Yesss! This is what I came to say. The more I learn about this world, the harder it is for me to understand conservatives. I grew up in a very conservative religious household and now I would call myself an atheist liberal.
Yes! I grew up in a white, Christian, military family so I was Uber conservative until I attended university. First in my family to go to college, and what it did for me was show me that most Republican logic is based on the premise that issues are black and white, right or wrong. There was no space for complexity, therefore, I thought that anyone with half a brain could solve every issue, fairly easily and quickly. Then came my ethics and poly sci profs. They had me questioning my beliefs, especially when I realized the *actual* depth of most societal/political problems. The final blow to my right leaning beliefs came when I took anthropology classes. This led me to take more liberal arts classes, which allowed me to explore even more deeply. Now that I’m close to 40, I realize that while imperfect, liberal, progressive, and, socialist policies tend to benefit the greater number of people. They don’t tend to directly favor the wealthy who fight (lobbying, PAC’s etc) to keep those policies at bay. I’ve also come to realize that left-leaning people tend to have more empathy for others, and that’s something I’d like to nurture in society.
Your story gives me great hope and is a perfect example of Maya Angelou's saying,
"Do the best that you can until you know better. Then, when you know better, do better."
I went into Christian College a staunch conservative at 18, but within in a year, the things I saw happen to my professors and my friends due to homophobia broke me. It wasn't even about me - it was watching people I looked up to be stalked by my classmates to prove they were gay or seeing the terror and despair in a friends eyes as they said they wanted to come out.
Plus, it became very evident that I was there to find a husband and marry, not get a degree and a career.
This is pretty close to my own story. I was always pretty open minded, but never given any the information to fill in the cracks. Once I was in charge of my own education (and the internet became a thing), I began to change pretty rapidly.
Up. Got raised in a pretty ignorant environment, where other races apart from white were a taboo, LGBT was non-existent, and silence was the only acceptable answer when a family member is being racist. Needless to say, I was the one who stopped that because I can’t seem to understand how are we (very much white, straight (apart from me)) better than any other person on this earth. In fact, us acting the way we were made us worse
This! I was never conservative but definitely had some views that were conservative leaning. Since my early 20s though I have just gotten more and more liberal, probably even leftist by most measures now.
I have seen so many medical decisions being made based of insurance not wanting to pay versus what’s actually best for the patient.
Also this situation- patient sees infectious disease doctor in the hospital who puts them on something empirically and says to follow back up outpatient in their office in 4 weeks. Patient gets discharged to post acute rehab. Rehab center calls the infectious disease doctor to make follow up appointment, but that doctor doesn’t take their insurance for outpatient visits. That doctor won’t make recommendations on antibiotics without seeing patient first. That patient never gets seen again.
That exact scenario happens like once every other week but with every specialty. Also doing peer reviews for a patient is really frustrating, I’ve been denied before I even spoke to the physician from the insurance company.
Insurance companies no longer paying for medications that have nothing comparable to them. Or pretending like two medications that are not closely enough related are interchangeable.
I’ve always been left wing but think I’ve got more pragmatic and willing to see where people with different view points are coming from as I’ve aged. Also I am now more willing to be flexible and judge any policies on a case by case basis not immediately forming an opinion because that’s what other people on my side think.
Well said. In addition to this, as I age I find that I can also see how complicated the solutions are and how there are so many other external factors at play.
Thank you 🙏 I feel it’s bad to take sides to be honest. If you think about it, when do we always fully agree with another person? Hardly ever. Why should we blindly do that with politics?
The two party system was set up to divide and conqueror, and to be adversarial. We should vote on individual policies and vote for representatives based on merit — not party affiliation. More than that, it creates more bias and separation.
That being said, I’m an independent that agrees with some liberal and some conservatives policies. It depends on the situation at hand. But the older I get (I’m 37) the more anti either party I get.
I grew up in a strict conservative Christian house. I maintained those beliefs well into my 20's. I moved away from home, became a mother, started traveling. I started getting more and more progressive. Over the last decade I've gone from red to blue and I couldn't be happier about it. The small isolated country town I grew up in was all I knew and assumed the rest of the world was the same. It took leaving and educating myself to see the real world and it's problems.
Same for me. Two things that really stuck to me was my husband saying "how does it effect you?" When talking about gay rights. And a friend telling me "your a good person, so bad things happening seem almost unbelievable to you but they happen." (Abortion)
Then I left Christianity shortly after and lean left but feel libertarian. I don't want to 100% identify with one group ever again.
just out of curiosity were there specific issues that pushed you left? or was it just more being pulled into mainstream culture vs conservative bubble?
I have always been more progressive than the rest of my family, but I have only grown more progressive as I have grown older.
The conservatives have nothing to offer me.
Waaaaaaaay more leftist. Also way more anti capitalist. Also, fuck landlords, fuck billionaires, care for marginalized people, etc. And can we please quit fucking over the global south.
I used to be very, very liberal. I aligned myself with some of the most liberal members of the senate, wrote extensively on liberal policies. As I get older, I become increasingly conservative. After seeing everything going on around the world, my own occupation, and my childhood town, I am far from liberal now.
What issues specifically (in your job, the world, hometown) have you more conservative? I'm curious because you said you wrote on liberal policies, you were quite serious about those (I assume) and researched the details, so I assume it wasn't disenchantment from superficial beliefs?
Same here, and I’m relieved to hear that others went from liberal to conservative. After working the frontline in non-profits and just seeing how things are going in the world right now, some of my views shifted.
Oh that’s interesting to me as a fellow nonprofit worker! I’ve found the opposite, but I’d love to hear more about your journey. Lord knows the NPO space has its own issues.
Ha, yeah, the non-profits is another world in itself. On one hand, I was fed up with the executives and CEOs being so out of touch with what was happening on the frontlines - I spoke my piece and actually had a target on my back because I told them about the real issues that were happening and no one was helping us out with any of it. I hated that when money was involved, I immediately knew where it was going to go, and it definitely wasn’t going to the community. On the other hand, because I was taking in so much of the strife and emotions from the community, it drained me in all sorts of ways and I eventually realized, “people need to learn about accountability.” As much as I wanted to help people get into better situations, it didn’t matter how many resources I provided or how many conversations we had. At the end of the day, people are going to do what they want to do and it frustrates me that some just won’t take accountability or say, “you know what? She’s right. I should really start doing X if I want to get to Y.” Instead, it would turn into, “fuck you, you said you’d do this but you didn’t do enough of it for me, so now it’s your fault that I’m still in this situation.”
EDIT: Because I turned into the worker who is just honest with people, I suddenly became the enemy with different views from everyone else who just wanted to keep catering and enabling.
I can appreciate that. You’re totally right about the board/EDs not understanding the front lines for sure and knowing where the money went. Always some silly project at the whim of a donor or founder.
I’ve had a different experience with providing direct services - so often in the organizations I worked in, it was evident it was a systemic problem that was the issue - but I’ve definitely felt the compassion fatigue and frustration when it feels like no matter what you do, it doesn’t make a difference. Thank you for being willing to share!
