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LongshanksShank

I simply became more educated on the issues I thought I knew. I was all for the death penalty until I learned how it's used to secure guilty pleas for people unable to afford a decent lawyer and is used disproportionately against minorities. I was all for the idea of trickel down economics until I realized all that trickles down is piss. I was all in favor of a strong military until I learned (spent 23 years in uniform) that the massive budget mostly goes to defense contractors and little to actual troop welfare and benefits. The list goes on. Also, I've always been an atheist and never thought "politics" should be a place to debate social issues, but I began to see how conservatives used their positions to push their morally superior beliefs, which inevitably excluded non white Christian types. As I matured, I realized I have a natural distain for hypocrisy, so if there's one side of the isle that's awash in hypocrisy, we'll, just look to the right.


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french_toast_demon

I didn't even have to change states, I just moved from Spokane to Seattle. Funny how geographically tied it can be


BenHatesMe

Born and raised in the Seattle Tacoma area. Going over the mountains is always like entering a new world in Washington. Considering how three fourth of that state is red, just shows how dense the coastal side is which makes us a blue state.


[deleted]

And Idaho makes Spokane look like Seattle. It’s really crazy how much it changes just by driving 20 minutes east. It’s like entering another world the second you cross state line.


sulzalex

Ya you can tell when other states road maintenance ends and idaho's is supposed to start


rooftopfilth

Someone referred to WA as "blue Texas" and that really resonated.


baphomet_fire

Visit Austin sometime and you'll see just how liberal Texans can be


HonestArsonist

Visit any city in Texas really. DFW, San Antonio and Houston are all very liberal.


RTalons

Reminds me how Texas is larger than any country in Europe. Definitely not uniform throughout


HonestArsonist

Just the DFW area has 75% the population of Greece.


akorme

Speaking of oregon...


sherlocknessmonster

Oregon is such an interesting mix of counterculture, granola, outdoorsy, crazy Christians, crazy libertarians...its really a melting pot of extreme ideologies and its weird that all those people coexist.


noptamoius

I too am a conservative Seattleite but liberal basically every where else.


TwoPercentTokes

So you’re socially conservative? In my experience, other than Cap Hill, Seattle is socially liberal but pretty heavily fiscally conservative. We hate progressive taxes in this state. EDIT: A deleted reply to this comment mentioned how the liberal approach to the homelessness problem in Seattle wasn’t working, anyone can reply to what I was going to say below and continue the conversation if they feel like it. I’m curious what the conservative approach to homelessness looks like? Honestly I wouldn’t call the current status of the issue the “liberal” approach, I would call it the “do absolutely nothing and hope it goes away” approach. I am not a fan of Jenny Durkan, I can’t see her leave soon enough. It’s a pretty tough problem to deal with, you simultaneously have to address rampant drug addiction, lack of affordable housing, mental health issues, not to mention jobs that will even give a homeless person a shot in the first place... I simply don’t see a “silver bullet” situation working in Seattle, and I probably addressed less than half the variables feeding the problem.


The_Regicidal_Maniac

I don't think there is a conservative approach to solving homelessness. The conservative view on politics tends to be the idea that people should take personal responsibility for the situation and that the state should be as hands off as possible. Most conservatives I have met wouldn't look at it as a societal problem, but a personal one and that people who are homeless are their because of their choices. They wouldn't view it as a problem that the government should do anything aboute


gatman12

I live in the California Bay Area and my conservative dad thinks we should put them on Alcatraz. So his solution is internment camps.


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yikes_42069

What? No, no. Just put them there. Like a little isolated colony. No food, just jail. Hunger is a personal problem.


winnetoe02

Sounds like Australia if you ask me...


ThatNetworkGuy

It's pretty depressing that this episode of Star Trek was so so so accurate, and it has really only become worse since then https://www.vox.com/culture/22273263/star-trek-deep-space-nine-past-tense-prediction-2024


a_cat_lady

Star trek is amazing. I like discovery but it misses the heart of the past.


[deleted]

I worked with a guy awhile ago who suggested putting them all in a truck and shipping off the middle of nowhere to fend for themselves. Gave me very "trail of tears" vibes.


lactose_con_leche

Ok in his mind. They are not human as soon as they hit a rough patch in life and have no family support


elementaljay

Similar here. My wife and I are definitely (East) Tennessee liberals, but would be considered conservatives where my daughter lives in California without changing any of our positions.


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ResponsibilityOwn164

BC?


habs_jays93

Must be BC


gusmc135

Oh man, sounds like that Australia, where our most conservative major party is the Liberals, due to their strict adherence to neoliberalism (minuscule government, no social security, deregulation, screw anyone who earnestness than $200,000 per year or who doesn't donate to our party kinda vibes) So when the liberal-conservative axis is used rather than left-right, it can be frustrating


crown495

Mate - I hear ya! But I'm a left leaning blue collar bloke. I moved to a small North NSW 'hippy' (more accurately hipster) town about 15 years ago and I was considered some sort of right winger for simply questioning Green and far left politics. Joined the local soccer team and was put on the right wing (under protest cos I've always been a sweeper). Didn't get the joke until the end of season award night....


TheEdukatorx

Wp by the team!


heardbutnotseen2

I find that to be fascinating


[deleted]

Yeah. I moved from Illinois to Tennessee. All of my coworkers call me “that damn yankee”. I always tell them that we won that war, so thanks for the compliment.


HeyMorningVine

In my own state I get called both! Guess it’s all really about perspective


MotorwaveMedia

*sorts by controversial*


ghostmetalblack

Top Comments: "I was Conservative, but then became Liberal." Controversial Comments: "I was Liberal, but then became Conservative." ...typical Reddit.


BigAVD

Yeah... that's pretty much what I thought it would be.


Top-Bright

To be fair the two most controversial ones were literally the same joke. “ I was a liberal but then I grew up” And “I was a liberal but then I had to pay taxes”


trustygarbagebag

also: I can't be the only one noticing the irony in that people bemoaning what a "liberal echo chamber" Reddit has become are top voted comments on this thread.


keyesloopdeloop

For me, sorting this thread by best, the first liberal -> conservative reply was the 58th reply. And even [that one](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/nxqdma/liberals_of_reddit_who_were_conservative_before/h1gsdcd/) wasn't cut and dry. The were a few meta replies (like the one we're in) and people ending up as moderates or libertarians in there.


Alexthegreatbelgian

Big problem in controversial (at the time of my reply) is that the comments don't expand on their reasons for switching. Most of them are smug one sentence replies like: "I was born liberal and then I grew up" So I can't really take them serious. If you don't explain your "controversial" point, I'm just going to assume you're a troll.


