What issues have you evolved on in your time at the Atlas?

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

I can't believe I said this in 2004...

I really have no idea why we are nominating him........

There, there.  It's okay.  There's always 2008 to look forward to.  Things just might go your way then.  But beware: Hillary is running that year and she'll do no better than Kerry.  Edwards is the guy this year, and in 2008 too...if you guys really want to win the White House.

BTW, I think it's really cool that you're against abortion.  That's the first thing your party needs to change its position on.  More power to people like you!!

Thanx, we really do need to change our position on that, it seems like most dems are only pro-choice cause reps are pro-life.  

Nothing religous in my stance like you see with lots of pro-life people, I'm just anti-killing.  

I'm also shocked that I said this about affirmative action.  What a stupid little ****** I was.

most social issues- very liberal, minus death penalty and affirmative action (including any program REQUIRING companies to hire women and minorities)

Also went from identifying as "agnostic" to "atheist"... but I'm not sure I actually believe anything different.

[afleitch]

Ten years so let's see.

I went from a signed up member of the Labour Party to quitting and joining the Tories and standing for election and then resigning my membership (though I still support them) I'm moved from liberal Scott-like hangwringing Christian to atheist and from anti to pro independence. I've always been pro gay rights, pro-choice and anti-death penalty. On economics I've always taken a typical European Liberal viewpoint but in time of hardship support move government intervention than in times of good. I also don't really care much for politics anymore.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

I've only been here for less than two years, so not much has changed.  Although, I have become less libertarian in general.  I've also become more religious, but that likely wasn't influenced by anything I've seen on this site.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

On economics I've always taken a typical European Liberal viewpoint but in time of hardship support move government intervention than in times of good.

Your 2.45 E score still bewilders me.

[Mechaman]

If you look at my posting history you will note that at the beginning of my time here I was pretty much a libertarian hack.  Now days most people probably think of me as "that asshole populist guy" due to my rhetoric.

Also, while I overall agree with most of my social stances from when I first joined up, I think it's safe to say that I hold those positions nowdays for different reasons than I did back then.  For instance, in 2009 I was a pro-choice hack who thought that abortion was justified as an act of self defense in the part of a woman to defend against a parasitic invader.  Now days I'm one of those "nobody likes abortion" pro-choicers, if that makes any sense.  Also, while I'm still overall pretty pro-gun rights, I'm nowhere as near as paranoid as I used to be on the issue.

So yeah, views have evolved quite a bit.

[Torie]

It is not due to what happened on the Atlas, but during my time here, I have become less of a neo-con, and less interventionist in foreign policy. I have learned my lesson by virtue of events as they ensued. I simply did not know enough about Iraq and Afghanistan at the time, although I did oppose the mission creep in Afghanistan from the start, because it seemed like a counterproductive fools errand to me. Bush got carried away with the Wilsonian ideal of making the planet safe for democracy, and he pulled me along with him more than I would like to admit (but in my defense, at the time, I thought Bush had done a lot more due diligence than he in fact did - I simply did not adequately have "his number" as it were back then).

One needs to pick one's shots a lot more carefully, and with a lot more due diligence than he did. Bush simply did not do his homework. One of Bush's greatest flaws, is that he was insufficiently intellectually curious, and did not ask enough questions. It that department, Clinton literally ran laps around Bush. That was one of his greatest strengths, He seemed, and seems, to know everything about everything, even if honesty is not his strongest suit.

[Joe Biden 2020]

I first joined the forum 9 years ago as BushAlva.  In that time, I've gone from anti-gay rights to pro gay rights with minor relapses back.  I've gone from an extremely conservative Republican to a moderate Democrat.  My views on abortion haven't really changed as I've always been pro-life.  I've evolved slightly on capital punishment from very much in favor, to "in favor, but only if another life was terminated as a result of the crime".  My biggest change has come in economics, I've gone from extremely conservative to moderaly liberal.  Oh, and I've gone from mostly respected to mostly disdained, so I must be doing something right!