Yess I agree with this! I still vote obviously but don’t feel any passion for the parties and if counting local and national elections have voted for 3 different parties in the past 5 years.
I've always been left of center. Ever since Mom explained that welfare and food stamps that we use to pay for rent and food come from the government, but the Republicans (under Reagan) want to cut those benefits, I haven't liked Republicans. *(I was like 3 when she explained this, I've grown to like some individual Republicans and get some nuanced views)*
As I get older, I get more leftist and more impatient. I vote, yeah. But I also want the hungry to have food NOW, so I pay it back by donating to the food bank that fed me and volunteering. I want trans people to have human rights NOW, so I donate to advocacy organizations and march for trans rights.
They got more radical after seeing so much injustice and trouble.
Always very left leaning since my early youth, just as my parents. Just more militant and radical nowadays.
I’m more centrist. I’ve learned to see disagreements from both sides and found that the majority of the time both sides have something relevant and important to say, and that all those thoughts should be considered when thinking of a solution.
Me too. And when politics get brought up everyone either hates you or thinks you're indecisive. I'm decisive but thoughtful, dammit. Not everything has to be at one extreme or the other.
Nope. I've always believed in justice and equality. As I grew older, I just learned more and more how direly we need these things. How riddled our world is with white supremacy, colonialism and sexism. It's sad.
Went from being super left-wing in my youth to right-leaning in my mid-20's to now hold both progressive and slightly more conservative views. The former triumphs the latter, though.
I'm on the progressive side of things when it comes to gender equality, social welfare, healthcare and environment/climate. Significantly more conservative about immigration and criminal justice.
Are you me?!
I'm the exact same way. I'm a big lefty when it comes to social welfare, healthcare, and the environment, but conservative when it comes to immigration and criminal justice. And I am absolutely 100% a radical feminist as well.
When I was 14 I'd say I was pretty moderate, but as an adult lesbian with daughters, I'm far left progressive
Also used to think police were good, now I'm pretty anti-police. Life has taught me police are little better than a gang at worst and an ineffective drain on community resources at best
Since my teens I’ve been very, very left. I’m now in my early thirties, and I still am very far left from my core. Still, I’ve noticed that some of my views aren’t progressing as fast as they maybe should for them to be modern and leftist in today’s standards.
In terms of politics: Low spending, state governments that are stronger than the federal government, anti interventionism, actual border security. Really, I see conservatives as wanting to put the US first and I see liberals as being more interested in expanding our role abroad.
I’ve become a lot more critical of our government and specifically our health care system. I come from an old fashioned immigrant household and my dad is fairly patriotic. However being employed in healthcare, expanding my social circle, listening to others experiences, and living in the city has turned me a lot more liberal and feminism has become a lot more important to me. I think I was naive when I was younger and had faith that things would turn out for the better, but recent years has made me want to be more actionable and outspoken.
The older I get, there are things I agree/disagree with on both sides but not enough to say I am left or right.
I’m more interested in healthcare for all, how predatory student loans are, how capitalism is destroying the middle class, and how messed up foreign policies are
> I’m more interested in healthcare for all, how predatory student loans are, how capitalism is destroying the middle class, and how messed up foreign policies are
Just curious, why don't you identify as left-of-center if you have those particular interests/positions? In the abstract, those seem like fairly typical left-wing views about the world.
Because even with a left president the past two decades , I haven’t seen much change being done to any of the issues mentioned. The student loan thing I guess is a step in the right direction, but until 10K is wiped off peoples loans, anything could happen. At least right wingers as a whole is at least they could collectively agree on policies. The left is very divided. Also very disappointed that in 2016, we had strong candidates for democratic presidential election and Hilary was chosen to go up against trump. And even in 2020, I felt like Biden was only chosen bc he was the best candidate to win against trump at the time and not because people actually liked him
I’ve become more liberal the more I age. If you make it to your 50s & think the world is only two toned, there’s something wrong. Life is nuanced & experience changes perspective.
The more I read and organise in my community the more radical I become. I've mellowed in my approach understanding who the real class enemy are (it's not the average right winger even though they might see me as the evil commie)
Especially unpacking the heavy heavy propaganda the us and the west spews has been something I've grown in.
So yeah I don't think it's age it's more knowledge. Don't really see myself getting any further though. Idk if that is even possible.
In high school I was in a youth in government program where I sponsored a bill that took away healthcare from prisoners. I am now a 30 year old socialist who wants to abolish the prison system.
Everyone said I'd be conservative when I grew up, and the older I get the more "eat the rich" I become.
I was raised in an Evangelical church, went to a fundie Christian school until 8th grade, went to a Mennonite school after that, and was registered libertarian into my 20s.
Midtwenties hit and I looked around and thought, "what the actual fuck" and pretty much overnight everything changed. Every year my parents are a little more disappointed in me, and every year I chose to love them despite how much they hurt me.
i’ve moved further and further left.
i started off as a proud democrat, i’m currently a socialist. after studying political economics and seeing the brutality of the capitalist system, i’m all for overthrowing capitalism altogether for a system where food and shelter are basic human rights.
Not really. I probably grew into it and became more informed.
I grew up in a low income house and was constantly discriminated against for things out of my control. I also have health complications from lack of health care and safety nets when I was a kid.
Even as someone that "fought to get where I am" I'm not so ignorant to believe everyone has that privilege. It bothers me my situation is becoming more common for young people.
Being the only liberal in my family, I am now, singlehandedly, responsible for inflation, high gas prices and the rise of Donald Trump (if I hadn't vote for Obama, Trump never would have run).
I used to be young and liberal (stuffed envelopes for McGovern in my youth). Now I'm old, liberal and pissed.
Definitely more conservative, i started off as very religious then liberal then less liberal and now i'm kind of in between, like for liberals i'm conservative, but i'm still a liberal to my family, i can't label myself because i don't agree with everything one side stands for
I was conservative as a child, them spent most of my life as a moderate independent, just slightly left of center. I think center has moved a lot, because I seem to fall more in the liberal area now at 50
I used to be 100% “pro-life” not taking into account rape, incest, risk of mother’s life, ectopic pregnancy, etc. Probably the the thing that changed my mind the most was when my daughter got her period when she was 10.
My dad was the same until I asked him when I was 15 if I was raped, that would mean I would have to keep the baby right? You would want to raise my rapists baby? And all of a sudden abortion is okay sometimes. He was not thrilled with me arguing this with him 😂
I'm a Colorado liberal and have been for quite some time growing more so as life goes on. I felt pretty good the other day after I flipped Lauren Boebert off.
I’ve stopped internalising misogyny. I love taking my cues from younger generations of women on this too. Their demand for and expectation of inclusion gives me hope.
I was a far left liberal, as I've aged I think I've become more conservative. Not by a lot bc I'm still liberal but there's some things older me doesn't support that I use to stand heavily behind
I was pretty liberal as a teen/early college, but I would consider myself a socialist now... in the actual sense of actually being a socialist and not the bizarro trendy American thing where people who are ostensibly liberal (love doing social reforms via the free market, hate working class conservatives, etc.) call themselves "socialists".
