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My age is

I am between

  • Total voters
    92
BDBoop said:
Because their minds are currently open. Most people get older, their minds close, et voila; conservatives. :D
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And I thought it was because my fellow student or graduate student might be easily shepherded into a liberal viewpoint.
 
BDBoop said:
Because their minds are currently open. Most people get older, their minds close, et voila; conservatives. :D
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But you said with age comes wisdom so you're a liberal, but now you're telling me that when people get older they have closed minds and turn into conservatives.
Also, I'm 23 and a conservative, does this mean I'm wise beyond my years?
 
I think the starting premise of people "being liberal until they gain wisdom, then they're conservatives" is ludicrous. Apparently I can't joke about it (witness: smileys), and you want to keep it serious. It's not serious. It's a slam conservatives use, and it's bull****.
 
BDBoop said:
I think the starting premise of people "being liberal until they gain wisdom, then they're conservatives" is ludicrous. Apparently I can't joke about it (witness: smileys), and you want to keep it serious. It's not serious. It's a slam conservatives use, and it's bull****.
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I don't joke about the feckless college students.
 
BDBoop said:
Because their minds are currently open. Most people get older, their minds close, et voila; conservatives. :D
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But at some point, don't we all have to make up our minds? Make a decision? Come to some conclusion?

And why do libs get to claim their minds are "open" as if they are willing to change, when in fact they're every bit as firm in their positions as any decent con?
 
Sorry... I thought we were supposed to guess BDoop's age. I'm the 20-29 group. :S
 
LuckyDan said:
But at some point, don't we all have to make up our minds? Make a decision? Come to some conclusion?

And why do libs get to claim their minds are "open" as if they are willing to change, when in fact they're every bit as firm in their positions as any decent con?
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Life is a journey, and I don't ever intend to stop listening, learning and evaluating.
 
BDBoop said:
Life is a journey, and I don't ever intend to stop listening, learning and evaluating.
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Neither do I, but the implication is that conservatives have done just that.

Question for anyone over 40: On what issues have you changed your mind since your youth? For me, it's the death penalty and nuclear arms. 20 years ago I was against both. I listened, I learned, I evaluated. Nothing new has come up to cause me to reconsider.
 
LuckyDan said:
But at some point, don't we all have to make up our minds? Make a decision? Come to some conclusion?
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Having an open mind does not imply that one cannot at the same time come to a conclusion.

And why do libs get to claim their minds are "open" as if they are willing to change, when in fact they're every bit as firm in their positions as any decent con?
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Whenever people refer to liberals and open minds, I always assume their talking about being open to change in society (i.e. supporting gay marriage vs. defending traditional marriage) and also open to the possibility of realizing their ideals (as opposed to what I've often heard many older conservatives say - "you young liberals think you can change the world, but you can't").
 
LuckyDan said:
Neither do I, but the implication is that conservatives have done just that.

Question for anyone over 40: On what issues have you changed your mind since your youth? For me, it's the death penalty and nuclear arms. 20 years ago I was against both. I listened, I learned, I evaluated. Nothing new has come up to cause me to reconsider.
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The biggest one for me is walking away from fundamentalist christianity, which would of course be inclusive of an about-face on SSM and freedom of choice.
 
theplaydrive said:
Having an open mind does not imply that one cannot at the same time come to a conclusion.


Whenever people refer to liberals and open minds, I always assume their talking about being open to change in society (i.e. supporting gay marriage vs. defending traditional marriage) and also open to the possibility of realizing their ideals (as opposed to what I've often heard many older conservatives say - "you young liberals think you can change the world, but you can't").
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But once you have come to a conclusion, have you not then "closed" your mind? Including deciding that you support SSM? You may be open to societal change, but your mind is made up. That's my whole thing.
 
LuckyDan said:
But once you have come to a conclusion, have you not then "closed" your mind? Including deciding that you support SSM? You may be open to societal change, but your mind is made up. That's my whole thing.
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That makes sense to me.
 
LuckyDan said:
But once you have come to a conclusion, have you not then "closed" your mind? Including deciding that you support SSM? You may be open to societal change, but your mind is made up. That's my whole thing.
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No, I disagree. As long as you leave room and flexibility for new perspectives after coming to your conclusions, then you have an open mind in my opinion. For example, I've definitely come to a conclusion about SSM - I support it. However, I haven't closed my mind to hearing new perspectives on it. Jerry actually gave me a new perspective on SSM and it was the first arguments against SSM that made sense to me. A closed mind on SSM wouldn't have listened to Jerry - an open mind would. In other words, to me, an open mind belongs to someone open to consideration and change.

That said, there are a lot of liberals with closed minds who can honestly not see anything other than their own viewpoints.
 
theplaydrive said:
No, I disagree. As long as you leave room and flexibility for new perspectives after coming to your conclusions, then you have an open mind in my opinion. For example, I've definitely come to a conclusion about SSM - I support it. However, I haven't closed my mind to hearing new perspectives on it. Jerry actually gave me a new perspective on SSM and it was the first arguments against SSM that made sense to me. A closed mind on SSM wouldn't have listened to Jerry - an open mind would. In other words, to me, an open mind belongs to someone open to consideration and change.

That said, there are a lot of liberals with closed minds who can honestly not see anything other than their own viewpoints.
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Fair enough. I can't argue with the idea of being open to weighing new perspectives.

I can only say that after age 40 or so, how much is really new to you? assuming you've been living and pay attention.

Another old expression comes to mind. There's no fool like an old fool.
 
LuckyDan said:
Fair enough. I can't argue with the idea of being open to weighing new perspectives.

I can only say that after age 40 or so, how much is really new to you? assuming you've been living and pay attention.

Another old expression comes to mind. There's no fool like an old fool.
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Well according to most parents I know, a lot of things become new once you have children - you start thinking differently, dreaming differently and they introduce ways of thinking that you've never encountered (their words, not mine, I haven't a clue about children).
 
theplaydrive said:
Well according to most parents I know, a lot of things become new once you have children - you start thinking differently, dreaming differently and they introduce ways of thinking that you've never encountered (their words, not mine, I haven't a clue about children).
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That's very true. Marriage and children mature a man greatly - in more ways than one!
 
LuckyDan said:
One prominent Democrat, and a very progressive one, certainly was.
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I take it that you never really learned that much about Woodrow Wilson? Otherwise, you would not be trying to pass him off as a northerner.

I am a few months away from turning 27.
 
Spaceman_Spiff said:
I take it that you never really learned that much about Woodrow Wilson? Otherwise, you would not be trying to pass him off as a northerner.

I am a few months away from turning 27.
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So he was from South Jersey?

I am a few months away from turning 50.
 
LuckyDan said:
Neither do I, but the implication is that conservatives have done just that.

Question for anyone over 40: On what issues have you changed your mind since your youth? For me, it's the death penalty and nuclear arms. 20 years ago I was against both. I listened, I learned, I evaluated. Nothing new has come up to cause me to reconsider.
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I have become more of a constitutionalist a true conservative instead of a hard nosed republican dolt like I use to be. I finally realized that both sides of the political spectrum have idea's to share and both extremes have none. Although i do realize that it is the extreme that promotes change and it's the moderates the put into effect.
 
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