Millennials *not* getting more conservative as they age.

[TheHunter]

View: https://twitter.com/pickardje/status/1608732051481444356?s=46&t=de7Pn9L5JVVlQXw2209R-Q

Millennials are shattering the oldest rule in politics

Western conservatives are at risk from generations of voters who are no longer moving to the right as they age

www.ft.com

Pikachu gifs all around but the kids (getting older) are alright.

 

[Lord Fanny]

This makes some of the midterm threads in here after that one exit poll more embarrassing than they already were. And that's saying something

 

[Ambient]

Yeah I remember people telling me I'll become a conservative when I get older… I just don't see that happening.

 

[LetalisAmare]

I'm 39 and fuck ever becoming right wing.

 

[julia crawford]

I'm more radical the older I get

If anything every time I get older I think "I was too tame before I have to be more hardcore to get shit done"

 

[.exe]

If anything, the opposite of that outdated adage is true.

At this rate, I'll get unhinged tattooed over my forehead by my 50s.

 

[Soap]

I'm definitely getting more left wing as I get older

 

[Arkanim94]

turns out it wasn't age, but net worth.

 

[Kasey]

It's hard to be all fuck you got mine when you didn't get shit.

 

[evil solrac v3.0]

Im going more radical as a matter of fact.

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

I wonder what the reasoning for that is. Do we fear change less? Do we have less wealth/property so the dragon-horde brain of thinking isn't kicking in? Is it a better access to information? Is it media literacy? (lol it's not that one)

I certainly don't see myself ever drifting to the right.

 

[jon bones]

yes, hell yes. me, all my friends & family are being radicalized left if anything lol

 

[reelbigeddy]

I think I'm right in saying that Millenials were the first generation to be worse off than their parents? If so, makes total sense.

 

[Royalan]

Pulling this out of my ass of course, but I wonder if there's something to the idea that the three generations noted for their ability to accumulate wealth and assets got more conservative as they aged, vs the one generation that…well, didn't.

I could be completely off-base, but this was the first idea that popped into my head when I looked at that graph.

 

[Witness]

I was actually much more conservative at 21, but still voted for Kerry, than I am at 39.

 

[Capra]

I wonder if this could possibly have anything to do with the older generation maintaining a viselike grip on all of our fucking throats and trying to kill us all off en masse via climate change, vaccine denial, weekly mass shootings, and general bigotry and refusal of societal progress

It is a mystery

 

[Chaos Legion]

Im going more radical as a matter of fact.

Click to shrink...

Trump and the last 6 years changed my trajectory completely, and I'm still being pushed leftward, last two years especially.

 

[Ragnar]

Interesting small-scale counterpoint: In Sweden, the conservative (M) and nationalist/founded-by-neonazis-party (SD) were the ones most likely to win highschoolers' votes had they been able to participate in the 2022 election. 27 and 21 percent, respectively.

And like so many others have noted: If millenials had been on the same wealth trajectory as their parents and grandparents, there's no doubt in my mind that we'd also see the same historical political trajectory with age.

 

[Brawly Likes to Brawl]

It's hard to be all fuck you got mine when you didn't get shit.

Click to shrink...

Came here to say this. The older gens got something out of maintaining the status quo.

 

[Spork4000]

People don't get more conservative as they get older, the conservative party typically re-orients around the social center, or "left wing" a few decades ago. It then entices the wealthier older generation with lower taxes. Problem with this is that the modern conservatives have refused to re-orient, our taxes are so low we have a barely functioning government, and millennials have made no money, like shockingly little money due to massive wealth hoarding. That's without saying anything about the climate crisis.

 

[McNum]

Makes sense. After getting screwed over by aging conservatives for 40 years, why would we want to join those jerks?

 

[Brinbe]

the ones who've lived through and seen the systemic bullshit for what it is reacting in kind, shocking...

 

[Pwnz]

Well yeah, because the parties in the US are basically center left or populist fascist. That and the Democrats have become much more reasonable about civil rights (coy don't ask don't tell to today).

It could be that fiscally we are getting more conservative, but I think most of us have figured out long ago the whole conservative thing in that regard is total bullshit with Republicans.

I think one of the key differences is that we know how to use computers, we constantly question the source, and we don't depend on cable news for information.

 

[Gareth]

Called this for years - one of the few times in life I can say that, lol.


View: https://twitter.com/jburnmurdoch/status/1608759025084297216

 

[Gareth]

Also in UK:

View: https://twitter.com/adampayne26/status/1607674934817341441

 

[kurahador]

Yup, checks out.

 

[KtotheRoc]

Yeah I remember people telling me I'll become a conservative when I get older… I just don't see that happening.

Click to shrink...

I heard the same thing growing up. Didn't happen. Won't happen.

 

[Brinbe]

also, think about how old we all are now, into our 30s/40s and how much representation/political power we actually have in worldwide govt considering our relative size.

 

[entremet]

How can you?

The system that promised you "success" is broken.

Get a education--ok, know you have loans and a 30-40k job and could barely afford rent.

