Why Is Youth So Left-Wing?

[Mise]

That's maybe because the Left-Wing economic doctrines were vastly disproved in the last 30 years.

For exemple, in 1950 the Socialist School of Economics was perhaps the biggest one, even in the West(not in the US, but definately in Europe and Latin America).
Today the Socialist School is a joke, even the left-wing economist don't want to associate themselves with it.

The most "lefty" Economic School is the Neokeynesian one, and that's not left-wing by most standards. So truly left-wing Economics are dead.

I beg to differ. Remnants of left wing economics are still alive and kicking today. You just have to visit Europe and break your arm to find out. While in the past 30 years we have turned sharply to the right, left wing economics is still a major force in politics. This isn't going to change. All that will change is the rhetoric. I'm talking about New Labour (which is too right wing imo) and the Third Way (which means different things in different countries, though).

 

[amadeus]

Excuse me? I am 20 years old. I am not in full time education. In fact, I am in full time work - lo, I am still a left wing liberal. Once again, you display your talent for sheer, crass, unadulterated ignorance.

Okay, so you work, but you want everything handed to you by the state.

 

[Syterion]

"He, who is not a socialist in his youth, has no heart. If he persists in this as he grows up, he has no brain."
Modern Swedish saying.
(Crap translation by me.)

Lots of people think Churchhill said that but no one really knows.

Anyway, I'm 15 and I'm pretty moderate. My political compass was .88, -4.1 I believe.

I live in Massachusetts, where most are liberal of course, but there are still some die-hard republicans.

 

[fazzoletti]

Being leftish has nothing to do with having certain values, but rather with lack of understanding. Everybody is against poverty, just to name an example. But right-wing people (like me) know that poverty is not caused by globalization but by the opposite (=trade barriers). And we also know that Thatcher did not mess up, but came to office in period with very high inflation (so she had to deal with the burden left by previous administrations).

 

[Evertonian]

Being leftish has nothing to do with having certain values, but rather with lack of understanding. Everybody is against poverty, just to name an example. But right-wing people (like me) know that poverty is not caused by globalization but by the opposite (=trade barriers). And we also know that Thatcher did not mess up, but came to office in period with very high inflation (so she had to deal with the burden left by previous administrations).

I'm somewhat unhappy with your characterization of my belief system as lack of understanding. Some right wing and some left wing people understand well enough how the world works and some don't. And some of both persuasion have the manners not to imply people who disagree with them are stupid.

Don't want to threadjack but my belief is that Thatcher messed Britain up BIG TIME with expedient, mean spirited and short term policies on everything from education to pensions. Also, on the specific point of inflation, when Mrs Thatcher came to office inflation was 10%, when she left office it was 10%, in the meantime it spiked to over 20%.

 

[Akka]

'cause younger people have yet to grow cynicals and disillusioned.
And they are at the start of their lives. They don't have the fear of tomorrow, they have the EAGERNESS of tomorrow.

 

[nonconformist]

Okay, so you work, but you want everything handed to you by the state.

Why do people like you make wildly inaccurate assumptions?

And Thatcher bloddy did screw Britain up!
And you who say socialist don't work, one of the biggest left-wimng movement of recent years was the miner's movement who went on strike because of Thatcher, and they had the most back-breaking work in the UK.

 

[fazzoletti]

@Evertonian

Sorry for insulting your beliefs. I did not intend to imply that you're stupid, I did imply that you got certain things wrong, such as the globilization issue. Thinking that somebody's opinion is incorrect is not the same is saying that they're stupid. Sorry though I might have expressed it the wrong way.

 

[fazzoletti]

@Evertonian

Sorry for insulting your beliefs. I did not intend to imply that you're stupid, I did imply that you got certain things wrong, such as the globilization issue. Thinking that somebody's opinion is incorrect is not the same is saying that they're stupid. Sorry though I might have expressed it the wrong way.

@Nonconformist

Maggie went a long way into transforming Englang into a competitive economy. Or would you rather have german circumstances in you country?

 

[BassDude726]

I think its unfair to assume that we just want everything handed to us. I work two jobs, up to 70 hours a week, just to earn enough money to pay my wildly outrageous tuition. Just because someone is a young liberal doesn't mean they grew up with a silver spoon in their mouth. I'm from a poor family and I work for every red cent that passes through my hands. Notice I didn't say "that goes into my pocket" because it never gets that far.

 

[nonconformist]

@Nonconformist

Maggie went a long way into transforming Englang into a competitive economy. Or would you rather have german circumstances in you country?

What? I don't get what you mean.

 

[Mise]

Being leftish has nothing to do with having certain values, but rather with lack of understanding. Everybody is against poverty, just to name an example. But right-wing people (like me) know that poverty is not caused by globalization but by the opposite (=trade barriers). And we also know that Thatcher did not mess up, but came to office in period with very high inflation (so she had to deal with the burden left by previous administrations).

