Evolution of Your Political/Religious/General Views

[Lalaki]

Some of us have always believed in the same thing. Others have completely reversed what they believed overtime. I find it very interesting how a lot of the political hardliners on this forum once had beliefs that are 100 percent opposite of what they are now. So I ask NSG, how have your views changed throughout your life? I hope to hear some very interesting stories.

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I've been interested in politics since around May 2011. When I was first starting out, I was a firm classical liberal (libertarian). I believed in completely free markets, an extremely small government, and was an active supporter of the Libertarian Party (United States). I believed that unregulated capitalism was the best and most fair system for distributing goods and services, and also raising others out of poverty. However, once I started to research concepts such as universal health care, and social democratic welfare states, I started to become disillusioned. Mixed economies seemed to work great in Canada, the EU, and other places throughout the world. This, coupled with a rebirth of my religious beliefs, caused me to become a Christian Democrat (in the European sense of the term). This was around June of 2013.

Since then, I have become more secular in my political beliefs, and am now a moderate social liberal. I believe in a market economy tempered with a social welfare state, to provide the best of both worlds.

[Skappola]

When I started out 2-3 years ago, I was a hard-liner Tea-Party Randist with Conservative Social views correlating with the strictest interpretation that the Catholics could think up. Now I'm a Civil Libertarian with economic views so moderate they come up as 0.0 on the Political Compass. I would like to think that this was just me changing my political views after seeing evidence to support the other side, but It's more likely that it's just because I stopped watching Fox News.

[The Scientific States]

Well, I was raised, and I suppose I'm still being raised in a staunchly conservative, religious household. So, before sixth grade I spouted whatever conservative rhetoric I heard from my parents, or from the tv shows my parents watch, such as the O'Reily Factor.

However, when sixth grade came around, I found myself researching various ideologies, since I was on Wikipedia often. I learned about the threat global warming posed to the world, and throughout sixth and seventh grade I developed a base for my political beliefs. I became highly skeptical, and by seventh grade I was an atheist and a liberal.

In the summer before eighth grade, I was on YouTube quite often, and I watched many videos on libertarianism, Ron Paul, and even conspiracy theories, and I regret doing so. I was young, naive, and felt smart holding political views that were considered "different." I didn't at all share the same economic positions with the libertarians, but I considered myself to be one anyways, and I'm filled with regret for that. But, at the start of eighth grade, I realized that libertarianism and conspiracies were a crock of shit. By the middle of my first semester of my eighth grade year, I called myself a social democratic progressive, and drifted further and further left until I was a communist at the start of Freshman year. But, last November, I truly sat down and did research on economics, and became a economic centrist.

I was a economic centrist and even slightly neoliberal until very recently, as I've read about the effect of NAFTA, labour unions, and various other things on the economy. Now, I'm a -1.00 on the economic scale of the political compass, and consider myself "a left leaning centrist." Just two weeks ago, I was a 0.50 on the economic scale of the political compass, so I've drifted slightly left recently.

[Lalaki]

Well, I was raised, and I suppose I'm still being raised in a staunchly conservative, religious household. So, before sixth grade I spouted whatever conservative rhetoric I heard from my parents, or from the tv shows my parents watch, such as the O'Reily Factor.

However, when sixth grade came around, I found myself researching various ideologies, since I was on Wikipedia often. I learned about the threat global warming posed to the world, and throughout sixth and seventh grade I developed a base for my political beliefs. I became highly skeptical, and by seventh grade I was an atheist and a liberal.

In the summer before eighth grade, I was on YouTube quite often, and I watched many videos on libertarianism, Ron Paul, and even conspiracy theories, and I regret doing so. I was young, naive, and felt smart holding political views that were considered "different." I didn't at all share the same economic positions with the libertarians, but I became one for a few months in eighth grade, and I'm filled with regret for that. But, at the start of eighth grade, I realized that libertarianism and conspiracies were a crock of shit. By second semester of my eighth grade year, I called myself a social democratic progressive, and drifted further and further left until I was a communist at the start of Freshman year. But, last November, I truly sat down and did research on economics, and became a economic centrist.

I was a economic centrist and even slightly neoliberal until very recently, as I've read about the effect of NAFTA, labour unions, and various other things on the economy. Now, I'm a -1.00 on the economic scale of the political compass, and consider myself "a left leaning centrist." Just two weeks ago, I was a 0.50 on the economic scale of the political compass, so I've drifted slightly left recently.

That actually sounds similar to the evolution of my political views. Not identical, but a bit similar. And also more frank.

[Neo Rome Republic]

I recall there being a thread like this one before. Why is another one necessary?

