How much have your views changed?

[kyc0705]

Everyone's political views will alter a bit over the years, but I wonder how many of us have undergone radical shifts.

For example, I started forming political opinions in middle school, right before the 2012 election. I went to a private, Christian school up through the eighth grade, with a solid right-wing bent. Consequently, I was a conservative Republican at the start, which seemed to fit the overall mood of the environment. However, I began to shift away from those beliefs (possibly because my closest friends there were mostly liberal), and by November, I had moved away from the right just enough to support Obama's re-election.

I kept flanking leftward in high school, to the point where by my sophomore year (2014 or so), I considered myself to be a socialist, and Bernie Sanders' bid for the Democratic nomination the following year was what helped me revive an interest in politics which had otherwise waned between elections. As the long, endless 2016 cycle drew on, I moved toward the center, and eventually muddled out and arrived at whatever weird combination of views I have today.

So has anyone else had a similar experience of moving back and forth?

[100% pro-life no matter what]

I've always been a conservative Republican since I first took any political stances, though my main focuses, few positions, and religious views have changed:

Circa 2012: I mostly cared about low (read: no) taxes and abortion.  I actually supported marijuana legalization, even if I personally thought it was wrong.  I was very supportive of all immigration and indifferent to gay marriage.  I quietly supported Santorum in the primary and vocally supported Romney in the general.  Religiously, I could be described as an atheist.

Circa 2014: My main focuses were still mostly abortion and economic issues, and socialism was one of the dirtiest words anyone could utter.  I had moved to the right on personal issues and opposed marijuana legalization, not out of some moral crusade, but due to concerns about negative economic externalizes.  I was also largely indifferent to immigration and very quietly opposed gay marriage, but did not view it as an important issue in either direction.  My religious views could best be categorized as agnostic.

Circa 2016 Primary Season: By then, I had begun to shift more towards a primary focus on social issues, with abortion still the most important issue to me.  I also began to move much more towards conservative purity, which made me have a deep dislike of then-candidate Donald Trump, who I viewed as a fake conservative who was ambivalent at best on abortion and opposed free trade.  I had moved somewhat to the right on immigration (though more to a hybrid Cruz-Rubio stance than a Trump stance), and I strongly opposed gay marriage and could not understand how anyone could think that Christians or other objectors should have to take part in a gay wedding.  At that point, I could probably be religiously described as "vaguely Christian without church attendance".

Today: I am very much into supporting the conservative stance on every issue, but I also think we need to completely and unequivocally condemn the alt-right and any sort of racism or identity politics in our ranks.  Socially, we need to focus more on the traditional social issues and less on the new Trumpy ones.  That would also help us win over minority populations, especially religious Hispanics.  Economically, I genuinely think that repealing the size of the government in the economy to 1900 would create a completely free market that would cure poverty entirely, but I doubt there will ever be the political will to do so.  I am also fighting for that last Supreme Court justice to get Roe v. Wade finally overturned.  Now, I am also an Evangelical Christian (Southern Baptist) with frequent church attendance.

[Young Conservative]

I've always been a conservative. The faction I've identified with has changed over time. Here's the order:
 Tea Party-->Libertarian (Rand Paul Style not Ron Paul)----> Tea Party ---> Intellectual Conservatism -----> Establishment ------> populist conservatism------>  Constitutional conservatism

I opposed Trump in the primary, supported in the general, now I feel frustrated  with him and his failures.

[Beet]

My political views have remained relatively constant since High School.

I have a bit of a contrarian streak, but my views are liberal; always have been. However, I have some conservative tendencies. One of them is a great distrust of human nature, which has been shown capable of evils that have no limit. I am an existentialist; our existence precedes our essence. Therefore, there is nothing which people are not capable of.

For that reason, I believe in the necessity of Pax Americana. I believe in the ultimate power of the United States to rule unchallenged over the world, since we have seen the result of multipolarity in the past 500 years. However, the danger of this is that the United States will behave tyrannical and unjustly, as it did when invading Iraq and as it might still again. Thus I desperately support institutionalism in international relations. The U.S. should have ultimate power but exercise that power morally and justly, in conjunction with allies. Multilateral organizations, led by the U.S., should strive to treat countries fairly. The U.S. should also be an example to other countries in how we run our domestic affairs, be an asset to the causes of liberal democracy, human rights, and strive to spread that to other countries.