Speaking of burdens left by previous administrations, what about the NHS? Remember, it was the Labour gov't who made the NHS, and the Tory gov't who spent their time systematically screwing it up. Talk about a lack of understanding.

Anyway, I find it odd that people think of youths as being idealistic, and therefore left wing, but get more pragmatic, and therefore right wing, as they grow up. As if left wing economics cannot be reconciled with reality. It has done so for years!

 

[luiz]

I beg to differ. Remnants of left wing economics are still alive and kicking today. You just have to visit Europe and break your arm to find out. While in the past 30 years we have turned sharply to the right, left wing economics is still a major force in politics. This isn't going to change. All that will change is the rhetoric. I'm talking about New Labour (which is too right wing imo) and the Third Way (which means different things in different countries, though).

The thing is New Labour and basically all of the Third Way governments do not follow the Socialist School, at least in the Economy.

If Antonio Gramsci was alive today, he would consider Tony Blair and even Schroeder to be "evil undercover capitalists sellouts".

My point is that Socialism, as en Economic school, is dead. Only people with little familiarity with economics claim to believe in it.

 

[fazzoletti]

I have 3 remarks

1. I do not believe that left-wing people are neccessarily people who grew up with silver spoons. Neither do I believe that they don't work, or always live on social welfare. Other people might say so, it is not neccessarily my opinion.

2. Concerning the German circumstances: I was referring to the +10% unemployment rate in Germany.

3. NHS. National Health Service? Forgive me for not being English, it is only my 3th language. I don't know the exact specifics of UK politics, but then again, I don't suppose you can judge intelligently about the mess that Den Uyl made of the Dutch goverment budget eh? I do know that such choices generally comprise a political trade off (between paying more taxes and having a not-so-good health system. Labour might have "made" that system, it was probably the English tax payer who paid for it. (or am I wrong?) Whatever the choice Thatcher made in this respect, is was a political choice, so whether it's good or bad is a matter of opinion. (Maybe you don't mind paying a lot for good hospital, whereas I may not mind being in a lousy hospital, or vice versa). So I suggest we all drop this "everybody-knows-that-etcetera-attitude" because opinions can (and should!) differ...

 

[BassDude726]

One reason people might consider me left-wing is that I hate Bush. I'm reluctant to identify myself with either "wing", since that means you are automatically associated with their ideas. I just don't like Bush because of his foreign policy, and also because he is the first real idiot I've seen in the White House. Clinton might have been a jerk, but he was a Rhodes Scholar. Seriously, who else can debate the meaning of the word "is" and sound convincing? And from what I remember, the other Bush was a liar, but at least he was a smart one. I find it hard to respect someone that can't even master his native tongue... "nucyular"?? God I hate that.

 

[Free Enterprise]

Liberals often try to paint conservatives in a harmful way which attracts many to the left-wing cause. Although conservatives sometimes do the same to liberals it does not have the same effect on youth rather it is more of a "debunking" scenario which works better on the "further aged". Eventually the logic of the right-wing becomes apparent and many (though not all) end up switching over to it.

One of the stronger myths is that conservatives do not innovate. This myth is very responsible for preventing people who would otherwise be right-wing from becoming right-wing. The word conservative no longer can be taken literally when referring to politics. In a socialist country the conservatives (in American terms) would actually be a revolutionary or insurgent group and therefore innovative or anti-status quo.

Seems that this process is much like Churchill's quote.

In some regions however the youth are not liberal which reduces the frequency of this process.

 

[ComradeDavo]

Well...i'm 19 now and I have been left-wing throughout my youth.
As I have got older, my views have matured (but remained fundamentaly teh same) as I understand the world more and learn more about politics and so on.
I wouldn't say teenager were more than to left-wing than when older, more of todays youth the left wing are the more vocal. In general, most young people are apathetic.

 

[zulu9812]

Okay, so you work, but you want everything handed to you by the state.

No I don't. I want the opportunity to work and prosper in society, without being sacked at the whim of an employer, or denied heath insurance based on a genetics test, or no-one to give me a helping hand when I'm down and out.

 

[CivCube]

I think it's a mixed bag. Kids will generally follow whatever their parents believe. What is true for both sides is that both liberals and conservatives have become increasingly more fundamentalist.

 

[aaron_burr]

I think it's fair to say that young people are far more likely to be left-wing (i.e. socialist/communist) than older people. The evidence is for all to see on these boards. Now, I was wondering why this might be the case. Is it because young people are more idealistic than older people? Are they more naive? Do they not fully know the cost of their beliefs? Or, as you get older do you become more jaded, cynical, and self-interested?

1: Our socialist schools necessarily teach socialist values.

2: Pride, ignorance, and arrogance. Common human traits parents no longer discourage.

3: Improper cosmological training. Not understanding the basics of life, the universe, and everything will by necessity make people disordered.

But Anglophonic civilization has been on the downturn since the Stuarts were robbed of the throne, so I'm just impressed we've managed to make it this far.