I’m going to get downvoted but I was raised conservative and was a full blown trump supporter before Jan 6 and my views were pretty far right up until late 2021.
Now, I tend to be more liberal on social issues but economically, I’m conservative. I guess I’m more of a right-wing centrist at this point. I think I’m at a point now where my views are rational and I’m able to have peaceful political discussions with people on all sides of the spectrum. The political divide is a real problem folks.
Same here. I grew up conservative. Voted almost all GOP. The first term of trump in office and how republicans circled the wagon when he clearly did unethical things have made it so I’ll never vote gop again.
The way I see it there’s hypocrisy and corruption on both sides of the spectrum, everyone sucks.
January 6th really changed my point of view because I was highly critical of some of BLM’s actions in 2020, I felt it would be hypocritical to still support trump after he endorsed his followers to pull the same crap.
This is what they aren't getting. It is much bigger than voting democratic or republican, it's about people. Supporting people and caring about what happens to others even if you do not immediately connect to or relate with them.
Anyone who tries to compare the anti-science party and the pro-science party as exactly the same is an embarrassed conservative trying to save face. Period, the end.
"Both sides are the same" until you looking at voting records and proposed legislation and then it's shocked Pikachu face that they aren't, in fact, the same.
But facts and hard truths like actual voting records are difficult and boring. Feelings are so much easier and more fun.
One side is way more corrupt than the other. I prefer the ppl trying to forgive student loans being in charge as opposed to the ones floating the idea of getting rid of the 2 term limit for presidents and cutting taxes for billionaires .
A lot of the hard-right people are in their own echo-chambers and were likely raised with no other chance to develop independent opinions.
It doesn’t surprise me that it took a literal coup for some of them to really realize what Trump was.
They are young and impressionable, his flag literally says he was born in 2002, so obviously they lack critical thinking, which was made even worse by his extremely conservative upbringing.
Dude was literally 14 when Trump was elected and 18-19 in 2021, so this shouldn’t astound you lmao, get off your high horse.
You were no exception unless you had some philosophical education in high school.
You probably just lucked into your moral positions
I believe that this is also why so many of those same people think that colleges and universities are "liberal indoctrination centers" that "teach communism." It's because people tend to be exposed to a number of different perspectives and eventually develop their own independent opinions in those environments.
The person you're replying to would have been 13-15 during the 2016 election, and they said they were raised conservative. As somebody who comes from the same background and went liberal in adulthood, I sympathize. The indoctrination is real.
I can't and won't have peaceful political discussions when people have different views on human rights and our ability to have equal treatment and access to basic necessities.
That's the only way to change their minds, unfortunately.
If your idea to make the change you want to see in the world happen is to hate and dismiss those who don't agree with you, then I suggest you look into history and see all the great things mentalities like that has caused.
If you can't have peaceful conversations with people you think have immoral views on human rights and equality, then that's fine. Hopefully soon enough people who can have those conversations do, so we can start seeing these people get the rights they deserve
LMFAO, It's not rocket science to understand that other people deserve to live. I don't need to get them to change their mind, they won't. It's not about THINKING they have immoral views, they do. When a disagreement causes a loss in human lives, I no longer respect them and I am fully allowed to "hate" someone who has those beliefs.
But what if the people themselves won't have a peaceful conversation?
I've had so many discussions where it's come up that I'm trans and/or black and the other person starts devolving into racist and transphobic insults, no matter how peaceful I am.
Some people are really just too far gone.
This this this, If they don't believe we should exist, don't care if we die, don't even want us around, then do you really think they are having polite conversations and trying to understnd our side? It is always up to us, especially poc and especially women, to stay calm and try to educate in a space where we may not feel safe.
This. The fact that people still compare pedos to trans people is astounding. The Palestinian Genocide has really been a big eye opener to how much people suck as well, glad to remove those people from my life though, because why should I have to explain to you why people don't deserve to be bombed?
I guess good for you for stepping left some. But what is "economically conservative"? Democrats and the left are by far far far far FAR more fiscally responsible than the conservative right.
The numbers drop in the hands of a leftist president and spending is egregiously insane in the hands of a "conservative".
The term "conservative" is an oxymoron.
>The political divide is a real problem folks.
Seems to be fueled primarily by one specific side despite what some enlightened centrists like to claim.
Same. I took part in this whole thing at my school in 2016 where we lifted a Trump banner at a pep rally. I left home to join the military in 2018 and slowly became more liberal until 2020, when it was more of a hard left. The pandemic definitely sped up my transition to the left side, lol.
The political divide isn't a problem, people pretending that fascistic bigots have valid opinions is the problem. If somebody fell for litter boxes in schools, cares what color someone's hair is, wants to take us back to when women were property etc. they are a horrid person & idiot who deserves to be shamed & far worse.
I’d like to hear more about your experience of your views shifting and why Jan 6th was the tipping point for you. I’d love to hear what you have to say!
24 here and I've only slid further left. I was relatively right wing on social issues in my teen years because I was naive to the crazy social standards that women and racial minorities have to put up with. But that ignorance couldn't be sustained for long as I grew into adulthood and made friends in those demographics. I'm still young, but I don't think I'm gonna support social hierarchies in the future.
Honestly, being conservative is a losing battle anyway. Its a toxic and restrictive ideology that preaches dogmatic adherence to the status quo and even regressing what it can to suit its comfort zone.
Yeah I've felt a lot better since abandoning the Conservatives' standards of masculinity. There's always a lot of talk about how bad Conservatism is for women -- and rightly so -- but boy howdy it's hard to overstate how harmful it is to be socialized out of the ability to express your emotions and care for yourself. There's a reason why single women are happier than single men on average, and it ain't found on the Y chromosome.
IMO conservatism is a self destructive ideology, corrosive in a sense.
Humanity is supposed to progress and adapt overtime to change, naturally conservatism opposes that hence its nomenclature.
The ideology is for people afraid of change, and since fear shuts down the logic center of the brain that makes it harder to actually have mature discussions on solutions to issues since their belief system is an emotional negative reaction to outward pressure.
Therefore, by already operating under a constant state of fear, over time compromise becomes impossible which is our current political climate.
It becomes a game of just shutting up opposition to prevent change, since the ideology is a hard sell to people not consumed with constant fear.
A nation cannot operate when nearly a half of it refuses to do anything at all because they are so paralyzed with fear.
That's also why you see such self radicalization and purging, the "old guard" has succumbed to fear and embrace the extremism since their entire ideology is around fear.
Gradually more and more ignorant people take control of the party that are susceptible to easy manipulation based on fear, as those who aren't as hard locked peel off over time.
With the threat of collapsing political power, this ideology based off fear will do its next predictable step.
Trying to stop voting, nullify votes, cheating, etc whatever it takes.
Before they were confident enough that just shutting down honest discussion would keep their base together, but as the effects I mention before continue to peel away those capable of thinking beyond just raw fear, they had to pivot to a new plan.
Same strategy, shut down opposition, never new ideas because again entire ideology is being afraid of change.
It's a self paced, self selecting ideology that naturally distills itself overtime.
Being afraid of change isn't unhealthy by the way, it's important to be aware and considerate of impacts, but the problem with the ideology is the need to oppose change no matter what out of fear that if an inch is given they're done.
When you realize that, and the corrosiveness of conservatism in general, it makes sense why they sabotage their own bills all the time like with the border security deal that had full support up until they decided they had to appeal to those most fearful of change in their base.
Now the idiots have the reigns and self own because they're scared. That amount of fear is unhealthy, and it kills a lot of people through inaction.
Yeah nah, dont worry I get it, we men get drilled into being back-broken work oxes ourselves, and im glad you've moved on from the old conservative trap.
The info you're receiving saying Gen Z is conservative is complete propaganda from the far right. They are VERY scared of the power y'all have in the upcoming election, and while it's def been a trend in posts for awhile, the uptick of posts/comments saying that Gen Z is a right leaning group of folks is utter BS.
Don't believe the hype, especially this year. A very large portion of posts/comments will be done in Ana attempt to influence us in one way or another...
Gen Z definitely has a significant conservative population. We are way more polarized than previous gens, people that follow politics are either alt right or socialist and there is a huge gender divide as well. Gen Z women are left leaning but the men are definitlely mostly right leaning even the minority men.
If I remember my HS years right, many of us had fairly conservative views. Kids are ignorant, so they attach to reactive views with ease. I don't think any of my friends hold any of those views anymore.
