Comments on: Will you still need me, will you still heed me, when you’re sixty-four?*

By: Chris

Chris — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 19:28:57 +0000

There is some evidence that people do not, in fact, get more conservative as they grow older. What you’re seeing is older people who grew up at a time when views were more conservative. They’ve ALWAYS been more conservative than people who grew up later at a time when things were less conservative. So it looks as if people are growing more conservative with age but in fact, they are not changing much. They’re just growing older.

By: cd

cd — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 14:31:10 +0000

The anti-gay activists are quite depressed about these numbers. They gave up on young people a while ago (after Prop. 8) but didn’t figure that anti-gay attitudes among older people would thin so much and so rapidly.

Here’s latest on where they’re taking their foolishness:

“During the April encounter, the governor urged invitees to think in terms of “Hail Mary” approaches to boosting marriage rates and slashing divorce rates in Kansas.”
http://cjonline.com/news/2011-07-02/brownback-program-promotes-marriage?page=4#.ThPHgIIw3l5

I don’t know my ancestors did it, but somehow they didn’t take any marriage courses and did okay. But some poor saps are in for Marriage Reeducation Camp in Kansas if these idiots get their way.

By: Priya Lynn

Priya Lynn — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 15:13:09 +0000

I’ve read somewhere that judges also often get more liberal as they get older.

By: John

John — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 15:06:44 +0000

I’m 62 and I’ve gotten more liberal as I have gotten older, and I bet I’m not the only one.

By: Loki

Loki — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 14:09:41 +0000

There’s some intriguing data here suggesting that age brings more liberal attitudes

Dr. Bob Altemeyer noticed the same trend. He noticed that the mitigating factor in people continuing to become more liberal as they age is raising children. Raising children doesn’t actually make you more conservative, but rather makes you more authoritarian, as you are suddenly an authority figure. Which, in turn, makes you predisposed to agree with authoritarian ideology. And, in America, conservatives have such a monopoly on authoritarian ideology, that it is the single best predictor of political partisanship.

By: ebohlman

ebohlman — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 04:05:33 +0000

There’s also some evidence that younger people are no longer seeing marriage equality and GLBT rights in general as issues that fit on a left/right continuum; there’s quite a bit less correlation between political orientation and attitudes toward sexual orientation among the young; it’s become depoliticized in some senses.

By: CB

CB — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 03:21:08 +0000

What should be taken into consideration, is that as people age, many, through their ills, seem to “reaquaint” themselves with God. In doing so, they can become embroiled with the bigotries of the church.

By: Thorne Cassidy

Thorne Cassidy — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 03:18:38 +0000

This is impressive–and I no longer have to wait for that cantankerous, old buzzard next-door to kill over–sweet!

By: cognitive dissident

cognitive dissident — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 22:47:32 +0000

There's some intriguing data here suggesting that age brings more liberal attitudes: "The surveys assessed attitudes on politics, economics, race, gender, religion and sexuality issues. In some cases, such as racial issues and questions of civil liberties for communists, the researchers measured a greater change toward liberalism in older people than in younger people."

By: Mark F.

Mark F. — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 22:37:06 +0000

In the late 1950′s, I think the most commonly used terms were “fag,” “pervert,” and sexual degenerate.” Being called a “homosexual” was considered nice.