Liberalism and Conservatism: Mind and Heart

Churchill said that, if you are young and not liberal, you don't have a heart; and that, if you are old and not conservative, you don't have a mind.

I have reason to challenge this assertion.

I've known young people with good hearts who were conservatives; and I've known older people with great minds who were liberals. On one side is my former university classmate Greg, who although he was a conservative had compassion for all sorts of people. On the other side is the father of a woman I've loved who, even though he is in his 80s, holds liberal political views.

What determines if you are a liberal or a conservative? First of all, what does not determine it is age. There are any number of older liberals, and there are any number of younger conservatives. And I have not seen in either the tendency to be more heart-oriented or more mind-oriented.

Some people will find conservatism more attractive, and some people will find liberalism to be more attractive. I do not see in either the greater reliance on either the mind or the heart. Both liberalism and conservatism have ways of speaking to both the mind and the heart. And we will see people of all ages choosing to identify with either.