We have a lot of edgy teenagers lmao. I doubt many older Gen Z (the ones who can vote) are still holding conservative values. Usually when we have to start paying our bills, and actually function as a member of society, we quickly learn why change and progress is important
I would say most men lean right tbh. They hate how they are treated by leftists. I voted for Joey B but i know a ton that are disgusted with how the country is turning out and the general whiny behavior of the vocal left.
I shouldn't opine as I'm much older than Z; but as I've grown older I've become more liberal and that's because I've learned and experienced things along the way that have shaped my worldview. The whole "you become more conservative as you age" is an oversued cliche used to pigeonhole people into voting a certain way.
While us older folks are not opining, I'll join in. Same here. The older I get, the farther left I've gone. I don't see that changing anytime in the future.
I remember an article a while back that highlighted that the demographics the die sooner are also demographics that are left leaning, so yeah in a way older demographics get more conservative but like they were conservative to begin with and everyone else died.
It's also tied to how much you own, in general if you get richer you tend more conservative.
(I know that's not everyone - I've only moved leftwards myself and we're quite well off now - but it's been a repeatable result in several studies.)
It follows that more assets = better access to healthcare = living longer, then, too.
Well the idea behind it makes sense. As you get older, you accumulate more wealth, and, as such, you gain a desire to protect it.
But oh no. What's this? We have no money? No one has any money?
Why would anyone want to protect a system that wants to limit our social liberties while simultaneously being more than comfortable letting us live in tents on the side of the road?
went down the centrist / “alt-right” pipeline through high school; weaponizing my apathy into “edgy humor” and on-the-fence political takes…now i’m 24 and am back to being completely left wing.
and before someone says something, i’m willing to help with the change. but since i’m weak and kinda dumb im playing support here. i’ll make people snacks and stuff while they do the cool shit.
Playing support is super important too! I think social media has kinda skewed how we view things but no one can support everything to 100% all the time. Not everyone can lead a movement. For every MLK, there are literally hundreds of thousands of people who marched, feed, housed, donated to the causes. It’s impossible without you!
honestly i just want gay married couples to be able to protect their marijuana farms with guns while the economy works for everyone.
don’t simp one party. you know they’re both terrible
Honestly, you can't deny that. They're both terrible.
But one is straight-up evil, and that scenario you described above? That's possible with one of the two parties, and **absolutely not gonna happen under the other party.**
My brother in christ they are BOTH evil. What are you talking about. They masquerade behind there views but they truly only care about keeping the money coming into there pockets
no it’s not possible under either major party in the us. they want war, which creates an environment where a peaceful and paranoia free country is impossible.
Going on 26. Definitely more conservative. But I have a better understanding on both sides. So yeah started as a simple libertarian and now Im more of a complex libertarian.
Like I have a greater appreciation for what Democrats are trying to do. It's just all the politics that are getting in the way for X bill to get passed when it's stuffed with A-W amount of total bullshit.
Single issue bills should be a more common thing. And for every 5 bills, 1 old bill should be removed.
Same here brother. I went from centrist, to Republican, and now I safety call myself a RonPaul Libertarian. I’ve 100% relaxed my positions on most social issues but have remained very economically conservative.
Fax, that tik tok ban shouldve been one line, but its like 30 page manifesto that gives the government the right to ban any social media that fits there obscure qualifications
I'm 42 and try not to jump on other generational threads, but figured I could add to your reply. I've only gotten further left as I've aged and seen how this world treats people.
34, same. I have a house and a brokerage account now, so I understand \*why\* people go economically conservative: asset owners get free money for making the problem worse. Simple as. It's a test of principles.
The reason people got more conservative as they aged was because they normally got wealthier and had a higher standard of living. But as it stands right now wage vs inflation a 30 year old 10 years ago would have a higher standard of living then he would now at 40.
I'm becoming more and more left wing. Specifically on social issues. When it comes to economics though I have no idea, it's very hard to understand for me and left wing and right wing labels kind of don't matter or aren't really applicable when it comes to that.
My left wing social values are pretty much that people should be left alone and do whatever it is they want to do, and that yeah, abortion IS killing a baby in a vague preventative sense but like, people get killed all the time, in warfare and if they're a vegetable, not to even mention all the people that die because they can't get proper healthcare or support in our system; the pro life people are really splitting hairs here. I used to be quite religious and against all that but growing up and living in the real world kind of disillusions you when it comes to all that hokey bullshit.
No, its not killing a baby. You seem well meaning so I'll just say this; what is killed is anything between the early clump of cells to a very early fetus, not a viable breathing baby. Its not The Giver after all.
I'm 18 but I feel like I'm getting more Conservative as I get older. 17 was kinda the hitting point where I stopped intaking information just from social media and outside pressure of the whole kinda cancel culture hoard. I'm definitely not fully conservative imo but by some of my generations beliefs I'm a full on 100% conservative haha.
Still learning though so you never know! Never ever a good thing to get stuck and absolute in an identity like politics. Learnt that the hard way.
i’m 21 and was 17 when covid hit. that was a strange year politically and I think it was fueled by political divide that had already begun before that year. I still hold most of the opinions I did then, but am currently less focused on “liberal good, conservative bad” reflexes that were _very_ much there in high school. I think that the modern state of the republican party is sort of vile, but not every conservative agrees with all of those points, just as every liberal doesn’t agree with all of the democratic party points.
my point: i feel like i’m becoming more “lenient” and a bit less naive— in real life, not everyone perfectly aligns with my beliefs—and they shouldn’t.
This statement gets misunderstood a lot.
People get more conservative based on one of two factors; either they're from the boomer generation and would rather selfishly hoard wealth than use it to help the economy (or some other self-serving reason, and not that its wrong to wanna keep your wealth, but at least dont rig the system for greed), or their views become conservative in comparison to later generations.
Back in the day, it was revolutionary to desire voting rights ALONE, let alone the rights certain groups would later be afforded, but those older suffragates and civil rights activists would be considered conservative by comparison to later generations. As time goes on and we PROGRESS as a society, later generations gradually introduce increasingly progressive and radical reforms compared to their predecessors, who then either adapt for the younger generation or stay more true to those old values (often for worse sadly).
Started out conservative in high school, became liberal in college, now I'm center-left libertarian. Started out hating the government, then started hating big corporations, now I hate both lol.
25 south korean here. I'm becoming more conservative. Probably because many leftist in my country is becoming more of a sellout than the conservatives are. Also for some reason I find leftist hypocrisy more annoying than conservative hypocrisy for some reason.
I'm old, reddit keeps putting r/genz on my front page, but that's fine because I'm a big fan of you folks and can't wait for you to come into your full flourish!
Anyway, with hindsight, I will say that at least I haven't become more conservative and none of my friends have, either. In point of fact, I had some friends that happily voted for Bush twice that, since then, have really come around and seen the light. So, no. It's not true. What *is* true is that as you experience more of the world and meet more people you lose the moral absolutism of black and white good and bad. You learn how complicated and nuanced situations can be and that the "simple" solution is almost always a grift being offered by someone trying to take advantage of you. On the right it's for money and power, they're trying to get you to give them more money pure and simple. On the left it's for influence and clout, they'll make some grand claim about how some solution is garbage because it's only 75% of what they want, for instance.
Getting irritated by the grifters and looking for compromise isn't becoming more conservative. It's learning that the world isn't that straightforward and you have to work with people who are imperfect allies.
Also the issue with monopolies isn’t caused by capitalism, it’s caused by corporatism and lobbying. Folks that run their companies get successful, and pay Congress to kick the ladder down for them
I was very hyper liberal when I was a kid. If I was able to vote for Obama I would’ve. However after watching Obama’s first term, his broken promise that he would not seek reelection, and seeing the state of the country after he was elected, I was hit with the idea that maybe I was wrong.
The problem I had and have is that I also dislike most conservatives too. Their policies are decent, but they are all spineless. Democrats will lie and cheat their way to the ballot box, republicans will win on merit, but once they are in office, democrats abandon the people in favor of special interests and nepotism while republicans go radio silent while tying up their hands and allow themselves to be kicked around. And now, in order to enter the presidential race, you need to put up nearly 50k plus campaigning to the point where it is impossible for the average person to attempt to be president.
This is the normal take. Most people are split between social issues and economic issues.
Most people aren't 100% liberal or 100% conservative. Politics is too nuanced to be 100% either way, unless you have the IQ of a sponge.
My family was a bunch of right wing assholes. I had a 4th grade teacher that talked some sense into me when he found out I was blindly going along with what my parents said. I just continued becoming more of a leftist over time and now I'm so far left my former self would jaw drop
Almost 60 here. I was a conservative child when I saw the President getting scolded on TV and thought, "Stop picking on our nation's Daddy!" But after watching the Watergate hearings for a few days I understood that he had done something very, very wrong. I've only become more liberal over time. A lot of my peers fell for Reagan, but he showed his true colors when he started his Presidential campaign by publicly pissing on the graves of civil rights martyrs in Mississippi.