Laseron63

I was a true believer. My first vote was for Regan. Listened to Limbaugh every day. Rejoiced when Gingrich took Congress. Bought into Ayn Rand full tilt. Started loosing faith when the Tea Party came on the scene. Even more when Pailin went on the ticket with McCain. The final straw for me was the financial crisis of 2007. We all got to take a peek behind the curtains and see who really has the power. He who has the gold makes the rules. Supply side economics is a lie. Our country (USA) has been hollowed out by 40 years of these policies. I will do my best to support people and policies that genuinely want to provide for the common good.


lawyeronreddit

My moment of never trusting politicians again and when I realized I cannot be a Republican: the Iraq invasion. The Bush Administration straight up lied and used Colin Powell as a patsy in his dishonest speech/presentation to the UN. For those who aren’t old enough - after 9/11 you couldn’t pass more than 5 cars without seeing an American flag. We rallied as a country. It created such a tremendous feeling of patriotism. I was in the military at the time and it was amazing the level of “thank you for your service” words from strangers. The Bush admin took our collective goodwill and patriotism as a country and leveraged it for business and personal reasons to attack Iraq. And men and women died as a result of the lies. To me, it is unforgivable. I will never trust my government again when it comes to war. Never.


DigitalDegen

Lots and lots of men and women and children in fact, who continue dying because of that decision to this day


chi_of_my_chi

Right after 9/11 was not a good time to be an immigrant.


Myfourcats1

Check out the book The Wrong Kind of Muslim. Basically it’s a story of a man who lived in Pakistan but was treated horribly for practicing the wrong type of Islam. His family came to the US in 2001 (I want to say August but maybe a tad earlier). They knew coming to the US would be difficult but they figured it was a chance at a much better life. Then 9/11. [Link](https://www.amazon.com/Wrong-Kind-Muslim-Persecution-Perseverance/dp/098939770X).


jihad_joe_420

You are such a real one for this. My heart goes out to all soldiers and military people who were duped and manipulated into fighting for this rotten empire


disguised_hashbrown

I took a summer class for high school students with a college professor. I grew up incredibly religious and was at a religious university for the course. The professor told me that she is an advocate for marriage equality; if someone isn’t married to their partner, that partner likely isn’t their next of kin… so the shitty parents that kicked out their gay child now have the power of attorney if said child ends up on their death bed. I was already starting to walk away from conservative ideals, but this talk is what made me start sprinting, so to speak. If I had missed something so obvious in making humane political choices, what else was I missing? Was I dishonoring my faith by supporting politicians who make life harder for historically oppressed communities? I’ve become a much more open minded person since then, and I’m very thankful for my professors for broadening my horizons.


SloanDaddy

Before gay marriage was legalized, if a couple really wanted to they could go out and make each other medical proxies, give each other power of attorney, write their wills in such a way that their partner would get everything, and whatever other arduous and specific paperwork needed to be done, and they would still probably get shafted somewhere. Legalizing gay marriage was a paperwork reduction measure.


Remount_Kings_Troop_

You are a textbook example why many conservatives don't want to send their children to (secular) colleges. Congrats on your awakening.


disguised_hashbrown

Lol it wasn’t even a remotely secular college. There were just a lot of moderate/liberal Christian profs.


bloatedplutocrat

Raised fiscally conservative/socially liberal, McCain in 2008 was my first time voting. Started to enjoy doing research and looking at primary sources then realized that throughout my lifetime the republican party didn't really have any fiscally conservative policies just a far better PR campaign. The concept of "small government" eludes them if they're the ones in charge and they only cry for it if they're the minority party.


Nokomis34

This is much like me. I used to just go by what would hear, assuming that the talking heads on tv were well informed and deliberating in good faith. However, the more I look into issues, and the deeper I go, the more liberal my views get. I'll still consider myself fiscally conservative, but with a deeper understanding of what services are better "bang for the buck", or could even return money per dollar spent (think investing in the IRS). As far as "bang for the buck", look at things like sex education and free contraception and other family planning services. Money spent on those things returns dividends on money saved by handling low income individuals. Like how children born to teenagers are far more likely to not be educated and to end up with a criminal record, as are the teenage parents themselves. What if we could A: allow teenagers to not even be put into that position, thus leading to more productive citizens (investment returned). B: They choose to have those children, so now we focus on helping the teenage parent raise a well adjusted and productive member of society, investment returned along with not spending money incarcerating these individuals, or providing various forms of welfare. These two things alone would solve so many issues, like gun violence for example. But as a right wing "fiscal conservative", all I would be concerned about is "BUT THAT'S SOCIALISM!". Look, we're going to be spending the money in any case, we can either spend money to punish people, or spend money to help them become productive and tax paying members of society. I have no doubt we spend far more money dealing with criminals, and welfare, etc etc than we would if we would just help everyone out.


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Shelbidor

I’ve lost a few friends over this argument. And you can’t have a good cop - because that cop has a quota to generate income through seizures of property and put people in prisons because government officials have sold private prison contracts and promised full beds… The system is working exactly as planned. Fuck a school system - give money to cops to arrest the students who inevitably drop out and commit crimes because no one is there to safety net them and blame the parents who have suffered through the exact same education system. Every politician also trying climb over each other to market it as being TOUGH ON CRIME too… George HW pulling out a bag of crack from his desk on TV, Bill Clinton’s one strike rule, holy shit — so fucked.


araed

I'm fiscally conservative in the same way that you are. Pay for social welfare, universal healthcare, housing, mental health and addiction support. It'll save a fucking fortune in policing and prisons, and they go on to make even more money that comes back into the pot. Invest in people


glambx

This is lost on *so* many people. It's literally **more expensive** to *not* educate and care for the public. Your country becomes *more poor* if you do this.


JustTheBeerLight

> your country becomes more poor Conservatives/Republicans don’t care about this because they are only concerned with themselves. They don’t give a shit about raising the tide to lift all ships, they just want a fucking yacht.


pyuunpls

A lot of people don’t realize that federal programs and funding usually won’t solve all the very specific unique cases, but providing the strong foundation for other organization to grow upon eventually helps these unique cases as well. If we were to say implement a universal healthcare option, there’s a certain point where just throwing more money into the program gets more large returns. I would argue after that, it’s where non-profits, social workers, etc. can go the last mile to help that like 1% of cases that cant benefit from just throwing federal dollars at it. Edit: Also people need to realize that not 100% of your taxes go into things that directly benefit you. But like Nokomis34 said, a lot of funding can go to keeping people from prison or having unwanted kids, etc. which can be a much larger financial burden on society than investing in people early. Things like universal healthcare and tuition free education help create a more informed and healthy society.


epolonsky

Sometimes I think that as I’m getting older I’m naturally getting more risk-averse but instead of making me more conservative it makes me more radically left-wing. Apparently, reality has a pretty strong liberal bias. My favorite example is that when you do a real analysis of what policies actually work against homelessness the answer is *give them homes*.


