(politic related) E-mail from the owner of Penzy's

I admire people that vote with their money. Most people put $$$ before convictions and it is refreshing to see companies that risk their income in order to stand by an issue they support. That goes for Penzy's as well as Chik-Fil-A and Hobby Lobby. 

I don't like being preached at, however. It is one thing to walk into a store and see signs that support a stance. But to send out emails or to have posters up that condemn a belief is another. If I sign up for your emails, I want you to keep politics out of my inbox. 

My pretty liberal mother always says that most people drift toward the fiscal tenets of the republican platform as they get older. lol

While I don't disagree that this mostly true, my husband and I (57&43) have become increasingly liberal the older we get. Our bi-racial grandchildren, my gay cousin and my life threatening health issues have cemented that.

I think life experiences change us. Wisdom comes with knowledge and experience.

When I was younger I was naive about a lot of things - some of those things would fall under the "left" philosophy. For instance, I could not understand why anyone would consider an unborn child to be an actual person. Things changed as I learned more about embryological development. And then when I became pregnant my opinion changed even more.

I think for some people they work hard and gain more as time goes on. It is difficult for someone that worked very hard for a long time to get ahead to hear that other people want to take away some of their stuff (money/taxes, etc.) and give it to others that haven't put in the same effort.

And for some, it is their natural response to handle animosity/heated debate/fallacy by digging in their heels and moving farther away from their opponent. I think this is a large reason why Trump won, actually. People that didn't 100% agree with the liberal stance were painted as racists/homophobes, etc. and that didn't win any arguments. Instead, it just pushed people farther to the right. The vitriol made it difficult for some people to say "hmmm, well, I think you might be right about this portion but not completely about this..."

I personally could not have a conversation about Ferguson or other riots without being told my opinion didn't matter. Even here I was told to check my privilege if I dared to disagree. For a lot of white citizens it felt like there were only two choices: be a racist or commit your life (or at least your FB timeline) to proving you weren't a racist. If you dared to think private businesses owners should be able to honor their religious beliefs at work, you were a homophobe. Automatically. Didn't matter who you're married to, who you have in your family, who you love in general, you're a homophobe.

So sometimes people get tired of being treated a certain way. They get tired of others trying to tell them they don't love enough, give enough, care enough. As time goes on, as they get older, their views start to change.

I don't think you mean it this way but your post comes across a little bit like if you are liberal you are stupid. For me, the life experiences that I've had - Leukemia diagnosis, relapse, bone marrow transplant and not having to declare bankruptcy while fighting for my life- have shaped my viewpoint on Healthcare (don't think Conservatives want anyone to die or go bankrupt either). Having bi-racial grandchildren has opened my eyes to how much racism is still left in this world.

People get tired of being told their not white enough, male enough, Christian enough, patriotic enough. Neither side has the corner on not being condescending to the "other" side.

Yes.  The same here.  My husband was unflinchingly conservative and a Republican when we married at 35.  Having 2 special needs kids and having more and more life experiences related to them and my many out-of-the-closet friends has led him to switch parties and become even more liberal than I am now that we are in our 50s.  

I think that the Republican Party has become more and more about social/moral issues - in a negative way - and moved away from being mostly about fiscal conservatism, the less we will see people become more conservative as they get older.  The Republican Party has decided to try to legislate our bodies, our morals, who we can marry, how much freedom one can experience depending on one's religion, etc.  As people age and gain life-experiences, they want government to legislate LESS about our personal lives.  That has become the antithesis of the GOP Platform.  It will continue to reverse what used to be the trend and as people age, many will continue to reject those notions.

In a way, I think a lot of us on this last page are really saying we've become more moderate in our views. (Not necessarily the political definition of moderate.) We start out more towards one end and have moved towards the other as our life experiences show us there's more to the story than just what we knew at age 20. It seems to me that's probably a good thing, that we continue to learn and grow and are open to changing our minds as experience teaches us more. We may all be in a different part of the spectrum, but we all have that in common.

I've become much more liberal since I started teaching in diverse, urban public schools. I don't agree that age and wisdom make you more conservative. I think that as we age, people just settle more into who they really are.

I will never understand why any business would risk alienating at least half of their potential customer base.

I do.  Some people care about more than just money.
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They can believe whatever they want, but from a business perspective it is stupid unless you only want to sell your product or service to a certain segment of the population.  Last time I checked, both liberals and conservatives like spices. 

It's tough to make money and grow your business if you turn-off a significant percentage of your customers. When you don't make enough $ you start to lay people off and close stores. How is that good for the employees? I'm not saying that is going to happen to Penzy's but it is a risk they are taking.

People like to think their side is more "whatever" positive attribute. That's just the way humans are. And there are tons of statistics available to support your position even if it contradicts other statistics that support the other side. But we're all individuals with our own struggles and experiences that shape our world view and politics. You can decide that the "other" is wrong and horrible and stupid people. But we'll never resolve our differences taking that course of action.

The name-calling really isn't necessary.
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