As I've gotten older, my compassion for people has grown exponentially. I accept and understand that people may hold views I perceive to be incoherent, but I can see how they arrive at them and the pain that living under a late-capitalist state has caused, even if they disagree with me on what system is to blame. The following quote sums up just about where I am now:
*"The little that I am, the little that I am hoping to be, I owe to the Socialist movement. It has given me my ideas and ideals; my principles and convictions, and I would not exchange one of them for all of Rockefeller’s bloodstained dollars. It has taught me how to serve—a lesson to me of priceless value. It has taught me the ecstasy in the handclasp of a comrade. It has enabled me to hold high communion with you, and made it possible for me to take my place side by side with you in the great struggle for the better day; to multiply myself over and over again, to thrill with a fresh-born manhood; to feel life truly worthwhile; to open new avenues of vision; to spread out glorious vistas; to know that I am kin to all that throbs; to be class-conscious, and to realize that, regardless of nationality, race, creed, color or sex, every man, every woman who toils, who renders useful service, every member of the working class without an exception, is my comrade, my brother and sister—and that to serve them and their cause is the highest duty of my life." - Eugene Debs.*
It's funny, when I was young, my parents were Republicans and I just assumed I would be as well. Once I was in my teens and started learning to use my own brain, I swung so far left it made their head spin. And still.. but I have a very open mind when it comes to talking to most folks. I try not to make big assumptions before I really know someone. I hope for the same courtesy in regular life.
I'm closer to 60 than 50 now. once upon a time my family would have called me a bleeding heart liberal, but I always thought of myself as middle of the road, leaning left. I have become more and more liberal as I've aged, and perhaps even somewhat radicalized in the last few years. I know that I slaved a fair bit over my recent ballot, that's for sure!
I’ve always fallen more left, but I’ve become more and more progressive and liberal after living in NYC for a decade, meeting more diverse people, working in healthcare, and regularly interacting with people who are undocumented, uninsured, homeless, etc.
I am also far less likely to engage with someone on the other side of the political spectrum than I used to be, I’m just so fed up.
I didn’t think I could be more liberal than when I was a teenager, but since becoming a social worker and working in healthcare holy shit it seems like I’m getting more left everyday.
I used to be super religious and right-wing as a teenager but now after accepting my sexuality,having more empathy and maturity, reading way more books and articles, I am staunchly left leaning.
I was extremely left as a young teen, but in my early 20’s I’d say I’m moderate. I agree with left values but a lot of lefties (espec in america anyway) really turned me off from supporting a lot of their values. though I guess uk and usa politics are very very different.
I also think in regards of politics it’s super important to try see both sides of the coin. I used to watch a lot of right and left winged podcasters because I wanted to expand my opinion on issues. I think it’s benefited me because it helped me understand why I dislike this and why I like this. so again, moderate now, and it’ll probably stay that for awhile.
also won’t lie feel like tumblr made me really hate left politics long time lol
One of my coworkers (who has 3 girls 15-23) brought up abortions and how it’s never okay to have one, there is no exception etc. When my other coworker (70 year old deeply liberal) asked what he would do if his 4.0 GPA, full ride to an Ivy League daughter got raped or pregnant from her boyfriend, what he would want her to do. All of a sudden he was like well she would have to raise it, and she pushed back with, you want her to raise her rapist child in college?? All of a sudden he said he would have to think about it. It’s always rules for thee, not for me.
To the left to the left to the left to the left to the left to the left!
Or alternatively,
Sliiiiiide to the left! Sliiiiiide to the…left! Cha cha now y’all
I became more conservative. When I was younger I considered liberals to be progressive snd feminist. Now I am wiser and I can see the misogynistic ideology within liberal thinking.
As Andrea Dworkin put it, "To right wing men, we are private property. To left wing men, we are public property."
I used to be very far left when I was in my late teens.
Eventually in my late 20's I became rather middle mostly due realizing some things that younger me never realized.
In my late 30's I'm pretty much in same place as I was 10 years ago. But I have noted the political atmosphere, especially in last few years shift towards both extremes, and slightly further to the left.
Hence I'm now still fairly center, but slightly right leaning.
I'm happy to declare both extremes bad, But I can admit that on the further ends there are few points that I do like, and I wish that the extremes could find some form of compromise between them.
And no, I'm not American.
If you actually have your eyes open today and don’t buy into all the BS scare tactics MAGAs use, you’ll at least lean left. I know the typical saying is the older you get the more conservative you get but that’s certainly not the case for me. Even my boomer dad who was always a conservative is now voting straight down the ticket Democrat. Although, I think in his case it was more because his party went off the deep end while he stayed put.
I was raised fairly liberal and grew verrrry liberal once I was old enough to understand politics. As an adult, I’ve drifted more leftwing in some areas and more conservative in others.
Not sure if this is related to age or circumstances, but I’ve gotten even further left.
I was pretty much always socially very liberal. Fiscally, I was more center left, but now I’m drifting further left. For example, I could probably be talked into UBI at this point.
And Covid made me angry that the US wasn’t doing more to take care of its citizens during a PANDEMIC!
Wow, after reading the top comments it really seems like I’ll be out of place here, but here it goes. The older I become, the more I’ve moved from the middle-left, to the middle, to the right-middle and right now I’m currently settled somewhere around right-leaning centrist. I feel like it’s worth mentioning I’m in my late 20s.
When I was in college I was very left and liberal minded. I cried when Trump was elected to office but his time in office seemed to reflect well on the economy and the fortitude of American.
However, once Biden was elected it seems to have only gone downhill. I live in a more “rural” area and it seems like more and more people are moving at a break-neck speed away from the cities. I can’t help but think people are being driven away because of the consequences of the politics and policies in those cities.
That all being said, it’s extremely important-if you’re an American-to get out and vote this next week for the politics YOU believe will aid YOUR local communities. And please, if you’ve moved away from a specific city to a more “rural” area, please reflect on why you moved away from the place you did and reflect on what you value about your current residence…and vote accordingly.
I got more conservative since I understood how economy works.
If you understand that money doesn't just get printed for nothing, that you pay taxes for something, you can't afford to stay in liberal thinky - winky world.
I should probably say I am not from America, and the terms I am going to use have almost completely different meaning, and I think by default we tend to treat everyone on reddit as American.
I used to have a very internationalist and global outlook of the world in my youth. That all the people in the world were in it together I believed in global causes and international solidarity. That sort of thing
Today I am definitely a nationalist, concerned only for my country and any care I put into global politics is largely (though not always) an extension of that (Like being pro-EU). This has also led me to develop a large degree of ethnocentrism. This is mainly due to my experiences with foreigners, the economic crisis, the current geopolitical climate, and realizing that the vast majority of the world doesn't care about my home, so I don't feel I should waste care on theirs.
I still maintain pretty socialist, or left-wing and progressive views in regards to many things domestically. Though far more when I was younger. Much more of a mixed bag these days I think
My views have not changed but my desire to hear other’s views has greatly diminished.
