CDZ Do people's political leanings change over time?

320 Years of History

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Nov 1, 2015
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Not to be a republican at 20 is proof of want of heart; to be one at 30 is proof of want of head.
-- François Guizot

According to Pew Research, "on an individual level, ... many people’s political views evolve over the course of their lives. But academic research indicates not only that generations have distinct political identities, but that most people’s basic outlooks and orientations are set fairly early on in life. As one famous longitudinal study of Bennington College women put it, “through late childhood and early adolescence, attitudes are relatively malleable…with the potential for dramatic change possible in late adolescence or early adulthood."

The Center further cites Pew Research Center surveys over the past two decades also have found compelling evidence that generations carry with them the imprint of early political experiences.

Generations1.jpg


I became 18 at the end of the Boomer generation. I began my young adulthood as a Republican. By the the early 1990s, I had become an independent, and that is how I self-identify today. I don't know how that fits me into Pew's research, but it is what it is, and frankly, the qualities I want most to see in elected officials (candidates too) are overall intellect, leadership skill, integrity, and commitment to the principle of noblesse oblige. Accordingly, I was keen on Roosevelt, Kennedy, Carter, Bush I, and Clinton.

Interestingly, perhaps even surprisingly, I am not keen on Mr. Trump, but were he not so, without cause or need, insulting toward others, I could be. I'd have liked him even more had he stuck to his word and not agreed to forgo running as an independent if he didn't get the Republican nomination; making that agreement convinced me that he just isn't a man of high enough integrity for my taste. I could also be somewhat keen on Dr. Carson too but for his being a scientifically well educated person who denies the verity of evolution.

When I was younger, I was "all about" what a candidate thought on the issues. Now, I only care insofar as what they say is at least plausible and supportable. Far more important to me is whether I think they can effect their policies, and that matters more to me because I know darn well that upon taking office, every president discovers the folly of trying to implement a host of their campaign claims and intents exactly as they were presented before running for office.

So how have your political views changed over time? Have they? I know you don't think they will change from what they are now, but if they have before, they can and might again.
 
I guess I would fall under the early GenX category. :( Guess I really am a "freak" of my generation. I became politically aware during Clinton's first run, and like many young teens (I was only13 at the time), I was highly impressionable, and liked Clinton. Then, through and older brother, was turned on to talk radio, and changed dramaticlly to the far right. I have evolved even more. Not too long ago I would have self-identified as a Libertarian, learned more about the platform, and would not today. I guess I, too would self-identify as an independant, and am registered as such. I strongly disagree with the left on social, and many economic issues, but am no "Hawk" on foreign relations. In many ways I guess I am a Conservitive Constitutionalist, but, regretfully, know little about the Constituionalists' platform(there is only so much time in the day, and my time is precious). Do I see my political tendancies changing? No, but they may. Who knows what the future holds, experience in life changes me every day.
 
I was a moonbat till I was about 19 and started to question liberal results.

I did some reading and quickly abandoned regressivism once I realized what it truly is.

TY for your remarks and participating in the discussion.

I have to say that I don't cotton to labels. I don't much like to use them in association with specific individuals. It doesn't matter to me if someone is a liberal, conservative, regressivist, progressive, egalitarian, or something else. Indeed, I can do just fine without those terms. In my mind, they are of little good beyond giving folks yet another way to generalize.

Does it really matter whether someone/I be a "moonbat" or whatever? The reality is that rarely do any candidates or elected officials fully embrace the substance and nuance of every position in the same way I do. Some of them espouse some of them, others more of them and others fewer of them, but at any point in time, whether I'll support any given individual depends on what I think is called for at that moment, which of them I think will be most successful at achieving their goals. In short, what and whom I'll support issues from what I think, not what they think. Whatever label they adopt, or that others hang on them is irrelevant.

What's the value of having labels? Does one really need a label? Can one not merely state one's position on a topic and be done? Can one not merely learn another's position and agree or disagree? I'd no sooner be keen to (or eschew) examine or concur with someone just because they claim to be "conservative" or "liberal" or whatever, than I'd agree to jump off a bridge because "everyone else is doing it."
 
I was a moonbat till I was about 19 and started to question liberal results.

I did some reading and quickly abandoned regressivism once I realized what it truly is.

TY for your remarks and participating in the discussion.