[OSR stands with Israel]

For me in 2012-13: I was basically a tea party Republican


From Mid 2013-Mid 2015: I moved to the left on a whole number of issues and basically became a moderate Republican

From Mid 2015-Present: I moved slightly back to the right on those issues

[vanguard96]

My political views have remained relatively constant since High School.

I have a bit of a contrarian streak, but my views are liberal; always have been. However, I have some conservative tendencies. One of them is a great distrust of human nature, which has been shown capable of evils that have no limit. I am an existentialist; our existence precedes our essence. Therefore, there is nothing which people are not capable of.

For that reason, I believe in the necessity of Pax Americana. I believe in the ultimate power of the United States to rule unchallenged over the world, since we have seen the result of multipolarity in the past 500 years. However, the danger of this is that the United States will behave tyrannical and unjustly, as it did when invading Iraq and as it might still again. Thus I desperately support institutionalism in international relations. The U.S. should have ultimate power but exercise that power morally and justly, in conjunction with allies. Multilateral organizations, led by the U.S., should strive to treat countries fairly. The U.S. should also be an example to other countries in how we run our domestic affairs, be an asset to the causes of liberal democracy, human rights, and strive to spread that to other countries.

Do you question the US MSM views on Syria, Iraq, and elsewhere?

When was High School?

[Beet]

Obviously, the corporate media has a knee-jerk hawkishness which is cancerous. High School was the late 1990s.

[SATW]

My policy views haven't changed too much. I've always been a conservative, but my shade of conservatism has changed.

More noticeably, my rhetoric has changed a lot.

I started off being somewhat erratic ideology-wise when I was first starting to grasp politics in middle school. I had conflicting and changing positions on abortion, taxes, the role of government etc... but I did have a few favorite politicians at this point (Rudy Giuliani, George W. Bush, just to name a few).

By the time I finished middle school, however, I had started to call myself a Republican and started to have a semi-conservative ideology.

Through most of high school, I was very right-wing on social issues and populist on some economic issues. I was strongly against LGBT equality, for example while also being a strong supporter of organized labor and anti-free trade policies. In many ways, high school me would've have LOVED Donald Trump, I regret to say. Oddly enough, I was pro-gun control until my junior or senior year of HS.

Also, I was always a hawk on foreign affairs but was not an intellectual neoconservative until college. I think I fit more of the national security/tough-on-crime and tough-on-terror brand of hawk back then.

Once I went to college, I started to change my shade of conservatism from right-wing populist to a more movement conservative and from there I became a neoconservative with free-market views on economics.

I'm still a neoconservative, obviously. And still hold very classically liberal/libertarian views on the economy, taxes etc... but some noticeable policy changes that occurred in college:

Anti-LGBT + being in denial about my sexuality ---> Pro-LGBT rights + identifying as a bisexual.
Pro-Unions and Pro-Protectionism ---> Pro-Right to work laws and being very pro-free trade.
Anti-Illegal immigration with a strong tinge of populism ---> Against amnesty, but support and want comprehensive immigration reform.
Pro-Gun Control ---> Very Pro-2nd Amendment and oppose most forms of gun control.

[vanguard96]

80's Public school to 14 yrs old. Protestant Christian, pro-US, anti-Soviet/commie. From the East Coast from "Tax-a-chusetts" while Michael Du-Tax-us was governor leading up to - basically a RINO moderate without knowing it

Late 80's  & Early 90's NE Private school 15-18. Still Protestant and calling out Democrats like our McGovern loving US Government teacher. Still got most of my politics from Newsweek and Saturday Night Live. Not very political. Had a lot more non-white classmates as well as super rich class mates.

Early to Mid 90's Vanderbilt Nashville. Voted for Papa Bush in my first term - Clinton was slimy and dishonest on the surface. I was at the time still fresh from writing about God and His Son in my yearbook. First time to live outside NE but a familiar city I had visited many times to see my grandmother. The campus was too Greek for me. I did not rush a frat. I was dismayed by segregation in the Greek system particularly the lack of housing for the traditional black groups. I was not very political but actively sought out in my interests in Japan people that studied the language as well as Asian students particularly after a 3-month study in Japan. I remember a conversation about racism as bigotry with power and supporting affirmative action. I was a rap fan and sometimes was a bit too vociferous in repeating the homophobic language in the lyrics. After Japan I got into DJing and the club/rave scene. I did not use any drugs while a student. I sort of was there for the music and the promotion. Unfortunately too many of the others were not.

