The older we get, the more conservative we become?

[EddyF]

Just wondering if people believe this. I’m in my thirties and although I have always had real socialist views and I have always voted Labour, I am struggling with some of my current viewpoints which lean more to the conservative way. I think I have lost a bit of societal empathy and seeing things as a ‘dog eat dog world; everyone out for themselves’.

There are so many issues I see locally (London) that I just think not everyone can be saved. The services are stretched; high streets are depressing and people have too many needs and often those needs are not isolated and are multiple. I feel less empathetic and more “can’t you just help yourself”. There doesn’t appear to be a safety net or one that is efficient enough, which to my surprise, has harden me a bit. Maybe it is age😆

Yes. I cringe whenever I remember walking out of a meeting at 22 years old lecturing my manager about diversity. Now I absolutely hate DEI and I align myself to conservative values. P

I think its just that the left becomes more and more extreme

Which Left do you refer to? Labour is the most right wing it’s ever been.

Some people really can’t save/help themselves. It is such a complicated issue, and I could write forever on here without even scratching the surface, but the answer isn’t to turn away and leave people to get on with it.
It might be a big cliche but even though you can’t help everyone, you can help someone.

And of course, even with all the help and best will in the world some people will still struggle but that doesn’t mean we should try.

Well, for me it turned out that the old people who counselled for logic, caution and the provision of a hand up rather than a hand out - were right.

Younger people are very good at feeling entitled to and spending other people’s money. Issues such as value for money, self sufficiency, etc tend not to be foremost in their thoughts.

I just mean left wing thinking in general, not necessarily any particular party

Yes I believe that’s true. When we’re younger we have ideals and possibly think in black and white. It’s only with experiences that we realise politics are more complex than that.

Yes the path you describe is perfectly natural.

I've gone completely the other way. I see so much more unfairness in my 50s than I saw in my 20s. Would never, ever vote for a right wing party.

Depends on your definitions. As a teenager I thought Communism was the best thing ever. As a student I campaigned for nuclear disarmament. I fell for Khomeini's schtick and supported the Iranian revolution.

I've learned a lot - primarily, that there are always wider and background issues, and I need to find out about them before delivering my valueless opinion.

Since I grew up, I've always been somewhat left of the position we now call centre - the middle's moved to the right. Still am and will be until I die, which is probably not that long in the scheme of things. I've also been an active, steadfast feminist; I've had to reactivate myself there because younger women dropped that rope.

I don’t think that necessarily makes you more right wing.

I’m certainly not buying the idea that left = idealist and right is common sense and pragmatic.

Agree with @Hdkatznahtw125sgh that Labour has moved to the right. Can you imagine setting up the NHS now if it didn’t already exist?

I’ve become more conservative on some things and more radical on others. I’m much more interested in traditions, the countryside, local history than when I was younger (more conservative) but that’s come with some real rage at lack of care for the environment and I’m much more active on this front than I was as a youngster (more radical), when I didn’t really think about it at all.

As I get older, I find that I become more suspicious of governments. I pay taxes on time and commit no crimes so I should be left alone. This is probably making me more right wing - the idea of a small state aligns with conservative values. Frankly, the people in government (Labour or Tory) just aren’t smart enough to get involved in my life or decisions.

I also value my privacy more and more. I have extremely strong views on many things but there’s no way I would post them on social media.

I'm as left wing as I've always been.

Not in this house!

There is research into this trend, it is a trend not a universal rule so there will always be variation in the group.

But overall, yes it happens.

Not here. If anything I'm getting further left with every passing year (having started off as an unthinking centre-left teenager). The more settled I become in myself the more my eyes are opened to injustice and inequality in the wider world. And the root of the problem is always, in some way, neoliberal capitalism.

I think it"s a mix of pragmatism and a realisation that there are different sides to every argument.

I'm 58 still a proud commie troublemaker always will be!
I have always been pragmatic and vote Labour but I did enjoy voting for a communist party in a totally safe labour seat once.
I really agree with the pp who said help one person. It's like what Batman told Flash in Justice League just save one person. Of course once he got started he saved loads of people. I love that line.
And who destroyed the safety net eh? It was Tory austerity.

I become more enraged about the state of the world the older I get. I am Green/left and always have been - definitely not getting more conservative.

Nah. The words change, call me a leftie, progressive, woke, whatever. Same as I ever was (sing that back and you’ll get a good guess at my age).

Definitely not. I'm a very angry woman in my 60s who loathes the monarchy

Thanks for saying 'neoliberal'. I'm a fan of capitalism; it's created a better world in ways too numerous to count, including the big things like food security and disease control. But no ideology should be allowed to run amok, they should always be moderated.

Might it depend on where you start out?
I am quite left wing but my teenagers appear to me to be very right wing. I am not sure how much further to the right they can go.