[The Scientific States]

Well, I was raised, and I suppose I'm still being raised in a staunchly conservative, religious household. So, before sixth grade I spouted whatever conservative rhetoric I heard from my parents, or from the tv shows my parents watch, such as the O'Reily Factor.

However, when sixth grade came around, I found myself researching various ideologies, since I was on Wikipedia often. I learned about the threat global warming posed to the world, and throughout sixth and seventh grade I developed a base for my political beliefs. I became highly skeptical, and by seventh grade I was an atheist and a liberal.

In the summer before eighth grade, I was on YouTube quite often, and I watched many videos on libertarianism, Ron Paul, and even conspiracy theories, and I regret doing so. I was young, naive, and felt smart holding political views that were considered "different." I didn't at all share the same economic positions with the libertarians, but I became one for a few months in eighth grade, and I'm filled with regret for that. But, at the start of eighth grade, I realized that libertarianism and conspiracies were a crock of shit. By second semester of my eighth grade year, I called myself a social democratic progressive, and drifted further and further left until I was a communist at the start of Freshman year. But, last November, I truly sat down and did research on economics, and became a economic centrist.

I was a economic centrist and even slightly neoliberal until very recently, as I've read about the effect of NAFTA, labour unions, and various other things on the economy. Now, I'm a -1.00 on the economic scale of the political compass, and consider myself "a left leaning centrist." Just two weeks ago, I was a 0.50 on the economic scale of the political compass, so I've drifted slightly left recently.

That actually sounds similar to the evolution of my political views. Not identical, but a bit similar. And also more frank.

Yeah, looking at my post now, and it seems like a bit of a rant. Whoops.

[Costa Fierro]

I started out in life as a dedicated communist and ardent supporter of North Korea and China. Then I realized it was a load of bullshit and I am now where I am today. A radical centrist.

[Lalaki]

That actually sounds similar to the evolution of my political views. Not identical, but a bit similar. And also more frank.

Yeah, looking at my post now, and it seems like a bit of a rant. Whoops.

Listen, you don't have to feel bad for your political beliefs in the past. Just be happy with what you believe now.

[The Scientific States]

Yeah, looking at my post now, and it seems like a bit of a rant. Whoops.

Listen, you don't have to feel bad for your political beliefs in the past. Just be happy with what you believe now.

I don't feel bad, I just regret holding such silly beliefs before eighth grade. Looking back on it, I tend to chuckle, not feel really bad.

[Skappola]

Well, I was raised, and I suppose I'm still being raised in a staunchly conservative, religious household. So, before sixth grade I spouted whatever conservative rhetoric I heard from my parents, or from the tv shows my parents watch, such as the O'Reily Factor.

However, when sixth grade came around, I found myself researching various ideologies, since I was on Wikipedia often. I learned about the threat global warming posed to the world, and throughout sixth and seventh grade I developed a base for my political beliefs. I became highly skeptical, and by seventh grade I was an atheist and a liberal.

In the summer before eighth grade, I was on YouTube quite often, and I watched many videos on libertarianism, Ron Paul, and even conspiracy theories, and I regret doing so. I was young, naive, and felt smart holding political views that were considered "different." I didn't at all share the same economic positions with the libertarians, but I considered myself to be one anyways, and I'm filled with regret for that. But, at the start of eighth grade, I realized that libertarianism and conspiracies were a crock of shit. By the middle of my first semester of my eighth grade year, I called myself a social democratic progressive, and drifted further and further left until I was a communist at the start of Freshman year. But, last November, I truly sat down and did research on economics, and became a economic centrist.

I was a economic centrist and even slightly neoliberal until very recently, as I've read about the effect of NAFTA, labour unions, and various other things on the economy. Now, I'm a -1.00 on the economic scale of the political compass, and consider myself "a left leaning centrist." Just two weeks ago, I was a 0.50 on the economic scale of the political compass, so I've drifted slightly left recently.

Heh, that's actually a lot like my evolution. Started out Conservative because of parents, became Libertarian, and then moved onto becoming a social progressive and economic centrist/near centrist. I never became a Communist, of course, mainly because I believe the ideology is hopelessly idealistic.

[The Scientific States]

Well, I was raised, and I suppose I'm still being raised in a staunchly conservative, religious household. So, before sixth grade I spouted whatever conservative rhetoric I heard from my parents, or from the tv shows my parents watch, such as the O'Reily Factor.

However, when sixth grade came around, I found myself researching various ideologies, since I was on Wikipedia often. I learned about the threat global warming posed to the world, and throughout sixth and seventh grade I developed a base for my political beliefs. I became highly skeptical, and by seventh grade I was an atheist and a liberal.

