How have your political views changed over time?
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  How have your political views changed over time?
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Author Topic: How have your political views changed over time?  (Read 8190 times)
CelticHoosier1993
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« on: February 14, 2012, 11:30:39 AM »

Over the past 7 years, my research has led me from being a Progressive Democrat, to being a Market Socialist. And my views are still evolving.
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Antonio the Sixth
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« Reply #1 on: February 14, 2012, 01:23:49 PM »

Not really, I think they just clarified with time. I was a vague leftie populist back when I was a kid, and once I grew up I realized things were a bit more complicated than I thought and moderated somewhat. My positions on a few issues have changed, but my core values remain the same.
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Redalgo
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« Reply #2 on: February 14, 2012, 04:59:45 PM »
« Edited: February 14, 2012, 05:44:43 PM by Redalgo »

I suppose my values changed a lot less than my political-economic leanings over time.

Back in high school I was pretty populist and had something of a Trotskyist bent to my ideas, feeling that the United States was imperialist and just as "evil" in its character, if not more so than the Soviet Union during the Cold War. I was troubled by the impact of greed in American society and loosely centered my convictions on an amalgam of influences from early liberal thinkers and mediocre attempts to gauge the strengths and weaknesses of Soviet democracy. Given a greater emphasis on human rights, I felt a similar social experiment someday would work out quite well.

That outlook was rattled by introductory studies in a number of different fields during my first two years in college. It basically killed the culturally-imperialist part of me that wanted to see many mainstream traditions and religious institutions crushed and cast aside as obsolete and obstructive to the advance of civilization. It also swayed me to embrace social democracy as a "third way" compromise between socialism and capitalism that would convey some of the two systems' boons without such nasty setbacks as under either extreme. Parts of Europe seemed worthy of imitation.

Later, after transferring to a university, more studies revealed flaws in my perspective that drove me to the Nordic Model. I became pretty pragmatic but was too socialistic to fit in well with most Democrats, and too much a liberal to get along well with most self-described Marxists. I was also more diplomatic and collaborative than most folks I met on the left, who often seemed mired in conspiracy theories and directed a lot of anger at certain out-groups. Incidentally, I soon took to avoiding party politics because I valued integrity more than victory and even in my small town saw both major factions using their objectives to justify amoral and often distasteful campaign tactics.

To some extent I am still naive, stubborn, and a bit preachy but try to make an honest effort to listen to others, discover new ideas to synthesize into my worldview, and have become a lot less concerned with getting my way in politics than in trying to amass enough wisdom to write about virtue politics and constitutionalism with some shred of credibility - though I seriously doubt I will ever be very influential, must less an academic heavyweight. My views will keep on evolving with time but for now I am tinkering with how social democracy might transform into market socialism without bringing about a number of unpleasant, very significant side effects. Otherwise, I juggle and intuitively draw from too many schools of thought to succinctly explain how those positions fit together right now. Maybe someday I will try to distill it all into an ideology.

Edit: In regards to international relations I basically got less militarist as an internationalist for awhile, then hopped over to a cosmopolitan outlook. I fancy seeing countries voluntarily organize into regional unions before eventually negotiating a settlement to abolish national armies and establish a federalist union of republics under an overarching constitution and global government. My views on social issues are increasingly influenced by the harm principle and secular humanism.
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freefair
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« Reply #3 on: February 14, 2012, 05:05:50 PM »
« Edited: February 14, 2012, 05:33:11 PM by freefair »

When I was younger I used to be very socially.. well, not religious conservative, as i have never had faith, but a sort of Tabloid newspaper authoritarian populist right wing, I used to hate everyone on welfare, believe in extremely harsh criminal justice, hild discipline, zero net migration, no European integration, national service,matrons in hospitals, selective education, patriotism etc etc.
Its rather odd that I never sympathized with the BNP. Maybe It's because my dad is a Punjabi immigrant, and I didn't really want to be put on the boat.
Anyway I used to not have any opinion on economic issues, but since I have matured and become very socially libertarian, as well as a huge internationalist and free market capitalist as I research economics.
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Atlas Has Shrugged
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« Reply #4 on: February 14, 2012, 07:15:35 PM »

Hmmm

Neocon----> Paleocon.