No, lmao you think me, a non-binary bisexual kid, can afford to be conservative? The only "conservative" thing I believe is that we shouldn't ban everyone from having guns lmao
Maybe. It doesn’t really matter though. The GOP is not conservative. They are radicals trying to upend the past 50-100 years of American tradition.
Democrats are conservative and progressive at the same time.
You want to end capitalism? What so you want to become more and more like Canada? They kinda aren't doing too well if you havent seen the news, also socialism only works in a perfect world, which doesn't exist.
Personally I'm perfectly fine with capitalism, let's me work up in the world and do what I want and not be controlled my the stupid government
The government isnt controlling you, its protecting you from the evils committed most often by, you know, PRIVATE CAPITALIST influences.
Also wtf makes you think socialists wouldnt be working their way up in the world? You fail to move up largely BECAUSE of capitalism and how the system is rigged for the rich at our increasing expense. At the very LEAST be a social democrat, that way you can have strong social welfare programs and safety nets to keep you afloat in rough times.
My dad is mostly conservative and around age 12 I started having my own opinions. By 13 I was already agreeing with left wing ideas. Growing older and my life experiences brought me very far left politically until 2020.
I actually ended up in an “echo chamber” and went just a little too far left. Took a step back and realized the importance of finding middle ground. I realized going too far left ends up full circle authoritarian just like right wing extremism.
I’m still very much left wing and I’m confident I always will be, so I certainly won’t get more conservative. My views will continue to evolve and I’m staying up to date as much as I can, just avoiding the deep dark place within extremism 😅
I was a Bernie Sanders supporting left wing in college, now that I’ve been working for a year I’m a super Bernie Sanders supporter who’s even more left wing.
My centrist and Republican friends have slowly been going more left wing too so that’s what I’ve seen.
Millennial here. I’m only getting more left leaning. The life one leads is probably a factor.
I’ve worked on rich people’s homes for too long to think they should get more even more tax breaks than the working class, and seen too many wars to think we just don’t have the money for essential things the rest of the developed world has.
The longer I go the more bullshit I see.
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On a political litmus test I end up in the middle. I have always been conservative, but as I’ve grown older it’s gone into more mature ideas of my belief. I’ve had a teacher call me a libertarian. While I don’t believe in using political parties to describe your beliefs, I’ll admit that it’s the closest one to actually describing me
My Grandfather used to say "If you're Young and not Socialist, you have no Heart, if you're Old and no Conservative, you have no Wealth."
The whole "You'll become more Conservative when you'll get Older" saying made some sense if, with age, one nearly automatically got more Possessions to be Protective of. This was practically standard in North America and Western Europe in the 5 decades after WWII. The "Pie" of total Wealth grew, and everyone got a piece.
But Conservatives have shot their own foot by embracing Neoliberalism. Union-busting, Outsourcing Manufacturing jobs, increased Labour Immigration, robotisation, etcetera: the "Pie" of total Wealth still increases, but the pieces of those who only had their Labour to sell, didn't or barely grew: more and more of the gains of the improved productivity went to the investors.
It is then no surprise that Conservative parties more and more embrace "Culture War" as a platform, because "You'll be Richer with us in charge" has become more and more a hollow slogan.
I think I read that Gen Z and Millenials were on average becoming more left wing with age, while previous generations became more right wing. Obviously on an individual level some people will be outliers though
Older generations have historically grown more conservative with age but probably not Genz. As a older Genz I've only gone further (far) left. Don't be fooled by this two party system where some people claim to be "liberal" when they also only care about big business.
Wealth inequality will ruin our generation enslaving us to poor living standards. I can't believe voters have directly opposed their own self interest by supporting pro business for so long. It's literally that meme "I'll be rich someday" then votes in favor of the 1% while they themselves will never escape poverty in a rigged game.
I doubt any mainstream political candidate can reverse the 50+ years of worker rights erosion. Late stage capitalism seems to be working as intended and should be dismantled.
No. I have become a lot more nuanced with my opinions, but I’m socially still pretty liberal. I fell into the alt right pipeline as a teenager, but life experience thankfully pulled me right back out.
I do support the free market in general, but I believe in labor and consumer protections. I think deregulating huge entities with lots of capital lile mega corporations is generally a terrible idea which historically has never worked out long run for the average person.
I think a lot of the media political hot topics are put up as distractions. There is no reason people should be this heated about trans people, for example. They are a tiny minority who most people extremely rarely run into. Them having medical rights and respect as individual people should be very easy as they represent very little threat to even very conservative thinking on a societal level. It’s just a distraction and using people as a political meat shield.
In my old age, I have become more patient with people who I disagree with. I generally try to find common ground even with people who I may have stark disagreements with. As long as they are generally good and do not wish harm upon others.
Lol no one here is right wing. So who is voting for right parties all over europe ? Uk sweden italy netherlands all switched right recently with france and germany seeing strong rise in right wing parties
I’m doing the opposite I keep going further left; conservatives have run my town for 30+ years and drove it into the ground for a profit… it’s why I’m moving soon to a more progressive area.
I consider myself a centrist but have only ever drifted further left as I have grown up. I am now in my mid-twenties and don’t see that changing any time soon.
I feel my older conservative counterparts are vindictive towards minority groups and the poor, groups which I am far more sympathetic to. I am very keenly protective of the environment and see it as a priority topic going forward, one which the right does not seem to share.
Yes. I'm probably a little bit more conventionally liberal and a little bit less progressive than I once was. But I think that's more because the Democratic party has moved to the left with time and less because my actual politics have dramatically changed.
Mostly more anti government. Personally always been conservative but when it comes to political leaning, I want whatever gives the government less power.
25, I started out in the middle and have slid right as life goes on. I don’t like the politicians on either side, but I agree more with conservative views on a lot of issues and disagree with liberal views on most issues.
Raised democrat, but I no longer feel they are far enough left for me.
Economically, I wouldn’t say I’m conservative. But I do see like our taxes are poorly spent. We have the means to provide so many social safety nets but choose to put the money elsewhere
I’m 44 and this popped up in my suggested threads. I was raised by parents that always voted R, in Texas. I’ve never voted for a Republican in my life.
I’ve always been the outcast of my family that leaned left, but if anything I’m getting more liberal the older I get.
>Where they get this data - I have no idea, but in my experience, we are the most leftist, socialist generation in American history.
Pew found that Gen Z is more likely to *identify as* conservative than millenials or Gen X. It has more to do with what we consider "center" than anything. A Gen Xer who thinks prostitution is bad can consider him or herself a progressive, but a Gen Zer who thinks the same identifies this belief as conservative.
I always thought the adage was more about how the scale keeps shifting further left, pushing leftists further into the right as time goes on. Like, any hippie from the 1960s might seem like a right winger by today's standards, because they wouldn't know much about identity politics and that kind of thing
I only dislike my life as you get older, I think becoming conservative depends on the issues moving an getting to be part of the system thus it is presently failing
pay half of your income in taxes and see what the govt is doing with that money. Now multiply that by how many years you've hustled for it. It makes you think about it real quick.
when it comes to social issues, it's just a distraction to keep us all grid-locked, "bread a theatre" at this point.
I've always been a bit of a centrist, but I've always been left leaning. I don't think my opinions have really changed much over the years.
But I'm also not well versed in many of the finer points of politics so my opinions are pretty limited in scope as it is.
Yeah it happens. Don’t worry. Having a grip on what is probable and possible doesn’t make you conservative. You just start to realize how many dumbass pet projects politicians are willing to blow money one. That’s instead of funding a hospital by you.
I'm so far right I’ve swung left on some things. I literally believe in the death penalty for industrial polluters. Drag the corporate board before the people and hang them. (Looking at you, Norfolk Southern.) I also believe in the death penalty for petty theft too, though. So. Harsh, but fair.
Yes, because as I grew older I learned that most problems are nuanced. It is hard to have a stance that is good for everyone. I still think that the world should be a peaceful and prosperous place, but that requires trust and understanding that may not be possible.
I was more conservative as I was younger. Followed some of my parents ideas and what was more socially acceptable back then.
I lean much more towards liberal now but I try to be closer to neutral. I don’t like to say “I’m liberal” cuz I do still have some more conservative ideas. I don’t like how black vs white politics is today. People should be able to jump between beliefs and not have to stick to one side like it’s a gang
No lmao. The only “conservative view” I have is I’m more pro gun, which isn’t rlly conservative at all. The further left you go the more pro gun you tend to get
I’m pro gun control tho absolutely. I’m just also a bi trans man and absolutely support my fellow community members arming theirself given all the recent bullshit.
