Hey, long time no see. Wondering if anyone else has experienced a major re-evaluation of their personal beliefs/thinking as it relates to politics, and if so, what outcomes you've experienced because of it?
Right to Left
Left to Right
Unchanged
Hey, long time no see. Wondering if anyone else has experienced a major re-evaluation of their personal beliefs/thinking as it relates to politics, and if so, what outcomes you've experienced because of it?
It's clear that political labels tend to result in adversarial, low-resolution thinking but it's unavoidable for people to gravitate towards these categorizations to make sense of life.
Overall, I find that I'm becoming more jaded and resentful of many liberal values, especially in the face of cancel culture where both sides can be extremely disingenuous in their arguments.
For instance, I don't sidestep controversial topics like transgenderism but it's something you have to be very tactful about discussing because of the risk that comes with cancel culture.
TDLR, I am ranting and while I know more than I did 15 years ago, I haven't changed drastically.
My views have not changed, however how the world sees my views, has. My opinions used to be considered liberal, and now they are center.
I think as I learned more the mechanics of the world and got to know more people, I started giving more of a shit about other people's experiences. I've been pretty lucky, and had to acknowledge that it's not the only perspective. Cancel culture has been happening well before all of the current social movements IIRC.This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
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I think I can pretty definitively say that big L Liberals piss me off far more today than they did 15 years ago.
This country also disappoints me far more every day than it did 15 years ago.
Shaping up for the next 15 years to be pretty damn pathetic too
Originally posted by Thales of Miletus
If you think I have been trying to present myself as intellectually superior, then you truly are a dimwit.
Originally posted by Toma
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Welcome back! I was thinking, this was a username I haven't seen for a long time.
The more of my own money that goes towards our country. The more I feel I can hold judgment on it.
Maybe it's like a bad relationship, I have invested so much more after 20 years, it's hard to back away and not fight it out for your own views to be prioritized.
Also fuck all the non tax paying freeloaders.
Thanks man! I see value for my tax dollar in social programs and welfare for sure. I can't help but wonder if its as efficient as it could be though.This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
The problem I have with modern leftism is that it's no longer about uplifting your fellow man, but dragging everyone else down in the name of "equality". Crabs in a bucket mentality.
Where's the option for "I now hate all politicians and party's."?
Looking around
Wondering what became
Of what I once knew
I would say that cancel culture has become a lot more prominent with the advent of social media and its adoption by public figures, and not necessarily the current social movements.This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
But I agree with you, learning more about other people's experiences and finding common ground is important but difficult. That said, being middle class, I'm not really that interested in lower class experiences and would rather speak to what I think I know in the middle class strata lol.
I am becoming less certain of my politics I think. I don't know which way I've drifted.
I'm pretty disgusted at the attitudes and privilege of old white men, especially the carefree denial of that privilege. I think more could be done to improve equality of opportunity.
I'm grossed out by the way technology has seemed to reinforce stereotypes and hasten mob justice.
I have lost faith in many public institutions, and I see the same across society and that makes me sad.
I do think there's a huge value in the services a strong government provides, and that roles has a cost. I even think the amount of taxes we pay here is "about right". I don't think any level of government is currently doing a good job of providing those valuable services.
Last edited by ExtraSlow; 02-22-2021 at 08:27 AM.
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I think normally people drift left over time. Not sure if I have. I picked "unchanged" even though it's more like "unsure".
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I've drifted further to the right for most intents and purposes as I've witness too many examples of corruption and excess/waste along with intrusion into personal freedoms from left-leaning parties over the last couple of decades. My social politics (re: education, healthcare, welfare programs, etc.) are still in the left-leaning camp, but it's become obvious that left-leaning parties aren't necessarily about those things despite their soapboxing.
I'd identify as a Liberal in the defined sense of the word (i.e. individual rights, freedom, progressiveness, free enterprise) but Canada's so-called Liberal parties have basically become the opposite of classical liberalism and I despise them for it.
liberal
/ˈlɪb(ə)r(ə)l/
1.
willing to respect or accept behaviour or opinions different from one's own; open to new ideas.
"they have liberal views on divorce"
2.
relating to or denoting a political and social philosophy that promotes individual rights, civil liberties, democracy, and free enterprise.
noun
1.
a supporter of policies that are socially progressive and promote social welfare.
2.
a supporter of a political and social philosophy that promotes individual rights, civil liberties, democracy, and free enterprise.
"classical liberals emphasized the right of the individual to make decisions, even if the results dismayed their neighbours or injured themselves"
Distinction between big L and little l liberal is very important.
Originally posted by Thales of Miletus
If you think I have been trying to present myself as intellectually superior, then you truly are a dimwit.
Originally posted by Toma
fact.This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
In my experience it's the opposite. Or rather, as I mentioned, people's views have stayed approximately the same, but how newer generations view them has turned those views into conservative ones.This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
Generally people drift right over time. Which makes perfect sense. It seems like a great idea when you're young to provide for everyone, hippy love and all that shit. Then the more you start paying in taxes as you advance in your career over time and make more money, you start to want accountability of where that money is going. And you start to realize that providing for everyone is actually a ponzi scheme that is not sustainable. Then it becomes about what part of the spectrum you land on to find the balance of financial accountability and social welfare, and it's different for everyone.This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
The weird thing is that we all essentially talk like there is just left and right, when in reality most sensible people will identify as Libertarian whether they realize it or not. Most of us tend to think people should do what makes them happy, and that the government should be accountable to their spending. People that identify as conservative or right wing, generally only do so because they value fiscal conservatism. It's only the fringe extremes that want the government regulating abortion and sexuality, like some bible thumping hand of god.
While I think I have definitely softened over the years on many social issues and I have grown more fiscally conservative, I am not sure if it is my personal values that have changed a whole lot as much as the goalposts have moved on the scale. This then makes me question where it is I fit on the understanding of todays scale versus 30 years ago.
In the grand scheme of things I don't think I have changed a whole lot really as much as now they are the topics out in the front and centre now, but I do think the entire scale of politics has shifted left a notch or three so what is now considered conservative is more what liberal centre used to represent, and what is considered liberal now is what used to be considered more left. What is considered left today is just absolutely as scary as fuck.
Yea, but I feel even that differentiation has been so far lost that even when current [L]iberals claim to be [l]iberals they're lying. Same goes for [C]onservatives and [c]onservatives.This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
This is pretty much what happened to me as well. I started out my 20s thinking that because I had come from a "poor" home and moved out on my own at 18 so everyone should just stop whining and get a job. Meeting a lot of people who worked their way out from actual crushing poverty made me realize that there's worse things than having hand made clothes and shopping at Value Village, and that with the types of obstacles there are it's ridiculous to think saying "get a job" is going to be the solution. Yes people can make it out, but it's statistically and realistically unlikely.This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
Lately though I've started becoming pretty hopeless about the whole thing. I can't see a way to get money out of politics, but I also can't see how leaving everything up to corporations would be better. Also that everything on both sides is so half assed. If you want to get away from oil production, you'd better have a Plan B, not just vague words about diversification of the economy. Or if you're going to go all in on oil production, you'd better have a viable plan to get this shit to market. As it is now we're just floating in the middle of the river without a paddle.
Cancel culture bothers me because it's a small symptom of a much bigger problem: we as a species have no idea how to handle this level of connectivity.