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Why difference in views between young and old ?

(59 Posts)
James2451 Sun 25-Jun-17 11:43:56

Young people told the Nation that they did not want a Tory Party elected that would continue with protecting the 10% of top earners , yet would still continue with more cruel cuts hitting the poor, vulnerable and disabled. Young people do not want a hard Brexit, no more Grammar Schools, no Fox Hunting, they want more Social Housing, free University places, no cuts on benefits and pensions. Etc, etc, etc.

Presumably, those who voted Conservative agree with the Tories policies of austerity and protecting the rich whilst poverty grows.
Is that a factual statement? What policies did they really expect and vote for in electing a Tory Government?

nigglynellie Mon 26-Jun-17 19:39:46

Well my grandchildren certainly don't think their future has been taken from them. Elder granddaughter (17) is planning a career in the Police Force,the next down has nursing in her sights, grandson? but he is only 9! All three are hard working and optimistic!

rosesarered Mon 26-Jun-17 18:11:50

Their future has not been taken away! Sheesh.

Ana Mon 26-Jun-17 18:08:26

Snort...

whitewave Mon 26-Jun-17 18:07:04

I think the young have learned the lesson of leaving the old to vote. Look what happened- their future has been taken away

rosesarered Mon 26-Jun-17 17:57:01

Young people, as long as they're 18 when we have a GE are as entitled to the vote and their views just like anybody else.
However, a lot of them view politics as boring so don't bother to vote, will they in future, who knows? So that means the older voter will invariably be left to do the actual voting.
Corbyn is a rebel ( the young like that) not an angry young man but an angry old man, but that still appeals to some.He is also promising a brave new world ( that may well never come about) and that may sway them as well.
We have all been young, and I daresay naive about life, we can't expect today's young people to be any different, but we can see manipulation of the younger voter by the old ( Corbyn and McDonnell).

Rigby46 Mon 26-Jun-17 17:01:07

By young people, we are including many of our nurses, teachers, police officers, firefighters, members of the armed services, mothers and fathers, decent hard working citizens. Perhaps we should stop them doing all this as they are clearly far to immature to be trusted.

Anya Mon 26-Jun-17 16:42:57

Indeed they were devongirl

I'm finding some of these attitudes to young people very patronising too.

devongirl Mon 26-Jun-17 16:38:00

I must be wrong from the posts on here, but lucky and others, I seem to remember the Labour manifesto promises were costed?

Luckylegs9 Mon 26-Jun-17 16:26:14

What a lot of assumptions. Young people are our future, giving them false hopes won't help them, no more than giving a baby sugar every times he cries. I always worked with teenagers, they are by nature inclined to buck the system, we all did, when you are older you have life's experience under your belt, but who wants to listen to their parents or authority. Nothing new in that. It is our duty to do the right thing, but not give in to promises without foundation.

Ana Mon 26-Jun-17 16:18:10

Aren't we always being assured that the way posters addres others on GN is the same way they would address others in RL?

Some of them are obviously not setting a good example to their younger friends and relatives from what we see on here...

MaizieD Mon 26-Jun-17 16:12:24

Perhaps the main problem facing our country at the moment is a lack of respect and sadly IMO some of the posts on GN aren't setting a very good example.

Apart from noting the fact that, yet again, a poster can't resist telling other people how to behave I'd like to ask who is the bad example being set too? We are all 'mature' (in the sense of older, not wiser) individuals on here. Are you really suggesting that we'll all suddenly become whatever it is you disapprove of? Or do we have a secret army of younger readers who are going to copy our bad example?

Posts that are worthy of respect will get respect..

Welshwife Mon 26-Jun-17 14:01:30

Maybe someone still working in a secondary school or a college can tell us but I think many of the young -16 year olds etc - do have some sort of historical or political teaching - I do not mean telling them to believe one way or the other but encouraging them to research for themselves and have healthy debates. I have seen discussions between such youngsters on news type programmes and to see their discussion and hear their views is very encouraging - they are becoming engaged with the country they are growing up in and how it is governed .

Ana Mon 26-Jun-17 13:31:01

Good post Smileless

Smileless2012 Mon 26-Jun-17 13:23:58

I agree GG there are a lot of disparaging comments about the young as there are about the 'older generation' many of whom are not just derided because they're 'old' but also if they voted for the Conservatives and Brexit.

From paddyann's post reference a poster from another thread giving their point of view that the voting age should be no lower than 25 and voters should also have worked and contributed, presumably financially; "No doubt a Brexit voter who believes England was a better place when it had slums and children with rickets and TB rife among the poor" Reallyshock do you really believe that's a reasonable assumption to make of those who voted for Brexit? What a totally ridiculous comment to make.

The arrogance and prejudice you refer too GG sadly comes from both sides; the young are too young, naive and ill informed to know what they're doing and the old are too old and self centered. Perhaps the main problem facing our country at the moment is a lack of respect and sadly IMO some of the posts on GN aren't setting a very good example.

mcem Mon 26-Jun-17 10:22:52

Well put Anya Trisher and GG.
I've said before that I think our generation also made mistakes but don't remember being berated by parents and grandparents.