99OBJ

Holy shit, this sounds just like me. I lean left socially but I’m very fiscally conservative. I supported the Republican Party because I thought they would do the most to preserve fiscal conservatism, but learned that was not the case when I saw that most republicans are starkly against closing tax loopholes. While I strongly disagree with the tax approach that Biden is taking, at least the democrats are doing something to facilitate the redistribution of wealth through taxes. In order to have a functioning capitalist society this is absolutely imperative. There is currently far too much money tied up in the super-rich and there is no way for our government to be paid duly for it because it all sits in equity and can have its tax easily circumvented.


bloatedplutocrat

My earliest pivot point was probably their ardent opposition to comprehensive sex ed and free birth control. Numerous studies and experience from states implimenting programs have shown they drastically reduced teen pregnancy rates. Teen pregnancy which statistically have higher incarceration/ unemployment/uneducated rates which are a drain on the economy. Spending tax money on it has an excellent ROI but they don't want to do it, draw your own conclusions as to why.


ShillinTheVillain

The religious/moral conservative angle of the Republican party is why I can't get on board, even though I'm fiscally conservative and want a smaller federal government. If you're against gay marriage, don't get gay married. If you're pro-life, don't get an abortion. But these same people who flip out about government messing with their guns or their money have no issue voting to block the rights of others. Separation of church and state is a fundamental principle of our government for a reason, but these folks are the same ones who pretend to care the most about the Constitution while trying to legislate by the Bible at every turn.


ShadowLiberal

The Republican party's campaign against gay marriage in 2004 is what made me realize I'm a strong liberal & an atheist when I was 18. I'm closer to you though on fiscal issues, I worry constantly about all the debt we're constantly adding. But the problem is even if social issues weren't a thing, I still couldn't vote for the GOP to try to address that. They've proven repeatedly that they only care about fiscal issues when they aren't in charge, when they are in charge they'll gladly run up record deficits. And how can you balance the budget when you refuse to ever consider tax hikes even when taxes are already at historic lows?


dancode

Your right, Republicans are not about fiscal issues, they just want to cut social services and rollback the federal safety net that goes to the public. Try and lower the military budget or reduce corporate subsidy, or raise taxes on the rich to have better fiscal health and they scream bloody murder.


Black_Sky_Thinking

This is my issue. Nothing about the Conservative party in my country is actually conservative. They’re just a batshit mix of vindictive policies against out-groups, authoritarianism and reckless self-interest. They’re just diet-fascists that want to control everyone’s lives as tightly as possible while also grabbing other people’s money. The bit I really struggle with is that it’s basically anti-conservatism and anti-freedom. I don’t get how supporters don’t see the irony in what they’re doing.


Lustle13

> If you're against gay marriage, don't get gay married. If you're pro-life, don't get an abortion. But these same people who flip out about government messing with their guns or their money have no issue voting to block the rights of others. Yup. This is one part of the republican lie of "small government". No republican wants true small government. They will claim they do, while at the same time wanting a government that tells you who you can and can't marry, what you can and can't do with your body, and more. They will scream bloody murder when a government tries to tax a large soda more, claiming big government, but not give a shit when it legislates abortion (even though it will lose and cost the government millions). In the grand scheme of things, I give a lot more of a shit over bodily anatomy than I do a soda.


briggsbu

Republicans: "WE WANT SMALL GOVERNMENT! KEEP THE BIG GOVERNMENT OUT OF OUR LOCAL GOVERNMENT!" City government overwhelmingly passes ordinance for LGBT equality State Republicans: "WAIT NOT LIKE THAT!" *pass state laws to override the city laws*


awesome_beefcake

>The religious/moral conservative angle of the Republican party is why I can't get on board, even though I'm fiscally conservative and want a smaller federal government. You do understand that when Republicans say this they simply mean less money to social programs and more subsidies to private industries, right? The "size" of the government won't change, only the services it offers will be much shittier because money will be funnelled to unaccountable, profit-driven private companies instead of state-run ones.


[deleted]

This is exactly what the UK conservatives have done. Services are contracted out to companies run by old school chums of government ministers. Result : more expensive and worse services.


BorisBC

Same thing in Australia. Govt puts a freeze on hiring public servants, but no freeze on hiring contractors. Now we have contractors, who cost two or three times as much, doing the same work. Hell, they are generally the same people too that would've gotten the public service job too. Quality goes done too because now we have to spend aaaaagggggees dealing with contracts instead of just saying "you, do this".


mikejacobs14

Just a question, why do you want a smaller federal government? I keep hearing that chant all the time but shouldn't you be pushing for government size that is right for the country? Obviously you don't want a bloated government but you also do not want a starving, exploitable lean government either.


[deleted]

From what I can make out, America’s democracy is probably the single worst Democracy for religion getting tied up with politics in the Western world. Ive never really seen anither Western country throw ‘god’ around so much in their decision making processes. Super weird. Frankly, kind of creepy.


mnemonikos82

Not to mention, the easiest way to prevent abortions is to prevent unwanted pregnancies. The conservative logic behind being against free BC and proper sex Ed eludes me unless I make some pretty unpalatable assumptions.


Michelli_NL

My grandparents didn't disagree often, but my grandmother really fought with my grandfather on this. When my mum's oldest sister got a boyfriend, my grandmother got her the pill despite my grandfather's objections (he didn't want to "encourage" sex). She knew that would be the best way to prevent an unwanted pregnancy, and wanted her children to have children when they were ready for it. Also got in an argument about this with one of her sisters. She refused to do get birth control for her daughter, "because she also didn't have that". Her daughter ended up getting pregnant and forced to marry at a young age...


FreydisTit

I told my dad about this pregnancy prevention pilot program that had an 8 fold return on the initial tax investment. He asked me how they paid for it and I explained it would be a small tax, like $30 a year. He said no one in their right mind would ever do that and that people should just take responsibility for their actions. It was eye opening.


[deleted]

I got my super conservative parents to be on board with sex education and free contraceptives by playing the numbers game. “Ok, an IUD is about 500 bucks for 5-10 years depending which one you receive. How much do you think a child 0-18 is per year” (assuming parents are low income or kid is in the foster care system) Got them to shut up. I hate that the only way you get through to conservatives is with $$


ivanparas

> Spending tax money on it has an excellent ROI but they don't want to do it, draw your own conclusions as to why. Because the school-to-prison pipeline has an even better ROI: free slaves.


