A conservative is a liberal who just got mugged, and a liberal is a conservative who just got arrested

As a reader of The Economist puts it,

There is a straightforward reason as to why the baby-boomer generation is becoming more conservative (“As boomers wrinkle”, January 1st). As the old joke puts it, a conservative is a liberal who just got mugged, and a liberal is a conservative who just got arrested. As one ages, the likelihood of being mugged increases while the likelihood of being arrested decreases.

Frank Lowther
Los Angeles