Mid-90's to 2003 - living in Osaka, Japan and vicinity. Mostly apolitical, civil libertarian, fearful of some aspects of government but only in a vague sense. Distrustful of the mainstream politicians. Voted Brown (LP) in '00. Not sure if I voted in '96.

2004 to 2006 - living in East TN, the religious fundamentalism of Southern Baptists came to a fore. I rejected it outright. I felt isolated and powerless politically. The Dems were not one to turn to. I voted for Nader in '04

2006 to 2008 - moved to suburban Detroit. Not very political. Very busy with a small child and new job. Did not like Jennifer Granholm or Dick DeVos. Voted somewhat reluctant / naively for Obama.

2009 to 2013 - again keeping my head above water in the downturn. Busy, busy but getting more disappointed with BHO and the overseas wars and Obamacare. Voted Johnson after somehow getting distracted by racist smear against Ron Paul. Watched a bit of PJ Media to take down Obama and the Democrats.

2014 - started reading Reason and other articles on civil and economic liberty. Was not exclusive and still getting big time into NSA, Snowden, police militarization issues from progressive side and some more conservative stuff.

2015 - Saw Rand Paul in Michigan. Started watching the early debates and briefly got a bit more conservative before rejecting the GOP internal overture due to coercive nature and neocon influence. Saw / read Free to Choose and Hooked by Milton Friedman's free minds & free money ideas.

2016 - With Rand done this was the big push with Ron Paul, Tom Woods, FEE, and many libertarian classics like Road to Serfdom and essays and lectures by Mises, Rothbard, and their followers and finally with Trump's election - Ayn Rand's essays and videos.

2017 - More Rothbard, More Mises, More Rand novels, Trying to see where the libertarians and Objectivists split. Joined LP in April. My FB feed is a lot more balanced now with just 2-3 more friends who actually like ideas of limiting civil forfeiture or licensing and don't cheer for Antifa like 2 or 3 others do.

[parochial boy]

My views on specific isdues have changed, and are constantly changing, but my core values havent really.

I guess theyve become more defined as Ive thought about them more,  but I havent really moved around the spectrum because the kinds of things I value would preclude it

[Hydera]

Till 2005 i was a conservative because my dad raised me to be like that. Then around 2005-ish i started dropping my conservative views because i was in an political argument online and somebody challenged me on my views which caused me to eventually lose my conservatism in the span of one year.

I've pretty much remained the same since then. My political positions mostly leans on the centre-left except for immigration which i cannot side with a lot of people on the left that "immigration isnt as big of an issue its made out to be."

[Mr. Illini]

As a minor, I was all over the political spectrum, doing conservative, moderate, libertarian, etc phases. However, I've been a liberal since essentially age 18 and think I've settled in. Don't foresee any major changes in the future other than on specific issues etc.

[White Trash]

I'm now in favor of medicinal marijuana. The opioid crisis needs to be stopped at all costs and there is mounting evidence that medicinal marijuana might be a helpful factor in ending it.

[The Free North]

My political views have remained relatively constant since High School.

I have a bit of a contrarian streak, but my views are liberal; always have been. However, I have some conservative tendencies. One of them is a great distrust of human nature, which has been shown capable of evils that have no limit. I am an existentialist; our existence precedes our essence. Therefore, there is nothing which people are not capable of.

For that reason, I believe in the necessity of Pax Americana. I believe in the ultimate power of the United States to rule unchallenged over the world, since we have seen the result of multipolarity in the past 500 years. However, the danger of this is that the United States will behave tyrannical and unjustly, as it did when invading Iraq and as it might still again. Thus I desperately support institutionalism in international relations. The U.S. should have ultimate power but exercise that power morally and justly, in conjunction with allies. Multilateral organizations, led by the U.S., should strive to treat countries fairly. The U.S. should also be an example to other countries in how we run our domestic affairs, be an asset to the causes of liberal democracy, human rights, and strive to spread that to other countries.