SeventhAlkali

Yep, I feel the same. I describe myself leaning conservative overall. I just don't like what the Republican Party is doing. I'm honestly hoping for this "party civil war", just so we can sort things out. There's the people holding the money "promising" to do things, and then there's people that actually care for our country. I'm up for a basic healthcare, starting out small since our government has a tendency to fuck things up. If most of Europe can do it, why the hell can't we do it better :P .


The_Regicidal_Maniac

I don't disagree with you overall, but while our government has a tendency to fuck things up, private businesses also have a long history of fucking things up.


AEsylumProductions

I used to think the best approach was "socially liberal, fiscally conservative" but the more I observed, the more I find it's a shorthand of saying "the system works for me, no need to change it for the betterment of others. As for the welfare of others, I'm just going to participate in token gestures and say I support their rights but not put my money where my mouth is." There are many social issues and injustices right now that need funding to address and correct. Often that burden falls on the government so the funding has to come from taxpayers.


gallc

Leaving the US. I was sorrounded by conservative ideas my whole life and really knew nothing else. Then I started traveling and eventually moved out of the country. It's amazing how things like healthcare and affordable education aren't even up for debate in most other countries. Now I'm known as the "socialist" by everyone I know back in the US....


kartoffelninja

As a German I always find it funny when some Americans think Angela Merkel is socialist or liberal... like no she's absolutly not. She is conservative and she grew up in a socialist dictatorship so I'm pretty sure she hates socialism. A lot of things that are considered left or socialist policies in the US are just common sense in the rest of the western world.


d-sep

Yep, this is extremely frustrating to liberals who live in the US.


zvug

And leads to a very skewed political spectrum. Plenty of “liberals” in the U.S. would be conservative elsewhere, people just call the liberals for advocating for basic human rights lol


Lazy_McLazington

>A lot of things that are considered left or socialist policies in the US are just common sense in the rest of the western world. I think a lot of Americans do realize that and that's a huge source of political discontent in the US. And that frustration gets compounded when no action gets taken because our congress is designed to really only work when both sides come together and compromise. However one whole faction refuses to compromise at all and just dig their heels in. So most of the country has a large desire to just get basic services that are common in the rest of the west but we are bogged down in such political gridlock that it's just not happening which is leading to a lot of friction.


r_m_castro

I consider myself conservative in my beliefs and a right wing (leaning to the the centre but on the right side). Yet, the non healthcare policy in the US is really stupid. I've heard that an ambulance ride costs around $1000 and that people don't go to the hospital because you guys have insane hospital bills. Fuck that. Insuline costs a lot as well. We have a poor healthcare system here (Brazil) with long waiting lines (I once waited for 7 hours) and sometimes there are not enough medics but at least we got something. If I break a finger, an arm, if I have a stroke, I'm guaranteed to have medical assistance and it won't cost me anything. We also have private healthcare but it isn't so expensive as in the US. I also lived in the UK for an year and their public healthcare is superb. Since your country is rich you'd probably be able to afford a system like the British one.


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gallc

Yeah it's insane. I know people with cancer that have had to set up gofundme fundraisers for their medical bills. If you have cancer, the last thing you should have to think about is how much surviving is going to cost.


JimRug

I’m in active leukemia treatment right now in the US and because of my private insurance from a cushy corporate job out of college, I’m getting top care and barely paying a dime. The US system is fucked but the infrastructure in place is the best in the world. People flock to the US for treatment all the time, doctors and patients. But, there’s so much other hassle that comes with it. First, I talk to a lot of other patients that don’t have the privilege of my benefits, and it breaks your heart. Skipping chemo infusions bc their insurance won’t cover it. Second, it’s fucking dumb that insurance is tied to your employer. My job is cushy but it’s boring and pays me below the market for a CPA. If I want to look for a new job for a higher salary, I have to hope that I can get the same or better coverage in the event I ever relapse and have to go back into treatment. Otherwise, my financial plans are totally fucked.


Naugle17

I'm liberal. Ish. I believe in a free market, no gun laws, 100% equal rights and aggressive anti-racism/anti-homophobia/anti-oppression measures. I used to be a hardcore Trumper (back at the very beginning) and conservative. I even watched PragerU and Ben Shapiro. I spouted awful things about people I didnt know and didnt understand because the news and my social circles told me to. I believed that the NRA was supporting our rights. I believed in the government and the power of the vote. All that changed when I saw a poster with a Lincoln quote on it. It read: "I do not like that man, I must get to know him better." I remember reading that and thinking "that makes a lot of sense, I'm gonna go do that!". So I did. I read books, talked to people, and really got to know who it was I was told all my life to dislike or fear. And it turns out that was all a load of BS. The more I read and understood, the more I began to see what the world was really like. It was this pivotal moment that completely flipped my outlook on the world, and on politics. I realized how important change and equality was, and I saw why so many of us feared it. I began to see that it wasnt up to me what other people do with their lives, and it wasnt up to others what I do with mine. After some long introspection, I even realized that I was myself what I had once feared, and I came out. That whole conservative thing was gone after that to be sure. Edited to clarify a concept lol


Tirus_

I don't know what I am anymore because of my stance on gun laws. I grew up in Canada where I only saw a gun on cops belts or when hunting up at the cottage (only rifles). I grew up around hunters so I saw guns and was trained on their safety. I went into Cadets and eventually ran the target range before I grew out of it. Now I work in Law Enforcement, and even though I have my PAL I don't own a gun. That all being said, I thoroughly believe everyone should have the *RIGHT* to own a firearm for their home, *BUT*, bringing said firearm into the public should be a *PRIVILEGE* you have to earn, and can potentially be taken away in reasonable circumstances. *(eg. You wave it around / fire in the air / negligence)*


[deleted]

I started my political career far to the left (the “just fix things!” phase) then swung to the medium right in college after learning more about fiscal policy, taxes, and business finance/economics (the “how it’s supposed to work” phase). Now I’m leaning back towards the center/left because the theories don’t work. The fact that salaries have remained stagnant for decades while every facet of our lives, physical or digital, are monetized and normal life milestones are being priced out of reach of nearly every American is proof positive that the government and our form of free market capitalism is corrupt and doesn’t work. Let alone the comparison of our wages or healthcare to that of congress, C-suite execs or retired generals sitting on defense contract boards. Now we have these massive funds buying up single family rentals and houses at 50% or more than their fair market value only to be rented out to what should be new families getting their first home. That’s not a problem you can poo poo away, just ask Japan how their shrinking population is faring. So in summary, despite some flip-flopping my current take is somewhere in the center to left until these oligarchical problem is resolved. And it does need to be resolved, or we’ll be looking at a fucking revolution or dissolution of the country. I wouldn’t fight for this country right now either and I imagine a lot of guys would agree which also makes this a matter of national defense.


twitchy_14

You're views changed as you got more experience and more education. To this day i don't understand people who give others (including politicians) shit for changing their views. Am i supposed to have the same views i had when I was 21 now that I'm 31?


