Why are most college students liberal and then when they get into their 30's they turn more conservative?

Question

is this wising up from "real life" experience. I think so. I believe there is no better education then real world experience. So it may be "cool" to support illegal aliens becuase thats what everybody else is doing (Columbia University) but when you have to live in a society that they have a negative impact on...you will see the real picture. Ironically college libs..that claim to be progressive and idealistic are just going with the herd...the same herd that told them to smoke pot., drink beer..and get laid...lol..college was such a joke

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfnn7wTgoE8

Answer 1

How about supporting that claim with factual evidence? Wait a second, you can't. In my experience, there most intelligent and educated people I know are also the most liberal. My grandmother was a card-carrying member of the community party during the Cold War, and at the age of 82 is still as liberal as ever. That enough life experience for you? She also happens to hold a PhD, won the National Medal of Science a few years back, and was once in the running for a Nobel Prize. My parents are also both quite liberal, and they're in their 50s. They too both hold PhDs, and are quite prominant within their academic fields. Most (if not all) of my professors are liberal as well, and pretty much all of them are well over 30.

If people tend to become more conservative as they age, it's not because they gain experience, so much as they forget how to critically analyze a situation and process information. It's easier to just accept what you're told, so people who don't need to think on a daily basis tend to do that. And that's when they start voting Republican.

Remember that war we're fighting? The one that so many conservatives supported? The one that we're now stuck in with no hope for stability in that region? Well guess what, many of us knew from the start that that region can't sustain a democracy. My 9th grade history teacher could have told them what would happen. All those people who supported the war had that information sitting right in front of them, but chose to ignore it. Perhaps that was life experience telling them to ignore reality?

As for the illegal immigrant issue... that's a matter of practical necessity. We CAN'T kick them out - our economy depends on them. Besides the issue of actually caring about the welfare of another human being, illegal immigrants fill crappy jobs for below minimum wage. No American citizens, or even legal immigrant will fill those jobs for the same wages. And the industries that rely on that labor, particularly agricultural sectors, can't afford to pay even minimum wage without raising the prices of their product. So you have to pay more for you're tomatos, and, in turn, just about everything you buy. But perhaps that's better than having some foreigner living down the street from you? And that's not even considering the costs of actually keeping them out. Now way pay hospital workers to take care of them when they're sick enough risk going to the ER, and we provide a substandard education for their children. Building a wall on the Mexican boarder and hiring thousands of troops to defend it is going to cost even more. That, combined with the economic impacts of the loss of cheap labor, makes it a bad economic decision to try to rid the country of illegal immigrants. Arguing we should crack down on immigration is racisim, not pragmatism.

However, I can really see why life experience would tell us that who a president has sex with is more important than how he does his job. Or that patriotism means supporting the man who's destorying your country.

Of course, I find it hard to put much weight in the opinion of somone who claims that "college was such a joke." Just because you were too busy getting high to actually learn anything doesn't mean that the rest of us don't benefit from an education.

Answer 2

My younger sister is the "black sheep" of the family-the one who supported Clinton, no matter how many facts were tossed at her. It happened to her in college. Before that, she had a head on her shoulders, but somehow, they got to her there. She came out with an "education" and an idiotic view of life. Now that she is out in the world, she realizes how silly she looked, all those years ago, for defending such a disgusting man.

Answer 3

Because lifes experiances give you a good decision making basis. Youg folks tend to shoot more from the hip rather than relying on good old knowledge and experiance. I for one, was far more liberal in my outlook and take on things between 18 and 30. As I married, had kids, saved money, bought a house and so on, I wanted the best for my kids and future. Soooo, I'm no more conservative in my outlook and beliefs.

Answer 4

My guess: I think there are probably certain neurotransmitters (coupled with change in mindset because of change in society's role at the time since just about "everyone else is doing it", which is sort of linked to experience, both short and long term) which shift from producing more signals/hormones and others opposite that are part of life. These chemical signals affect the energy ppl have to think and the methods of thinking that become efficient at that time fo age.

Answer 5

They become conservative when their parents die ,and they have to move out of the basement because the house is being sold at auction.
Then they go out into the real world and realize that going to protests don't put food on the table,hard work does.

Answer 6

As they began making more money--greed sets in and they want more and more and more and don't give a dam* who suffers as
long as they get theirs. Taxes be dam* let the poor and stupid pay.

Illegals make moeny for the rich--they can pay less in labor--
Jobs to foreign countries--sweat shops--(turn two blind eyes)
can be a 10 fold profit boost. plus Tax investment.

GOP Greedy Old Party.

Answer 7

Good observation.
They're bags of testosterone. When the aches and pains kick in, their view of the world changes

I am still a liberal though. I just leave the protests and demostrations to the younglings. I vote instead

Answer 8

When they are 30 they are earning their own way and realize the liberals want to tax them to the max and beyond.

Answer 9

The brain continues to develop as people age. They get smarter, that simple.

Answer 10

Someone said "He who is not a Communist at 20 has no heart.... He who is still a Communist at 40 has no brain...."

I pretty much agree with that.