Are most conservatives/teabaggers over 40? Just wondering....

[LiberalLoner]

I'm trying to figure out if it is likely we will move toward more liberal positions as a nation in the coming decades, or if it's likely to stay this conservative or become even more conservative.

I often hear, people become more conservative as they grow older. On the other hand, I have read that people's political affiliations and views tend not to change much over the decades.

It seems to me that the teabaggers and current right-wingers are driven more by racism and hatred of women and gay people than anything else, and I don't see any reason to believe that young people will as a group follow in the footsteps of their elders. It would seem from what I've read, that the younger people coming up lately have become less sexist, homophobic and racist.

So I was thinking, if the conservatives continue to be mostly about that hatred and those phobias, they aren't going to do well in coming decades.

I guess the conservatives could change, but I don't see any movement in their ranks to become more moderate or to consider the under 40 voters. It seems as if the conservatives believe at this point that everyone in this nation is WASP and over 60.

Anyway, what direction do you all see our nation going in? A Republican resurgance, or becoming more and more liberal with every decade?

[NNN0LHI]

1. I didn't grow more conservative as I grew older. I think that is BS

I think the older wing nuts we see were conservative when they were younger. The conservatives I have known were racist pigs their entire lives. They just hid it better in their younger years. The dropped their guard as age associated illnesses set in.

Don

[LiberalLoner]

3. Thank you - quick question

You mentioned age-related illnesses. There's been something I've been curious about. I've noticed with older relatives and others I've known over the years, that in many cases it seems the veneer of politeness vanishes. Not in all cases, of course, but in enough cases that I've really wondered what is going on. When someone in their 60's or 70's all of a sudden becomes a "spoiled brat" and seems to act with all the maturity of a 3-year-old, is it likely from an illness?

I really wondered about this because the people I am thinking of don't seem especially senile in other ways. Sure, they don't drive as well as they used to, and are a little scary behind the wheel, but they don't seem actually truly senile.

But that rudeness/lack of maturity is age-related in terms of illness, and not just people deciding they don't want to be decent people anymore?

[NNN0LHI]

15. Amounts of hormones in our body start fluctuating as we age

I think we can start to lose the right balance of hormones in our bodies and it can make us start acting differently than we had in the past. I have seen this happen to some people as they aged. Some worse than others. Some older people I know have had no noticeable effect at all. Probably in the genes?

Menopause isn't just for women.

This is not a medical opinion. This is just my personal opinion.

Don

[LiberalLoner]

18. That makes sense! I can feel changes in myself as I age, too,

I am starting to go through the change and its affected my memory and my cognitive skills, and also I feel I have less energy than I used to years ago.

Maybe there really are just physical changes that cause some regression as we age.

I really have scratched my head so many times though over older relatives who all of a sudden would act like big babys and storm off if they lost at a card game or if they didn't get their way (if the group decided to go to a museum when they wanted to shop instead, for instance.) I just couldn't understand why they were acting this way all of a sudden, when they didn't seem to be obviously senile or Alzheimer's-struck.

[seabeckind]

23. As one with many "age-related" conditions

like hearing that has been affected by too much machinery and weapons firing before anyone thought that it might cause problems. Or a little angina caused by a couple heart attacks.

"When someone in their 60's or 70's all of a sudden becomes a "spoiled brat" and seems to act with all the maturity of a 3-year-old, is it likely from an illness?"

No, it's that condescending attitude by other people.

"I didn't hear what the f' you said, ashole. I'm not dumb, I just didn't hear you. My tinnitus drowned out your voice. I'm not asking for special treatment or a kidney, all I want is for you to speak up."

[LiberalLoner]

28. LOL - no, no, I don't mean hard of hearing, I mean rop

Flipping over a board game and stomping off saying "this game is stupid!" when one is playing a family game and one has lost.

THAT's the type of spoiled brat behavior I mean.

Or leaning over and spitting in someone's food at a restaurant to ruin that person's meal because she ordered something the old person didn't approve of.