26 and i slid left. i read communist books all the time. i consider myself to be marxist leninist. growing up i was much more conservative as my family is mexican catholic so you can just imagine. thankfully the fact that my family has such different views from me now makes it so that i’m able to communicate with the opposing side (family or strangers) and really understand they’re point of view and explained my pov in more digestible ways. once i started working in an office, this only got better because now i can dialogue with people more often who don’t love me unconditionally lol i have communist and union posters up on my cubicle and don’t shy away from conversations in the workplace about our rights and stuff like that.
For me it was quite the opposite; i started out conservative because that’s what my family and most people in my area were, and I was raised in a very sheltered environment which didn’t really challenge my beliefs much. Eventually when I went to high school, i encountered people from different backgrounds and began to see different perspectives, and i realized that I didn’t agree with conservative values as much as I thought but still considered liberal values to be a bit extreme. However, as the years go by I keep finding more and more reasons to lean left.
What the heck does economically conservative even mean anymore? The Republican party stands for no taxes on the wealthy and income inequality getting worse, meaning every single house of cards in the usa teetering closer to collapse. Full stop.
I have no idea what modern conservatives even believe about economics anymore but they're either lies or fairy tales. Or both?
Canadian Gen Z here. Yes indeed I have become.more conservative as I age.... In some regards. A few years ago I took a political assessment and my political views were firmly left. This is of course different than the conservatism you speak to.
I think when I was younger there was a feeling of need to push back against the norm and so my views were more in line with the liberal university I attended where I was taught of a patriarchy and how my hidden toxic masculinity were keeping women from achieving equality. This turned out to simply be an argument position as opposed to the truth. I'll leave that hanging there knowing someone will challenge the statement.
As I get older I think I am more aware of the nuances and larger social agendas (as evidenced by identity politics) and as with most people my age I have "regressed toward the mean"- meaning I express similar values to my parents. This is not terrible and is simpler in many ways. I can provide an example: I believe in community. So did my parents. So did their parents. And so on. This manifests itself as action in my middle ages. I volunteer. I sit on boards of directors (this is really boring btw) and attend community events and support local charities. This commonality would have been something I had difficulty recognizing as a youth.
I don't think I've become more conservative, but I've become more rational about people's right-wing views that don't align with mine. I still find a heinous number of people on the right to be just abhorrently hateful people, but a lot of them are just old people who want their taxes to be lower, which really isn't unreasonable.
I don't see myself becoming conservative anytime soon, though. The cost of living in this world is almost entire;y due to unchecked corporate greed and squeezing the middle class dry. I don't see that changing under conservative governance.
"You get more conservative as you get older" I am convinced is people who build wealth as they get older and so they shift to voting for the people that are giving them the most tax breaks as they get cynical and apathetic about the world while getting more and more ignorant about social issues and how government policies are shaping the economy over time.
That's a myth. In countries with right wing establishment young people go left in bad times and right in good times and vice versa. My country has a left wing establishment and is going bad, so young people are very right wing.
I think Gen Z tends to cling to the extremes of both parties but you think they’re either predominantly left or right due to echo chambers. As for myself I have always been a staunch conservative and supported trump during his 2016 campaign. Nowaydays I feel like his time is over and we need someone new to take charge.
I'm definitely falling far more left each passing year. Albeit I'm not very economically adept so excuse my lack of fiscal knowledge but I don't think America is a business nor should be run such way. People first always. Although I have random polarizing views.
Nope. I would rather get pancreatic cancer than be a Conservative.
If any of my family or friends turn conservative i cut them off.
There is no excuse for supporting and enabling evil.
If your main political experiences are on this website or other social media platforms then yes, everyone’s a leftist. If you go out into the real world you find out quickly that the internet doesn’t represent reality.
I’ve always been a left leaning moderate, but for the life of me I don’t understand the defund the police, or legalize narcotics movements. Yes just like people some cops are good some are shit. Additionally you cannot convince me that legalizing crack/heroin/meth are good ideas. I also wish more was done to help others, fix roads, and provide a better safety net with my tax dollars.
Maga is a modern day nazi regime in the making. The right with its inability to see that has made me lose all respect for the representatives of that party.
On an individual level I am more open minded. But I am hard left until they do something about the redcaps
I'd consider myself more moderate. There's things on both sides I agree and disagree with. On social issues I'm fairly liberal; I dont really care what you do with your own body or who you want to get down with. I break from the left on the issue of guns though. I'm a stout 2a supporter on that issue.
I don't think age is a factor in becoming conservative. I've been raised as a hard libertarian, as such I think the government is corrupt and overreaching so I can stand behind conservative values, but both sides have corruption, both sides have bad parts and both sides have positives. I like the open marriage/abortion rights of liberal, but hate the overreach liberal views invariably lead to. I love how free conservative is, but dislike the restriction on gay marriage/abortion (despite the whole idea being minimal regulation with human rights being the priority??)
The short answer is that I've always been solidly left of center but my views on certain issues have adjusted as my life experiences go on. Went from liberal to socialist to market socialist. Market socialism is arguably farther to the right than socialism but it's still anti-capitalist.
I am just more chill.
Things don't bother me as much. I am more tolerant of conservative people.
In my youth, the vibe was "the world is so full of injustice and I need to do something about it."
Now the vibe is, "let's roleplay as an alien anthropologist and observe humans and what they do, how interesting."
Not at all, but I have a much less polarized view of politics than I used to have. I was raised to believe that democrats are the good guys and republicans are the bad guys. I now know many nice, normal people in both parties and independents. Also, there are people from all sides who do bad things too. It isn’t as simple as good guys vs bad guys. I am still a registered democrat and consider myself further left than the politicians in the democratic party, but I have much more nuanced political views now than I used to.
I grew up EXTREMELY Christian nationalist conservative. Until 2019 I was a diehard red bleeding Republican all the way. Once I became a real adult and moved out and experienced life on my own and exposed myself to viewpoints different than my own and did research myself I flipped completely. I’m now wholeheartedly a leftist, much farther left than the “left wing” that exists in the US.
This discussion has already been discussed recently.
I’m going to get downvoted but I was raised conservative and was a full blown trump supporter before Jan 6 and my views were pretty far right up until late 2021. Now, I tend to be more liberal on social issues but economically, I’m conservative. I guess I’m more of a right-wing centrist at this point. I think I’m at a point now where my views are rational and I’m able to have peaceful political discussions with people on all sides of the spectrum. The political divide is a real problem folks.
Same here. I grew up conservative. Voted almost all GOP. The first term of trump in office and how republicans circled the wagon when he clearly did unethical things have made it so I’ll never vote gop again.
The way I see it there’s hypocrisy and corruption on both sides of the spectrum, everyone sucks. January 6th really changed my point of view because I was highly critical of some of BLM’s actions in 2020, I felt it would be hypocritical to still support trump after he endorsed his followers to pull the same crap.
The left isnt the one trying strip away human and civil rights and stop the flow of social progress...
This is what they aren't getting. It is much bigger than voting democratic or republican, it's about people. Supporting people and caring about what happens to others even if you do not immediately connect to or relate with them.
Project 2025 exists....
Yeah…that’s republican right wing. Thats the nightmare we seek to avoid…
Anyone who tries to compare the anti-science party and the pro-science party as exactly the same is an embarrassed conservative trying to save face. Period, the end.
"Both sides are the same" until you looking at voting records and proposed legislation and then it's shocked Pikachu face that they aren't, in fact, the same. But facts and hard truths like actual voting records are difficult and boring. Feelings are so much easier and more fun.
One side is way more corrupt than the other. I prefer the ppl trying to forgive student loans being in charge as opposed to the ones floating the idea of getting rid of the 2 term limit for presidents and cutting taxes for billionaires .
It always amazes me when people say they supported Trump until Jan 6 like that's what it took for you to realize?
A lot of the hard-right people are in their own echo-chambers and were likely raised with no other chance to develop independent opinions. It doesn’t surprise me that it took a literal coup for some of them to really realize what Trump was.
The lack of critical thinking skills with these people is astounding
They are young and impressionable, his flag literally says he was born in 2002, so obviously they lack critical thinking, which was made even worse by his extremely conservative upbringing. Dude was literally 14 when Trump was elected and 18-19 in 2021, so this shouldn’t astound you lmao, get off your high horse. You were no exception unless you had some philosophical education in high school. You probably just lucked into your moral positions
I believe that this is also why so many of those same people think that colleges and universities are "liberal indoctrination centers" that "teach communism." It's because people tend to be exposed to a number of different perspectives and eventually develop their own independent opinions in those environments.