GracesGranMK2 Mon 26-Jun-17 10:18:25

Forgive the errors in my post. I won't list them!

GracesGranMK2 Mon 26-Jun-17 10:08:30

I am really noticing attacks on the young on here which surprise me; it appears to infer that they haven't the wisdom of age. I'm afraid I just can't see that. There are wise older people but there are also wise younger people and who, are these two or three calling out; people who voted for or are attracted to what Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party has to say.

There seems to be a sense of fear that backs these opinions of the young not making wise decisions. The idea that they do not believe what these gainsayers believe. After all these beliefs have made them wealthier than their parents and given them a good life. It also gave them more control than their parents generation ever had and they do not want to cede any of that power to the next generation so they can make different decision.

So they will vote Brexit - regardless of the future the young would choose and they will vote Tory and expect people with very little capital to understand their belief in upholding capitalism.

And they talk disparagingly about the young. Well they talk disparagingly about most people who don't share their views and then wonder why they are not held in high esteem. And yet, and yet while, as Heseltine pointed out, the right wing supporters are dying off at 2% a year those voting enquiringly for the left are yes, the 18 to 24 year olds where the support for Labour has a 35 point lead, and yes you can see that as a product of Corbyn's policy of scraping tuition fees but there is also a Tory lag of 16 points among the 35 to 44 year olds. These are not children they are adults so who are at the stage where more people, in the past, have become conservative. Even in the 45 to 54 age group Labour has a 3 point lead. These are people who should be paying off the last of their mortgage and considering their retirement and believing the capitalist system has given them all these things; but increasingly they are realising this is not true for them.

All the arrogance and prejudice I see on here will not change these peoples minds; it will drive them away from even listening. The next few years will be critical for those who offer the right-wing views espoused at times on here. If the Tories do not get Brexit right for everyone; and that means the 'getting it right' everyone can believe in not the 'right way' that ends up shouting abuse at those who disagree, people may well come to the conclusion that the only way forward is Socialism - and they may not be wrong for themselves and their families.

Anya Mon 26-Jun-17 10:07:52

Annie that is the world I inhabit. I'm a retired teacher turned LEA Advisor and so I'm in touch with ex colleagues and retired ex colleagues from those years.

As trisher has verified they are very much behind Corbyn, though they have trodden the same path as I to get to that place.

trisher Mon 26-Jun-17 10:03:22

No Anniebach we are the silent majority who have seen the problems the young face at first hand, have watched budgets slashed and education suffer, seen young people struggling on zero hours contracts, weighed down with student debt, unable to afford housing, and the slow unpicking of the welfare state and the NHS which benefitted many of us. We supported Tony Blair because we hoped for better. We now support Corbyn because we believe in the sort of society which raised us and which will give others the same benefits.

Anniebach Mon 26-Jun-17 09:50:00

Where can I read of these lecturers, teachers, heads etc Anya? I haven't heard anything on radio or tv

Anya Mon 26-Jun-17 09:29:59

There seems to be a sense, running through this thread, that the young are naive, idealistic and easy conned. And that the elderly are disillusioned, have a 'seen it, heard it all before attitude and are pessimistic.

There is a germ of truth in each of those stereotypes but I've met more and more over 60s who have been impressed by Corbyn when originally they had dismissed him and his ideals out of hand.

But, I do have to admit that those who have come round to this way of thinking have tended to be retired public sector workers - teachers, head teachers, university lecturers etc - who have worked with young people all their lives.

Anniebach Mon 26-Jun-17 09:17:44

Votes for the Libs soared when they included no university fees, it didn't happen and next election, Libs almost wiped out. Who can forget the young surrounding Clegg

Iam64 Mon 26-Jun-17 08:27:09

The OP asks what policies those who voted Tory expcted or wanted. I vot d Labour, despite the reservations I had about Jeremy Corbyn because of the manifesto. I've posted on other threads, my belief that JC ran a good campaign, whereas TM ran a very poor one.
I wanted an end to the austerity approach. I did not want a return to selective education, which inevitably means bringing back secondary moderns.

Young people are less likely to get their news from the daily mail, express or sun, for example. They use social media. I find it offensive to dismiss them as wanting everything for nothing, or being bought by the idea of free tuition fees. That doesn't fit any of the young people I know.

Anya Mon 26-Jun-17 08:11:43

Of course us older folks more often vote Tory. We know our place. We like strong stable leadership and pay our small tax dues as source. We understand that our betters have accountants whose job is to ensure they pay as little as possible, otherwise how could they afford to send their children to the same schools are their fathers attended. That's only fair and their right. Ditto private health care.

It's all so complicated we say and we don't like that Corbyn. No reason, just something about him we don't like. He promises the earth and how can we afford that? We've been told the country is broke, so have to cut back on funding for police, schools and NHS. Must be true. It's all those foreigners coming over here and taking our jobs and benefits and going to the top of the housing ladder. British jobs for British workers, send them all home.

Believe all this, because the papers say so and her down the road knows all about it. No, don't watch those Tonight programmes or Question Time or HIGNFY waste of time and busy catching up on Corrie, East Enders and Emmerdale. .

ninny Mon 26-Jun-17 08:10:56

Starbird good posts agree with you 100 per cent.