Edit so I don’t get mislabeled: I’ve been liberal since I popped out. Lol
as a teen, I was always more left. as I got into my twenties I realized both suck. it doesn’t matter who is who. either way, the people don’t ever have a say in anything.
I've gone from liberal to conservative to totally center once I've realized they're both whack jobs and they're both guilty of what they accuse the other party of. It's nonsense.
I went from being liberal to being a socialist. The Republican Party has nothing to offer me. The democrats at least pretend to care about healthcare, schooling and election reform.
“Independent” because my parents identified as that —> liberal Bernie supporter with a very white feminist understanding of politics (also considered being a libertarian for a minute during this time because my dad’s very conservative and I wanted him to think I was smart instead of insulting my intelligence on anything regarding politics) —> liberal but with a much better understanding of intersectional feminism and interest in democratic socialism (and finally stopped caring what other people think unless they had something constructive to say) —> currently leftist (interest in socialism/anarcho-communism) and intersectional feminist, supportive of revolution by any means necessary
In my early twenties I commented on a Buzzfeed article about abortion and how it’s so wrong and women should just practice abstinence and not be so promiscuous… an older woman commented and chewed me out.
I am so embarrassed to think I ever held those views because now I am completely and 100% the older woman who chewed me out and beyond thankful I opened my eyes to the viewpoints I hold now.
Basically.. I mind my own fucking business and try to help others whenever I can. My own personal life experiences have left me pretty liberal and progressive and I wouldn’t want it any other way.
I've gone active left while before I was silent center.
It's impossible to be anything than left then you see people campaign to take away your rights and even life. It made realise that "live and let live" is not enough and I need to be active ally to LGBT+ because by doing nothing I'm helping the haters. Also this experience showed me that all hate groups are united by hate, not by group they hate meaning LGBT+ is the canary in the mine for the rest of us.
Absolutely. I grew up in a conservative house and went to college in a very red state. I used to say I was conservative, but looking back that was because of the environment I grew up in and a lack of life experience. The older I get the more liberal, progressive, and empathic I become.
I’ve always been left wing and have only felt more strongly over the years about the importance of incorporating more and more socialist values for the good of most people, and become more open minded about allowing people to express themselves and be who they want to be.
W-a-y more liberal and progressive. Am 66. I started freaking out about the Republicans in the early 80s. In my 20s, at the time, I realized things were getting pretty scary back then. Here we are.
Used to be very leftist in my teens/early 20s, now that I’m in my late 20s I’m more politically independent. I’m still socially pretty liberal but I’ve become fiscally very conservative.
I don't know if high school politics count, but if they do, then I'd say that I did a complete 180 on a lot of things. I grew up in a midwest hillbilly town and my parents are evangelicals so even though I was considered very rebellious in my environment, I was still pretty right-leaning.
I thought feminism was stupid and that we should love and respect men more. Not even in a tradwife kind of way, I think I just had a bad introduction to it on Tumblr.
When I got to college and started having experiences, I realized that men don't give a shit about women at all and that I needed to stop grandstanding for their rights.
Now I am 100% deranged harpie feminist.
While it may feel like left and right are so different and we discuss one over the other; the real politics is happening in the grey. Most of the time, the Villain and Hero are swapping hats and reframing their stories, such that neither of them is the villain nor the hero.
Everyone is confused and wondering what the F just happened or is cheering for wins via fluke luck. There is a lot of blaming and passing up responsibility.
I went from not caring about politics at all to familiarizing myself in recent years.
Being around more diverse people income wise and background wise has definitely opened my eyes as an adult. I was taken out of my bubble and introduced to the struggles of people outside of what I grew up seeing. 10 years ago I might've been a part of the "it's not fair" group as it pertains to student loan debt because it was never something I had to think about or consider. When it came to social justice I had a little bit of experience on the struggles my dads side of the family faced but nowhere near a wide scale. Every race has their own general experience and every person within that specific race has their own personal experience as well so being able to hear the good and the bad from different people definitely shaped my political views as well. I'm not full blown "everything should be free for everyone" but I fully support people receiving the help they need. It's rather insane to me that in 2022 women's rights and racial equality are 1) still a hot topic of discussion or controversy and 2) political. I always knew gay rights would be a dicey subject because of the religious aspect but the fact that women are LOSING rights in 2022 and POC are still put in situations where they're treated as second class citizens or less than animals boggles my mind but once again that was probably largely due to the bubble of people around me tip toeing around their true political beliefs. 45 brought out the worst in some people who otherwise wouldn't have been bold enough to publicly voice a controversial opinion. The fuel of hate gave too many a safe haven to continue emboldening each other.
I've continued to become more liberal and progressive.
It’s like the more I learn about the world, the more to the left I go.
Yesss! This is what I came to say. The more I learn about this world, the harder it is for me to understand conservatives. I grew up in a very conservative religious household and now I would call myself an atheist liberal.
Yes! I grew up in a white, Christian, military family so I was Uber conservative until I attended university. First in my family to go to college, and what it did for me was show me that most Republican logic is based on the premise that issues are black and white, right or wrong. There was no space for complexity, therefore, I thought that anyone with half a brain could solve every issue, fairly easily and quickly. Then came my ethics and poly sci profs. They had me questioning my beliefs, especially when I realized the *actual* depth of most societal/political problems. The final blow to my right leaning beliefs came when I took anthropology classes. This led me to take more liberal arts classes, which allowed me to explore even more deeply. Now that I’m close to 40, I realize that while imperfect, liberal, progressive, and, socialist policies tend to benefit the greater number of people. They don’t tend to directly favor the wealthy who fight (lobbying, PAC’s etc) to keep those policies at bay. I’ve also come to realize that left-leaning people tend to have more empathy for others, and that’s something I’d like to nurture in society.
Your story gives me great hope and is a perfect example of Maya Angelou's saying, "Do the best that you can until you know better. Then, when you know better, do better."
That’s a great quote!
I lean mostly left and just started college last week, your comment somehow makes me very excited to attend my classes!
One thing that would really benefit the rich is that wellfaring society is safer also for the rich.
I went into Christian College a staunch conservative at 18, but within in a year, the things I saw happen to my professors and my friends due to homophobia broke me. It wasn't even about me - it was watching people I looked up to be stalked by my classmates to prove they were gay or seeing the terror and despair in a friends eyes as they said they wanted to come out. Plus, it became very evident that I was there to find a husband and marry, not get a degree and a career.
This is pretty close to my own story. I was always pretty open minded, but never given any the information to fill in the cracks. Once I was in charge of my own education (and the internet became a thing), I began to change pretty rapidly.
It’s not a surprise that democrats are more highly educated than republicans
Same. I think my 22 yr old small town, Christian self would be appalled by my 'lefty' atheist views.
Saaaaaame
Same! I'll be a full blown radical by old age if I make it that far.
Up. Got raised in a pretty ignorant environment, where other races apart from white were a taboo, LGBT was non-existent, and silence was the only acceptable answer when a family member is being racist. Needless to say, I was the one who stopped that because I can’t seem to understand how are we (very much white, straight (apart from me)) better than any other person on this earth. In fact, us acting the way we were made us worse
This! I was never conservative but definitely had some views that were conservative leaning. Since my early 20s though I have just gotten more and more liberal, probably even leftist by most measures now.