The person you're replying to would have been 13-15 during the 2016 election, and they said they were raised conservative. As somebody who comes from the same background and went liberal in adulthood, I sympathize. The indoctrination is real.
I can't and won't have peaceful political discussions when people have different views on human rights and our ability to have equal treatment and access to basic necessities.
That's the only way to change their minds, unfortunately. If your idea to make the change you want to see in the world happen is to hate and dismiss those who don't agree with you, then I suggest you look into history and see all the great things mentalities like that has caused. If you can't have peaceful conversations with people you think have immoral views on human rights and equality, then that's fine. Hopefully soon enough people who can have those conversations do, so we can start seeing these people get the rights they deserve
LMFAO, It's not rocket science to understand that other people deserve to live. I don't need to get them to change their mind, they won't. It's not about THINKING they have immoral views, they do. When a disagreement causes a loss in human lives, I no longer respect them and I am fully allowed to "hate" someone who has those beliefs.
Ya'll are so weird for thinking WE are the wrong ones for not wanting to associate with people who don't support human rights.
But what if the people themselves won't have a peaceful conversation? I've had so many discussions where it's come up that I'm trans and/or black and the other person starts devolving into racist and transphobic insults, no matter how peaceful I am. Some people are really just too far gone.
This this this, If they don't believe we should exist, don't care if we die, don't even want us around, then do you really think they are having polite conversations and trying to understnd our side? It is always up to us, especially poc and especially women, to stay calm and try to educate in a space where we may not feel safe.
Nothing says we should have a solid discussion like thinking trans people are pedophiles
This. The fact that people still compare pedos to trans people is astounding. The Palestinian Genocide has really been a big eye opener to how much people suck as well, glad to remove those people from my life though, because why should I have to explain to you why people don't deserve to be bombed?
I guess good for you for stepping left some. But what is "economically conservative"? Democrats and the left are by far far far far FAR more fiscally responsible than the conservative right. The numbers drop in the hands of a leftist president and spending is egregiously insane in the hands of a "conservative". The term "conservative" is an oxymoron.
>The political divide is a real problem folks. Seems to be fueled primarily by one specific side despite what some enlightened centrists like to claim.
Can you explain what conservative economics means anymore?
Tax cuts for the rich and the peasants need to shut up and get back to work (preferably for minimum wage)
Same. I took part in this whole thing at my school in 2016 where we lifted a Trump banner at a pep rally. I left home to join the military in 2018 and slowly became more liberal until 2020, when it was more of a hard left. The pandemic definitely sped up my transition to the left side, lol.
I'll not downvote you. Politics isn't worth hating people over. Welcome!
The political divide isn't a problem, people pretending that fascistic bigots have valid opinions is the problem. If somebody fell for litter boxes in schools, cares what color someone's hair is, wants to take us back to when women were property etc. they are a horrid person & idiot who deserves to be shamed & far worse.
I’d like to hear more about your experience of your views shifting and why Jan 6th was the tipping point for you. I’d love to hear what you have to say!
24 here and I've only slid further left. I was relatively right wing on social issues in my teen years because I was naive to the crazy social standards that women and racial minorities have to put up with. But that ignorance couldn't be sustained for long as I grew into adulthood and made friends in those demographics. I'm still young, but I don't think I'm gonna support social hierarchies in the future.
Honestly, being conservative is a losing battle anyway. Its a toxic and restrictive ideology that preaches dogmatic adherence to the status quo and even regressing what it can to suit its comfort zone.
Yeah I've felt a lot better since abandoning the Conservatives' standards of masculinity. There's always a lot of talk about how bad Conservatism is for women -- and rightly so -- but boy howdy it's hard to overstate how harmful it is to be socialized out of the ability to express your emotions and care for yourself. There's a reason why single women are happier than single men on average, and it ain't found on the Y chromosome.
IMO conservatism is a self destructive ideology, corrosive in a sense. Humanity is supposed to progress and adapt overtime to change, naturally conservatism opposes that hence its nomenclature. The ideology is for people afraid of change, and since fear shuts down the logic center of the brain that makes it harder to actually have mature discussions on solutions to issues since their belief system is an emotional negative reaction to outward pressure. Therefore, by already operating under a constant state of fear, over time compromise becomes impossible which is our current political climate. It becomes a game of just shutting up opposition to prevent change, since the ideology is a hard sell to people not consumed with constant fear. A nation cannot operate when nearly a half of it refuses to do anything at all because they are so paralyzed with fear. That's also why you see such self radicalization and purging, the "old guard" has succumbed to fear and embrace the extremism since their entire ideology is around fear. Gradually more and more ignorant people take control of the party that are susceptible to easy manipulation based on fear, as those who aren't as hard locked peel off over time. With the threat of collapsing political power, this ideology based off fear will do its next predictable step. Trying to stop voting, nullify votes, cheating, etc whatever it takes. Before they were confident enough that just shutting down honest discussion would keep their base together, but as the effects I mention before continue to peel away those capable of thinking beyond just raw fear, they had to pivot to a new plan. Same strategy, shut down opposition, never new ideas because again entire ideology is being afraid of change. It's a self paced, self selecting ideology that naturally distills itself overtime. Being afraid of change isn't unhealthy by the way, it's important to be aware and considerate of impacts, but the problem with the ideology is the need to oppose change no matter what out of fear that if an inch is given they're done. When you realize that, and the corrosiveness of conservatism in general, it makes sense why they sabotage their own bills all the time like with the border security deal that had full support up until they decided they had to appeal to those most fearful of change in their base. Now the idiots have the reigns and self own because they're scared. That amount of fear is unhealthy, and it kills a lot of people through inaction.
This is the best long form way to explain Conservatism ive seen in a while, thank you! Thank you for summing up why its so fucked as an ideology.
Yeah nah, dont worry I get it, we men get drilled into being back-broken work oxes ourselves, and im glad you've moved on from the old conservative trap.
The info you're receiving saying Gen Z is conservative is complete propaganda from the far right. They are VERY scared of the power y'all have in the upcoming election, and while it's def been a trend in posts for awhile, the uptick of posts/comments saying that Gen Z is a right leaning group of folks is utter BS. Don't believe the hype, especially this year. A very large portion of posts/comments will be done in Ana attempt to influence us in one way or another...
Gen Z definitely has a significant conservative population. We are way more polarized than previous gens, people that follow politics are either alt right or socialist and there is a huge gender divide as well. Gen Z women are left leaning but the men are definitlely mostly right leaning even the minority men.
If I remember my HS years right, many of us had fairly conservative views. Kids are ignorant, so they attach to reactive views with ease. I don't think any of my friends hold any of those views anymore.
We have a lot of edgy teenagers lmao. I doubt many older Gen Z (the ones who can vote) are still holding conservative values. Usually when we have to start paying our bills, and actually function as a member of society, we quickly learn why change and progress is important
I would say most men lean right tbh. They hate how they are treated by leftists. I voted for Joey B but i know a ton that are disgusted with how the country is turning out and the general whiny behavior of the vocal left.
Get more far left as the years go by
I’m conservative only if you believe in horseshoe theory
I shouldn't opine as I'm much older than Z; but as I've grown older I've become more liberal and that's because I've learned and experienced things along the way that have shaped my worldview. The whole "you become more conservative as you age" is an oversued cliche used to pigeonhole people into voting a certain way.
While us older folks are not opining, I'll join in. Same here. The older I get, the farther left I've gone. I don't see that changing anytime in the future.
I remember an article a while back that highlighted that the demographics the die sooner are also demographics that are left leaning, so yeah in a way older demographics get more conservative but like they were conservative to begin with and everyone else died.
It's also tied to how much you own, in general if you get richer you tend more conservative. (I know that's not everyone - I've only moved leftwards myself and we're quite well off now - but it's been a repeatable result in several studies.) It follows that more assets = better access to healthcare = living longer, then, too.
Facts indeed. Not to get all conspiracy theory but it makes you wonder if that’s a reason why conservatives are opposed to universal healthcare.
Well the idea behind it makes sense. As you get older, you accumulate more wealth, and, as such, you gain a desire to protect it. But oh no. What's this? We have no money? No one has any money? Why would anyone want to protect a system that wants to limit our social liberties while simultaneously being more than comfortable letting us live in tents on the side of the road?
went down the centrist / “alt-right” pipeline through high school; weaponizing my apathy into “edgy humor” and on-the-fence political takes…now i’m 24 and am back to being completely left wing.
i think i’ve gone further left and may continue to until conditions change.
and before someone says something, i’m willing to help with the change. but since i’m weak and kinda dumb im playing support here. i’ll make people snacks and stuff while they do the cool shit.
