Are you for or against the war with Iraq

[Alias]

This poll is designed to determine what, if any, demographic differences there are between people of differing opinions about the US led war with Iraq. In particular, this poll will show the age distribution of those for and against the war.

 

[Alias]

While I will propose a hypothesis that I think will be boltstered by the results of this poll, I don't want to skew the results by posting it now. After a reasonable number of people have participated, I'll let yall have it!

 

[Alias]

Okay. I give up. Nobody wants to participate. Could it be because the truth might be revealed?

My hypothesis is that what drives most anti-war sentiment is the misplaced altruism of youth. Translation - Most of the anti-war crowd is relatively young, and unexperienced in the true ways of the world, and tend to cast their pearls before swine. If the religious tone of that last statement bothers you, bite me.

Rather than squeal at me for my opinion, vote in the poll and prove me wrong.

 

[kyleb]

you know it is funny because your hypothesis has the same conclusion as mine but i see the reasoning is because cynicism is something that is developed over years of not standing up for ones self and developing a selfish attitude and an general distrust for humanity. i am 27, and looking around at my generation it seems i am holding out longer than most.

 

[russ_watters]

Hey, I voted. Want to know what I voted for? Is there a doubt?

 

[Alias]

Need more data! Please vote!

 

[FZ+]

Originally posted by Alias
Okay. I give up. Nobody wants to participate. Could it be because the truth might be revealed?

My hypothesis is that what drives most anti-war sentiment is the misplaced altruism of youth. Translation - Most of the anti-war crowd is relatively young, and unexperienced in the true ways of the world, and tend to cast their pearls before swine. If the religious tone of that last statement bothers you, bite me.

Rather than squeal at me for my opinion, vote in the poll and prove me wrong.

The young are not always wrong. Same vice versa.
A similar argument can be made is that what drives pro-war sentiment is the senility and cynical pessimism of old age. Translation: You are old. You are going to die soon. You want everyone to die too.

Alternative arguments are:
The reason why the young are more anti-war is that they have a greater hope for the future. They feel that it's their role to forge their own future, and that they don't want it to mess it up for them. Or that they, having never lived through the war themselves, are not accustomed to the horrors. Or that youth typically represents progress. They see the past and feel they could have done better.

The reason why older people are pro-war is that they have lived through wars themselves. They know more about the reality of conflict, and trust more in the capability of the military. They tend to believe in more of what has been tried and tested, and have little trust of new methods.

All of these reasons are apparently equally valid from a simple statistical study. A poll gives no idea which of the mechanisms are in play, and hence no real conclusions. Do we really need to employ ageism? Patronising people, both because they are older and because they are younger is not a valid form of argument. In fact, it is completely meaningless except as flame bait.

 

[Alias]

I think if you could put wisdom in a jar, older people could fill more jars than younger people. Wouldn't you agree?

 

[N_Quire]

Your poll seems to suggest that people above 36, ie the group 36 to death, is one big blob of homogeneity. I don't want to be bracketed with the 80+ and 90+ group.

 

[kyleb]

Originally posted by Alias
I think if you could put wisdom in a jar, older people could fill more jars than younger people. Wouldn't you agree?

na, i think people get set in their was though time so while they learn from experience they also suffer from being misslead by it. in the long run age has little to do with ones wisdom from what i have seen.

 

[Alias]

N_Quire,

Jump into the blob already!

 

[Sting]

I shouldn't vote but one question:

What if you're neutral in your stance on this issue?

 

[drag]

Greetings Alias !

I don't think it's going to work here but in general
I think it's quite clear and visible who the
protesters are - some stupid children out or just
out of high-school (believe me - some of those are
always "supposedly" pacificits until they grow up
and realize what the world is really like) and
muslims (not much I can say about those, can I...).

Live long and prosper.

 

[Sgt.Hartman]

Saddam must be stopped.

 

[Sgt.Hartman]

younger people have access to information and technologies that might usurp "wisdom" of the elders.

Nothing that 50 pushups and some mess hall duty wouldn't cure.

