Youth and the political left and selfish voters

Young people have always tended to the left, and then as they mature their politics matures, not necessarily to the right (young right-wingers are another group who tend to be extremists) but more toward the center.

One unfortunate thing about young people and politics -- they tend to be just as greedy and "what's in it for me" as older people, and in their case that often has to do with financial assistance to go to college.  It's easy for a politician to promise free tuition or some such thing, and thereby, with such a lie, get a lot of college-age votes (who tend to know it's a lie but vote for them anyway, just in case).

This has long been identified as a problem with all democracies -- the vast majority "vote their pocketbooks" rather than what is best for the country, and even rationalize things to think that what is best for them is best for the country.  People are selfish and when you point it out they find ways to convince themselves they are good people in spite of their selfishness.