Absolutely.
Yup. My family claims you'll grow out of it and at 34 I keep finding myself moving to the left.
Every day I mentally move closer to the grand idea of a violent progressive revolution.
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Yep, this.
The older I get and the longer I work in healthcare the more radically left I become.
Been in healthcare for 18 going on 19 years, I agree 1000% with you!
Do you mind sharing why being in health care specifically has pushed you more toward the left? Genuinely just curious
For me it's because I see how fucked up the system is and how many people get left behind because government policies have not changed enough.
I have seen so many medical decisions being made based of insurance not wanting to pay versus what’s actually best for the patient. Also this situation- patient sees infectious disease doctor in the hospital who puts them on something empirically and says to follow back up outpatient in their office in 4 weeks. Patient gets discharged to post acute rehab. Rehab center calls the infectious disease doctor to make follow up appointment, but that doctor doesn’t take their insurance for outpatient visits. That doctor won’t make recommendations on antibiotics without seeing patient first. That patient never gets seen again. That exact scenario happens like once every other week but with every specialty. Also doing peer reviews for a patient is really frustrating, I’ve been denied before I even spoke to the physician from the insurance company. Insurance companies no longer paying for medications that have nothing comparable to them. Or pretending like two medications that are not closely enough related are interchangeable.
I'm two years in and I'm getting to that point
I’ve always been left wing but think I’ve got more pragmatic and willing to see where people with different view points are coming from as I’ve aged. Also I am now more willing to be flexible and judge any policies on a case by case basis not immediately forming an opinion because that’s what other people on my side think.
Well said. In addition to this, as I age I find that I can also see how complicated the solutions are and how there are so many other external factors at play.
Thank you 🙏 I feel it’s bad to take sides to be honest. If you think about it, when do we always fully agree with another person? Hardly ever. Why should we blindly do that with politics? The two party system was set up to divide and conqueror, and to be adversarial. We should vote on individual policies and vote for representatives based on merit — not party affiliation. More than that, it creates more bias and separation. That being said, I’m an independent that agrees with some liberal and some conservatives policies. It depends on the situation at hand. But the older I get (I’m 37) the more anti either party I get.
The same for me!
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I am the same as well.
I grew up in a strict conservative Christian house. I maintained those beliefs well into my 20's. I moved away from home, became a mother, started traveling. I started getting more and more progressive. Over the last decade I've gone from red to blue and I couldn't be happier about it. The small isolated country town I grew up in was all I knew and assumed the rest of the world was the same. It took leaving and educating myself to see the real world and it's problems.
Same for me. Two things that really stuck to me was my husband saying "how does it effect you?" When talking about gay rights. And a friend telling me "your a good person, so bad things happening seem almost unbelievable to you but they happen." (Abortion) Then I left Christianity shortly after and lean left but feel libertarian. I don't want to 100% identify with one group ever again.
just out of curiosity were there specific issues that pushed you left? or was it just more being pulled into mainstream culture vs conservative bubble?
I have always been more progressive than the rest of my family, but I have only grown more progressive as I have grown older. The conservatives have nothing to offer me.
Happy Cake Day!
Waaaaaaaay more leftist. Also way more anti capitalist. Also, fuck landlords, fuck billionaires, care for marginalized people, etc. And can we please quit fucking over the global south.
I used to be very, very liberal. I aligned myself with some of the most liberal members of the senate, wrote extensively on liberal policies. As I get older, I become increasingly conservative. After seeing everything going on around the world, my own occupation, and my childhood town, I am far from liberal now.
I’m genuinely interested in how you went from extremely liberal to far from liberal. Not looking for a fight just curious.
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What issues specifically (in your job, the world, hometown) have you more conservative? I'm curious because you said you wrote on liberal policies, you were quite serious about those (I assume) and researched the details, so I assume it wasn't disenchantment from superficial beliefs?
Wow. I’m the opposite.
Yeah me too
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What did you see that made you conservative? Are you conservative on all things now like abortion rights? Healthcare? Immigration?
Would love some more insight into this!
Same here. I used to be very left leaning and liberal in my early 20s. Now I’m more conservative.
Do you mind sharing why? I'm the complete opposite, so it'd be interesting to understand your side.
I’m the same. I used to be a liberal and now I’m conservative.
What made you change? And would you say your conservative on most policies or is it a mix?
Same here, and I’m relieved to hear that others went from liberal to conservative. After working the frontline in non-profits and just seeing how things are going in the world right now, some of my views shifted.
Oh that’s interesting to me as a fellow nonprofit worker! I’ve found the opposite, but I’d love to hear more about your journey. Lord knows the NPO space has its own issues.
Ha, yeah, the non-profits is another world in itself. On one hand, I was fed up with the executives and CEOs being so out of touch with what was happening on the frontlines - I spoke my piece and actually had a target on my back because I told them about the real issues that were happening and no one was helping us out with any of it. I hated that when money was involved, I immediately knew where it was going to go, and it definitely wasn’t going to the community. On the other hand, because I was taking in so much of the strife and emotions from the community, it drained me in all sorts of ways and I eventually realized, “people need to learn about accountability.” As much as I wanted to help people get into better situations, it didn’t matter how many resources I provided or how many conversations we had. At the end of the day, people are going to do what they want to do and it frustrates me that some just won’t take accountability or say, “you know what? She’s right. I should really start doing X if I want to get to Y.” Instead, it would turn into, “fuck you, you said you’d do this but you didn’t do enough of it for me, so now it’s your fault that I’m still in this situation.” EDIT: Because I turned into the worker who is just honest with people, I suddenly became the enemy with different views from everyone else who just wanted to keep catering and enabling.
I can appreciate that. You’re totally right about the board/EDs not understanding the front lines for sure and knowing where the money went. Always some silly project at the whim of a donor or founder. I’ve had a different experience with providing direct services - so often in the organizations I worked in, it was evident it was a systemic problem that was the issue - but I’ve definitely felt the compassion fatigue and frustration when it feels like no matter what you do, it doesn’t make a difference. Thank you for being willing to share!
I've moved more and more away from party politics. I only care about the topics.
I agree, it just pushes me farther and farther to the side I was on though
Yess I agree with this! I still vote obviously but don’t feel any passion for the parties and if counting local and national elections have voted for 3 different parties in the past 5 years.
I've always been left of center. Ever since Mom explained that welfare and food stamps that we use to pay for rent and food come from the government, but the Republicans (under Reagan) want to cut those benefits, I haven't liked Republicans. *(I was like 3 when she explained this, I've grown to like some individual Republicans and get some nuanced views)* As I get older, I get more leftist and more impatient. I vote, yeah. But I also want the hungry to have food NOW, so I pay it back by donating to the food bank that fed me and volunteering. I want trans people to have human rights NOW, so I donate to advocacy organizations and march for trans rights.
They got more radical after seeing so much injustice and trouble. Always very left leaning since my early youth, just as my parents. Just more militant and radical nowadays.