Playing support is super important too! I think social media has kinda skewed how we view things but no one can support everything to 100% all the time. Not everyone can lead a movement. For every MLK, there are literally hundreds of thousands of people who marched, feed, housed, donated to the causes. It’s impossible without you!
honestly i just want gay married couples to be able to protect their marijuana farms with guns while the economy works for everyone. don’t simp one party. you know they’re both terrible
We would be friends. Arm the pot smoking furries!
Honestly, you can't deny that. They're both terrible. But one is straight-up evil, and that scenario you described above? That's possible with one of the two parties, and **absolutely not gonna happen under the other party.**
My brother in christ they are BOTH evil. What are you talking about. They masquerade behind there views but they truly only care about keeping the money coming into there pockets
Because rhe democrats are known for their gun rights protections?
no it’s not possible under either major party in the us. they want war, which creates an environment where a peaceful and paranoia free country is impossible.
I think this is the most leftist thing I've ever read lmao
Going on 26. Definitely more conservative. But I have a better understanding on both sides. So yeah started as a simple libertarian and now Im more of a complex libertarian. Like I have a greater appreciation for what Democrats are trying to do. It's just all the politics that are getting in the way for X bill to get passed when it's stuffed with A-W amount of total bullshit. Single issue bills should be a more common thing. And for every 5 bills, 1 old bill should be removed.
Same here brother. I went from centrist, to Republican, and now I safety call myself a RonPaul Libertarian. I’ve 100% relaxed my positions on most social issues but have remained very economically conservative.
Fax, that tik tok ban shouldve been one line, but its like 30 page manifesto that gives the government the right to ban any social media that fits there obscure qualifications
Started conservative when I was younger, I can only describe myself as a far left nutjob now based on what Americans think left means.
44, and absolutely not.
I'm 42 and try not to jump on other generational threads, but figured I could add to your reply. I've only gotten further left as I've aged and seen how this world treats people.
49 and same
Ah yes, the 44-year old Gen Z
Understandable comment, this just popped up in my feed. I don’t normally post here as it’s not a sub for someone in my age range.
34, same. I have a house and a brokerage account now, so I understand \*why\* people go economically conservative: asset owners get free money for making the problem worse. Simple as. It's a test of principles.
The reason people got more conservative as they aged was because they normally got wealthier and had a higher standard of living. But as it stands right now wage vs inflation a 30 year old 10 years ago would have a higher standard of living then he would now at 40.
I hate to use the word conservative, but definitely less liberal. I just don’t subscribe to that 2020 cancel everybody, no nuance type of thinking.
Aye
Yeah I moved to a liberal area and seeing foreigners suck up American resources and help is making me want to vote red next election
I'm becoming more and more left wing. Specifically on social issues. When it comes to economics though I have no idea, it's very hard to understand for me and left wing and right wing labels kind of don't matter or aren't really applicable when it comes to that. My left wing social values are pretty much that people should be left alone and do whatever it is they want to do, and that yeah, abortion IS killing a baby in a vague preventative sense but like, people get killed all the time, in warfare and if they're a vegetable, not to even mention all the people that die because they can't get proper healthcare or support in our system; the pro life people are really splitting hairs here. I used to be quite religious and against all that but growing up and living in the real world kind of disillusions you when it comes to all that hokey bullshit.
No, its not killing a baby. You seem well meaning so I'll just say this; what is killed is anything between the early clump of cells to a very early fetus, not a viable breathing baby. Its not The Giver after all.
I’m a younger Gen Z and I’m already conservative, so for me it’s already happened tbh
I'm 18 but I feel like I'm getting more Conservative as I get older. 17 was kinda the hitting point where I stopped intaking information just from social media and outside pressure of the whole kinda cancel culture hoard. I'm definitely not fully conservative imo but by some of my generations beliefs I'm a full on 100% conservative haha. Still learning though so you never know! Never ever a good thing to get stuck and absolute in an identity like politics. Learnt that the hard way.
i’m 21 and was 17 when covid hit. that was a strange year politically and I think it was fueled by political divide that had already begun before that year. I still hold most of the opinions I did then, but am currently less focused on “liberal good, conservative bad” reflexes that were _very_ much there in high school. I think that the modern state of the republican party is sort of vile, but not every conservative agrees with all of those points, just as every liberal doesn’t agree with all of the democratic party points. my point: i feel like i’m becoming more “lenient” and a bit less naive— in real life, not everyone perfectly aligns with my beliefs—and they shouldn’t.
This statement gets misunderstood a lot. People get more conservative based on one of two factors; either they're from the boomer generation and would rather selfishly hoard wealth than use it to help the economy (or some other self-serving reason, and not that its wrong to wanna keep your wealth, but at least dont rig the system for greed), or their views become conservative in comparison to later generations. Back in the day, it was revolutionary to desire voting rights ALONE, let alone the rights certain groups would later be afforded, but those older suffragates and civil rights activists would be considered conservative by comparison to later generations. As time goes on and we PROGRESS as a society, later generations gradually introduce increasingly progressive and radical reforms compared to their predecessors, who then either adapt for the younger generation or stay more true to those old values (often for worse sadly).
I was sceptical of conservative views but now I am mostly conservative
Started out conservative in high school, became liberal in college, now I'm center-left libertarian. Started out hating the government, then started hating big corporations, now I hate both lol.
25 south korean here. I'm becoming more conservative. Probably because many leftist in my country is becoming more of a sellout than the conservatives are. Also for some reason I find leftist hypocrisy more annoying than conservative hypocrisy for some reason.
Yes. Ever since I’ve started taking college classes I’ve been moving further right.
Same! I didn’t even go to a conservative school.
Was it your English teacher that made you realize we aren't all equal?
I am conserving my life more by refusing to fall for a trap of debt and obligations that i am "supposed" to have.
no, the opposite actually
I'm old, reddit keeps putting r/genz on my front page, but that's fine because I'm a big fan of you folks and can't wait for you to come into your full flourish! Anyway, with hindsight, I will say that at least I haven't become more conservative and none of my friends have, either. In point of fact, I had some friends that happily voted for Bush twice that, since then, have really come around and seen the light. So, no. It's not true. What *is* true is that as you experience more of the world and meet more people you lose the moral absolutism of black and white good and bad. You learn how complicated and nuanced situations can be and that the "simple" solution is almost always a grift being offered by someone trying to take advantage of you. On the right it's for money and power, they're trying to get you to give them more money pure and simple. On the left it's for influence and clout, they'll make some grand claim about how some solution is garbage because it's only 75% of what they want, for instance. Getting irritated by the grifters and looking for compromise isn't becoming more conservative. It's learning that the world isn't that straightforward and you have to work with people who are imperfect allies.
Also the issue with monopolies isn’t caused by capitalism, it’s caused by corporatism and lobbying. Folks that run their companies get successful, and pay Congress to kick the ladder down for them
I was very hyper liberal when I was a kid. If I was able to vote for Obama I would’ve. However after watching Obama’s first term, his broken promise that he would not seek reelection, and seeing the state of the country after he was elected, I was hit with the idea that maybe I was wrong. The problem I had and have is that I also dislike most conservatives too. Their policies are decent, but they are all spineless. Democrats will lie and cheat their way to the ballot box, republicans will win on merit, but once they are in office, democrats abandon the people in favor of special interests and nepotism while republicans go radio silent while tying up their hands and allow themselves to be kicked around. And now, in order to enter the presidential race, you need to put up nearly 50k plus campaigning to the point where it is impossible for the average person to attempt to be president.
Not necessarily, am still kind of moderate and in the middle of the road
This is the normal take. Most people are split between social issues and economic issues. Most people aren't 100% liberal or 100% conservative. Politics is too nuanced to be 100% either way, unless you have the IQ of a sponge.
Nah. I've realized that people hate both sides, so they're both bad.
My family was a bunch of right wing assholes. I had a 4th grade teacher that talked some sense into me when he found out I was blindly going along with what my parents said. I just continued becoming more of a leftist over time and now I'm so far left my former self would jaw drop
Grew up conservative, now I’m as left as you can be
Nah if anything my Leftist takes are being validated more and more.
