Are you more Liberal or More Conservative now than when you were 18?

Blisterman

I hear it repeated again and again, that you get more conservative as you get older, so I thought I'd put it to a poll.

I myself, have always been liberal in some regards, and conservative in others, in some areas, I've become more conservative, others more liberal, but as a whole, I'd consider myself more liberal. Than again, I am only 22.

_blank_

Liberal Lefty PC Brigade assholes.

I wonder how long it will take Dudess to post in this thread.

admiralofthefleet

im 27 and would say im very liberal but i hate hearing kids using bad language

Gauge

Far more liberal at 22 than I ever was at 18.

thelordofcheese

Liberal in it's proper meaning - yes.

Liberal as used pejoratively, no. And anyone who attempts to use it that way has nothing but my contempt.

purplegeko

25 - Way more liberal now than i ever would have imagined when i was 18 may change when i have kids i think thats when your ideals change.

MagicMarker

Defo more liberal.

I now accept women for the dirty whores that they are.:pac:

_blank_

MagicMarker wrote: »

I now accept women for the dirty whores that they are.:pac:

Especially ones that sleep with you on the first date.

Slappers.

jim o doom

Yeah not more but not less - but I've always been pretty damn liberal - what people do to themselves is their own business & I don't see myself ever changing that particular view!

Morlar

More conservative - less wishy washy, idealistic, utopian and more grounded in reality. Travel, life experience + common sense = lean to the right, and all that.

Rob_l

A little of both please
In certain issues im much more liberal and open
and then in other issues I have become more conservative


So yeah I'm super thanks for asking!

stovelid

Outwardly I probably seem more conservative, but I'm really just as liberal at heart, but just far more cynical / burned out and that tends to come across badly, especially when you encounter zealous beliefs and certainties.

I could sum it up simply by saying at 18, I believed certain things could (and would) happen, now I honestly don't think they ever will, but it doesn't mean that I don't really wish that they would.

Otacon

About the same, have maintained my views since I was about 15, when I started reading Politics sections in newspapers... I have no life

EDIT: I'm quite liberal btw...

nyarlothothep

Read the Che bio, read the communist manifesto, tried to get through Das Kapital, listened to a lot of RATM, listened to Chomsky tapes when I was a teenager etc. But it was quite superficial in the sense that I didn't really take it seriously. Now at 23, I would say I am still in the same political spectrum, though a good deal less naive and a lot more serious about what I read and learn and the action that can be taken based on challenging unjustified systems and institutions.

tallaght01

I used to be pretty conservative when I was in my early 20s actually.

But, through living in the real world after uni etc I've become pretty left wing.

I guess it comes from:

A) Meeting more rational left wing people post-uni (at college most of the liberal viewpoints I'd hear were just your unimaginative reflex anti-american/anti-capitalist stuff, or radical groups shouting through a megaphone)

and

working in the real world and hearing so many dumb people spout on about how society's ills are all the fault of people who just happen to be poor, and that the solution is tougher sentences, the death penalty, tighter immigration control, a "look after our own first" policy, and cancelling social welfare :P

I guess as you get a bit older, do a bit of overseas work and just generally expand your horizons (and become INCREDIBLY patronising in the process :P ) you just realise how short sighted those attitudes are.

Anyone wanna sign my petition to have non-organic pesticides removed from Southern Rwanda? Then come to my vegetarian commune in Glen of the Downs and I'll take your details :pac:

tallaght01

I also tried to explain the difference between social, economic and political liberalists to my 21 year old sister today, after it came up in one of her law exams.


The glazed look on her face made me realise I was never born to be a teacher

Steve.Pseudonym

More conservative. Exposure to more left wingers in college has coloured my outlook, and I have decided that I'll take pragmatism over idealism any day.

The problem is, identifying yourself as a conservative puts you in the same boat as some undesirable people, such as racists, homophobes, sexists, even outright fascists. Basically I believe in people's right to self determination with the least government interference feasible. I'm a big fan of capitalism, you make your own money based on your own merit rather than being given things by the state, but that said I still support a safety net for people who fall on hard times.