I got interested in politics during the 2004 election. Iraq and the Patriot Act were good, gays bad, and Bush was awesome. I would listen to everything FOX told me too. Now I am a Pat Buchananite/Paultard.
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Leftbehind
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« Reply #5 on: February 14, 2012, 08:59:27 PM »

Social democrat > socialist; I suppose I still retain the same instincts I've always had, but I'm more open to - and recognise the necessity of - radical solutions these days. I tend to regard my social liberalism more frivolous than I used to and I'm much more cynical in regards to contemporary politics' merits/worthiness. Whether that's just in reaction to current events, I'm not sure.
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RogueBeaver
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« Reply #6 on: February 14, 2012, 09:16:08 PM »

My views on education have become more clearly defined and recently I developed a bit of a libertarian streak on some privacy issues (SOPA and some of my own government's legislation). Mostly my shift has been from being a language warrior in my early teens to a much more sympathetic position towards moderate forms of Quebec nationalism. First it was simply getting in line with my own party's position on this, but then upon further study I fully adopted them as my own. I'm still a Trudeauvian national unity warrior though- that will probably never change.
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RI
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« Reply #7 on: February 14, 2012, 09:20:06 PM »

Neoconservative (until 2004) -> Left-Libertarian (until 2006) -> American Liberal (until 2009) -> Communitarian (present)


I've hit all four quadrants in my life.
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20RP12
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« Reply #8 on: February 14, 2012, 09:35:27 PM »

Back from 06-08 I was a very big neoconservative. I was anti-gay, pro-life, pro-war, anti-weed, etc. I even campaigned for McCain/Palin.

Then came Ron Paul, Gary Johnson, Ludwig von Mises, Ayn Rand, Murray Rothbard, Milton Friedman and...well...here I am.

I'm now pro-gay, pro-choice, anti-war, pro-drug legalization. If my views were the same today as they were four years ago, i'd probably be supporting Rick Santorum for President. True story.
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Hash
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« Reply #9 on: February 15, 2012, 09:27:52 AM »

In 2004, I was a young (naive) far-left socialist who supported Quebec independence and hated Harper.

In 2006-2007, I became a young (stupid) right-wing conservative hack, who insisted he was centrist, but still was all over Harper, Sarkozy and Mario Dumont. I was vaguely populistic, and had gained weird affection for the xenophobic nationalism of Philippe de Villiers and I didn't think Le Pen was all that bad. I slowly started disliking Harper in early 2008 (as I moved to Canada to witness the damage wrought), by the 2008 election I hated Harper and disliked Dumont.

In 2008-2009, I transitioned into a real centrist, kind-of liberal, but still "socially/fiscally moderate"  I recall being all proud of my moderation and my 0/0 PM score, thinking it indicated real intelligence and real balance.

In 2009, I became my current centre-left progressive liberal self. I dislike conservatism a whole lot, but I'm wary of the left. For some reason, I was into the Canadian Green Party in 2007 and 2008, but I became a Liberal in 2009. I campaigned for and voted Liberal in 2011.
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Atlas Has Shrugged
ChairmanSanchez
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« Reply #10 on: February 16, 2012, 06:00:05 PM »

Back from 06-08 I was a very big neoconservative. I was anti-gay, pro-life, pro-war, anti-weed, etc. I even campaigned for McCain/Palin.

Then came Ron Paul, Gary Johnson, Ludwig von Mises, Ayn Rand, Murray Rothbard, Milton Friedman and...well...here I am.
This post is 100% accurate for me. Not only did I campaign for McCain, I also met and supported Rudy Giuliani....I'm still embarrassed by it.
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k-onmmunist
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« Reply #11 on: February 16, 2012, 06:33:19 PM »

Where do you want me to begin?
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Antonio the Sixth
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« Reply #12 on: February 16, 2012, 06:58:32 PM »


Windis is a case study on his own. Wink
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20RP12
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« Reply #13 on: February 16, 2012, 11:43:02 PM »

Back from 06-08 I was a very big neoconservative. I was anti-gay, pro-life, pro-war, anti-weed, etc. I even campaigned for McCain/Palin.

