When I wrote my memoirs, (between February and April of 2001) I found that the period of my life that took up the most text (over half!) was my twenties, which coincided roughly with the 1970s. I didn't plan it that way, I didn't realize it until I'd finished. Yes, it's only natural that we look back at our youth (but not necessarily childhood) as the peak time. The reasons for that should be fairly obvious, at least, they are to me.

As for the attempt to characterize psychological or even physiological differences between conservatives and liberals, I think they are, at best, misleading. Cultural differences, perhaps; but they are things you learn, not things you are born with. But what I find most intriguing about these matters is not so much the nature of someone's political beliefs, but how strongly they feel about them; that is the key issue.

I met quite a few radical leftists when I was in college, in fact, they were coming out of the woodwork. I found them annoying and obnoxious, but not because I necessarily disagreed with them, (I found I shared more in common with them than with their opponents, although the lefties were more extreme in their views than I ever was). What really steamed me about that crowd was how bloody self-righteous and strident they were. Not only were their lives dominated by politics, but they always seemed furious that mine wasn't. The fact that I was somewhat sympathetic to their views seemed to really irritate them the most, it was almost as if finding someone who was with them on the main points but disagreed with them on details or methods, was some sort of traitor. Very often the extreme rightists were more acceptable to them, sort of "worthy opponents", as opposed to "undependable comrades".

I find zealots and ideologues of all persuasions have much more in common with one another than those who have other interests and who view politics as a historical phenomenon, or a social process, rather than a personal crusade or conspiracy. Don't get me wrong, I don't claim to have no political preferences, or that I am strictly neutral, I just don't feel that there is much that I can do about it, and it doesn't really matter that much to me what some other prole's politics are. If he's a schmuck like me, he can't affect me and if he's a big shot, there's nothing I can do about him anyway.

Where my political prejudices really come into play, where they actually serve a practical purpose, is that I use them to guide my choices, plan my career, and evaluate my social surroundings. So far, I've been able to predict the course of this society fairly accurately, and plan my life accordingly. Up to now, I've been able to do pretty well for myself by basing my decisions on my political expectations, knock on wood. But I've never seen myself on the barricades, either side of them, and I severely mistrust those who fantasize about them, regardless of which side they plan to enlist on. OTOH, I'm not squeamish about firearms either, you never know when you may need a Plan B.