I have to say that I don't cotton to labels. I don't much like to use them in association with specific individuals. It doesn't matter to me if someone is a liberal, conservative, regressivist, progressive, egalitarian, or something else. Indeed, I can do just fine without those terms. In my mind, they are of little good beyond giving folks yet another way to generalize.

Does it really matter whether someone/I be a "moonbat" or whatever? The reality is that rarely do any candidates or elected officials fully embrace the substance and nuance of every position in the same way I do. Some of them espouse some of them, others more of them and others fewer of them, but at any point in time, whether I'll support any given individual depends on what I think is called for at that moment, which of them I think will be most successful at achieving their goals. In short, what and whom I'll support issues from what I think, not what they think. Whatever label they adopt, or that others hang on them is irrelevant.

What's the value of having labels? Does one really need a label? Can one not merely state one's position on a topic and be done? Can one not merely learn another's position and agree or disagree? I'd no sooner be keen to (or eschew) examine or concur with someone just because they claim to be "conservative" or "liberal" or whatever, than I'd agree to jump off a bridge because "everyone else is doing it."

I use labels to organize things. Sure enough, not everyone exactly fits certain labels but if they're close enough it still works for me.

Generally libturds don't deviate from their dogma. There are some but for the most part they parrot the same insipid talking points and refuse to concede when proven wrong. Conservatives rarely concede either, but they're also rarely wrong. Conservatives can have a wide variety of opinions or degrees of principle.

For instance I'm rabidly pro-gun. I want all laws relating to the ownership of small arms repealed. I realize this is an extreme opinion and very few people agree.


 
I've learned it really didn't matter who is in control because big money is in control. The uber wealthy will make out like bandits at the expense of the rest of us. Some are just blinded by patriotism or plain too dumb to see it. If you aren't wealthy odds are way against you.
 
I used to vote for president based on stupid shit like their politics.

Now I just vote for the candidate with the least stupid looking ears.
 
Wonder if this says more about the presidents or how voters view the role of government?

I wondered that too. It seems as though there's a plausible case for the importance of winning the presidency rests as much in the winning party's ability to shape the future more so than the years of any given president's term.
 
I've learned it really didn't matter who is in control because big money is in control. The uber wealthy will make out like bandits at the expense of the rest of us. Some are just blinded by patriotism or plain too dumb to see it. If you aren't wealthy odds are way against you.

If you've not already read it, I strongly suggest you read Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States. Frankly I suggest that for anyone having an interest in politics, regardless of how they view themselves and their place in society.
 

This chart could also be interpreted as confirming age-related conservatism, absent some traumatic adolescent experience like WW2 or the Kennedy assassination. I would also like to know the degrees to which these groups voted R or D.

As an older boomer, I was raised in a family where all sorts of topics were subject to nightly debate. Since emotional outbursts and unsubstantiated generalizations were quickly ridiculed, I learned to check my facts and logic before offering an opinion. This also created a repugnance in me to simple-minded political slogans and appeals. As a result, I have tended to be personally liberal but politically conservative for most of my adult life.
 
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I started as a Conservative....voted for Reagan and Bush four times

Then, with Clinton, I saw what complete and total assholes were representing me
I asked....are these he people I want representing me?

Voted Dem ever since
 
You know, I grew up in a family that was staunchly pro union (my Uncle Bill and my Grandfather), and they were also very conservative and therefore very much Republican.

That is the politics I grew up with, and that is what I learned.

I also was very much for the Republicans and what they stood for, because that was the ideals I grew up with. However, when I started to pay attention to what was going on in the world (by this time I was serving in the Navy), I started to listen to what the politicians were actually for.

I thought that Bush Jr. was a fucking idiot and a moron, who was a puppet that was controlled by Cheney.

Since then? I've become an Independent, and look at what they are saying rather than blindly going along with party lines.

Personally? I like Bernie Sanders. I hope that he wins the White House.
 
I'm waiting for some struggling worker to run who hasn't gotten ahead and sees how the system is set up for him to fail. That's my guy.
 
Out it this way

One who holds the same unwavering beliefs is prone to rigid and inflexible thought patterns

Tell me do you want to be intellectually rigid and inflexible?
 
If I actually grew and learned stuff since I was a kid, then yeah, I would hope that my political views would evolve as I learn more.
 

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