What I’ve interpreted from it is that people seem to say this with an extra layer unspoken. For most of recent history, as you got older, you tended to be more prosperous. Assets you could buy into accumulated substantial value, retirement came easy, and a family was relatively easier to support. Thing is, when they look to younger ages from this point, they’ve got more than the youth does, and without explaining what you’ve probably heard a hundred times, it makes 'em wanna hold onto what they’ve got.
In recent years though, that feeling seems to be largely subsiding. People feel they cannot obtain this relative prosperity at all, some feel the world’s been sold, and the infinite growth model of capitalism has fallen off, save for the very richest of the rich. I think this explains more or less why the approach of ‘getting more conservative as you age’ seems to be dying off, and it’s more of a product of a moment that’s in the past.
The idea that the future would necessarily be more prosperous than the past is a relatively new one. For the vast majority of human history the difference between year x and year x + 100 was barely noticeable. If you went back in time and picked someone up from the 15th century and dropped them in the 16th century I don’t think they’d really notice.
However if you pick someone up from the 2000s and dropped them in 2026 they definitely would have some questions.
Obviously everything is still advancing, but unlike before that advancement doesn’t seem to equate to a better quality of life, and greater prosperity anymore.
My view is that as Boomers accumulated wealth, the Neo Lib bullshit of starving the beast and lowering taxes endlessly becomes appealing. When you don’t have children in school and have enough money to cover medical bills, funding schools and hospitals does not matter to them anymore. They are the fuck you, I got mine generation. Motherfuckers are destroying the system that made them so prosperous.
Even that is a way over-applied stereotype. If you look at the results of the last few elections by age demographics, you’ll see that the difference between the percentage of boomers who voted conservative vs liberal is pretty small. Likewise the difference between the younger generations that voted liberal vs conservative. In fact, if I recall right, the percentage of the youngest voters who voted conservative actually grew between the last couple elections.
I’m a boomer, and the OP fits me. I’ve consistently voted more and more progressive as the conservatives have been more and more destructive. I go to protests, and I loudly advocate for progressive causes. The vast majority of my friends are the same way. We may not be the majority of our age group, but we’re a very large minority.
What I’ve interpreted from it is that people seem to say this with an extra layer unspoken. For most of recent history, as you got older, you tended to be more prosperous. Assets you could buy into accumulated substantial value, retirement came easy, and a family was relatively easier to support. Thing is, when they look to younger ages from this point, they’ve got more than the youth does, and without explaining what you’ve probably heard a hundred times, it makes 'em wanna hold onto what they’ve got.
In recent years though, that feeling seems to be largely subsiding. People feel they cannot obtain this relative prosperity at all, some feel the world’s been sold, and the infinite growth model of capitalism has fallen off, save for the very richest of the rich. I think this explains more or less why the approach of ‘getting more conservative as you age’ seems to be dying off, and it’s more of a product of a moment that’s in the past.
The idea that the future would necessarily be more prosperous than the past is a relatively new one. For the vast majority of human history the difference between year x and year x + 100 was barely noticeable. If you went back in time and picked someone up from the 15th century and dropped them in the 16th century I don’t think they’d really notice.
However if you pick someone up from the 2000s and dropped them in 2026 they definitely would have some questions.
Obviously everything is still advancing, but unlike before that advancement doesn’t seem to equate to a better quality of life, and greater prosperity anymore.
My view is that as Boomers accumulated wealth, the Neo Lib bullshit of starving the beast and lowering taxes endlessly becomes appealing. When you don’t have children in school and have enough money to cover medical bills, funding schools and hospitals does not matter to them anymore. They are the fuck you, I got mine generation. Motherfuckers are destroying the system that made them so prosperous.
Even that is a way over-applied stereotype. If you look at the results of the last few elections by age demographics, you’ll see that the difference between the percentage of boomers who voted conservative vs liberal is pretty small. Likewise the difference between the younger generations that voted liberal vs conservative. In fact, if I recall right, the percentage of the youngest voters who voted conservative actually grew between the last couple elections.
I’m a boomer, and the OP fits me. I’ve consistently voted more and more progressive as the conservatives have been more and more destructive. I go to protests, and I loudly advocate for progressive causes. The vast majority of my friends are the same way. We may not be the majority of our age group, but we’re a very large minority.