THAT'S what I mean by "spoiled brat' behavior. Don't think either of those two examples are due to being hard of hearing, I dunno...

[HughBeaumont]

2. Even though stupid and ignorant generally comes in all ages, races and genders . . . .

. . . my guess is that the reason you're predominantly seeing the over-45 set at the Tea Klux Klan rallies is that they're products of the Reagan era. If there's anything to be said about Reagan's PR pit, it:

* made broadbrushing (via anecdotal evidence, usually) and stereotyping into a real timesaver,
* made racism fashionable,
* made Pentacostal "End Times" fearmongering into an acceptable means of governing, foreign policy and living,
* made Cold War boogeymen an eternal go-to for Democratic association,
* made misogyny fashionable,
* made progress "effeminate".

Generally, younger followers of arch-right-wing sentiment are "look out fer #1" types themselves who were pushed along by their Reagan-loving parents.

[LiberalLoner]

5. Thank you!

That makes a lot of sense! I do know a lot of right-wingers who are convinced 100% that the end of the world and Armageddon is coming within the year or so. They are so convinced of that they want to move to Montana or some place like that and hole up in the wilderness right now and wait for the end of the world.

[Shapton]

4. I always heard that people generally got more conservative as they aged until they reached

Social Security age. The theory was that as people accumulated more wealth, they wanted less taxes. Not sure I buy that. I think it has a lot more to do with how people were raised. That's especially true with racism and bigotry.

[JitterbugPerfume]

6. I became more liberal as time went by

and a LOT of time has gone by me. It is BS that people become more conservative as they age.

[LiberalLoner]

7. Thank you. It's always the right-wingers who tell me that, smugly...glad to know it's false. n/t

[muffin1]

10. Me, too.

I'm turning 49 next month, and I have never been more liberal. My dad, though, is quite another story. He has become very religious, he watches Faux way too much, and he knows all their talking points. He is even thinking about buying a gun for the first time - just in case someone tries to 'break in', he says. I asked if crime had gone up in his neighborhood. He says it hasn't, but he just wants to be 'on the safe side'. I just know he's buying into all that Glen Beck shit, and it really breaks my heart.

[Joanne98]

8. They're over 60 and yes it's most of them.

[LiberalLoner]

9. So that means in the next twenty years, they will literally die out....that's good to know. :)

[Mari333]

17. many of us on DU are 60 and over and progressive liberals

[LiberalLoner]

21. Not all older people are teabaggers, of course! It just seems like over 50% of older people

are, and less than 50% of younger people are. Or at least that's what I've been seeing in my life. But I don't know if what I'm seeing is correct, or is an anomaly.

So what I'm trying to figure out is, as the generations 60 and older die off, will we become more liberal and less racist as a nation? I am hoping that this might happen but I don't know.

[Mari333]

25. my moms generation are, seems to me, pretty conservative

my mom was, anyway.

I think its a mixed bag.

but, yes, I saw a lot of older white people on SS at those things. hopefully things will be less conservative as older people jump the shark.

but you will be missing me!! hugs

[LiberalLoner]

26. I hope you will live a very long and very healthy life! rop

And yes, I will miss and have missed the incredibly brave members of the older generation (like you) who so bravely and selflessly went against the flow and stood up for what is right. The pioneers who put their own lives on the line to fight for progress.

Thank you for being that beacon of light in the middle of so much darkness.

[SharonAnn]

13. Here they're over 65, on Social Security and Medicare and aginst "government funded" anything.

Supposedly educated people, but racist and misogynist as any I've ever known.

Very self-focused, after all, they've "earned it" but no one else should have anything.

I have all I can do to be civil on some days.

[LiberalLoner]

16. It's hard, isn't it? I find it hard to bite my tongue too. :( rop

I really wonder if that generation isn't especially evil. I mean it just seems like so many in that age group are racist and hateful, I have to wonder why their generation is so much more evil than other generations. I wonder if it was the trauma of the depression and WWII that made them sort of insane? I am thinking that must be what happened. Those events happened when they were children and it made them sort of insane.

