Jump to content
Objectivism Online Forum

Should a 15-year old be forgiven for supporting Obama?

Rate this topic


happiness

Recommended Posts

If a 15-year old who is otherwise an impressive young person voices support for Obama, should I forgive him on account of his age? I didn't have well-developed philosophical views until 25, but then again I didn't come out swinging in favor of any politician before that, either. So while I don't look down on this kid for supporting Obama and being taken in by his "cool" persona as much as I would an adult for doing so, it does kind of lower my estimation of him that he thinks he's developed enough to open his yap on the subject of politics at all. Do you think my take is correct?

Edited by happiness
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would just ask him more questions to see how much thought he actually put into his position. Then try to find contradictions and put some fundamental questions in his mind that he can think about.

But no, I don't think you should assume he thinks that way because of his age. Could be that he didn't put enough thought into his positions, not that age restricted him from doing so. I see that in older people all the time. It would not be fair to dismiss him as just undeveloped without speaking to him first.

As for whether or not you should forgive him, has he apologized to you and corrected the issue? My guess would be no. Though I'm not too sure that you deserve an apology from everyone with bad political views.

Edited by Matt Giannelli
Link to comment
Share on other sites

As for whether or not you should forgive him, has he apologized to you and corrected the issue? My guess would be no. Though I'm not too sure that you deserve an apology from everyone with bad political views.

I don't understand this phrasing of "forgiving" a belief. It sounds very self-righteous in a negative way. It is absolutely fair to consider anyone who isn't an adult to be uninformed before speaking to them on account of age. Age is a time restriction on what possibly can be known about a given topic. Anyone young is uninformed, so needs to be taught. There actually may be good reasons for someone as young as that to support Obama like he's the best thing since sliced bread on account of how little they would know about all sorts of political positions. It's important for anyone young to develop their ideas.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What do you mean by forgive in this context? What actions will you take if you do or do not forgive? Why do you think your knowledge of politics entitles you to

yap on the subject of politics at all.
How is his support of Obama a transgression against you?
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The OP didn't say that he was planning on explicitly telling the kid that he "forgives him", as if the OP's rights or personal boundaries had been violated. I think what that the OP meant is can he forgive the kid's actions, as in, is it possible that this 15 year old is honestly mistaken.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It is absolutely fair to consider anyone who isn't an adult to be uninformed before speaking to them on account of age. Age is a time restriction on what possibly can be known about a given topic. Anyone young is uninformed, so needs to be taught.

Specifically we are talking about age 15. And I said that it's not fair to assume that because his positions are wrong, he must be *undeveloped* (not uninformed). Note I am talking about the logic behind his positions and writing it off due to age isn't necessarily fair because conceptually 15 year olds have the ability to think logically.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If a 15-year old who is otherwise an impressive young person voices support for Obama, should I forgive him on account of his age? I didn't have well-developed philosophical views until 25, but then again I didn't come out swinging in favor of any politician before that, either. So while I don't look down on this kid for supporting Obama and being taken in by his "cool" persona as much as I would an adult for doing so, it does kind of lower my estimation of him that he thinks he's developed enough to open his yap on the subject of politics at all. Do you think my take is correct?

No. Every single 15-year old thinks they are developed enough to open their yaps about any subject whatsoever. So the fact that this one does too means nothing. Furthermore, if the subject is politics and someone didn't grow up with rational parents and teachers, then he is guaranteed to also be wrong on top of being overly confident.

So what exactly are you expecting of this 15yo? The maturity of a 30yo.? Superhuman reasoning skills?

Faulting him for this would be like faulting him for not being able to grow a thick beard.

Edited by Nicky
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...