
Young Liberals, Old Conservatives
Someone once told me that liberalism was a young person’s privilege. That once you got older conservative views would flourish alongside particular lifestyle choices whilst liberal ideals diminished at equal rate. If you chose to have kids for example, your previous disposition towards rehabilitation would be replaced with long and harsh prison sentences. Similarly if you were fortunate enough to purchase a property in an upcoming area, the idea of a new council block would result in panic over lowering property values, rather than freshly baked muffins for your new neighbours. This point of view seems intuitive. Once you have a family or have improved your economic standing, your level of concern for the world as a whole narrows down to just you and any immediate dependents. We simply cannot afford to be liberal, both financially and in terms of brain space. What time is there for bettering the world when you have 2.5 kids, a mortgage, school fees and a career to think of?
So whilst former liberals turned parents and homeowners are putting all their efforts into raising families and paying off their mortgages, young people are left to fight for the liberal values we have left. A study by YouGov 2017 showed that Labour was 19% ahead for 18–24 year olds in the 2017 General Election, whilst Conservatives were ahead by 49% among over 65s. Interestingly the tipping point, the age at which a person is more likely to vote Conservative over Labour, was 34. Note that the average parent age for fathers is 33, and the average age of first time mothers is 30 (ons.gov.uk). Lastly, most homeowners are 30 or older before they get onto the property ladder.
Whilst we think it is in our benefit to narrow our focus we should be careful about how we prioritise policies. To largely support policies because they suit us and our current lifestyle is a short term gain. In the short term for example, it may seem reasonable to rally behind long and harsh sentences in order to protect our young children. Long term however it would be detrimental when we consider that by supporting these more conservative policies we are putting the very people we are trying to protect under more danger. There are countless studies which conclude that rehabilitation is a more effective means of reducing criminality. Similarly it’s easy to sneer at social housing, but we all know that everyone is a pay cheque or few away from finding themselves in that position. It takes an illness, a death or a gambling problem to quickly even the stakes, and if we are unlucky we may find that we too need that additional support. Hence it is also in our interest, as well as the general public’s interest, to encourage the government to prioritise social housing and monetary support for those who need it most.
Even if we do not take the route of thinking long term, is it right that because our circumstances have changed our ideologies should too? Shouldn’t logic and reason prevail over selfishness and convenience? Beliefs ought to be based on strong argument and reason. Objective assessment should determine what we deem as good or bad policies, ways of living etc. If we continue to change our minds so that our beliefs better suit our lifestyle we risk enabling decisions that we later regret. The Brexit vote is a prime example. Reasons like wanting to stick it to the establishment, and the flawed assumption that we would have less brown people and eastern Europeans in the U.K, flew around post Brexit as justifiable reasons for voting leave. A vote that will most likely see us less well off.
On the other hand we are happy to continue to throw money at the monarchy, ensuring they enjoy a yearly increase, whilst NHS staff have stagnated salaries for years, for no other reason than it’s tradition and rather quite nice. We could literally save an inordinate amount of money by simply removing the monarchy. But clearly we only take issue with scroungers if those scrounging are working class or single parent families.
Liberalism may be a young persons privilege but it’s our responsibility to ensure that young people, our children, do not suffer the consequences of our selfishness and illogical thinking.