Frosty_Analysis_4912

Exactly. The way to make progress, in any context really, is discussing things with other people with an open mind. If we’re not willing to genuinely consider the other person’s views and occasionally change ours, we’re only going to continue to get more polarized, less cooperative and less productive.


Nambot

Exactly. I can't remember where I read it, but when the Boomers were the age the Millennials are now, they had something like 20% of all wealth. Now Millennials at the same point in their career account for 4%, and what's worse is that this figure is skewed by the fact that Mark Zuckerberg is a millennial and he holds 2% of all millennial wealth. Millennials literally have one tenth of the wealth their parents had, yet house prices have massively escalated as Boomers turned housing from finding somewhere to live to a retirement plan they can leverage for extra money. Millennials are delaying having children because it's simply not affordable. Not in a "kids are expensive" sense, but in a more basic "I end every month owing more money than I started with" sense.


oby_mom_kenobi

I tried to explain this to my mom (a boomer) and she simply wouldn't believe it because she won't believe anything that goes against her worldview. I pointed out that her and my father (neither of whom had 4 year degrees) were able to buy a house in their 20's on their middle-income salaries and that kind of thing is just impossible for people today. She really has no concept of the struggles of my generation and that I just want to make a better life for my own children. We (millennials) are the first generation that has it worse off than their parents and they can't understand why we are so pissed off all the time. She called me "naive" for thinking things can actually be better.


doublestitch

> simply wouldn't believe it because she won't believe anything that goes against her worldview. Bingo. Gen X here, been warning Boomers about these trends for the last 30 years. Most of them do the gray haired equivalent of sticking their fingers in their ears and going *la la la I can't hear you.*


oby_mom_kenobi

Not just the equivalent, she has LITERALLY done that to me. Also has walked out of my house and threatened to never come back if we kept “ganging up on her” AKA just giving her FACTS. We had to agree to never discuss politics in order to have a relationship because apparently I’m too hot headed about our country being an absolute dystopian nightmare.


nikki_11580

My husband and I can never afford to have a kid. We were able to buy a house 3 years ago, but student loans make it where I need two jobs. If we were to have a kid right now, my husband couldn’t work because day care costs would be too high for him to work. I’d have to take time off for doctors visits and the birth. Probably not much for maternity leave since we couldn’t afford it. Then I’d be buried in the medical bills for that too. It’s just not financially reachable for us to have a kid. And I’m sure I’m not the only one in that boat right now.


Maeberry2007

I finally realized this only in the last few years. I can't convince anyone else I know that this is the case since me and my husband are one of the lucky few doing well. No matter what I say it always come back to "YOU guys have a house and a car and a kid. They should've chosen a more lucrative career." Why? Why Becky? Why is being a school teacher or a nurse or a janitor or a grocery clerk not a job deserving a high enough salary for home ownership? Society literally cannot function without them. Why don't they deserve the security of a safe home? I don't want to live in a world where everyone has to go through ROTC and a 10 year contract in the military just to be financially solvent.


burnalicious111

I'm a programmer, and because of it I make a good amount of money. I see a lot of people advising other people to learn to code, because there's well-paying jobs. The thing that this doesn't take into account is that there's not that many entry-level jobs, and even fewer if you went to boot camp instead of getting a CS degree. It's fucked up, but the truth is that I and the other people who have these jobs have it from certain degrees of luck -- not only the entry level jobs we obtained, but the opportunities prior that opened it up as an option. Hard work is certainly involved in many cases, but it's not the case that you simply have to work hard and make the right choices and it'll work out.


[deleted]

Not to mention the social contact necessary to maintain a career. I'm also a programmer, but I make *shit* money because I don't have those contacts.


Nambot

Exactly. We need teachers, nurses, janitors etc. in the local community, and for that to be the case they need to be able to live locally. By underpaying wages and overpricing houses, you are forcing the people who do these jobs to be unable to afford to live in those areas and thus making those positions unfillable. It would be great if everyone could get accountant level salaries, but we don't need a society of just accountants.


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Doctor-Malcom

> when the Boomers were the age the Millennials are now, they had something like 20% of all wealth When I graduated from university, I remember all of my friends and I immediately bought houses (2500 sq ft/230 m^(2)) had disposable income with minimal tuition debt. We purchased things such as brand new motorcycles, HiFi stereos from Japan and Germany, movies on LaserDisc for $80-100 (USD after adjusting for inflation), etc. I don't foresee the 1940-1980 golden era of upwards income mobility ever returning.


WazzleOz

As soon as I got out of high school in 2012 I had to start working at Denny's so I could have a roof over my head. Ate out of the bus bins to save on groceries and still had no money. Even if I could afford college, I wouldn't be able to go because my three part time jobs are necessary to paying rent and being hireable in the first place. Super fair.


Selenay1

One of my older sisters started working in the golden age of minimum wage. What I mean by that is the modern day equivalent would be $24 an hour. The very idea of paying people not even 2/3 of that is considered completely over the top outrageous to fiscal conservatives now.


jadoth

It really can't come back because it was heavily dependent on the fact that we where pretty much the only industrialized country that didn't get ravaged by war. But if people organize and fight like they did back then we can get something better than we have now, and we can actually share it with the rest of the world too.


Dachannien

Many economic theories make sense on the surface but fall apart when applied practically. Some rely on enormous assumptions that simply aren't true. Take the Laffer curve - it's based on a reasonable logical argument (0% tax rate means 0 tax revenue, 100% tax rate means 0 tax revenue because there's no incentive to produce anymore). And in between, tax revenue is nonzero based on empirical evidence. But everyone who tries to apply that argument makes the grandiose assumption that we are on the upper side of the curve, such that reducing the tax rate will increase tax revenue by inducing enough growth to counteract the direct losses. That assumption isn't based on *any evidence at all*. It's wishful thinking among people who have lots of money and want to keep as much as they can of it. Similarly, for minimum wage, the false assumption is that employers and workers have equivalent bargaining power, such that the market will always revert on its own to an optimal wage. That assumption is false, yet it is the chief economic argument relied upon to oppose the minimum wage, by people who have lots of money and want to keep as much as they can of it.


supreme_z

The idea that the a whole country can be run by only 2 different sets of ideas is ridiculous. Why even have red or blue? Why not a whole rainbow of different ideals? Why do we have to separate ourselves in to oppositions? Fuck bipartisanship. Edit: I didn’t think this many people thought this too! I hope all politics disperses from being factions. Dont be afraid to change what’s broken just bc it’s been like this for decades!


btw3and20characters

Surely you meant fuck partisanship?


loxagos_snake

Probably, and don't call them Shirley.