K-9

Depends on the issues, probably more Conservative on Economic issues, more Liberal on Social ones.

N. Ireland would be the main change, more Liberal by a long way.

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

I believe I am more liberal now than when I was 18. I wasn't very rebelious, I joined the reserves FFS. I did drink underage, smoke weed and cigarettes. I just see that as the norm now though

Oh I fcuking hate politics... with a passion.

Snowie

I think ive always been liberal my perents where hippies.. Getting high with your folks is pretty normal for me.... soid say yeah very liberal.....

pablomakaveli

Im turning more fascist every day. I'm not a bad person, i just like shouting at people and ordering them around.

deleriumtremens

I'm still a teenager and I dont really know where I stand. My political opinions are often drawn from both sides but I would imagine I am more liberal than conservative, but I am not one of those naive, tree hugging, airy-fairy teenage liberals who's obsessed with capitalism, marx, communism..yada yada ya. I am clued into how real life works and would consider my opinions quite rational and practical.
In a non political sense though I would consider myself quite liberal..not hardcore though!

Earthhorse

Both labels are misleading, I think, but to answer the question I would say that politicaly I am more conservative and personally I am more liberal.

Red Hand

I'm a Whig.:pac:

Hmmmm...it depends. Liberal in many ways-however my expression and idea of liberalism might in many instances reek of extreme conservatism to many people.

If that makes sense.

I'm a member of the Society for Procreative Racial Deconstruction. So yeah, pretty liberal, I guess.

philologos

I've become more conservative in the whole year and a bit that has passed

Pen1987

The terms liberal on conservative are bandied around a bit to much in term of political ideologies for my liking, if you're a liberal you're automatically a left-wing thinker, if you're a cnservative you're automatically a right-winger.

e.g. Conservatives in the US would always be associated with small government and the christian fundamentalists, they'd be all for the US constitution train of thought of free market etc. People don't realise that the free market that neo-cons defend with such venom is something that liberals originally developed and the basis of much of the classic liberal philosophy. The US was the first truly liberal state because of that free market idea.

Personally I wouldn't describe myself as either a lib or a con. My feelings on such a range a subjects meander all over the lib-con divide. In all honesty I reckon it'd be almost impossible to box anyone into a "total" conservative or "total" liberal anyway. "Oh so you're a conervative - so you support the death penalty? Yes. So you don't believe in the welfare state? I don't. So you don't agree anyone should ever recieve funding to attend college if they are from socially deprived backgrounds? No. What about your poorer voters? Well..."

The two definitions are too extreme for any normal person to slot into IMO.

Exit

Pen1987 wrote: »

Personally I wouldn't describe myself as either a lib or a con. My feelings on such a range a subjects meander all over the lib-con divide. In all honesty I reckon it'd be almost impossible to box anyone into a "total" conservative or "total" liberal anyway. "Oh so you're a conervative - so you support the death penalty? Yes. So you don't believe in the welfare state? I don't. So you don't agree anyone should ever recieve funding to attend college if they are from socially deprived backgrounds? No. What about your poorer voters? Well..."

The two definitions are too extreme for any normal person to slot into IMO.

I was about to say the same thing. I'm liberal towards immigration, but I'm more conservative on things like crime and punishment, and while I'm not anti-abortion, as an expectant father, I can understand where the pro-lifers are coming from.

For me, I've become slightly more conservative in certain areas. At age 18, there's a belief that you can honestly change the world. Over time, you start to become jaded towards that stuff, and just live your own life the best you can.

rainbow kirby

I've become more socially liberal, and slightly more economically conservative. That said - I still fall very much on the "left-wing pinko" part of the spectrum.

Pen1987

"At 21 if you're not a socialist, you've no heart. At 51 if you're still a socialist, you've no brain." Winston Churchill.

K-9

Pen1987 wrote: »

"At 21 if you're not a socialist, you've no heart. At 51 if you're still a socialist, you've no brain." Winston Churchill.

And whether he is right or not, I'd say that tracks the majority of political opinions as they progress!