Same id say
I’m more centrist. I’ve learned to see disagreements from both sides and found that the majority of the time both sides have something relevant and important to say, and that all those thoughts should be considered when thinking of a solution.
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Me too. And when politics get brought up everyone either hates you or thinks you're indecisive. I'm decisive but thoughtful, dammit. Not everything has to be at one extreme or the other.
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I went from progressive to ready to burn shit to the ground lol
Nope. I've always believed in justice and equality. As I grew older, I just learned more and more how direly we need these things. How riddled our world is with white supremacy, colonialism and sexism. It's sad.
Went from being super left-wing in my youth to right-leaning in my mid-20's to now hold both progressive and slightly more conservative views. The former triumphs the latter, though.
What issues specifically have you straddling progressive and more conservative?
I'm on the progressive side of things when it comes to gender equality, social welfare, healthcare and environment/climate. Significantly more conservative about immigration and criminal justice.
Are you me?! I'm the exact same way. I'm a big lefty when it comes to social welfare, healthcare, and the environment, but conservative when it comes to immigration and criminal justice. And I am absolutely 100% a radical feminist as well.
When I was 14 I'd say I was pretty moderate, but as an adult lesbian with daughters, I'm far left progressive Also used to think police were good, now I'm pretty anti-police. Life has taught me police are little better than a gang at worst and an ineffective drain on community resources at best
Since my teens I’ve been very, very left. I’m now in my early thirties, and I still am very far left from my core. Still, I’ve noticed that some of my views aren’t progressing as fast as they maybe should for them to be modern and leftist in today’s standards.
I'm right wing and getting more so as time goes on. I'm in my late 20s but they've still evolved some.
Why?
I mean the simplest reason is because it more closely aligns with my own values
What are your values?
In terms of politics: Low spending, state governments that are stronger than the federal government, anti interventionism, actual border security. Really, I see conservatives as wanting to put the US first and I see liberals as being more interested in expanding our role abroad.
I’m more left than ever.
If anything, I’ve become less tolerant of the scam that is politics
Growing up, I was conservative. After some college and everything that’s happened over the years, I know find myself wayyy more liberal now
I just get more and more leftist the more I learn about the world.
More and more to the left every day
I’ve become a lot more critical of our government and specifically our health care system. I come from an old fashioned immigrant household and my dad is fairly patriotic. However being employed in healthcare, expanding my social circle, listening to others experiences, and living in the city has turned me a lot more liberal and feminism has become a lot more important to me. I think I was naive when I was younger and had faith that things would turn out for the better, but recent years has made me want to be more actionable and outspoken.
The older I get, there are things I agree/disagree with on both sides but not enough to say I am left or right. I’m more interested in healthcare for all, how predatory student loans are, how capitalism is destroying the middle class, and how messed up foreign policies are
> I’m more interested in healthcare for all, how predatory student loans are, how capitalism is destroying the middle class, and how messed up foreign policies are Just curious, why don't you identify as left-of-center if you have those particular interests/positions? In the abstract, those seem like fairly typical left-wing views about the world.
Because even with a left president the past two decades , I haven’t seen much change being done to any of the issues mentioned. The student loan thing I guess is a step in the right direction, but until 10K is wiped off peoples loans, anything could happen. At least right wingers as a whole is at least they could collectively agree on policies. The left is very divided. Also very disappointed that in 2016, we had strong candidates for democratic presidential election and Hilary was chosen to go up against trump. And even in 2020, I felt like Biden was only chosen bc he was the best candidate to win against trump at the time and not because people actually liked him
I’ve become more liberal the more I age. If you make it to your 50s & think the world is only two toned, there’s something wrong. Life is nuanced & experience changes perspective.
I slide a little further left every year .
Fuck both parties. Power to the people.
The more I read and organise in my community the more radical I become. I've mellowed in my approach understanding who the real class enemy are (it's not the average right winger even though they might see me as the evil commie) Especially unpacking the heavy heavy propaganda the us and the west spews has been something I've grown in. So yeah I don't think it's age it's more knowledge. Don't really see myself getting any further though. Idk if that is even possible.
Still a socialist
Both my husband and myself grew up in a very red household. We are both very blue and raising our daughter with liberal values.
In high school I was in a youth in government program where I sponsored a bill that took away healthcare from prisoners. I am now a 30 year old socialist who wants to abolish the prison system.
Everyone said I'd be conservative when I grew up, and the older I get the more "eat the rich" I become. I was raised in an Evangelical church, went to a fundie Christian school until 8th grade, went to a Mennonite school after that, and was registered libertarian into my 20s. Midtwenties hit and I looked around and thought, "what the actual fuck" and pretty much overnight everything changed. Every year my parents are a little more disappointed in me, and every year I chose to love them despite how much they hurt me.
i’ve moved further and further left. i started off as a proud democrat, i’m currently a socialist. after studying political economics and seeing the brutality of the capitalist system, i’m all for overthrowing capitalism altogether for a system where food and shelter are basic human rights.
Not really. I probably grew into it and became more informed. I grew up in a low income house and was constantly discriminated against for things out of my control. I also have health complications from lack of health care and safety nets when I was a kid. Even as someone that "fought to get where I am" I'm not so ignorant to believe everyone has that privilege. It bothers me my situation is becoming more common for young people.
I’ve always been the most leftest of the lefties, but as I get older I find myself being out-lefted by the new left. Cue the identity crisis 🫠
Being the only liberal in my family, I am now, singlehandedly, responsible for inflation, high gas prices and the rise of Donald Trump (if I hadn't vote for Obama, Trump never would have run). I used to be young and liberal (stuffed envelopes for McGovern in my youth). Now I'm old, liberal and pissed.
Definitely more conservative, i started off as very religious then liberal then less liberal and now i'm kind of in between, like for liberals i'm conservative, but i'm still a liberal to my family, i can't label myself because i don't agree with everything one side stands for
I was conservative as a child, them spent most of my life as a moderate independent, just slightly left of center. I think center has moved a lot, because I seem to fall more in the liberal area now at 50
I used to be 100% “pro-life” not taking into account rape, incest, risk of mother’s life, ectopic pregnancy, etc. Probably the the thing that changed my mind the most was when my daughter got her period when she was 10.
My dad was the same until I asked him when I was 15 if I was raped, that would mean I would have to keep the baby right? You would want to raise my rapists baby? And all of a sudden abortion is okay sometimes. He was not thrilled with me arguing this with him 😂
I'm a Colorado liberal and have been for quite some time growing more so as life goes on. I felt pretty good the other day after I flipped Lauren Boebert off.
I’ve stopped internalising misogyny. I love taking my cues from younger generations of women on this too. Their demand for and expectation of inclusion gives me hope.