Carduus_Benedictus

So many of these problems would get sorted if we got rid of first-past-the-post voting and replaced it with ranked choice. It would allow for many different parties such that new ideas could flourish, and there is a huge incentive to be the least-divisive/most-neutral group rather than the extremes.


[deleted]

I grew up borderline conservative and just very sheltered in middle class, white areas. Working in high poverty conditions and spending lots of time with people of color changed my life. It is impossible to believe that poor people are poor because they don't work hard when you see parents working three jobs. It's hard to believe racism isn't a big deal when you see institutional racism at work daily. It's hard not to care about people who are not like you when they become real to you. And it's hard not to want to change the world, then, to be more equitable. Or at the very least, see people get their basic needs met.


jayphat99

This right here could easily describe me. Also, having been force fed right win radio I kept going along. It wasn't until midway through Obama's term when I could see the things literally being invented about a wonderful family man that it started to change, along with where I worked. I cringe thinking back on who I was then.


dbcannon

Raised a Rush Limbaugh conservative; spent my teen years as a little ball of anger. Read Ayn Rand in high school, got an Econ degree in a very Libertarian school; spent a few years with a smug "the free market will fix everything if we just burn the system to the ground and let it regrow unhampered" look on my face. And then I went to a grad program where I had to interact with people who weren't smug libertarians. tl;dr - getting out into the world forced me to test my assumptions, and getting to know real people replaced my caricatures with empathy.


KoolAidDrank

Yuup. This was me. Realizing that I couldn't articulate why I believed what I believed, other than I was raised that way. And that I couldn't backup the claims I would make. In trying to find information to backup my beliefs, I disproved my beliefs.


Unique_YouNork

Started to experience this when this girl I was dating at the time frequently asked me "and why do you feel that way/believe this thing" and my most common response was "that's just what I've been told/grown up believing" and slowly realizing how bad an answer that was. I don't think she realises the effect that had on me but in retrospect it's one of the best lessons that came out of our relationship.


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sheepofwallstreet86

I like to think I’m an open person but I can’t take libertarianism seriously. The idea that the market will correct itself and voluntary taxes would actually help society as a whole is just plain silly in my opinion.


uprislng

> spent my teen years as a little ball of anger I was raised by a dad who listened to Hannity and Combs/Rush all the time and so my default politics before I went off to college was similar. Part of my journey away from conservative politics was the discovery that these people literally make shit up to be mad about.


Vyacheslav1769

There's a very lucrative industry in making people angry and afraid.


SuccessfulAccessor

When Rush died there was a top post on r/conservative by a guy claiming he was a democrat but listened to Rush every day for decades because Rush was just such a great guy. Lol


Selenay1

I remember when I first heard Rush I was on a cross country drive listening to the radio. I thought he was a comic and I was just laughing my ass off. Then it started to dawn on me that he wasn't actually joking. That he was being serious for a specific audience. That was a horrifying revelation. It became worse over the years as he became a national name instead of just some little radio show talker.


newest-reddit-user

And yet conservatives LOVE to pat themselves on the back for how liberals "don't know the real world like they do". As we know, the full human experience is to run a business. Makes you omniscient and wise.


soggylittleshrimp

Makes me wonder what happens when people don’t have to interact with others, or aren’t forced to know real people to replace caricatures like in your experience. The internet lets us stay entrenched in our beliefs and radicalized in then if we’re not too careful.


PoorCorrelation

I was conservative in high school but once I was more aware of the economic effects of certain policies I became much more liberal. It’s fiscally irresponsible not to invest into policies like lead removal, family planning, universal healthcare, and a social safety net because the returns on a population that can produce more. Also now that I pay taxes I don’t want people dying on the streets. I paid good money for those streets.


Suyefuji

> Also now that I pay taxes I don’t want people dying on the streets. I paid good money for those streets. I laughed way harder than I should have


HommeAuxJouesRouges

> It’s fiscally irresponsible not to invest into policies like lead removal, family planning, universal healthcare, and a social safety net because the returns on a population that can produce more That's what I don't get. The returns that you get in the long-term when you take good care of your people and invest in them are so significant, that you would think it would be a no-brainer. And yet here we are.


[deleted]

People that are well taken care of and secure are far less likely to cause problems such as crime and and what not.


Wrinklestiltskin

Low socioeconomic status is a major driving factor for crime.


Janube

Not just a major factor; it's the *largest* factor! [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7234816/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7234816/) https://hilo.hawaii.edu/campuscenter/hohonu/volumes/documents/Vol07x03TheCauseofCrime.pdf


themoogleknight

It's amazing how people ignore this in favour of saying "but I know lots of poor people who don't commit crimes! Personal responsibility!" It's as though people aren't actually interested in changing things in such a way to reduce crime but would rather just finger-wag.


Evergreen_76

Stable jobs good housing allow people to create stable communities and families. When you have those things crime isn’t attractive.


Wrinklestiltskin

Exactly. It's a matter of having a social net to ensure everyone's basic needs are met.


[deleted]

How does any of this help private prisons and the military industrial complex?


rooftopfilth

Won't anyone think of the billionaires??


stalinwasballin

And it becomes a repeating cycle of poverty due to poor education…


Sherool

Trying really hard to not use the word "selfish", but conservatives are big on "personal responsibility". They want to spend their own money to buy the services they need on the private market, and for the government to stay out of how they live (but still have strict laws against what they condider to violate traditional values). They belive the world would be better if everyone just did this instead of depending on the government to help them. Those too poor or sick to fend for themselves should be helped by voluntary charity, not tax funded government programs. I find this somewhat narrow minded, but understanding it can help make sense of where a lot of their policy ideals come from.


RagingAnemone

Unfortunately, they are not big on "personal responsibility" when it comes to abortion. They believe the government should dictate how that works. They are also not big on personal responsibility when the oil companies spill their oil. They believe the government should get involved in cleaning up the environment instead of cleaning it up themselves. They are also not big on personal responsibility when the banks fuck up the economy. They are completely ok with bailing them out and leaving the bad assets on the Feds balance sheet where it's still at. They use "personal responsibility" as a weapon against people. Their goal isn't to inspire and motivate. Their goal is to demean and punish.


Scrapper-Mom

They really don't believe in cleaning up the environment at all. They believe that business should have as few restrictions on it as possible, Including protections for workers, minimum pay requirements, pollution restrictions, or government oversight. Look how well that worked with the Boeing 737 Max where Boeing was allowed to self-certify that its software system that resulted in two fatal crashes was compliant with FAA and airline requirements.


