Changing Political Views

[Don Corleone]

I don't know that my stance on social issues has shifted all that much. Maybe a smidge to the right, but on social issues, I've always been rather centrist anyway.

But I've found my economic stance sliding somewhat left. Now, before you choke on your chocolate milk, you should understand that I used to a full-fledged, eager-beaver Capitalista. I had no sympathy, no mercy for those who were not successful. I almost had a Calvinist approach towards success, that it was pre-destined. In my mind, in a land with as many opportunities as America had to offer, you had no excuse. You could be as successful as you were willing to be. If you had some financial difficulties, it was all because you either 1) didn't work hard enough (and therefore didn't earn enough) or 2) didn't know how to control your expenditures.

As I've gotten older, I've come to see shades of gray in that regard. I still believe a self-motivated individual will always make better choices regarding their own financial outlook than a bloated government bureacracy will. But I also understand that not everyone will make wise decisions, and safety nets just make sense.

[Rhyfelwyr]

I almost had a Calvinist approach towards success, that it was pre-destined.

Scottish Calvinists tend to be lefties.

[Tribesman]

I used to think that most politicians were reasonably OK and that a few of them only fit into the absolute gobshite category .
Now I think that just about all are absolute gobshites and a few of them at a push might just squeeze into the reasonably OK category if you really stretch the limits of what can be deemed as reasonably OK .

[LittleGrizzly]

I would say if anything since i started taking an interest in politics at about the age of 15/16 i have moved slightly right, i don't know if this is so much down to my political views changing, i think its more to do with me shaping my actual views and becoming more informed over the last seven years...

[Mikeus Caesar]

When i was younger i leaned completely to the left. But then i was unemployed for 6 months and had lots of time to think, during which i realised that in this day and age, in any in fact, communism is utterly impractical. It just doesn't work and only leads to bad things. So now while i'm still leftist, i'm the kind of left that most of you Americans regard Europe to be - free healthcare for all and all that jazz. I would die to defend our right to free healthcare in Britain and Europe.

[macsen rufus]

I would die to defend our right to free healthcare in Britain and Europe.

I'm sure there's many anti-NHS jokes lurking in there....

[Viking]

Poor poll.

Since the three years ago I joined the Org, I have moved from center-center to center-libertarian; AKA no movement on the left-right scale, but a considerable movement still.

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

I used to think that most politicians were reasonably OK and that a few of them only fit into the absolute gobshite category .
Now I think that just about all are absolute gobshites and a few of them at a push might just squeeze into the reasonably OK category if you really stretch the limits of what can be deemed as reasonably OK .

I'll say the same thing to you that I say to anyone else who thinks politicians are bad - you try it. Come back, and tell me how it was.

Of course, some politicians are woefully inept (Mr. Brown), but not the majority.

[Lemur]

My political views are too all-over-the-map to fit into a left-right paradigm. For instance, I can truthfully state that I believe in the right of married gay people to carry concealed handguns. Where does that put me?

My views have certainly evolved over time, but I don't know that I could pin down a drift or direction to them. Thanks for including the Gah! option, a courtesy for those who can't quite slot themselves into a poll ...

[LittleGrizzly]

heh, the polls completely symmetrical at the moment, i was assuming more of a right shift...

[Redleg]

fiscial right - social center pretty much my whole adult life. Now when I was under 25 I would say I was more fiscial center - social center. However I have always been centered around the concept that the government must function in accordance with the constitution.