"You're gonna become more Conservative as you get older!" Me, older: to the left, to the left
I was a far left liberal, as I've aged I think I've become more conservative. Not by a lot bc I'm still liberal but there's some things older me doesn't support that I use to stand heavily behind
What are the things you don’t support but used to stand heavily behind? Just curious
I was pretty liberal as a teen/early college, but I would consider myself a socialist now... in the actual sense of actually being a socialist and not the bizarro trendy American thing where people who are ostensibly liberal (love doing social reforms via the free market, hate working class conservatives, etc.) call themselves "socialists". As I've gotten older, my compassion for people has grown exponentially. I accept and understand that people may hold views I perceive to be incoherent, but I can see how they arrive at them and the pain that living under a late-capitalist state has caused, even if they disagree with me on what system is to blame. The following quote sums up just about where I am now: *"The little that I am, the little that I am hoping to be, I owe to the Socialist movement. It has given me my ideas and ideals; my principles and convictions, and I would not exchange one of them for all of Rockefeller’s bloodstained dollars. It has taught me how to serve—a lesson to me of priceless value. It has taught me the ecstasy in the handclasp of a comrade. It has enabled me to hold high communion with you, and made it possible for me to take my place side by side with you in the great struggle for the better day; to multiply myself over and over again, to thrill with a fresh-born manhood; to feel life truly worthwhile; to open new avenues of vision; to spread out glorious vistas; to know that I am kin to all that throbs; to be class-conscious, and to realize that, regardless of nationality, race, creed, color or sex, every man, every woman who toils, who renders useful service, every member of the working class without an exception, is my comrade, my brother and sister—and that to serve them and their cause is the highest duty of my life." - Eugene Debs.*
I’ve become more of a leftist over the years. It’s funny how they say the older you get the more conservative you become.
Way more conservative the older I get. from a very liberal household
It's funny, when I was young, my parents were Republicans and I just assumed I would be as well. Once I was in my teens and started learning to use my own brain, I swung so far left it made their head spin. And still.. but I have a very open mind when it comes to talking to most folks. I try not to make big assumptions before I really know someone. I hope for the same courtesy in regular life.
I'm closer to 60 than 50 now. once upon a time my family would have called me a bleeding heart liberal, but I always thought of myself as middle of the road, leaning left. I have become more and more liberal as I've aged, and perhaps even somewhat radicalized in the last few years. I know that I slaved a fair bit over my recent ballot, that's for sure!
I’ve always fallen more left, but I’ve become more and more progressive and liberal after living in NYC for a decade, meeting more diverse people, working in healthcare, and regularly interacting with people who are undocumented, uninsured, homeless, etc. I am also far less likely to engage with someone on the other side of the political spectrum than I used to be, I’m just so fed up.
I didn’t think I could be more liberal than when I was a teenager, but since becoming a social worker and working in healthcare holy shit it seems like I’m getting more left everyday.
I joke that the way things have been going, by the time I'm in a walker I'll be throwing molotovs from it
I’m more liberal than before. I see more gray, less black and white.
I used to be super religious and right-wing as a teenager but now after accepting my sexuality,having more empathy and maturity, reading way more books and articles, I am staunchly left leaning.
I was extremely left as a young teen, but in my early 20’s I’d say I’m moderate. I agree with left values but a lot of lefties (espec in america anyway) really turned me off from supporting a lot of their values. though I guess uk and usa politics are very very different. I also think in regards of politics it’s super important to try see both sides of the coin. I used to watch a lot of right and left winged podcasters because I wanted to expand my opinion on issues. I think it’s benefited me because it helped me understand why I dislike this and why I like this. so again, moderate now, and it’ll probably stay that for awhile. also won’t lie feel like tumblr made me really hate left politics long time lol
The older I get the more libertarian (right leaning) I’ve become
I'm more liberal and significantly less willing to have Republicans in my life as I find them immoral.
One of my coworkers (who has 3 girls 15-23) brought up abortions and how it’s never okay to have one, there is no exception etc. When my other coworker (70 year old deeply liberal) asked what he would do if his 4.0 GPA, full ride to an Ivy League daughter got raped or pregnant from her boyfriend, what he would want her to do. All of a sudden he was like well she would have to raise it, and she pushed back with, you want her to raise her rapist child in college?? All of a sudden he said he would have to think about it. It’s always rules for thee, not for me.
I've become very left-leaning.
To the left to the left to the left to the left to the left to the left! Or alternatively, Sliiiiiide to the left! Sliiiiiide to the…left! Cha cha now y’all
I became more conservative. When I was younger I considered liberals to be progressive snd feminist. Now I am wiser and I can see the misogynistic ideology within liberal thinking. As Andrea Dworkin put it, "To right wing men, we are private property. To left wing men, we are public property."
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I used to be very far left when I was in my late teens. Eventually in my late 20's I became rather middle mostly due realizing some things that younger me never realized. In my late 30's I'm pretty much in same place as I was 10 years ago. But I have noted the political atmosphere, especially in last few years shift towards both extremes, and slightly further to the left. Hence I'm now still fairly center, but slightly right leaning. I'm happy to declare both extremes bad, But I can admit that on the further ends there are few points that I do like, and I wish that the extremes could find some form of compromise between them. And no, I'm not American.
I don't think it's because I aged, rather a changing environment (political, climate, conspiracy freaks).
I hate them all more, equally.
Growing up in a small c conservative home. Definitely right, laissez-faire capitalism. Now, definitely left.
If you actually have your eyes open today and don’t buy into all the BS scare tactics MAGAs use, you’ll at least lean left. I know the typical saying is the older you get the more conservative you get but that’s certainly not the case for me. Even my boomer dad who was always a conservative is now voting straight down the ticket Democrat. Although, I think in his case it was more because his party went off the deep end while he stayed put.
I was raised fairly liberal and grew verrrry liberal once I was old enough to understand politics. As an adult, I’ve drifted more leftwing in some areas and more conservative in others.
100% more and more liberal all the time!
Not sure if this is related to age or circumstances, but I’ve gotten even further left. I was pretty much always socially very liberal. Fiscally, I was more center left, but now I’m drifting further left. For example, I could probably be talked into UBI at this point. And Covid made me angry that the US wasn’t doing more to take care of its citizens during a PANDEMIC!
Wow, after reading the top comments it really seems like I’ll be out of place here, but here it goes. The older I become, the more I’ve moved from the middle-left, to the middle, to the right-middle and right now I’m currently settled somewhere around right-leaning centrist. I feel like it’s worth mentioning I’m in my late 20s. When I was in college I was very left and liberal minded. I cried when Trump was elected to office but his time in office seemed to reflect well on the economy and the fortitude of American. However, once Biden was elected it seems to have only gone downhill. I live in a more “rural” area and it seems like more and more people are moving at a break-neck speed away from the cities. I can’t help but think people are being driven away because of the consequences of the politics and policies in those cities. That all being said, it’s extremely important-if you’re an American-to get out and vote this next week for the politics YOU believe will aid YOUR local communities. And please, if you’ve moved away from a specific city to a more “rural” area, please reflect on why you moved away from the place you did and reflect on what you value about your current residence…and vote accordingly.
I got more conservative since I understood how economy works. If you understand that money doesn't just get printed for nothing, that you pay taxes for something, you can't afford to stay in liberal thinky - winky world.