[shimmergal]

11. Those who are in the labor force

can't afford to be too blatantly racist or sexist or otherwise bigoted, or at least to let it show.
Few can predict whom they might end up working with (or for) in the next job. And when such attitudes are disapproved of by one's "peers," bigots are more likely to keep quiet anyhow.

With retirement, though, these pressures don't apply. They pay no penalty for letting it show. I think this may account for the impression that older people tend to be more conservative and bigoted.

I don't think getting more conservative is a natural progression. At least it hasn't worked that way for me.

[LiberalLoner]

12. I never thought of that, thank you! Brilliant analysis! :)

[Echo In Light]

14. Aren't most Cons/fundies of all stripes over 40?

[LiberalLoner]

19. The ones I've met all have been, but I don't know....I mean I'm pushing 50 and

so most people I hang out with are my age or older. The young people I hang out with have all been pretty liberal, supportive of gay rights and women's rights and civil rights for minorities. And the young people I've talked to, have all seemed to think it unfair (as I do) that the rich keep getting richer and the rest of us keep getting poorer.

But the people about 45 and older seem to (the majority of them I've run into) cling ferociously to all the Reagan era ideas. I don't understand why they do when the ideas have been proven wrong, but high-authoritarian types are like that. The more you prove them wrong with facts, the tighter they cling to the wrong ideas and lies, because of previous emotional investment.

These people will never ever ever admit they were wrong. These people would gladly starve or die from lack of healthcare rather than admit their ideas were wrong.

[Echo In Light]

24. There's a perverse, grotesque adage in America re age...goes like this:

If you're not liberal at age twenty, you haven't any 'heart.'

If you're not conservative by thirty, you haven't any brains.

The idea being, as one 'grows up' (spends more time immersed within the corporate/consumer culture, and its vast array of propaganda/conditioning) they're supposed to let those 'silly,' idealistic notions re morality and humanity and rep democracy give way to the blood lust of greed, hostility and superficiality.

Of course, the biggest proponents of that adage certainly won't/don't frame it that way, and will instead insist it's about being 'sensible' ... but it's not; it's about adopting the conservative perspective that unfortunately frames the dominant American ideology/belief system.

[Jennicut]

36. Yes. All of the friends of my parents are totally conservative. They are 45 to

70. Most of my friends (25 to 35) are liberal. It is a generational thing. Reagan Dems who were once liberal turned ultra conservative. I mean, my Dad voted for Carter and loves Glenn Beck, Rush, and Cheney now. Not all older people but a huge percentage.

[Juche]

20. People get more liberal with age

The concept that age = conservatism is a myth

http://www.livescience.com/health/080310-liberal-seniors.html


As far as the teabaggers, most came of age during a different era and they are forced to confront a lot of change in a short period of time. They really can't handle it, and it is causing overload.

Many were too young for Korea, but too old for Vietnam. So they get to promote the benefits of militarism w/o suffering the drawbacks (actually fighting). Also many were born during an age when unions made their lives easier.

Personally I think the fact that they got many benefits, but no sacrifices, explains some of their attitudes. They got the benefits of militarism w/o fighting, they got the benefits of unionization (good jobs, pensions, security) w/o fighting for those either.

The average fox and talk radio viewer is 65-67. So the average tea bagger was born about 1940, the age where they never had to fight in a war, and got to benefit from all the new deal achievements w/o having to fight for them either.

It is a very entitled bunch that runs around screaming about the horrors of socialized medicine and welfare while collecting medicare & social security.

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/05/pdf/millennial_generation.pdf

On the concept of age, young people (those born after 1978) are pretty progressive, far more progressive than youth were in the past.

So over the course of about 10 years roughly 15% of the electorate will pass away and be replaced by young people who are more liberal. And the ones who pass away will be among the teabaggers. It will be a massive shift in politics when it happens too because the most conservative members will die off and be replaced by the most liberal. By 2020 about 1/3 the electorate will be millennials, and many of the tea baggers and fox news viewers will have died of old age.