Somewhat detached from the purpose of the thread, but I find myself fiercely agreeing with absolutely everything you said in the second paragraph. I am happy someone else shares my views on these issues.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Significantly. I've flirted with both quasi-libertarianism and neo-conservatism. At this point, there is no easy description of my views. My "values"--if you could call them that--at this point center on a vague preference for social order and a cynical acceptance that knowing what set of rules create the best society is a Sisyphian task that we will be lucky to have a good grasp of in our lifetimes. This is capped by despondence. Above all, however, the rules are simple--hope to devise a system by which man can live alongside man with vague respect for rights and privileges, but with the acknowledgement that a number of these are socially constructed. People must be tied into a system in order to be properly tied to the system--this depends greatly on social integration. As such, instruments of exclusion used by those in power are usually to their detriment, and the smartest "social managers" would do well to assimilate those on the outs into the existing order, rather than creating in them an angry minority. When your system is one that functions properly, goods are distributed, those of merit and loyalty rise, and the people shall prosper.

[Kingpoleon]

So far? Not at all, really. I've become a great deal more aggressive in my beliefs.

[Bismarck]

I've gone from being rather libertarian to being rather center right, although many of the people who would fall near me on the ideological spectrum are corporate hacks and warmongers which I do not approve of. Basically I went from strongly ideological libertarianism to pessimistic centrist republican who just wants government to be logical and function.

[Rjjr77]

lets see my economic views have softened, i spent a good part of my youth as a bit of an anarcho-capitalist. My social views have stayed pretty much the same, strong 2nd amendment supporter, staunchly pro-life (and anti-death penalty).

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Significantly. I've flirted with both quasi-libertarianism and neo-conservatism. At this point, there is no easy description of my views. My "values"--if you could call them that--at this point center on a vague preference for social order and a cynical acceptance that knowing what set of rules create the best society is a Sisyphian task that we will be lucky to have a good grasp of in our lifetimes. This is capped by despondence. Above all, however, the rules are simple--hope to devise a system by which man can live alongside man with vague respect for rights and privileges, but with the acknowledgement that a number of these are socially constructed. People must be tied into a system in order to be properly tied to the system--this depends greatly on social integration. As such, instruments of exclusion used by those in power are usually to their detriment, and the smartest "social managers" would do well to assimilate those on the outs into the existing order, rather than creating in them an angry minority. When your system is one that functions properly, goods are distributed, those of merit and loyalty rise, and the people shall prosper.

I generally espouse the same view, though far less elegantly.

We should really talk at some point, since it seems we have come to the same conclusions and interpretations independently of each other, on several fronts like the one above.

[America Needs R'hllor]

I was a very far right winger throughout middle School. I slided more and more left through the years until I reached my current, center left self.

[mvd10]

Started out as a really right-wing libertarian (but I also was pro-life). Slowly became a bland technocratic centre-right corporate hack (someone once called me the epitome of 1% politics). And I also became pro-choice, but I still think the Dutch abortion law is a bit too liberal, which is really rare for a VVD voter, so I keep my mouth shut about that .

I moved to the left on economic issues, I oppose repealing Obamacare or shredding medicaid/foodstamps since the American safety net already is rather sober and poverty is a problem. I would actually support expanding healthcare subsidies as long as it's paid for by a broad-based consumption tax and not by "eat the rich" style taxes. Medicaid could be more efficient though. But on the other hand I think European welfare programs are bloated and discourage work, so I'd support significantly cutting them. I also remain a fan of consumption taxes and labour market deregulation (I support an almost completely deregulated labour market). And social security and medicare really need to be cut, I won't even bother to spin it as reform or a fix. Just increase the retirement age to 70 and partially voucherize medicare. So overall I remain right-wing on economic issues, I'm just not the insufferable "haha poor people" lolbertarian I used to be.

[Anti-Bothsidesism]

Not much of a change but rather gaining views

[VPH]

Hard to classify when things evolved, but I had a stage where I was definitely more left than I am now, both socially and economically. The more I've gotten involved in politics, in terms of campaigns and internships and stuff, I've moderated some. Becoming closer to my faith also played a part.

[fhtagn]

I went from a super commie hippie liberal all my teenage years and up until the last year or so to a pretty much a centrist.

I blame the 2016 elections and having pub hacks for friends.

[RFayette 🇻🇦]

There have been blips here and there, but in general, more right-wing as I've gotten older in the long arc of things.