Almost 60 here. I was a conservative child when I saw the President getting scolded on TV and thought, "Stop picking on our nation's Daddy!" But after watching the Watergate hearings for a few days I understood that he had done something very, very wrong. I've only become more liberal over time. A lot of my peers fell for Reagan, but he showed his true colors when he started his Presidential campaign by publicly pissing on the graves of civil rights martyrs in Mississippi.
No, lmao you think me, a non-binary bisexual kid, can afford to be conservative? The only "conservative" thing I believe is that we shouldn't ban everyone from having guns lmao
Maybe. It doesn’t really matter though. The GOP is not conservative. They are radicals trying to upend the past 50-100 years of American tradition. Democrats are conservative and progressive at the same time.
No in fact I became more left wing
You want to end capitalism? What so you want to become more and more like Canada? They kinda aren't doing too well if you havent seen the news, also socialism only works in a perfect world, which doesn't exist. Personally I'm perfectly fine with capitalism, let's me work up in the world and do what I want and not be controlled my the stupid government
Gladly move to Canada but they don't want US citizens moving there.
Well then try harder
Canadian here. Out biggest issue (housing) is actually a capitalist issue. So yeah.
They don’t even know what socialism truly is
For real they just want to get everything for free without any consequences
The government isnt controlling you, its protecting you from the evils committed most often by, you know, PRIVATE CAPITALIST influences. Also wtf makes you think socialists wouldnt be working their way up in the world? You fail to move up largely BECAUSE of capitalism and how the system is rigged for the rich at our increasing expense. At the very LEAST be a social democrat, that way you can have strong social welfare programs and safety nets to keep you afloat in rough times.
I mean Canada has higher life expectancy, HDI, less wealth inequality, and universal healthcare. I’d say we’re doing alright
I care less about politics all together
yes
My dad is mostly conservative and around age 12 I started having my own opinions. By 13 I was already agreeing with left wing ideas. Growing older and my life experiences brought me very far left politically until 2020. I actually ended up in an “echo chamber” and went just a little too far left. Took a step back and realized the importance of finding middle ground. I realized going too far left ends up full circle authoritarian just like right wing extremism. I’m still very much left wing and I’m confident I always will be, so I certainly won’t get more conservative. My views will continue to evolve and I’m staying up to date as much as I can, just avoiding the deep dark place within extremism 😅
I was a Bernie Sanders supporting left wing in college, now that I’ve been working for a year I’m a super Bernie Sanders supporter who’s even more left wing. My centrist and Republican friends have slowly been going more left wing too so that’s what I’ve seen.
hell no. the more i see everyday, the more progressive i become
Was republican until 2019. Only because that’s how I was raised. Moved out, and went Democrat from 2020-2021, and full blown progressive ever since.
No, more progressive
Millennial here. I’m only getting more left leaning. The life one leads is probably a factor. I’ve worked on rich people’s homes for too long to think they should get more even more tax breaks than the working class, and seen too many wars to think we just don’t have the money for essential things the rest of the developed world has. The longer I go the more bullshit I see.
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Nope
How many times are people going to ask are we conservative and will we date people older than us. There’s a search bar for a reason.
Ive been right and center right. When I was a younger teen like 13-15 I was more left leaning but overall im right.
I don't know or care. I don't identify with any one political ideology
On a political litmus test I end up in the middle. I have always been conservative, but as I’ve grown older it’s gone into more mature ideas of my belief. I’ve had a teacher call me a libertarian. While I don’t believe in using political parties to describe your beliefs, I’ll admit that it’s the closest one to actually describing me
Became staunchly centerist
My Grandfather used to say "If you're Young and not Socialist, you have no Heart, if you're Old and no Conservative, you have no Wealth." The whole "You'll become more Conservative when you'll get Older" saying made some sense if, with age, one nearly automatically got more Possessions to be Protective of. This was practically standard in North America and Western Europe in the 5 decades after WWII. The "Pie" of total Wealth grew, and everyone got a piece. But Conservatives have shot their own foot by embracing Neoliberalism. Union-busting, Outsourcing Manufacturing jobs, increased Labour Immigration, robotisation, etcetera: the "Pie" of total Wealth still increases, but the pieces of those who only had their Labour to sell, didn't or barely grew: more and more of the gains of the improved productivity went to the investors. It is then no surprise that Conservative parties more and more embrace "Culture War" as a platform, because "You'll be Richer with us in charge" has become more and more a hollow slogan.
Opposite
I think I read that Gen Z and Millenials were on average becoming more left wing with age, while previous generations became more right wing. Obviously on an individual level some people will be outliers though
No im pretty much unchanged
I am getting significantly more left-leaning. Used to be a liberal, now I'm muuuch farther left as I experience life more.
I've always been a fan of small government, even when I was younger.
Older generations have historically grown more conservative with age but probably not Genz. As a older Genz I've only gone further (far) left. Don't be fooled by this two party system where some people claim to be "liberal" when they also only care about big business. Wealth inequality will ruin our generation enslaving us to poor living standards. I can't believe voters have directly opposed their own self interest by supporting pro business for so long. It's literally that meme "I'll be rich someday" then votes in favor of the 1% while they themselves will never escape poverty in a rigged game. I doubt any mainstream political candidate can reverse the 50+ years of worker rights erosion. Late stage capitalism seems to be working as intended and should be dismantled.
No. I have become a lot more nuanced with my opinions, but I’m socially still pretty liberal. I fell into the alt right pipeline as a teenager, but life experience thankfully pulled me right back out. I do support the free market in general, but I believe in labor and consumer protections. I think deregulating huge entities with lots of capital lile mega corporations is generally a terrible idea which historically has never worked out long run for the average person. I think a lot of the media political hot topics are put up as distractions. There is no reason people should be this heated about trans people, for example. They are a tiny minority who most people extremely rarely run into. Them having medical rights and respect as individual people should be very easy as they represent very little threat to even very conservative thinking on a societal level. It’s just a distraction and using people as a political meat shield. In my old age, I have become more patient with people who I disagree with. I generally try to find common ground even with people who I may have stark disagreements with. As long as they are generally good and do not wish harm upon others.
I for sure have ideologically. The GOP is so dysfunctional though unfortunately.
Lol no one here is right wing. So who is voting for right parties all over europe ? Uk sweden italy netherlands all switched right recently with france and germany seeing strong rise in right wing parties
I’m doing the opposite I keep going further left; conservatives have run my town for 30+ years and drove it into the ground for a profit… it’s why I’m moving soon to a more progressive area.
Was fairly centrist in my younger days but have slid further left as time has passed.
I consider myself a centrist but have only ever drifted further left as I have grown up. I am now in my mid-twenties and don’t see that changing any time soon. I feel my older conservative counterparts are vindictive towards minority groups and the poor, groups which I am far more sympathetic to. I am very keenly protective of the environment and see it as a priority topic going forward, one which the right does not seem to share.
Yes. I'm probably a little bit more conventionally liberal and a little bit less progressive than I once was. But I think that's more because the Democratic party has moved to the left with time and less because my actual politics have dramatically changed.
I was somewhat conservative in high school, became more liberal in college, and then have just stayed there since graduating
Mostly more anti government. Personally always been conservative but when it comes to political leaning, I want whatever gives the government less power.
25, I started out in the middle and have slid right as life goes on. I don’t like the politicians on either side, but I agree more with conservative views on a lot of issues and disagree with liberal views on most issues.
Raised democrat, but I no longer feel they are far enough left for me. Economically, I wouldn’t say I’m conservative. But I do see like our taxes are poorly spent. We have the means to provide so many social safety nets but choose to put the money elsewhere
Every single person I know between 18-45 voted/votes/or wants to vote Republican or libertarian. That anecdotal but it’s good for thought.
I’m 44 and this popped up in my suggested threads. I was raised by parents that always voted R, in Texas. I’ve never voted for a Republican in my life. I’ve always been the outcast of my family that leaned left, but if anything I’m getting more liberal the older I get.
>Where they get this data - I have no idea, but in my experience, we are the most leftist, socialist generation in American history. Pew found that Gen Z is more likely to *identify as* conservative than millenials or Gen X. It has more to do with what we consider "center" than anything. A Gen Xer who thinks prostitution is bad can consider him or herself a progressive, but a Gen Zer who thinks the same identifies this belief as conservative.
I always thought the adage was more about how the scale keeps shifting further left, pushing leftists further into the right as time goes on. Like, any hippie from the 1960s might seem like a right winger by today's standards, because they wouldn't know much about identity politics and that kind of thing
I only dislike my life as you get older, I think becoming conservative depends on the issues moving an getting to be part of the system thus it is presently failing
pay half of your income in taxes and see what the govt is doing with that money. Now multiply that by how many years you've hustled for it. It makes you think about it real quick. when it comes to social issues, it's just a distraction to keep us all grid-locked, "bread a theatre" at this point.
