When Did You Become Political?

[Basseemia]

Around the 4th grade after watching my first political documentary.

[Lalaki]

I was talking about politics as early as 8, but I started to really become political around May 2011, when I was 11.

I actually think that researching Operation Neptune Spear is what got me really interested.

[Arkolon]

Come to think of it, the subprime mortgage crisis in 2007 got me interested in economics, even if I couldn't fathom its entirety until last year.

[Forsher]

Some time prior to joining NationStates (i.e. late-mid-2011). Mind you, even now, I am more or less a dilettante with politics, being interested in a couple of areas at times and having a vague awareness of the important things.

[Nickel Empire]

Probably 10.

[Angleter]

Early teens, probably.

[Mirule]

Around when I first joined NS in 2006, I imagine.

[Sociopia]

When I joined NS in 2013.

[Seleucas]

I first became interested in politics at about age 9, when I vehemently loathed Hillary Clinton for her views on violent video games.

[Lordieth]

I became political shortly after birth, by way of a dirty protest.

I can't remember what I was protesting, but I was pretty vocal about it.

[Great endo]

when i first got involved with strategy games and learning how to govern a country single handedly using paradox interactive games and the internet... when i was 10.

[United States of Natan]

probably 8th or 9th grade. I'm a democrat and always will be.

[Lenciland]

It all started so long ago... I became interested in politics in the fifth grade, at first I was what my parents were/are, conservative, borderline fascist, religious fundies. Then my ideology slowly developed in a centrist stance, to a far-left, and finally culminated in the me I am today, a gay, atheist, "liberal", who is strongly pro-science, a staunch environmentalist, obviously liberal on all social matters, and center-left on economic matters. I had a pretty radical change going from a homophobic, conservative, religious "Republican", to my tree-hugging, atom smashing, gay person I am today. Yayyyyy!!!!

[Delator]

To start off with, my parent were political opposites. My dad was a liberal who idolized RFK. My mom a conservative who had picked up nearly all her political beliefs from her reactionary father. They often stated that there was no reason for them to vote, since they basically cancelled each other out.

The consequence of this was that my parents made no effort to instill any political beliefs in me...how could they, since they themselves did not agree??

My earliest interest in politics resulted from the build up to the first Gulf War, when I was only 7. I saw some news reports on soldiers who were missing Christmas at home while stationed in Saudi Arabia, and made the determination that I had to learn more about the subject of politics in order to learn why some families would not be together for the holiday when mine would be.

I remember being quite upset when Clinton defeated Bush in 1992. I thought Bush was a shoe-in for reelection, since he had "won the war". Parties and policies didn't even factor into it. By the time Clinton was impeached, however, I was a freshman in high-school, and while I still didn't really lean towards one party or the other, I found the whole thing to be a tremendous waste of time, and my opinion regarding the Republican party certainly became less favorable.

It was the debacle in Florida during the 2000 election that really pushed me from a passive observer of politics to an active one. I was no real fan of Gore, but thought that he was the lesser of two evils. Bush's track record in office convinces me that I was not wrong.

As of November of 2000, I was not eligible to vote for another few months. The idea that the process was so flawed as to end in an outcome in which my vote literally would not have mattered anyways pushed me to start studying our nations politics more vigorously...and I've never stopped.

[Khoor]

Me: when I was 11 years old... and my older sister could not afford to go to an international school. She cried, and I had to ask my mum and dad why? They told me that they didn't have enough money to send my older sister to the in't school in question. It was then that I realised the divide between those who are lucky enough to be born in the right family, at the right time, and those who are not lucky enough.

I believe in social democracy ever since then. I believe in equality, an equality of opportunity, not the 'you can have what you don't work for' far left socialists-leaning, unfair kinds. I believe in the cause of equality of opportunity, and that we, as human beings, may not be able to influence a lot of things in this world.

but we can make a difference, even if it can only be a very very small difference, by doing what we think is right, and treating others just as we want to be treated ourself.

[Libertarian California]

Middle school. My friends and I were were the ballsy neoconservative preteens who had a bone to pick with the liberal teenage hippies.

[The Union of the West]

I became political in 8th grade government class, when I found myself disagreeing with everyone else.

[Nulono]

That's a really fuzzy question. I've always been opinionated and would defend my beliefs if given the chance. I probably formed my "political opinions" before I "got into politics", which could explain why my political opinions are all over the map when it comes to the traditional left-right dichotomy.

[Allentyr]

When I was 12, p.much.

I like to think it's when I became capable of thinking.

[Luziyca]

In 2009, I became interested in politics when I joined NS, initially because there were no visual "make your own country" sites that can be done for free, but then I got into the political side. Before then, I was pro-tax hikes, didn't know much. Now... I'm a leftist.

[Olivaero]

Around about 2007 when I was 14 I was bought a book upon the process of government mainly an opinion piece where the author had a bone to pick with the UK establishment, I remember reading the whole book quickly and then deciding I probably belonged in the Centre until I had a better understanding. Then I went a little to the right for a while when I was 16 (that was some false class consciousness shit right there) until I was 18 and then I realised I actually belonged on the Left, where I have nominally stayed.

[Sygneros]

I never became interested in politics, favoring personal reflection about my actions and how they influence the world around me; as well as how this same world is internalized by me.

I just can't bring myself to care enough to learn all the different labels people file themselves under, let alone actually choose one and get involved.

[Nervium]

It was the banks that were saved with taxpayer money, and wouldn't you know, they kept on doing the shit they were doing before, just harder, in the meanwhile pressuring goverments to let free the reigns. Also the fact that I'm not capable of either returning to school or getting a decent job made me realise something bigger was going on.

[Lydenburg]

I never was. Reached that age immediately after Mandela's election and inherited conflicting politics from family, friends, government, and the world. The immense amount of pressure irritated me. What the hell do your beliefs matter, anyway? All I saw were the people who kissed up to the incumbent party getting jobs while unemployment rates shot through the roof. It was not fashionable to critique the ANC at that stage so I became the "Ja-Nee" guy at braais. If politics came up, I didn't want to get involved. My response to anything was a monosyllable "yesno" to appease everybody and offend no one.

I do vote and occasionally waffle about state incompetence now, but that's about it. Philosophising is beyond me.

[Kilobugya]

Started probably around 10 during the first Gulf War. A childish purely sentimental rejection of war, that later on grew into a more rational and logical rejection of war among many other things

That said, having communist parents did help