In the summer before eighth grade, I was on YouTube quite often, and I watched many videos on libertarianism, Ron Paul, and even conspiracy theories, and I regret doing so. I was young, naive, and felt smart holding political views that were considered "different." I didn't at all share the same economic positions with the libertarians, but I considered myself to be one anyways, and I'm filled with regret for that. But, at the start of eighth grade, I realized that libertarianism and conspiracies were a crock of shit. By the middle of my first semester of my eighth grade year, I called myself a social democratic progressive, and drifted further and further left until I was a communist at the start of Freshman year. But, last November, I truly sat down and did research on economics, and became a economic centrist.

I was a economic centrist and even slightly neoliberal until very recently, as I've read about the effect of NAFTA, labour unions, and various other things on the economy. Now, I'm a -1.00 on the economic scale of the political compass, and consider myself "a left leaning centrist." Just two weeks ago, I was a 0.50 on the economic scale of the political compass, so I've drifted slightly left recently.

Heh, that's actually a lot like my evolution. Started out Conservative because of parents, became Libertarian, and then moved onto becoming a social progressive and economic centrist/near centrist. I never became a Communist, of course, mainly because I believe the ideology is hopelessly idealistic.

I was a communist for about a month, and even I found it to be incredibly idealistic. Now, I find it undesirable and hopeless.

[Britanania]

I was raised in a fairly moderate household. Both of my parents are Catholic and my Father is a schoolteacher, so I was exposed to both the Right and the Left from an early age. When I first began reading books on political ideologies, around 14, I was a self professed Communist because I thought, at the time, it was the most fair to the most amount of people.

By the time I got into High School, I had mellowed and held more Moderate positions. I think the biggest influence was the 2008 election. I thought Obama could be the next FDR and be a great Democrat. I was surely disappointed by his handling of the financial crisis and as I learned most Liberals agreed with him, I rejected Liberalism as bad politics and aligned myself more and more with the Right. By my Sophomore in High School year I had read Ron Paul's books and the books of Ayn Rand and would be considered a Libertarian.

However, my social views and my economic views were at odds. As a Catholic, one that was far more conservative than my parents, I of course an staunchly pro life, anti homosexual marriage, et cetera. I also came to realise that government intervention is at times more than necessary.

Now, a Sophomore in College, my views are all over the place, and will probably stay that way. My social views are the same as any staunchly conservative Catholic, but I see investment in education and infrastructure as a must, as well as a strong military. In some ways, fascism isn't too far off as I am not a fan of democracy; I don't value putting out trust in people who con their way into getting votes, but I put my trust in people who can get things done.

[United Marxist Nations]

Age 11: Moderate.
Age 12-13: Conservative.
Age 14: Fascist sympatizer (not fascist, a sympathizer).
Age 15: Vaguely socialist, ideas began to take shape later in this period.
Age 16: Ideas about Marxism-Leninism took definitive shape.
Age 17: In-depth understanding of Marxism-Leninism.

I'm not quite 18, but that's it.

EDIT: Heh, my politics evolved in a bit of a dialectical way.

[Pandeeria]

I initially was a moderate Republican, then I began to lose interest in politics and began to focus again on spirituality (mainly me developing into an Atheist). Later, after I became atheist, I had a really short bout of being a Libertarian. However I quickly realized that economically speaking, Libertarianism was shit. So I basically became a Social Democrat, and refer to myself more specially as a Liberal Socialist which helped compliment my atheistic few points. I guess in my transition from Libertarianism to Liberal Socialism I kinda was stuck in limbo as a sensible centrist.

Basically:

Republican -> Didn't really care -> Libertarian -> Sensible Centrist (kinda) -> Liberal Socialist.

[The Lithuanian-Surinamese Caliphate]

My political views have greatly been connected with my religious views. As late as the 2012 election, I was basically an ultra-conservative and sided almost 100% with the Republican Party. At this time, I was also one of the most devout Christians you could find. However, I started to question my beliefs as I found many of them were highly illogical, and my stance on many political issues changed with them. I looked into a bunch of religions until I settled on Buddhism, as it seems pretty nice, and Marxism seemed like it lined up a lot with my personal beliefs. I'm not saying that all Buddhists must be Marxists, but currently, it seems pretty good. Although I would bet a lot of money on my political ideologies changing in less than a year from now

[The Liberated Territories]

libertarianism and conspiracies

Unrelated equivalency.

...

Anyway, I was an Ancap a year ago, then shifted to Objectivist Minarchism, and now abandoned Objectivism for a mixed deontological/utilitarian justification of the NAP influenced primarily by Nozick and Rand for the former and Hayek/Friedman for the latter. Although I share the philosophical similarities of the libertarian academic philosophers, I am more open to compromise with the left and support former Democrats like Mike Gravel as well as support for non-corrupt classical liberal parties and politicians in Europe.