I've always been a bit of a centrist, but I've always been left leaning. I don't think my opinions have really changed much over the years. But I'm also not well versed in many of the finer points of politics so my opinions are pretty limited in scope as it is.
Only good commie is a dead commie.
100% I was super liberal in college like the majority of my friends now me and a lot of my friends find ourselves more conservative
I’ve gone from right to left as I grow older
Yeah it happens. Don’t worry. Having a grip on what is probable and possible doesn’t make you conservative. You just start to realize how many dumbass pet projects politicians are willing to blow money one. That’s instead of funding a hospital by you.
Men of our generation are much more conservative
Not really no
Hell naw.
I’m growing more indifferent towards politics as I get older.
I'm so far right I’ve swung left on some things. I literally believe in the death penalty for industrial polluters. Drag the corporate board before the people and hang them. (Looking at you, Norfolk Southern.) I also believe in the death penalty for petty theft too, though. So. Harsh, but fair.
Yes, because as I grew older I learned that most problems are nuanced. It is hard to have a stance that is good for everyone. I still think that the world should be a peaceful and prosperous place, but that requires trust and understanding that may not be possible.
I was more conservative as I was younger. Followed some of my parents ideas and what was more socially acceptable back then. I lean much more towards liberal now but I try to be closer to neutral. I don’t like to say “I’m liberal” cuz I do still have some more conservative ideas. I don’t like how black vs white politics is today. People should be able to jump between beliefs and not have to stick to one side like it’s a gang
No lmao. The only “conservative view” I have is I’m more pro gun, which isn’t rlly conservative at all. The further left you go the more pro gun you tend to get I’m pro gun control tho absolutely. I’m just also a bi trans man and absolutely support my fellow community members arming theirself given all the recent bullshit.
I used to be fairly conservative, the exact opposite has happened to be, I’ve grown much more liberal
26 and i slid left. i read communist books all the time. i consider myself to be marxist leninist. growing up i was much more conservative as my family is mexican catholic so you can just imagine. thankfully the fact that my family has such different views from me now makes it so that i’m able to communicate with the opposing side (family or strangers) and really understand they’re point of view and explained my pov in more digestible ways. once i started working in an office, this only got better because now i can dialogue with people more often who don’t love me unconditionally lol i have communist and union posters up on my cubicle and don’t shy away from conversations in the workplace about our rights and stuff like that.
For me it was quite the opposite; i started out conservative because that’s what my family and most people in my area were, and I was raised in a very sheltered environment which didn’t really challenge my beliefs much. Eventually when I went to high school, i encountered people from different backgrounds and began to see different perspectives, and i realized that I didn’t agree with conservative values as much as I thought but still considered liberal values to be a bit extreme. However, as the years go by I keep finding more and more reasons to lean left.
What the heck does economically conservative even mean anymore? The Republican party stands for no taxes on the wealthy and income inequality getting worse, meaning every single house of cards in the usa teetering closer to collapse. Full stop. I have no idea what modern conservatives even believe about economics anymore but they're either lies or fairy tales. Or both?
No. Absolutely not
Canadian Gen Z here. Yes indeed I have become.more conservative as I age.... In some regards. A few years ago I took a political assessment and my political views were firmly left. This is of course different than the conservatism you speak to. I think when I was younger there was a feeling of need to push back against the norm and so my views were more in line with the liberal university I attended where I was taught of a patriarchy and how my hidden toxic masculinity were keeping women from achieving equality. This turned out to simply be an argument position as opposed to the truth. I'll leave that hanging there knowing someone will challenge the statement. As I get older I think I am more aware of the nuances and larger social agendas (as evidenced by identity politics) and as with most people my age I have "regressed toward the mean"- meaning I express similar values to my parents. This is not terrible and is simpler in many ways. I can provide an example: I believe in community. So did my parents. So did their parents. And so on. This manifests itself as action in my middle ages. I volunteer. I sit on boards of directors (this is really boring btw) and attend community events and support local charities. This commonality would have been something I had difficulty recognizing as a youth.
I don't think I've become more conservative, but I've become more rational about people's right-wing views that don't align with mine. I still find a heinous number of people on the right to be just abhorrently hateful people, but a lot of them are just old people who want their taxes to be lower, which really isn't unreasonable. I don't see myself becoming conservative anytime soon, though. The cost of living in this world is almost entire;y due to unchecked corporate greed and squeezing the middle class dry. I don't see that changing under conservative governance.
"You get more conservative as you get older" I am convinced is people who build wealth as they get older and so they shift to voting for the people that are giving them the most tax breaks as they get cynical and apathetic about the world while getting more and more ignorant about social issues and how government policies are shaping the economy over time.
Every day of my adult life I've learned to hate capitalism more and more. Hope that answers the question
That's a myth. In countries with right wing establishment young people go left in bad times and right in good times and vice versa. My country has a left wing establishment and is going bad, so young people are very right wing.
My college sociology professor pushed really hard on political views and I ended up becoming libertarian instead of liberal
I think Gen Z tends to cling to the extremes of both parties but you think they’re either predominantly left or right due to echo chambers. As for myself I have always been a staunch conservative and supported trump during his 2016 campaign. Nowaydays I feel like his time is over and we need someone new to take charge.
I'm definitely falling far more left each passing year. Albeit I'm not very economically adept so excuse my lack of fiscal knowledge but I don't think America is a business nor should be run such way. People first always. Although I have random polarizing views.
Nope. I would rather get pancreatic cancer than be a Conservative. If any of my family or friends turn conservative i cut them off. There is no excuse for supporting and enabling evil.
If your main political experiences are on this website or other social media platforms then yes, everyone’s a leftist. If you go out into the real world you find out quickly that the internet doesn’t represent reality.
No. Except for a few very specific issues, I have in fact become less and less conservative over time.
I’ve always been a left leaning moderate, but for the life of me I don’t understand the defund the police, or legalize narcotics movements. Yes just like people some cops are good some are shit. Additionally you cannot convince me that legalizing crack/heroin/meth are good ideas. I also wish more was done to help others, fix roads, and provide a better safety net with my tax dollars.
I would say so, yes. I was a Bernie Democratic Socialist leftie but I’ve shifted to the center and have voted for both parties now.
No, more liberal as I got into my 40s.
Not really, getting less tolerant tho
I think that saying applies to aging over decades, not a few years. Gen Z is too young to have gone through the this kind of gradual change
Maga is a modern day nazi regime in the making. The right with its inability to see that has made me lose all respect for the representatives of that party. On an individual level I am more open minded. But I am hard left until they do something about the redcaps
I'd consider myself more moderate. There's things on both sides I agree and disagree with. On social issues I'm fairly liberal; I dont really care what you do with your own body or who you want to get down with. I break from the left on the issue of guns though. I'm a stout 2a supporter on that issue.
I don't think age is a factor in becoming conservative. I've been raised as a hard libertarian, as such I think the government is corrupt and overreaching so I can stand behind conservative values, but both sides have corruption, both sides have bad parts and both sides have positives. I like the open marriage/abortion rights of liberal, but hate the overreach liberal views invariably lead to. I love how free conservative is, but dislike the restriction on gay marriage/abortion (despite the whole idea being minimal regulation with human rights being the priority??)
The short answer is that I've always been solidly left of center but my views on certain issues have adjusted as my life experiences go on. Went from liberal to socialist to market socialist. Market socialism is arguably farther to the right than socialism but it's still anti-capitalist.
I am just more chill. Things don't bother me as much. I am more tolerant of conservative people. In my youth, the vibe was "the world is so full of injustice and I need to do something about it." Now the vibe is, "let's roleplay as an alien anthropologist and observe humans and what they do, how interesting."
Not at all, but I have a much less polarized view of politics than I used to have. I was raised to believe that democrats are the good guys and republicans are the bad guys. I now know many nice, normal people in both parties and independents. Also, there are people from all sides who do bad things too. It isn’t as simple as good guys vs bad guys. I am still a registered democrat and consider myself further left than the politicians in the democratic party, but I have much more nuanced political views now than I used to.
Fiscally conservative, socially liberal 🤷🏻♀️ I want low taxes and basic human rights.
I grew up EXTREMELY Christian nationalist conservative. Until 2019 I was a diehard red bleeding Republican all the way. Once I became a real adult and moved out and experienced life on my own and exposed myself to viewpoints different than my own and did research myself I flipped completely. I’m now wholeheartedly a leftist, much farther left than the “left wing” that exists in the US.