Millennials are who put Obama over the top. Of the 9 million popular vote margin he got, 7 million of those votes came from the 18-29 crowd, despite them only being about 1/6 of the electorate. The other 5/6 of the electorate only gave Obama a 2 million vote margin.

[LiberalLoner]

22. Wow, great article, but it portrays that generation as spoiled brats :(

I think if I were part of that generation I'd be very offended by that characterization.

Although, if those of that generation are also the teabaggers saying get your govt hands off my SS and medicare, then the characterization fits for those particular people.

[Kalyke]

30. I am 40 and I blame the Reagan Myth and the Media for a lot of these teabag turds.

Reagan became president when most of the people slightly older than me were "coming of age" (I was 10). They truly believe what the corporate media has told them since then about Raygun: that he was God's gift to America.

Never mind that most of these people suffered lay-offs, high debt and lack of "common good" funding as they entered the workforce as a result - they never seem to connect the Real Reagan to the loss of worker power and standards.

I'd go on, but I'm at work - and I work in a right-to-be-fired.... erm.... right-to-work state.

[laughingliberal]

33. Goes along with my impression that they tend to be over 65 and already on SS & Medicare

I believe this group was always pretty conservative. Most of that age group voted for Reagan. I haven't seen any evidence that age causes conservatism. I'm 55 and have always been very liberal. My husband is 62 and was always left of center. He is tending to move further left this past decade.

[madmom]

27. I am 56, my group of peers are of similar age. We seem to get more liberal with age. I think

speaking for myself, I see how hard it is for my kids and grand-kids and want to make it easier, thus I am more liberal.:shrug:

[krabigirl]

29. I do think most social conservatives are older. Fiscal, I think are all over the map.

[LaPera]

31. Well what you heard is wrong....and your question is incredibly ageist!

No age group can or should be lumped into some bullshit little category or box for ridicule, discrimination or even praise for that matter simply based on age alone....There are tens of millions of extremely liberal progressives of all ages, including "over 40", as well as over 80! - Get real dude! I'm assuming a dude is posting this ridiculous ageist question.

[kctim]

32. You need to get out more

The number of racists is pretty underwhelming and this "hatred" of women and gays is probably nothing more than a different view on a particular issue. Well, that is unless you falsely believe everybody who doesn't approve of President Obama is a racist, or that everybody against any form of abortion hates women, or that anybody who disagrees with gay-marriage hates gays.

[HughBeaumont]

34. Uhm . . . regarding that very last one . . .

. . . what logical and sensible reason would there BE for disagreeing with gay marriage, pray tell? That is, OTHER than the fact that said person is just straight creeped out by, and uncomfortable around, gay individuals? I mean, does the rite of same-sex marriage affect you or anyone on this planet in any way, shape or form?

[kctim]

38. Being "creeped out by"

and uncomfortable around individuals, does not automatically mean a person hates those individuals. You could easily say that I disapprove of the love people have for their 'God,' I think it is silly in fact, but that does not mean I hate them.
That in no way means some people don't hate somebody just because they are gay, but I believe the number who actually hate, is not as large as some claim it to be.

FWIW: I believe a person should be able to marry whomever they wish and ALL those marriages should be treated the same by the state. Religions should be allowed to run their business as they wish.

[Jennicut]

35. I am 34 and got more liberal since my early 20's. But I think younger Gen Xers and Gen Y are more

liberal in general. George W. Bush became President when I was 25. I think being a young adult, teen, or child during that time period and watching the damage done by a Rethug President makes us much more likely to be more liberal. So 18 to 34 year olds are more liberal in general. But the power still lies with Baby boomers right now. More people my age in younger need to participate and probably will as we get older.

[daleo]

37. I would say most have an IQ under 40

I am not as certain sure about their average age.

[ensho]

39. they are mostly WHITE

nt