Have you moved left or Right as you grew older? :)

[angus]

there's nothing right.wing about Lincoln. In fact, Lincoln and Stalin would have great times together.

oops, yes, I'm a hypocrite.  I did exactly what I implied would have annoyed me.

I don't disagree with your post, in general.  I.e., he was an authoritarian and engaged in some specific instances of upholding the US constitution.  In fact, you know from my posts that I have argued exactly that point many times.  I was just pointing to the Nationalistic/GOP aspect, etc.  And that suspending constitutional liberties and general warmongering might have been justified in the name of "preservation of the union" and keeping what was the USA from becoming yet again an imperial playground of powerful nations in the world at that time, etc., etc.  I think you know what the gist of it was.  Sorry to have implied, by enumeration in that way, the "rightist" qualitiy in the traditional sense.  Once again, this points to the paramount importance of using Right and Left strictly for right and left, and other terminologies for the libertarian vs. authority axis.  Clearly, you see the confusion that causes. 

My greater point was that although I was raised by GOP-phobic leftist who taught me to support welfare, socialized medicine, etc., etc., I have come around to a genuine respect not only for the right of man to enjoy the fruits of his own labor without interference from an oppressive and "equalizing" government, but also for the necessity of a truly nationalistic counterbalance to the moralistic stance of the democrats.

Still, it must be borne in mind that my hard rightward shift over the last 15 or so years still puts me at a negative one on the left-right scale.  My journey has been, so far, from far left to center.  That is to say, I am a Republican-in-Name-Only in the sense that I take every candidate seriously, whether GOP, democrat, socialist, libertarian, constitutionalist, green, or whatever, and try to listen closely to what they say before deciding for whom to vote.  And for deciding on YES/NO questions I do not always agree with one party or another.  Thus, a shift to the far right from where I started only implies that now, instead of taking whatever position is fashionable among the true leftists (not always the democrats, by the way), nowadays I try to look at both long- and short-term economic advantages and disadvantages before deciding.  I see nothing wrong with that, even though some will call me a waffler, or a mugwump, or a "moderate"  I find the latter patently offensive, as I rarely do anything in moderation once I've made up my mind to do it.

[Frodo]

I have pretty much been moderately conservative, and except for a brief affair with the antiwar Left during college, I have been moving back to the center-right since I have graduated.   

[12th Doctor]

Now, looking back on things over the past six years, I started out to the right on almost everything.  Then I moved left on economic issues.  Now I have moved back to the right on economic issues and moved to the left on social issues.  My stand on military matters has changed very little.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

I've probably gotten more conservative, especially on affirmative action, gun control, and the death penalty.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I have moved from a rather statist to a more libertarian POV since I was teenager, but my economic and social positions haven't changed much.

[Aizen]

Left socially for sure.

I think I may have started moving right on economics though.

[Meeker]

I think over the past year or two I've moved left a bit. I've almost certainly become more partisan.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

I've certainly moved left in the last 10 years. My huge leftward shift socially probably doesn't balance my centreist economic beliefs.

[Ban my account ffs!]

Definitely left.

I realized relatively early that the Republican party is made up mostly of like-minded people all clawing over each other to get theirs and run.  There's nothing to do except fall in line, lest you face serious retaliation by your higher ups.

In the Democratic party I have a voice and I feel part of a process that has made our country work since the beginning.

My economic views have shifted to the left, but I hold strong to the principle that free enterprise and entrepreneurial spirit are important, but not to be held up at the expense of the basic well being of other individuals or society in general.  People should go into business confident and humble, seeking balance and fairness. 

Socially, I have moved much farther left than I was.  I used to conform to the idea that traditional values were best, because they worked best for most people.  I believed it because I felt safe with traditional values<<< Because it was all I knew.

I have opened my eyes and seen the world and I have learned that people who do things the way they want to are the happiest.  Of course many will be content with their wife, 2.4 kids, and a white picket fence.. but many are repulsed by that "ideal."  The American Dream is something different for everybody, and we should arm people with the tools they need to realize that dream while helping those who are unable to.

[Sensei]

Left, definitely. I used to be pro-life, for school vouchers, and many other things I wonder why I believed.

[Хahar 🤔]

Way, way left.

Of course, "older" is relative.

[dead0man]

I've turned more tradtionally liberal in the social sense, to a pretty hard core live and live mindset.  I wouldn't call that "left" though.  I certainly don't believe in AA or social saftey nets provided by the govt or that kind of thing.  Economically I'm pretty much the same.  No/low taxes, no protectionism, no tarrifs. 

But I've always wanted the govt out of my bedroom, my wallet and my gun cabinet.

[phk]

Before 4th grade I was fairly conservative with some liberal idealistic views on the environment (rain forest protection) and world peace (I was exposed to politics through the Gulf War, Palestinian infitada, Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty, The "Balkanization" of Yugoslavia"). I agreed with much of Clinton's economic agenda (except Hillarycare) and was a bit of a necon as I advocated that the US use its might to improve the world. I was wary of affirmative action and was solidly against abortion and extending further rights outside of 'hate crimes protection' to homosexuals. I was at this time fascinated with urban minority culture as well.

Years: 1996 and earlier, ages 11 and younger.

Afterwards, I became a sort of libertarian with a light dosage of social liberalism (what one would call counter-culture libertarianism). I retained much of my social liberalisms but drifted libertarian on economic issues. Became a 'technological fatalist' and was generally aligned more or less with the "California Ideology". I drifted from the ideology in one issue where  I wanted the government to actively push the internet and computers to everywhere (libraries and schools and subsidize computer purchases for lower income households).