Buy a house. Unless you're dual income, a doctor, lawyer, tech worker, you will most likely need dual incomes to even be comfy. Some people will never buy property.

Ok, then rent first to save up. LOL have you seen rents today? You could barely save for retirement let alone a downpayment.

Stick to a career path and work hard. Some careers barely pay living wages. Working hard is no guarantee of anything.

It reminds of this great video the channel The Financial Diet. Outdated Boomer advice.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVjUEgGnlgY

 

[Teh_Lurv]

Looking at the graph, I find it quite ironic Boomers make a hard turn to the right as soon as they hit the age of eligibility for Medicare and Social Security.

 

[Biggzy]

As noted already, the fact that my generation is the first in along time to be less well off than the previous generation due to them hoarding the wealth, it stands to reason that my generation is more willing to not accept the status quo.

 

[data west]

We have nothing to conserve

 

[DanteMenethil]

Direct results of the growing wealth disparity. I feel like people tend to turn conservative once they got their "fuck you got mine" like a big house.

 

[astroturfing]

not from US or UK but i was born in '82 and became a leftist basically after reading Naomi Klein's No Logo when i was a teenager, and i havent grown more conservative about anything since. why would i..? when right-wingers are observably wrong about every damn thing that matters; the environment, the economy, crime prevention, taxes, science, religion, race relations, abortion.. i could go on.

all i can think of nowadays is just fuck em, get out of the way of progress, and let us sane people try to save whats still left of the biosphere.

 

[Finale Fireworker]

Me at 20: I prefer a moderate conservative in charge of the government to keep things in check.
Me at 30: I believe we should nationalize McDonalds.

 

[THEVOID]

I've never believed in that crap. I think as people get older they get more political and follow whichever path.

 

[platocplx]

told wifey about this. She wondered if it's due also to folks being less religious as well.

 

[Richietto]

I'm 29 and have only gotten more radical Left.

Pulling this out of my ass of course, but I wonder if there's something to the idea that the three generations noted for their ability to accumulate wealth and assets got more conservative as they aged, vs the one generation that…well, didn't.

I could be completely off-base, but this was the first idea that popped into my head when I looked at that graph.

Click to shrink...

Probably isn't an insignificant reason but there are probably plenty of other reasons as well. As we see with homeownership in the UK not even owning a home is making us more conservative. The system sucks and I think we can see it for what is is.

 

[Lump]

Yeah I remember people telling me I'll become a conservative when I get older… I just don't see that happening.

Click to shrink...

I really think it's as simple as this - people prone to becoming conservatives want to conserve their accumulated wealth and land as they age, and the current crop of old conservatives got so conservative that they're not allowing millennials and gen z to accumulate any wealth or land to conserve.

 

[Kyuuji]

It's the avocados.

 

[Kahhhhyle]

Maybe it's because conservatives have openly gone off the deep end and show open hostility towards us lol

 

[Helix]

Yeah I remember people telling me I'll become a conservative when I get older… I just don't see that happening.

Click to shrink...

I guess it's more because they assume you are more financial independent when you come of a certain age and that comes with a level of certain fiscal conservatism. Never bought into it tho and yeah I don't see myself ever moving away from where I stand politically either.

 

[Lmo2017]

Conservatives have basically given everything up that would appeal to an older person (perceived integrity, financial prowess, hard work, religion) for being whiney bigots.

They literally threw it all in the trash to worship Trump. People who grew up during that time aren't going to forget that kind of betrayal.

 

[Viale]

Looking at the graph, I find it quite ironic Boomers make a hard turn to the right as soon as they hit the age of eligibility for Medicare and Social Security.

Click to shrink...

Haven't seen such an obvious example of "fuck you, got mine" in quite a while tbh.

 

[Big Tent Expat]

Pulling this out of my ass of course, but I wonder if there's something to the idea that the three generations noted for their ability to accumulate wealth and assets got more conservative as they aged, vs the one generation that…well, didn't.

I could be completely off-base, but this was the first idea that popped into my head when I looked at that graph.

Click to shrink...

I think it's exactly this. We're the first generation in a long time to be poorer than our parents. Just further reinforces Income/Empathy Gap theory, IMO.

 

[ToddBonzalez]

Bodes well for the future.

 

[Android Sophia]

It's hard to be all fuck you got mine when you didn't get shit.

Click to shrink...

Yup. Almost every Millennial knows they got lied to and screwed over growing up. "Go to college and you'll be successful!" when you end up with nothing but a huge debt, a job that doesn't pay enough, poor healthcare, no ability to invest wealth, and no upward mobility.

 

[Lobster Roll]

It's hard to be all fuck you got mine when you didn't get shit.

Click to shrink...

Bingo.

 

[TacoSupreme]

Late 30s here. I was a hardcore leftie when I first voted, and I've only gotten more left-leaning since. My parents have been the same way though, so I always laughed in the silly faces of people who said I'd get more conservative as I got older.

 

[Deleted member 8257]

SMH at gen x. You fuckers gave us RATM, Nirvana, Beastie Boys and Fight Club, but you turned around and became the Man you all complained about. You class traitors.