 

[teddy]

well, the more miseries you have seen in your life, the more hopeless you become.(supporting war is hopelessness because i believe that all means (including assassinating SH)have NOT been tried with full enthu)
also, older people tend to be more conservative in the following sense as many- many psychological tests have shown.
conservative here means that as your mother (or father) gets older s/he cares more about your toothache than neighbour's child's.you tend to care more about the miseries you have seen very closely( ~ WTC) than those that are far away( iraqui children getting killed in the present war.I DONT buy the idea of 'liberation' anymore as i have seen afghanistan.)
this is not meanness or bad thing in the usual connotation as you have been conditioned badly for this thruout your life---- you come to realize that this attitude is more practical for maintaining more satisfactory emotional relations with your family and friends.

no offence intented, just some thoughts.
btw,i voted against the war.

cheers

 

[FZ+]

Of course, can I casually make another observation: While anti-war occupies a good spread of the people in this forum, why is it that there are so few people young and pro-war? It's not neccessarily a matter of not enough old people anti-war, but a lack of young people pro-war?

 

[Alias]

Youthful idealism? Unfamiliar with the truths of human nature? Don't know their ass from a hole in the ground?

 

[Zero]

If I'm not mistaken, this thread is another excuse for certain people to insult the character of those who disagree with them. Alias, watch yourself.

 

[Alias]

Here we go again.

To argue that younger people are smarter and wiser than older people is exactly the ignorance of youth.

Certainly I can run a computer better than my father can, but he certainly has more insight in the human condition than I, based on the simple fact that he has been observing it longer than I have.

Now of course you can argue that some younger people (under 30) are smarter and more wise than some older people (30+). However, they are in the minority. It is only the ignorance and inexperience of youth that blinds people to this fact.

 

[Zero]

Originally posted by Alias
Here we go again.

To argue that younger people are smarter and wiser than older people is exactly the ignorance of youth.

Certainly I can run a computer better than my father can, but he certainly has more insight in the human condition than I, based on the simple fact that he has been observing it longer than I have.

Now of course you can argue that some younger people (under 30) are smarter and more wise than some older people (30+). However, they are in the minority. It is only the ignorance and inexperience of youth that blinds people to this fact.

That isn't at all an accurate statement. There are old people with little insight, and young people with lots of it. Age doesn't equal wisdom at all.

 

[Alias]

It was a short post. I'm sure you read the whole thing. In case you missed part of it, I'll say it again.

Now of course you can argue that some younger people (under 30) are smarter and more wise than some older people (30+). However, they are in the minority. It is only the ignorance and inexperience of youth that blinds people to this fact.

 

[Zero]

Originally posted by Alias
It was a short post. I'm sure you read the whole thing. In case you missed part of it, I'll say it again.

Now of course you can argue that some younger people (under 30) are smarter and more wise than some older people (30+). However, they are in the minority. It is only the ignorance and inexperience of youth that blinds people to this fact.

Again, I dispute this. Age doesn't impart wisdom. I would say that most people stop learning anything new by teh time they are 25-30. Times change, and the older folks aren't able to adapt as easily as younger folks.

 

[Njorl]

Young people who agree with the powers that be tend not to bother speaking out about it. Young people in general are not particularly interested in what goes on around them, hence their paltry rate of voting. Those who do become interested, and turn to activism, generally are responding to a government with which they disagree. Most vociferous pro-hatred, anti-government, white supremicists, also tend to be young.

Njorl

 

[Zero]

Originally posted by Njorl
Young people who agree with the powers that be tend not to bother speaking out about it. Young people in general are not particularly interested in what goes on around them, hence their paltry rate of voting. Those who do become interested, and turn to activism, generally are responding to a government with which they disagree. Most vociferous pro-hatred, anti-government, white supremicists, also tend to be young.

Njorl

But young people also tend to fuel the positive, pro-peace, pro freedom, anti-government movements. And why should anyone agree with the government?

 

[Alias]

Zero,

Do you contend that, generally speaking, people under 30 are smarter and wiser than people 30+?

 

[Zero]

Originally posted by Alias
Zero,

Do you contend that, generally speaking, people under 30 are smarter and wiser than people 30+?

I contend that making a sweeping generalization about different age groups misses the point. I think that everyone would do better with a flexible mindset, which seems to be missing in so many of all ages. I would say that younger people tend to display more fexibility, more willingness to accept new ideas. They are also more easily swayed by anything they hear, true and false. It's not black and white.