Have you always had the political beliefs you have now?

[Billy000]

For example, if you are leftwing now, were you ever rightwing?


I was rightwing in high school because my dad was republican. Now luckily I think for myself and will never look back. I'm 27 now. Things are so much clearer.

 

[Mr. H.]

High School - College, fairly Liberal. Voted for Carter.

Then when I graduated, I got a job and a taste of reality. Conservative ever since and not looking back.

 

[USNavyVet]

Where I grew up everyone was a democrat, supported unions, pro abortion, etc. Luckily I got an education and threw those shackles off and will never vote democrat. With age comes wisdom I guess.

 

[Pheonixops]

For example, if you are leftwing now, were you ever rightwing?


I was rightwing in high school because my dad was republican. Now luckily I think for myself and will never look back. I'm 27 now. Things are so much clearer.

I would say that I have had pretty much the same base philosophy when I was younger, as I do now. I was more idealistic then, now I'd like to think that I am more realistic now. My experience with my Dad was the opposite of yours; I remember his friends had "Impeach Nixon" bumper stickers, and I was always a little more to the right than he was. He was pretty far left in my opinion, but with a Libertarian/ACLU type of slant.

 

[Jughead]

Have you always had the political beliefs you have now?

Yes. In my case, I was influenced by family, friends, teachers, clergy and neighbors. Even if I had not been influenced, I believe that I'd still be a conservative.

 

[TheOldSchool]

I was a Republican my entire life having come from a half-Cuban family. Did a complete 180 somewhere between 2002 and 2004. I still have a few strong conservative views though.

 

[R.D.]

Yes, I have. Mom was a lib and dad was rino before rinos were kewl

 

[dblack]

For example, if you are leftwing now, were you ever rightwing?


I was rightwing in high school because my dad was republican. Now luckily I think for myself and will never look back. I'm 27 now. Things are so much clearer.

I think mostly, yeah, they're the same. This is an interesting question, because I think my politics really go way back for me, to my first experiences with bullies in grade school, and my realization that the most sinister sort of bullies were those who had the teacher buffaloed, or had the rest of the kids cheering for them.

Still pretty much the same shit going on.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

I was a liberal until I got my first paycheck

Sent from my Chinese Supercomputer made from XBox parts Bush sent to China

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

Always been conservative. And though I still hold those values,I've become disenchanted with the so called republicans in washington who claim to hold those same values.

 

[bucs90]

For example, if you are leftwing now, were you ever rightwing?


I was rightwing in high school because my dad was republican. Now luckily I think for myself and will never look back. I'm 27 now. Things are so much clearer.

Good for you. And who knows...thinking for yourself may lead you back to those beliefs.

I was as staunch a right winger as they come until around 2011-2012, when the Tea Party started hitting all time psycho mode.

As to all the reasons, I'll save the thread space.

But I told the GOP to go jump off a cliff.

 

[Two Thumbs]

My parents were full blown dems

worked for the state
supported the union
even put signs in the yard
told me to get a job with the state when I got old enough. Dad would help, yaknow, he knew people, that knew people.

I'm gunna shorten this next bit;
Dad was a manager, he was asked to break the law, refused, asked again, refused, union sent him to a doc for an eval, doc said my Dad was unstable, he's put on leave, threatened, we have to move out of state for our safety.


Fuck dems and the unions. Only evil and the ignorant support them.

 

[Two Thumbs]

I'm somewhere between the gop and the TP

I support the Constitution but not the bible. I call myself a freedomist.

 

[Political Junky]

I grew up in a Southern Conservative Democratic family ... they're still in the Democratic Party but vole Republican now. I left the South after school and have remained a Democrat, but Liberal.

 

[HenryBHough]

When I was 12 I thought I was a Democrat because the Democrats running the county council spent a lot of money spraying oil on the dirt road out front to keep down the dust.

When I was 15 I figured out that the drain oil they were spraying was what killed all the plants in the little garden my mom had planted in front of the house. Also why I learned why crotchety old conservatives called it "Democrat Frosting".

OK, lousy reason to leave the party behind but it was a beginning.

 

[jon_berzerk]

raised in a democrat family

voted for Carter

over time the party evolved away

 

[bucs90]

raised in a democrat family

voted for Carter

over time the party evolved away

Whats the OD-green and black "III" on your avatar?

 

[blackhawk]

I have been fairly conservative most of my adult life but am far less naive about the true nature of both parties than I was when I was younger.

 

[SmedlyButler]

I really think some people, maybe most, are inherently left or right. I suspect most of those who thought they changed somewhere along the line actually just had an epiphany, "ahh...now I see" and realized which side of the line they were meant to be on.

Of course that's not 'the crux of the biscuit" as Frank might say. The real shouting starts when both sides assume they have a monopoly on the truth. I wonder sometimes if there's a mathematical solution to the scale problem. An absolute golden mean, where some Universal rule declares "this is the state of consiousness where this species belongs." Of course that would suggest there are individuals who already inhabit that space.

Another thought is that it is an evolutionary phenomena and some naturally selective process is driving the bus without referrence to metaphysical concepts like right and wrong. Then theoritically we end up with whichever philosophy most benefits the survival of the species. I have read that there is some evidence for psycho-social evolution. Bioevolutionists say a broad and deep gene pool is essential to survivability in the long run. If that rule has a corollary in psycho-social evolution there may never be an end to the political tensions in a healthy population.

 

[BlackSand]

I was born in the Democrat South ... But my parents never talked about politics around friends, family or us kids.

They taught us the importance of talking care of ourselves, taking responsibility for our actions and failures.
They taught us about always getting back up when we failed and pushing on harder to achieve respectable goals.

They taught us how to manage money ... How the save money, avoid debt and create respectable credit.
They gave us responsibilities around the house we weren't paid for ... We had to get a job and earn gas or spending money.
We paid for our own car insurance ... And had a clothing allowance for everything including school clothes.

They taught us not to blame other people for our problems ... And to do what we knew was best at all times.
They taught us that nothing is fair in life ... And if you want something, then you have to do what is necessary to earn it.

Like I said ... I never knew they were Conservatives ... But then again, it really wasn't about politics after all.

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