The older I get, the more socialist I become. My family were mainly Democrats but none of them were really actively political and kinda had a negative mentality when it came to politics. I think that the main thing that I wish I knew all these years...was that Democrats are just as right winged as the Republicans...just not as extreme. I wish I knew about terms like Neo-liberal and Libertarian and to grow up learning more of the geopolitics that affect our neighbors.

Empathy for people outside their family and friends

I think conservatives tend to think in terms of "black and white" or just two alternative. Liberal tend to see things as beign mroe in a continuum which include many possibilities and outcomes.

I think conservatives tend to look at things in a limited way because they, in spite of all the evidence to the contrary, wan tot believe that thigns are simple with easy solutions. In fact many conservative insist that things are simple.

Liberals see the world more as it is, and realize that life is complicated and most things are complicated. They know that not eveyone fits into nice simple and neat categories.

Smaller mind relating to things beside themselves , lack of empathy greed.

Conservatism is, in my experience, fear of the other. I grew up in a conundrum of a small town where the prevailing attitude was very conservative, yet the population was racially diverse. Still, the white families in their nice houses side-eyed the non-white families. But where the real fear lay was in fear of education. The next town over had (and probably still has) a university, and despite it not being much larger population-wise, people in my hometown looked at them as 'city folk,' 'weird,' 'strange,' and 'lacking common sense.'. Almost all of my family, for example, considered their education complete after high school, because anything beyond that was 'a waste of money' and 'made you lose your common sense and put on airs.'. What they meant by common sense was, of course, obedience and absolutely no critical thinking at all. They're afraid of critical thinking.

This sounds about right. I'm an ex-conservative raised by authoritarian preacher parents. Conservatism gives its adherents an illusion of moral superiority. I definitely agree about the "fear that someone,somewhere is having a good time" mindset and see it in abrasive comments like "Just keep your legs closed!" when someone is trying to speak on birth control.

Sounds like the puritan ethic to me.

I think there are a lot of influences, but nothing written in stone. I was reared in a very strict household, both religiously and in terms of everyday discipline. I was quite conservative as a teen and into my early 20s, but the more I think about issues the more liberal I've become — not far left, but center-left, more the classical liberal position. I don't see myself moving away from this position significantly, as it feels very much like the logical position to take, I'm sure I'll refine my views, but generally speaking classical liberalism is where I've been for years. I think personality has a lot to do with it. Sometimes that can be driven by upbringing or other environmental factors, and other times it's just a function of the brain's biochemistry. For me, it's been a reasoned approach, where I find any extreme to be dangerous but a center-left approach seems quite practical.

My conservative associates think the poor are enjoying free food, free cell phones, big screen TV, etc.....and they don't work but lay around in bed all day and get laid

Conservatives are authoritarians. They prefer for their authority figure (Rush, Faux News, etc) to do their thinking for them and accept what they are told. Does that sound familiar to A-theists.

Your own moral bounderies in any given situation. you got to feel comfortable in your own skin and be honest with yourself Ithink.

I find that a real conservative is a creature of the past. Presently Trump and his ilk are not conservatives, they are rich and have control, want to be able to make more money. They call this freedom. When a su[pposed conservative says "The people" they mean the people who have the power and the money to pay them for what they want. These are not conservatives, they7 are lyers, cheets, thieves, and traitors. They want to take over and will use anyone who is stupid enough to be led against their own interest for their purpose. This is really scary, as if they do not get their way it is not known what they will do. The really strange things that is happening is the the followers of these people will not be treated nicely. Just look at trump and his firing of anyone who does not bow and give homage. So what happened to the real conservatives, I know they are still around, but they have been replaced.

I think the whole liberal-conservative thing is one of the manufactured tensions that the political-industrial complex foments as a smokescreen to obscure the fact that we have very few freedoms left and they're picking our pockets clean at every turn.

My parents were very religious, authoritarian, and quite strict. However, my mom was conservative and my father was much more liberal. I take more after my father, of course, but lean even further to the left than he ever did. I personally think I became the non-religious person because of my overbearing upbringing.

My own experience with the few conservatives in my life is that they don't like change and don't adjust well to it. They also seem to just do and believe what their parents taught them and don't question it. It's bizarre.