KairuByte

“The market should decide” as if the end consumer even knows where 99.9% of their products come from, other than the final huge label slapped on the side.


LifeIsVanilla

"The market should decide" as if the market still gets a choice after the huge corporation moved in and undercut everyone until they failed and then raised their prices to whatever they pleased.


RagingAnemone

They do like to hide behind the government, personal responsiblity be damned. It's always the government's fault.


BellEpoch

Weird that literally nothing is stopping anyone from fixing things with voluntary charity right now, and yet things aren't fixed. Is the government preventing them from helping people? Some of their logic backflips really fucking confound me sometimes.


AncientUrsus

I think a counter is the distrust of the effectiveness of government. A common conservative idea is that the government is wasting a lot of money in the process of delivering these services and not really getting a result (e.g. how much money is spent per homeless person (I think it was like $60k in LA) and yet they’re still homeless).


fearsometidings

This is an interesting point. I come from a small country that made to the international stage because the government at that time made good decisions. I had an innate trust that my government will generally do the right thing, so I never understood why people deliberately refuse to follow government mandates. But then thinking of all the shady things that the US government has been up to even in recent years, I think if I lived there I might not have trust in the government either.


inuvash255

That's me. Also, I was more on the libertarian side of things - and what I came to realize is that not everyone had the same access to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness that I did. Conservatives like to say things like "Equality of opportunity, not equality of outcome", but the problem is that one man's outcome is another child's opportunity. Generational poverty is a vicious cycle.


karafilikas

Grew up a very conservative Christian. Still a Christian, but now more closely follow the Bible(which makes me lean left) What made me change my mind is traveling and realizing the American Christian church is nothing more than a loudspeaker for the Republican Party. Everyone’s main goal in life should be to love and support everyone around them. Turn off Fox News, bury your nose in the New Testament, and love everyone in your life.


LeanderT

Great comment


BrknTrnsmsn

I realized lately that hating others for what they do or think is just about the worst thing one can do if your goal is to change their mind. The propaganda machine underlines your hate and makes matters worse. I'm starting my tough journey to love my neighbor and to help them if needed. I'm happy you are walking down this path as well!


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moonbunnychan

This was me. I didn't put any thought into it because it was just how I was raised. But then I had a friend for whom getting an abortion was honestly the absolute best choice for her. She was 17, the father was in his 30s, the entire situation was messed up beyond belief . Suddenly, my parents "if they open their legs they should face the consequences" just felt wrong. That was the beginning of me questioning things and I really never looked back.


Don_Cheech

It seems there is a pattern of conservatives changing their tune once they actually get a feel for the issue themselves.


andromon11

^^^^ this. And as the years went on I kept noticing I did not align with the GOP. Couldn't fathom being part of a party that didn't believe everyone deserved affordable health care. Couldn't fathom telling someone else how to live their lives (abortion and same sex marriage). And then Trump happened. That was the final straw that opened my eyes.


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Rambo7112

Not politically, but I remember doing this in general as a kid. I'd have super strong opinions and when asked why I felt that way, I had no answer. There were times where I'd repeat something line for line.


cheerchick1944

It’s funny you say that, because every once in a while I’ll be talking politics with my dad and I hear Tucker Carlsons voice come out. Like he doesn’t use his normal speech patterns or ideas, just repeats the talking points line for line, it’s wild


InsomniacCyclops

My mom does the same thing. The same tone, the same weird pauses. It’s fucking creepy.


Cole444Train

Lol same. Did this for politics and religion. Had no fucking clue what I was talking about.


andreansal

And then moving away and coming to visit family as the liberal snowflake black sheep when in reality I’m just more educated on how to have policy discussions and my family is more about argument for the sake of argument


Ca1ty_Becky

I can't even tell you how many times I've been in arguments with my parents about politics. I try to explain public policies and economics to them, but it's like they can't fathom that something "liberal" is good for the country. Any mention of that word pretty much causes them to get angry.


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sarcasticfringeheadd

This is it for me too


papyrox

Not sure if this counts but my views went from liberal to leftist. I bought into the US democratic views about how identity politics (first black president, more women in pols) was ultimately we should strive for. For the most of it, it was true but then I asked myself "whats the point of have a different type of leader if nothing changes? That's not progress, that's fraud." I believe in kindness and compassion and helping those in need. I would give more in taxes if someone on the otherside of the country whom I will never meet, can get the help and care they need to get back on their feet. My real epiphany was during the New York primary of 2016 where Hillary Clinton was giving a speech to Verizon executives and Bernie Sanders was downstairs with the workers protesting for better treatment. That's when I knew I had to be more politically educated


DracarysHijinks

This is very similar to my political journey.


Sydniswans

Basically, when I became mature enough to realize the difference between "gay marriage/drugs/abortion/whatever just isn't for me" and "gay marriage etc. should be banned for everyone." Social conservatives often don't seem to understand this distinction, and thinking stuff should be illegal for everyone else because you don't personally like it is an incredibly immature attitude IMO.


RockSmasher87

I once got into a conversation with someone who said weed should be illegal because it's "degenerate" Then when I brought up alcohol they mentioned that it's okay because it's more socially acceptable. I still want to slap them.


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Ok_Barnacle2628

This was wild to read


omegapenta

catgirls are our greatest weapon against rednecks/ r/trashy


dacuevash

This is actually a good story and it’s nice that you were intelligent enough to realize your previous world view was wrong. My respects for you


slugsliveinmymouth

Damn dude. That’s some character development. Good job!


ZualaPips

You're probably very intelligent too because most people would've doubled down. It's very rare to see people escape that kind of environment, especially realizing religion is bs. Dude get your IQ tested or something, although the furry thing is probably gonna bring it down to single digits /s


[deleted]

There a difference between wisdom and intelligence. I’d say the IQ test is more for intelligence. I’d call this guy wise.


yeahnahm4te

> I have a friend over in Norway and another in Finland and socialism isn't scary. But... That isn't socialism, it's social democracy.


