I was talking with one of my children about the majority conservative Supreme Court when she mentioned that we have had more conservative Republican Presidents than liberal Democratic Presidents.  This is my take on this matter.

Statistics have shown that as a percentage of the population the rate of voting increases with age.  Seniors are far more likely to vote than young people and those graduating from high school and college are by far the least likely to vote.  The reasons are likely that young voters are more focused upon their careers and establishing themselves in society whereas the older one gets and the more established one becomes the more other thing start to become more important.  Older people are more aware of the impact of government upon them and more likely to be involved in the process of voting for legislation and representative who will benefit them the most.

It is also generally true that the older one becomes the more conservative one becomes as one become less adaptive to changes.  The opposite is generally true for the youth of America where the younger one is the more liberal or flexible one tends to be towards change.  That does not mean that young people are liberal.  It only suggests that they are somewhat more liberal than older people in their communities.  The same is true with seniors.  They are not all conservatives but tend towards more conservative views than younger people in their communities.  Of course there are many exceptions.

To better understand why the youth of America seem on one hand complacent and uninterested in government yet are more open to change and liberal social ideologies, we must realize that their brains are in the learning and experimental mode.  Teenagers are often characterized as being rebellious.  This stems from a childhood of following orders from their parents and growing into young adults needing more independence yet still being dependent.  They are not interested in the same things as their parents such as politics and voting.  As young adults entering a world of independence they focus more on starting careers or continuing on to college.  They see politics having little impact upon them.  Yes they may pay taxes but their starting salaries are relatively low so low tax rates do not cause them concern.  They don’t yet have families or own a house so their discretionary expenses are comfortably high.  They are less concerned about where their tax dollars go and far more concerned with where their pocket-money goes.  They feel that their vote does not count being only one out of thousands or millions.

As they grow older and work longer their income increases and so do their income tax rates.  As they marry, buy a house, and start having kids their expenses escalates in relationship to their incomes and the taxes they pay start to have a major impact on their overall budget.  They also start seeing the impact of taxes on educating their children and on their daily lives such as medical insurance and other things controlled by local, state and federal governments.  They start to become aware of where tax dollars are being spent, not necessarily to their benefit.  They are now more motivated to get involved in the political process and vote.

Consequently conservatives have a slight edge over liberals in government because of the absence of young voters who are slightly more liberal as just described.  Thus Republicans who represent the more conservative elements of the general population tend to get voted into offices over more liberal Democrats which explains why there have been more Republican Presidents than Democrats and why slightly more conservative Supreme Court justices sit on our highest Court, since Presidents appoints them.  Of course there are exceptions.  I am only stating overall historic tendencies.

If the youth of this nation took a longer term view of the impact they would have on their future lives they would see the advantage of voting in larger numbers while younger so that as they progress into adulthood their financial and tax benefits will be more favorable.  Unfortunately most only concern themselves with their current situation and think little about the future when they marry, own a house, and have family responsibilities and expenses.  Most elections are fairly close so their vote can in many instances swing elections.  The Obama campaign which focused upon the youth of America is an example.  Thinking that their vote doesn’t count is not true especially if large numbers of young voters think the same way.  If they did in fact vote their votes can and would make a difference.  They are as important if not more so than key underrepresented minority voting blocks.

So my message to the youth of this nation is to vote as early as possible and keep voting.  Encourage your young friends to vote.  I taught all my children to vote since high school and they continue to do so as young adults.  Voting is a Right.  You should all exercise that Right so that this country will be a more balanced and democratic nation.