[Torie]

Ten years so let's see.

I went from a signed up member of the Labour Party to quitting and joining the Tories and standing for election and then resigning my membership (though I still support them) I'm moved from liberal Scott-like hangwringing Christian to atheist and from anti to pro independence. I've always been pro gay rights, pro-choice and anti-death penalty. On economics I've always taken a typical European Liberal viewpoint but in time of hardship support move government intervention than in times of good. I also don't really care much for politics anymore.

What caused you to become a Scottish nationalist, afleitch?

[Maxwell]

About a year ago when I first got on here, I was a generic libertarian except with conservative views on immigration and being pro-death penalty. I've moderated my tone and my economic stances in a few cases, and became very left-wing on immigration and the death penalty.

[Marokai Backbeat]

I've really not dramatically changed on much, I've just become more informed and improved my writing skills. I've taken more positions on issues I was formerly ambivalent on due to gaining more knowledge and seeing more events unfold (like gun control), so that's basically the only way I've "evolved" in my time here. The only issue I can think of doing a complete turnaround on has been European Union. The core of my beliefs have remained the same, they've just become more comprehensive and thought out.

I've matured in my beliefs, but they haven't really changed.

[MaxQue]

Well, on European Union, problems weren't obvious until the crisis and the main argument against was "loss of national soveignty", which is quite nationalist.

[anvi]

I joined in 2008, and as far as issues I've "evolved" on since then, I really don't know--I guess not too many.  I've become decidedly less interested in American politics in the past year, so, if it can be described as "evolution," there is that. 

[opebo]

[TJ in Oregon]

Not much if anything. The main political change I've gone through over the last couple years has been my slow evolution away from the idea that some politicians were actually decent and even somewhat honest. Years ago I was a bit more of a partisan hack than I am these days, though that transition occurred before I came to the Atlas. Nowadays I finally admit in public as well as private that the most promising virtue of the Republicans at this point is simply their not being the Democrats. I can imagine many of those on the other side of the aisle feel essentially the same beyond whatever spin facade they use to shroud reality. It is all a spin game.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

I was an idiot kid when I first joined. I don't think this site changed me so much as going away to college, when I broke free from my home and really saw how the rest of the country lived. I suppose I became more compassionate for my fellow man.

I'd say I am a much better person today than when I joined this site 9 years ago. That said, I still have a lot of work to do.

[bgwah]

My actual politics haven't changed a lot. I would say I was a little more libertarian earlier on, and have moved to the left since then. I fully support universal healthcare now, which I was kind of neutral and indecisive on for a while.

[Torie]

What does that symbol mean opebo?

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

My actual politics haven't changed a lot. I would say I was a little more libertarian earlier on, and have moved to the left since then.

Atlas Forum: Delibertarianizing people since 2002

[bgwah]

What does that symbol mean opebo?

You've never heard of Republican Opebo?

[Torie]

What does that symbol mean opebo?

You've never heard of Republican Opebo?

Yes, I have. I still don't understand the symbol.  Maybe I should get out more, but I don't.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

What does that symbol mean opebo?

You've never heard of Republican Opebo?

Yes, I have. I still don't understand the symbol.  Maybe I should get out more, but I don't.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yin_and_yang

[Torie]

Ah, thanks. Opebo is a fan of Jung I guess.

[Napoleon]

My actual politics haven't changed a lot. I would say I was a little more libertarian earlier on, and have moved to the left since then.

[Хahar 🤔]

When I started posting here, I was very interested in political debate and in hearing others' political opinions. Now I have little interest in the opinions of people who disagree with me.

[anvi]

What does that symbol mean opebo?

You've never heard of Republican Opebo?

Yes, I have. I still don't understand the symbol.  Maybe I should get out more, but I don't.

But the "yin-yang symbol" is not about processes that are complete, but is instead about a process that is ever ongoing.  So, maybe there is still a bit of Republican opebo in the current Democratic opebo.