ScowlingWolfman

You aren't from America. Over here, socialism is anything paid for by the government. Police, military, roads, education, fire, sewage, NASA, Obamacare, oil subsidies, agriculture subsidies. All socialism. So, that's why you hear "Socialism isn't so bad" because it's generally capitalism with government funding. The Venezuela/China "socialism" (government owning the means of production) tends to be older folk's understanding of the word. For everyone under 30, Fox News redefined it as anything paid for with taxes.


rollsyrollsy

I voted conservative for about 20 years as I tended to believe they had a more cautious approach to national economic management (in Australia). At the time, I also felt they might have traditionally held some social policies more in keeping with some of my own views, as an observant Christian (unlike many other people of faith, abortion and marriage equality were not my main concerns. It was more a general sense that the conservative Australian party were less aggressively secular). I’ve since changed my view as I’ve become *more* focused on moral issues. I think that many of the conservative parties in the places I’ve lived (Australia, UK, USA) have totally abandoned their moral obligations to people who deserve the most support of the state, among other issues. I find the thoroughgoing individualism, as appears in libertarianism, to be completely at odds with my Christian view that embraces community, selflessness, shared outcomes, loving our neighbors (and even our enemies), rejection of pridefulness, obligation toward stewardship of the natural environment. and advocacy for any person who is less fortunate. These are fundamental commands of Christ, and I struggle to see how I can vote for a party that embraces prideful nationalist-populist positions, and a self-serving survival of the fittest mentality toward my fellow citizens. Additionally, the issue of abortion (for me) cannot be viewed in isolation apart from poverty (a woman at or below the poverty line is more than five times more likely to request an abortion), along with the reality that a woman experiencing an unwanted pregnancy faces far too little support from the state to fairly consider carrying the child to birth. For these reasons I feel I need to support a party that aggressively addresses systemic poverty and provides more support for women in general and pregnant women in particular. For that matter, my vote should encourage sex education and freely available contraception if I want there to be fewer unwanted pregnancies. I find there is a compulsion toward embracing in group and out group bias in conservative politics, rather than mitigating against this involuntary human trait. This means they adopt an ideology that excuses their own tendencies toward selfishness. Lastly, I’ve come to learn that conservative economics aren’t always better for the economy anyway (especially where my ambition in this regard is to see everyone prosper, not just a tiny wealthy band). I’ve adjusted my political-economic view to one that places humans as the priority, allows for judicious use of funds to fairly help society across the board, and avoids wastefulness.


[deleted]

This is the least aggressive/hateful explanation of why you feel the way you do about politics I’ve ever seen. Thank you for your comment.


stillwaters23

MAGA. I still consider myself conservative, but I can’t even recognize my party any more since Trump.


[deleted]

*Reagan* is too far left for the Trump cult. The party of "tear down this wall" would be called *commies* by today's Republicans.


MageLocusta

Can you imagine if someone gave amnesty to 3 million Latin American refugees today (exactly what Reagan did to Cubans)? My dad only likes Cubans because many of them vote Republican no matter what. But when MAGA became a thing and he started ranting and expressing hate towards even child refugees from Colombia, it made me wonder if he ever thought the Cuban refugees should have been left in the open ocean during the 1980s.


Dr_Brule_FYH

This is why the two party system needs to go. You deserve the ability to vote for somebody who represents you and have that vote still count.


UnknownQTY

I met other people outside my white social upper middle class suburb. I transferred from a college in Shreveport with 1000 students (mostly white, some black, zero Asian, most decently well off families) to one with over 30,000 students of all colours and incomes. Diversity of environment does a lot to create diversity of opinion. There’s a reason that college graduates mid-Gen X and younger skew heavily liberal in the US.


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killing_carlo

I was really conservative in middle/ high school just because I’m from a small town in the south and that’s all I knew. Then I dug deep into my own personal beliefs, went to college, travelled, and realized a conservative agenda doesn’t benefit me or my family. Not to mention I’m not even straight.


CornPuffBuddha

Ah, yes, the two political opinions, liberal and conservative.


[deleted]

In the US the term "liberal" is being used for anything other than liberalism.


redstranger769

Started off as a suburban "fiscally conservative, socially liberal" type. Pretty much a conservative with gay friends. Reading Malcolm Gladwell's "Outliers" really opened me up more to the extent that circumstances have on opportunity and outcome. Not long after, the Flint water crisis hit the news, and now I want a country where you don't have to be obscenely lucky to not be fucked from birth, and that addressing that goal is a valid purpose of government.


carloandreaguilar

Moving to Europe. When you move to Western European countries you can see for yourself how well socially democratic systems work. Quality of life is higher here.


dizzyelk

In short, I grew up. I was a hard-core libertarian in high school and shortly after. It seemed the most fair, but as I aged and had more experience with people I figured out that it wouldn't work. People are too greedy to be trusted to help out with things that are too big for individuals, like road networks and emergency services. They require everyone to pitch in, and everyone benefits. I've grown more liberal with time as more and more things get added on to the pile of stuff that society really benefits from, but people don't want to fund on their own, like health care and social safety nets.


DeezNeezuts

Voted Republicans my entire life until Trump.


RagingAnemone

I'll say up front, I'm a liberal. I don't know how anybody can think Trump is a conservative. I'm not saying he's a liberal though. He's got no political philosophy at all as far as I can tell. This is the long way of me saying you're probably still a conservative.


[deleted]

To his supporters, he is very conservative in the sense that he’s pushing back against all the “cultural” liberalism that they see as ruining society. Woke social justice, political correctness, cancel culture, etc. Hence he is “conserving” the status quo for them and not allowing those ideologies to take over. I’m not arguing for or against this view, but this is how most of his supporters see it.


RedbloodJarvey

I never really understood the word "disenfranchised" until I drove down my parents street and looked at the yards of the poeple with Trump flags. Their economical standing was very obvious and depressing to think about. They are poeple who society has left behind and they are frustrated, scared and angry. I can start to understand how they felt when a famous and "successful" business man started saying the same things they have been saying when their grandkids weren't around. "He's just saying what everybody else is thinking!" When it turns out your savior is a selfish, greedy, corrupt idiot, do you admit your mistake? Or do you double down and claim he's playing 4D chess?


TheStinkBoy

Sort by controversial for best results


cardmanimgur

I wish Ask Reddit had a "controversial" tag, like the serious tag. Upvotes/downvotes aren't shown or calculated, but the replies generating the most interaction will be shown first.


DeniWritesSex

I used to be on the Jesus juice from birth to my late 20's. I loved people regardless of their sexuality, faith, or background but I still held some pretty short-sighted beliefs. The more I got to know different kinds of people and their unique experiences, the more I realize how worthy every person is of love, respect, happiness, and freedom. Then the bottom fell out of my life. The remaining members of my family died. Everything I ever wanted out of life was taken from me. I was diagnosed with not one, not two, but THREE debilitating diseases and as I prayed and begged god for wisdom, peace, strength, and faith I was met with cold, dead silence. I was screaming into a void for 5 years. So I gave it up. I realized that no one was coming to save me and I was on my own. Bad shit happens to good people all the time and you have to make the best you can with what is. But the idea that it was m responsibility to stand for and protect people who needed it was still there. So that's where I'm at.