trying my best to follow the teachings of Christ and the Apostles , inside of the greater context of the Judeo-Christian heritage, I do hope to be forgiven for my own sins, and one day be in Heaven.
Nowhere in those teachings or doctrine do I see the justification of hate, bigotry or abuse...but I do see that there are things that are "right" and "wrong".
As an American and proud citizen, I can appreciate that one person's rights should be every bit as protected as mine-even if I think what they believe is immoral. That said, it's a fine line when society decides that something my faith teaches me is a mortal sin...is now not only protected, but advocated over the position I've no choice but to remain true to. I think what concerns "us" at large...is that one day very soon, we may be forced to choose between loyalty to God, or loyalty to law...Both of which I've always considered the guideposts for life.
Ultimately, many of us think we'd be much better off, not to mention more closely following the intent of national law, to leave some things to the individual and their own views. If it is deemed "un-Constitutional" to place a cross on Federal property...I have difficulty understanding why it is then "ok" to light the White House in rainbow colors.
The biggest reason some of us are opposed to a few things is our faith. Ironically, the same faith makes me ideologically "left" on many economic/foreign policy issues (though I also believe you can't help anyone by taking something from someone else, or call an oxcart a spade and expect to plant potatoes).
I'm a Christian...while that may mean different things to different people, to me, it means that I believe all people, all nations, and all governments exist only under the mercy of an all-powerful, all-knowing God. It means I accept as literal fact that He sent us a Savior...simply because on our own, we can never and will never be truly "righteous". By emulating His example, and trying my best to follow the teachings of Christ and the Apostles , inside of the greater context of the Judeo-Christian heritage, I do hope to be forgiven for my own sins, and one day be in Heaven.
Nowhere in those teachings or doctrine do I see the justification of hate, bigotry or abuse...but I do see that there are things that are "right" and "wrong".
As an American and proud citizen, I can appreciate that one person's rights should be every bit as protected as mine-even if I think what they believe is immoral. That said, it's a fine line when society decides that something my faith teaches me is a mortal sin...is now not only protected, but advocated over the position I've no choice but to remain true to. I think what concerns "us" at large...is that one day very soon, we may be forced to choose between loyalty to God, or loyalty to law...Both of which I've always considered the guideposts for life.
Ultimately, many of us think we'd be much better off, not to mention more closely following the intent of national law, to leave some things to the individual and their own views. If it is deemed "un-Constitutional" to place a cross on Federal property...I have difficulty understanding why it is then "ok" to light the White House in rainbow colors.
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Not sure what you are getting at. Both of our Major Political Ideologies have their issues with progression. That is why there are splinters from these ideologies and they help push our country forward.
Remember, some people cannot separate their religious views from their political ones. This happens on both sides, but is more prevalent on the Conservative Side. Now, another issue with people is who associates themselves with which party and what their true ideology is. Our Liberal LEaders tend to be more Socialist. This may be appealing to the younger Veterans, because that is what you are used to from the military. This ideology works in the military, but not so much as a means to progress a society. Tell me how many prosperous nations in the world are Socialist? Prosperous = the lives of the people and their living conditions are above satisfactory.
Remember, some people cannot separate their religious views from their political ones. This happens on both sides, but is more prevalent on the Conservative Side. Now, another issue with people is who associates themselves with which party and what their true ideology is. Our Liberal LEaders tend to be more Socialist. This may be appealing to the younger Veterans, because that is what you are used to from the military. This ideology works in the military, but not so much as a means to progress a society. Tell me how many prosperous nations in the world are Socialist? Prosperous = the lives of the people and their living conditions are above satisfactory.
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CPL Geoffrey A. Pfister Sr
That answer would be none...that is why they constantly invade and pillage other nations because there isn't any wealth of their own...and that is something this corrupt gov't has been doing now for decades...We have the greenest pastures in the world...time to tell them that.
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SSG (Join to see)
What they would call socialist, or what we would call socialist if someone tried to implement such programs here in the US?
Let's take Denmark as an example... if you were to ask your average Dane if Denmark was socialist they would probably laugh at you and explain that they are indeed a very capitalist country. At the same time if you tried to ensure all US workers got 5-6 weeks of vacation and unemployment compensation was 90% of salary for up to 2 years... conservative news outlets wouldn't even bother with the term socialism and would accuse you of being a Communist.
Let's take Denmark as an example... if you were to ask your average Dane if Denmark was socialist they would probably laugh at you and explain that they are indeed a very capitalist country. At the same time if you tried to ensure all US workers got 5-6 weeks of vacation and unemployment compensation was 90% of salary for up to 2 years... conservative news outlets wouldn't even bother with the term socialism and would accuse you of being a Communist.
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Social Media. Older people didn't have the luxury of being brain washed by media online when they were young. Now millennials can click on a buzzfeed or nowthis video and believe it.
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SFC (Join to see)
Aside from "the luxury of being brain washed" do you think there has been some positives or benefits to social media and access to information?
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SPC(P) (Join to see)
SFC (Join to see) - Of course SSG! I wouldn't be in IT if it wasn't for youtube and other sources. But information is so easily accessible now (IE MIT's classes are completely free online), that false information or bits and pieces of info are cut out, that it can be masked as the truth. There are positives and negatives. I tend to stear clear of biased sites like buzzfeed, nowthis, fox news.
I'm not saying Liberal ideals are 100% wrong or Conservative ideals are 100% right, but the access to share 1 idea that could be false, can be spread to the masses within seconds
I'm not saying Liberal ideals are 100% wrong or Conservative ideals are 100% right, but the access to share 1 idea that could be false, can be spread to the masses within seconds
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SFC (Join to see)
Agreed- I think people need to be more responsible with their platform esp. when they are in positions of mass influence. It drives me absolutely CRAZY when I see people with a following blast inappropriate and socially irresponsible information.
I def take anything I see on those sites with a grain of salt...I see them more like a Wikipedia..it's a good starting point for an idea, but that's about it, and I def would not reference it in a college paper. Now it's the responsibility of the user to truly research and gain an understanding of the information presented.
My conclusion being both the platform and the user having mutual responsibility to the information :)
I def take anything I see on those sites with a grain of salt...I see them more like a Wikipedia..it's a good starting point for an idea, but that's about it, and I def would not reference it in a college paper. Now it's the responsibility of the user to truly research and gain an understanding of the information presented.
My conclusion being both the platform and the user having mutual responsibility to the information :)
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