Then came Ron Paul, Gary Johnson, Ludwig von Mises, Ayn Rand, Murray Rothbard, Milton Friedman and...well...here I am.

This post is 100% accurate for me. Not only did I campaign for McCain, I also met and supported Rudy Giuliani....I'm still embarrassed by it.

I supported Huckabee and then McCain and I even shook John McCain's hand at a rally. It was literally like wearing a baseball glove. -shudders-
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Free Palestine
FallenMorgan
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« Reply #14 on: February 17, 2012, 01:06:24 AM »

Before 2008 I was quite vague politically.  But then I got more and more libertarian.  Then late last year I made a shift to the radical left.
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dead0man
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« Reply #15 on: February 17, 2012, 01:30:07 AM »

I was conservative by default until the mid 90s.  I don't know if the GOP left me or I left the GOP, but we certainly parted ways.  I guess I just don't hate gays and Mexicans enough.

...but I've always been a fairly live and let live kind of guy, even as a child.
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LastVoter
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« Reply #16 on: February 17, 2012, 04:02:18 AM »

Neoconservative (until 2004) -> Left-Libertarian (until 2006) -> American Liberal (until 2009) -> Communitarian (present)


I've hit all four quadrants in my life.
Eh?
I went from an apathetic Bush hating teenager(so basically your average young in America at the time), to a firm left winger, often times radical.
From the other thread, added bold.
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Gustaf
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« Reply #17 on: February 17, 2012, 04:37:56 AM »

Hm. Generally speaking, I've probably shifted left a bit.

I used to have a very strong disdain for structural analyses when I was young - I'd find affirmative action and feminist analysis and such things to be utter nonsense. My values came mostly from my dad, I think, and they were sort of traditional conservative working class values.

Then when I got a girlfriend who's parents were foreign my views changed a lot. From my dad I already had a great deal of respect for the working class, but my girlfriend sort of added a layer of feminist and racial analysis to that. Essentially, she had the same type of values as I had been brought up with, but that still wasn't enough. So I sort of realized that social injustice is real and not just a victimization complex.

And before someone asks how anyone could believe the latter, well, I was still very young and I'm also exaggerating the transition a bit. Wink

My volunteer work has also shifted my views on economic injustice. It really opened my eyes to how people have different starting positions that are very hard to overcome. This has made me a lot more firm in my support for things like publicly funded education and such.

Finally, my economics education has tended to undermine my support for free markets quite a bit and made me more sympathetic to state intervention in markets for various reasons.

So, overall a leftward shift. I was very libertarian when I was 12 or so, but I've been maturing ever since. Although, in fairness, I did shift rightwards when I was 19-20 and studied philosophy. Being surrounded by Communists tends to push one to the right.
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morgieb
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« Reply #18 on: February 17, 2012, 07:11:05 AM »

Haven't paid enough attention to politics for long enough to say accurately. Besides, most of my core values haven't truly shifted.

Having said that, better knowledge of economics saw me shift to the right there, also I stripped some authoritarian positions on some issues (death penalty).
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Miamiu1027
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« Reply #19 on: February 17, 2012, 10:23:48 AM »

pre 2005    standard left-liberal
2005-2006 right-wing Democrat
2007-      gradually more intelligent left-of-capital
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afleitch
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« Reply #20 on: February 17, 2012, 11:32:09 AM »

When I was first interested in politics I was socially liberal, extremely permissive (for such a young age) and very much ‘New Labour.’ I backed Labour less and less until 2003 when I drifted away completely, but not because of the Iraq War (which I supported) but because I started to see the ‘falsity’ or it all. I was in essence a ‘Portillista’; a supporter of a Conservative Party that had yet to reform so was homeless under the IDS era. By 2004 I was supporting the party having being impressed enough by Michael Howard and joined in 2005. I supported David Cameron to lead. I have since been a Conservative, though since 2006-2007, I have essentially been a ‘Tartan Tory’; supportive of the SNP domestically. I dislike and distrust Labour.