Years:  1996 - 2001, ages 11 to 16

After 9/11, I became a bit of a war hawk and became a bona fide, Social Democrat.

Years:  2001 - 2003, ages 16 to 18

After the Iraq war, I drifted hard left. Think Kucinich.

Years: 2003-2004, ages 18 to 19.

During the 2004 Election season, I became a communist officially. Marxism-Leninism and later Marxism-Leninism-Maoism.

Years: 2004-2005, ages 19 to 20.

During 2006, I drifted back to the center (renouncing Communism) and hard right towards its end on the issue of the Iraq war. I gradually came around to support and changed my stance on Israel.

Years: 2006-2007, ages 21 to 22.

During 2008, I shifted hard-right on economics (libertarian) and became a bit of a neocon in terms of my foreign policy.

Years: 2007- ?, ages 23 to ?

[Hash]

Centre.

I hate the left with a passion now, though. Mind you, I also hate the ultra-right wing (Harper-type righties) with a passion

[phk]

Centre.

I hate the left with a passion now, though. Mind you, I also hate the ultra-right wing (Harper-type righties) with a passion

Ditto, exactly how I feel now.

[Reluctant Republican]

I was pretty much Conservative (Or Republican} on everything back in 2001 to 2003. When the 2004 election campaign came around I started off supporting George Bush but ended up really attracted to Badnarik’s Libertarian candidacy by the end. This is the year I really became more socially Liberal, though I was not there on the war yet. 2005-2006 I became pretty much as socially liberal as I am and started to drift away from the war. It was not until mid 2007 that I pretty much became very non interventionist, though. I’m still a very small government person when it comes to regulation and taxes, however, which is really the only thing I‘ve not changed my mind on. So, I guess I drifted to the left a bit, in theory.

[Smash255]

Pretty much have always been socially & economically liberal

[MasterJedi]

Moderated on economics, stayed the same on social issues and foreign policy.

[TomC]

Economics: to the right a little once I really understood the power of investing and the markets. I favor responsible govt spending and I see it as becoming more pragmatic, which I guess means moderate, in that I'd rather do some things well (education, child care, care for impoverished seniors)  rather than do a half-assed job at solving (or attempting to) every problem for able bodied adults.

Party Identification: Before 2000, I considered myself an independent. I voted for 2 GOP governors, liked Republicans like Jack Kemp and John McCain. I always voted Dem for President, but hoped for a serious independent (Perot didn't cut it). Preferred moderates like Gary Hart and Paul Tsongas (not Southern moderates) to Mondales,  Dukakises and Coumos. After 2000 election, I became a rabid Democrat.

Social: been left and stayed there. I guess I can better articulate it now so I may seem more left, but I've really always been there.

Yep, still true.

 In education, I'm becoming more open to alternatives like charter schools, and oppose much federal government intervention in schools.

[Robespierre's Jaw]

Let's see, I haven't changed my liberal positions on social issues that much, except for Stem Cell research, which I was once against. On Foreign Policy, I have moved to the middle of the spectrum, considering when I was 10 I supported George W. Bush and his foreign policy incentives. Whilst on Economic Policy, I guess I can say that I haven't changed that much.

[7,052,770]

left on both.  I used to claim to be "moderate."

[tik 🪀✨]

You often read older posters emphatically declaring how much better this forum used to be in discourse. Reading the beginning of this thread makes me want to agree.

I've inched to the right economically but remain just left of center. I've gotten far more socially liberal, however.

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

left

[Hatman 🍁]

to the left, for sure.

[JSojourner]

Far right until graduating college.  I used to picket abortion clinics, harass gay people and use the most hateful language toward gays and blacks.

About the time I started college, I became a more tolerant conservative.  It was Bible College, so almost everyone there was Republican and very far right.  But a few were moderate and there were even one or two Democrats.  Some missionaries I met (Presbyterian) got me to re-thinking the Reagan approach to Central America.  I was still an R but a thinking R.

I became news director for a small, Christian radio network and determined to tell both sides of every story as fairly as I knew how.  Which meant I actually had to listen to Democrats and liberals.  Their arguments on most issues made more and more sense.  I had a personal experience that I won't share here that monumentally changed my heart and mind on the issue of race. When I covered controversial issues in a fair manner, I took major heat from our listeners.  This was a right wing, fundamentalist Christian audience that was not used to hearing both sides.  I started getting death threats, my car was vandalized and I was publicly dressed down in a few different situations.  I have to give credit where it is due.  My boss was a conservative Republican and an Evangelical who supported me 90% of the time. 

By 1991 or 92, I was pretty much a liberal. Reading The Soul of Politics by Jim Wallis and The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind by Mark Noll really sealed the deal. 

The interesting thing was, the more liberal I became personally, the more I sought friends who were liberal.  In Indiana, you can feel terribly alone -- like a conservative Republican would feel in Vermont or Rhode Island, maybe!  And then, some of my liberal friends didn't like the way I reported the news...bothering to tell the conservative side of the story.  LOL  But too many of my Republican friends (the kind of friends who stick with you no matter what) were such credible representatives of their point of view...I couldn't do anything else.

I'm still, I think, painstakingly fair in reporting news.  Though I am purely freelance these days.  But I'm more liberal than ever.  It was a major change for me a couple years ago to decide I was pro choice. That was probably my last shift toward the left.

Interestingly, the right or the center-right is starting to get my attention on firearms issues. I have never been in favor of legalizing assault weapons (even at my most conservative) but now, I am starting to soften on handguns and longarms.  It's kind of like the abortion thing with me -- the genie is now out of the bottle and I am not sure there's any safe or sane way to put it back in.  So we'll need to muddle through as best we can.