1. If you are not a liberal by 20 you have no heart. If youre not a conservative by 40 you have no brain" (Winston Churchill)
Occasionally and particularly when I watch
Family Ties reruns I frequently find myself asking the question: why do some liberals refuse to grow up?
I am always amazed by liberals obsession to stay forever in their inner younger selves. Liberalism is a political philosophy with many utopias that better fits younger generations enthusiasm. It is understandable that when you are young you believe that all that glitters is gold.
You can be an anarchist at 17 a socialist at 20 a liberal at 30 and turn into a conservative after 40.
This is fine. It is a normal course of evolution. Yet to watch old liberals in action - that is people who have not evolved in terms of rationale and common sense since their school years is a perspective that can be both sad and painful. Everyone can picture a young
hippie but it is harder to picture why they would remain hippie-like past 40.
A possible explanation could be that all the radicals of the 60s have advanced in age (which is not the same thing as having matured) in a world which they refuse to understand and for which they do not accept responsibility.
Perhaps it is the complacency originating from utopian ideals that never materialize. This complacency is dangerous at least for others because we see that many of these complacent utopians work their way into positions of power as professors media executives and politicians.
The
liberal media tries constantly to instill and bombard us statistically with the utopian idea that the young who vote liberal outnumber the old who vote conservative. Hence the fake conclusion that young people are staying liberal while conservatives uh... well are dying off.
Yeah sure I got all that. But thats exactly my point. The young cannot stay young forever. They will eventually mature while their set of values and priorities will change accordingly too.
2. If youth knew if age could" (Sigmund Freud)
A much scarier perspective that defies any logic is offered by those who actually used to be younger conservatives and end up being old liberals enriched capitalists with progressive agendas. Some famous examples include the (in)famous characters:
- the former high school teacher (and currently film director)
Oliver Stone;
- the media executive (and businesswoman)
Arianna Huffington;
- and the former politician (and currently MSNBC cable news guy" host)
Joe Scarborough.
Maybe this out-of-sync so-called evolvement offers an explanation for the correlation between the liberals lack of common sense and their notorious elitism and arrogance.
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The Liberal Brain/caption
In their vision life should match their utopias not the inconvenient factual truths.
Thats because they sit comfortably with other fellow liberals in their insulated areas and ivory towers away from the simpletons rednecks and hillbillies. And this gives them total peace of mind and relaxation of conscience.
Watching the reruns of famous liberal sitcoms like
Family Ties All in the Family and
Golden Girls I am always amused how the bad guys" fit the conservative characters. Usually there is one such character in every sitcom. They are always absent-minded confused goofy or downright bigoted and mean-spirited. While all the adorable super-smart gorgeous and charismatic characters who surround them are typically liberal good guys."
In 1984 a pop band called
Alphaville sang: Forever young I want to be forever young. Its so hard to get old without a cause."
It was a catchy tune and a runaway smash hit. In 1986 the band re-offended" with
Afternoons in Utopia. At face value can anything be more desirable and… liberal?
For the rest of us the down-to-earth ones (realist conservatives by conviction or experience) such a perspective seems well immature really.
Sigmund Freud said If youth knew if age could." Maybe he was on to something. At least the first half.
NOTE - A version of the article was published previously in CONNOR POST.
Tiberiu Dianu has published several books and a host of articles in law politics and post-communist societies. He currently lives and works in Washington DC and can be followed on MEDIUM.
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