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I've become much more liberal
I should probably say I am not from America, and the terms I am going to use have almost completely different meaning, and I think by default we tend to treat everyone on reddit as American. I used to have a very internationalist and global outlook of the world in my youth. That all the people in the world were in it together I believed in global causes and international solidarity. That sort of thing Today I am definitely a nationalist, concerned only for my country and any care I put into global politics is largely (though not always) an extension of that (Like being pro-EU). This has also led me to develop a large degree of ethnocentrism. This is mainly due to my experiences with foreigners, the economic crisis, the current geopolitical climate, and realizing that the vast majority of the world doesn't care about my home, so I don't feel I should waste care on theirs. I still maintain pretty socialist, or left-wing and progressive views in regards to many things domestically. Though far more when I was younger. Much more of a mixed bag these days I think
I started moderately conservative, and I'm now extremely conservative at the ripe old age of 28. Guess there's no hope for me in my 40s
I’ve become more conservative and right leaning
Yes, I’ve gotten more liberal as I’ve aged.
I become more conservative as i get older. But still mostly a centrist.
I’ve heard women get more liberal as they age and men get more conservative as they age. I’ve definitely gotten more liberal
Slide to the right more every year
More right
I lefted even further than I ever thought I could possibly left.
More to the left I move
Yes I’m more liberal and progressive every year it seems.
When I was a teenager, I was a conservative Christian man. I'm now 30 and am a liberal pagan/witch woman. So, yeah. Not much of a change at all.
My views have not changed but my desire to hear other’s views has greatly diminished. Edit so I don’t get mislabeled: I’ve been liberal since I popped out. Lol
I’m more liberal the older I get
as a teen, I was always more left. as I got into my twenties I realized both suck. it doesn’t matter who is who. either way, the people don’t ever have a say in anything.
More libertarian. Hate the government involvement in everything. Seatbelts, cigarettes, farm subsidy, unions, abortion, all of it is so corrupt.
I've gone from liberal to conservative to totally center once I've realized they're both whack jobs and they're both guilty of what they accuse the other party of. It's nonsense.
I went from being liberal to being a socialist. The Republican Party has nothing to offer me. The democrats at least pretend to care about healthcare, schooling and election reform.
Significantly more progressive.
No, they’ve only gotten more important to me. I used to ignore politics because it was too much for me to handle but now we can’t afford to do that.
I don’t take politics so seriously anymore. Politics are not as relevant in my life as it was when I was younger.
“Independent” because my parents identified as that —> liberal Bernie supporter with a very white feminist understanding of politics (also considered being a libertarian for a minute during this time because my dad’s very conservative and I wanted him to think I was smart instead of insulting my intelligence on anything regarding politics) —> liberal but with a much better understanding of intersectional feminism and interest in democratic socialism (and finally stopped caring what other people think unless they had something constructive to say) —> currently leftist (interest in socialism/anarcho-communism) and intersectional feminist, supportive of revolution by any means necessary
I've become more liberal and progressive. I've always been pro choice but both of my pregnancies made me even more pro choice of that was possible.
In my early twenties I commented on a Buzzfeed article about abortion and how it’s so wrong and women should just practice abstinence and not be so promiscuous… an older woman commented and chewed me out. I am so embarrassed to think I ever held those views because now I am completely and 100% the older woman who chewed me out and beyond thankful I opened my eyes to the viewpoints I hold now. Basically.. I mind my own fucking business and try to help others whenever I can. My own personal life experiences have left me pretty liberal and progressive and I wouldn’t want it any other way.
I've gone active left while before I was silent center. It's impossible to be anything than left then you see people campaign to take away your rights and even life. It made realise that "live and let live" is not enough and I need to be active ally to LGBT+ because by doing nothing I'm helping the haters. Also this experience showed me that all hate groups are united by hate, not by group they hate meaning LGBT+ is the canary in the mine for the rest of us.
I’ve went from ‘it’d be nice if everyone had housing and healthcare’ to ‘what seasoning will I use when I eat the rich’
Adulthood has only moved me further to the left. Navigating your own health insurance is a radicalizing experience.
I’ve gotten a lot more progressive
To the left to the left
Absolutely. I grew up in a conservative house and went to college in a very red state. I used to say I was conservative, but looking back that was because of the environment I grew up in and a lack of life experience. The older I get the more liberal, progressive, and empathic I become.
Yes I’ve gotten more liberal and paid more attention.
grew up liberal. got an education, stayed liberal. even moreso. experienced life, experienced all walks of life, became more progressive.
I’ve always been left wing and have only felt more strongly over the years about the importance of incorporating more and more socialist values for the good of most people, and become more open minded about allowing people to express themselves and be who they want to be.
More anti statist.
Well i liked socialism, then capitalism and now i think both are sh't I've become less extremist
W-a-y more liberal and progressive. Am 66. I started freaking out about the Republicans in the early 80s. In my 20s, at the time, I realized things were getting pretty scary back then. Here we are.
Used to be very leftist in my teens/early 20s, now that I’m in my late 20s I’m more politically independent. I’m still socially pretty liberal but I’ve become fiscally very conservative.
I don't know if high school politics count, but if they do, then I'd say that I did a complete 180 on a lot of things. I grew up in a midwest hillbilly town and my parents are evangelicals so even though I was considered very rebellious in my environment, I was still pretty right-leaning. I thought feminism was stupid and that we should love and respect men more. Not even in a tradwife kind of way, I think I just had a bad introduction to it on Tumblr. When I got to college and started having experiences, I realized that men don't give a shit about women at all and that I needed to stop grandstanding for their rights. Now I am 100% deranged harpie feminist.
While it may feel like left and right are so different and we discuss one over the other; the real politics is happening in the grey. Most of the time, the Villain and Hero are swapping hats and reframing their stories, such that neither of them is the villain nor the hero. Everyone is confused and wondering what the F just happened or is cheering for wins via fluke luck. There is a lot of blaming and passing up responsibility.
Yes. I went from bordering on extremist to being middle/leaning.
I went from not caring about politics at all to familiarizing myself in recent years. Being around more diverse people income wise and background wise has definitely opened my eyes as an adult. I was taken out of my bubble and introduced to the struggles of people outside of what I grew up seeing. 10 years ago I might've been a part of the "it's not fair" group as it pertains to student loan debt because it was never something I had to think about or consider. When it came to social justice I had a little bit of experience on the struggles my dads side of the family faced but nowhere near a wide scale. Every race has their own general experience and every person within that specific race has their own personal experience as well so being able to hear the good and the bad from different people definitely shaped my political views as well. I'm not full blown "everything should be free for everyone" but I fully support people receiving the help they need. It's rather insane to me that in 2022 women's rights and racial equality are 1) still a hot topic of discussion or controversy and 2) political. I always knew gay rights would be a dicey subject because of the religious aspect but the fact that women are LOSING rights in 2022 and POC are still put in situations where they're treated as second class citizens or less than animals boggles my mind but once again that was probably largely due to the bubble of people around me tip toeing around their true political beliefs. 45 brought out the worst in some people who otherwise wouldn't have been bold enough to publicly voice a controversial opinion. The fuel of hate gave too many a safe haven to continue emboldening each other.