AIBU to be confused with my politics or does this happen as you age?

[minniebinnie]

I'm in my 30s & always considered myself liberal. I like debating, learning new things & can acknowledge I'm wrong, don't know everything & have lots to learn particularly about politics. Everything seems so divisive, a weird cancel culture, companies engaging in political marketing etc.

I read the below in a Spectator article & parts of it really resonated with me (didn't agree with all of it).


"Then they (referring to the NY Times) discovered that these young people believed in ‘safetyism’ over liberalism, and ‘the right of people to feel emotionally and psychologically safe’ over ‘what were considered core liberal values, like free speech’. Actually the divide is even bigger than that, and now encompasses nearly everything."

"Where the liberal mind is inquiring, the woke mind is dogmatic. Where the liberal mind is capable of humility, the woke mind is capable of none. Where the liberal mind is able to forgive, the woke mind believes that to have erred just once is cause enough to be ‘cancelled’. And while the liberal mind inherited the idea of loving your neighbour, the woke mind positively itches to cast the first stone."


Is this because I'm getting older & transitioning to more conservative views?

[LakieLady]

I'm a Labour voter, feminist and vehemently opposed to racism. I've been politically active since my early teens, and could never be good friends with

1. a Tory, because they don't think the rich should pay more in taxes to provide the essentials (education, healthcare, housing and a basic income) for those who wouldn't be able afford them for themselves, which I think is unfair; or

1. anyone who is racist, sexist, homophobic or disablist, because they are treating some people differently from others for reasons of pure prejudice, also unfair.

I tolerate members of DP's family who are Tories, and the occasional colleague (very rare in my field) or casual acquaintance, but I could never be friends with them. But I will not tolerate any of the 'isms, and call them out, every single time.

Whether this makes me "woke" or not, I haven't the slightest idea and care even less. But at 64, I seem to be getting more committed and more radical as I age, not less.

[Proudboomer]

My friends daughter is very much in this vein thinks anyone who didn’t vote for Corbyn is a Tory, doesn’t see any anti Semites in the Labour Party but if you didn’t vote for Corbyn you must be a racist.
Oh and to top if off doesn’t see ageism or sexism anywhere.

[Calledyoulastnightfromglasgow]

I think you think more critically as you age. You question “experts” and you don’t readily agree. You realise that people very often disagree.

I think wokeness is new though.

[BlackKite]

I think it's a combination of two things. On one hand, it is common for people to become less dogmatic as they age - perhaps because they see that change is difficult, they become more empathetic about people who have different views, etc.

On the other hand, I do think that there is a new quality to people who have grown up in the age of social media, where debate is more black and white.

[BovaryX]

@caperberries

I've been thinking about this a lot lately, too.

'Hyper liberals' are the new puritans.

I agree. Recurrent themes seem to be zero tolerance for anyone who questions the most dogmatic position on a number of issues. There isn't a debate. There are articles of faith. No platform is a valid response. And unless you agree with every single word by someone like Bret Weinstein or Douglas Murray, their interesting analysis should be ignored. Denounced. And hopefully, cancelled.

[Goosefoot]

I work mainly in education, and I think there is a change and a significant part of it is changes in the way education is happening.

For example, I have now more than once seen parents support kids who felt they could not take the assigned POV in a formal type of debate. Which are of course meant to teach about how to argue a position and see things from another perspective more than any particular set of ideas.

It's also normal to change perspectives yourself though. One thing I am much more aware of now is how changes to laws or ideas that seem good can over time lead to other unexpected and maybe undesirable changes.That affects how I look at proposed changes in many areas, it's a more long term perspective.

[BogRollBOGOF]

YANBU

I think there is a cumulative effect of schooling based on teach to the test at all stages because of the political pressure and a constant battle for survival in schools and social media making it easy to form echo chambers where shallow soundbites get shared. At university at the Millenium, we were still scrapping over limited copies of books and journals. Ask Jeeves/ Google was handy for contemporary information but not the primary route of sourcing.

It's too easy to have simplistic opinions, rarely encounter opposing arguments and cry out offense at people being the devil's advocate whether they believe it or are just investigating shades of grey.

Young people are prone to polarised, strong opinions and until 25, the brain is still fine tuning development, but increasing numbers of people don't seem to be reaching that more nuanced range of thought.