[Greater Weselton]

I went from a liberal to a libertarian centrist.

[The Klishi Islands]

When I started out 2-3 years ago, I was a hard-liner Tea-Party Randist with Conservative Social views correlating with the strictest interpretation that the Catholics could think up. Now I'm a Civil Libertarian with economic views so moderate they come up as 0.0 on the Political Compass. I would like to think that this was just me changing my political views after seeing evidence to support the other side, but It's more likely that it's just because I stopped watching Fox News.

Hey Skappola!

Mine is somewhat similar. I used to be a hard-line libertarian after reading John Stossel in 6th grade. That was a disaster I was skeptical of literally everything, including climate change, and ticked off a lot of my teachers. Then I found NSG, Skappola here (I know him IRL), and my eighth grade history teacher. Now, I have centrist economic views- the free market is generally superior to public industries but can be improved on, etc. I am and always have been a social libertarian, especially with my recent decisions of agnosticism and anti-death penalty. I also reversed my beliefs on climate change after seeing the 97% statistic and doing independent research.

[United Marxist Nations]

Heh, that's actually a lot like my evolution. Started out Conservative because of parents, became Libertarian, and then moved onto becoming a social progressive and economic centrist/near centrist. I never became a Communist, of course, mainly because I believe the ideology is hopelessly idealistic.

I was a communist for about a month, and even I found it to be incredibly idealistic. Now, I find it undesirable and hopeless.

What kind of communist were you if you thought it was idealistic? Marxism is inherently anti-idealist.

[The Liberated Territories]

I went from a liberal to a libertarian centrist.

ahahahahahahahahaha you are kidding me kid

However I quickly realized that economically speaking, Libertarianism was shit.

Yes, we all know that Milton Friedman and other libertarians were economically illiterate, and didn't receive any awards for their work whatsoever.

[The Scientific States]

I was a communist for about a month, and even I found it to be incredibly idealistic. Now, I find it undesirable and hopeless.

What kind of communist were you if you thought it was idealistic? Marxism is inherently anti-idealist.

I considered myself to be a Luxemburgist and Libertarian Socialist.

So, I was very, very left wing.

[Greater Weselton]

I went from a liberal to a libertarian centrist.

ahahahahahahahahaha you are kidding me kid

I am completely serious.

[Pimps Inc]

Well, I was raised, and I suppose I'm still being raised in a staunchly conservative, religious household. So, before sixth grade I spouted whatever conservative rhetoric I heard from my parents, or from the tv shows my parents watch, such as the O'Reily Factor.

However, when sixth grade came around, I found myself researching various ideologies, since I was on Wikipedia often. I learned about the threat global warming posed to the world, and throughout sixth and seventh grade I developed a base for my political beliefs. I became highly skeptical, and by seventh grade I was an atheist and a liberal.

In the summer before eighth grade, I was on YouTube quite often, and I watched many videos on libertarianism, Ron Paul, and even conspiracy theories, and I regret doing so. I was young, naive, and felt smart holding political views that were considered "different." I didn't at all share the same economic positions with the libertarians, but I considered myself to be one anyways, and I'm filled with regret for that. But, at the start of eighth grade, I realized that libertarianism and conspiracies were a crock of shit. By the middle of my first semester of my eighth grade year, I called myself a social democratic progressive, and drifted further and further left until I was a communist at the start of Freshman year. But, last November, I truly sat down and did research on economics, and became a economic centrist.

I was a economic centrist and even slightly neoliberal until very recently, as I've read about the effect of NAFTA, labour unions, and various other things on the economy. Now, I'm a -1.00 on the economic scale of the political compass, and consider myself "a left leaning centrist." Just two weeks ago, I was a 0.50 on the economic scale of the political compass, so I've drifted slightly left recently.

Heh, that's actually a lot like my evolution. Started out Conservative because of parents, became Libertarian, and then moved onto becoming a social progressive and economic centrist/near centrist. I never became a Communist, of course, mainly because I believe the ideology is hopelessly idealistic.

Ah...communism.Such a load of bull.Yet my friend is obsessed with it.

[The Scientific States]

ahahahahahahahahaha you are kidding me kid

I am completely serious.

Well, given your staunchly conservative positions on most issues, I don't see how you're a Libertarian.

[United Marxist Nations]

What kind of communist were you if you thought it was idealistic? Marxism is inherently anti-idealist.

I considered myself to be a Luxemburgist and Libertarian Socialist.

So, I was very, very left wing.

Libertarian socialism is stupid and idealistic, but Luxembourgism is a variant of Marxism, which makes me think you didn't understand it too well to think it was idealistic.