I have always been socially liberal. As a gay man who accepted my orientation since I was about 13, I was first involved in politics through the ‘Scrap the Section’ anti Section 28 pressure group at 16. I attended a Jesuit Catholic school until I was 18 which in many ways radicalised my views towards social justice but against clericalism. I was then and remain a stout secularist; though since 2010 I have been an atheist-agnostic.

I have worked in the public sector since 2006 and I have actually shifted ‘leftward’ in recent years, but only in terms that I have moved away from holding naïve positions on economics that you tend to hold if you’re not working! I am still centre-right; I believe the debt should be paid down, public spending curbed and I support welfare reform. I also believe in eliminating the taxation of the poorest in society, but some of my more ‘every man for himself’ rhetoric has gone.
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Nathan
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« Reply #21 on: February 17, 2012, 02:44:53 PM »
« Edited: February 17, 2012, 04:55:18 PM by Nathan »

Until a couple of years ago I was a much more bog-standard liberal Democrat. My social score probably would have about matched my economic score, and they both would have been closer to the -5 or -6 range than -8 or -2/3 like they are now. Then I discovered, in no particular order, Hiratsuka Raicho, John Ruskin, Yoshiya Nobuko, Oscar Romero, Tadano Makuzu, Mashimo Kouichi, Gustavo Gutierrez, Charles Taylor, and Victor Jara.
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TheDeadFlagBlues
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« Reply #22 on: February 17, 2012, 04:22:55 PM »

Economics: my views have gradually shifted to the right and continue to do so. This doesn't mean that I'm on the verge of becoming a neo-liberal or voting for Andrew Cuomo in a primary but I'm not fond of nationalization anymore and think that full employment as a goal is ridiculous. My views are pretty mainstream among social democrats, that wasn't the case a few years ago when I believed in naive ideas.

Cultural issues: my views have gradually shifted to the left on cultural issues as I ditched more and more of my early adolescent Christianity and my town's values. The older I grew, the more I grew to despise what I termed as archaic notions. My score has shifted from -0.17 to -8. At this point, I don't have the same taboos as everyone else. I'm sure this will slowly change as my disdain for individualism and lax social order has grown.
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Filuwaúrdjan
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« Reply #23 on: February 17, 2012, 05:18:24 PM »

My outlook and basic analysis has shifted considerably to the left in many ways. But, aha, the direct result has actually been something of a rightwards shift in certain specific practical terms. There's a certain twisted logic of sorts there.
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Hatman 🍁
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« Reply #24 on: February 17, 2012, 05:40:56 PM »

I have always been left wing, since my first political memories around 1993 (I was 7). I wanted a female PM, but I supported the Liberals.. quite the conundrum. As time grew on, I realized my (Liberal) MP was kinda right wing (John Manley) and I stopped liking the federal Liberals, and looked to the NDP. I guess I still liked the idea of a female leader. However, provincially, I was a big supporter of the Liberals. In 2003, when I was 17, I would have voted for them, as I did in the school mock election. Growing up under the Harris regime of the 1990s was hard on students and teachers alike. Of course, I quickly became disillusioned the provincial Liberals. Meanwhile federally, I supported the NDP, but I would've voted Green in the 2004 election (just a few months before my 18th birthday) because the NDP candidate was against gay marriage.

Ever since I've been able to vote, I've voted NDP though. So, my party support hasn't changed since then. However, I've become even more left wing lately. I haven't changed much on social issues, but economically I've abandoned much of my moderate heroism. I'm now experiencing what it's like to be poor and have a family in these conditions. I know what it's like to work hard for very little, while others don't. I'm experiencing all the evils of conservative society, and I don't like it at all. 
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