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Of course you would not expect to change opinions on this forum. It's possible that the forum might be an influence in someone changing their minds but I doubt it. There are a lot of lurkers that read forums like this, they are more likely to be influenced than anyone actively posting here.
One reason for people to come to C-D is to get a deeper understanding of those that have a different viewpoint. What really underlies their thinking, what motivates them? Also, by writing out viewpoints on a topic, it helps organize thoughts and be better able to do some self assessment of your position. And forces you to do some research from time to time to see if some claim is true or not, or is an exaggeration.
I can't say the forum has actually changed my mind on anything, but i like to try to understand issues from multiple angles, and i really like to learn about points-of-view I might not have considered. I appreciate a well written, logical statement or defence of a position, regardless of my personal beliefs on the subject.
I was a "no guns, period" type of person until about five years ago, and then I saw how many people are not "gun nuts", but people who are collectors or target shooters -- or those who feel/have a legitimate NEED for a gun for protection.
However, I still have ZERO sympathy, tolerance or patience for anyone who allows a small child anywhere near a loaded gun.
P.S. On second thought, I don't know if I would have been aware as to how extreme some liberals actually are without the links posted on C-D. I am still a moderate, but the more I read some of these links, the less sympathy I have for some of the liberal causes. (I already knew how stupid and bigoted the extreme conservatives are, btw!)
I was a "no guns, period" type of person until about five years ago, and then I saw how many people are not "gun nuts", but people who are collectors or target shooters -- or those who feel/have a legitimate NEED to a gun for protection.
However, I still have ZERO sympathy, tolerance or patience for anyone who allows a small child anywhere near a loaded gun.
I'm convinced that when it comes to politics, it's impossible to change anyone's mind on whatever position they've taken. People have already made up their mind and only seek excuses to back their beliefs.
I grew up as a liberal, but switched to conservative sometime in my early 20s. Nobody convinced me to. I just changed my ideology after I decided to stop being so intellectually lazy.
Has anyone ever changed your mind or have you ever changed anyone else's mind when it comes to politics.
I think it's impossible to say. If someone's mind is changed, I wouldn't expect them to announce it here.
I grew up in an independent family, where everyone voted for candidates on either side of the ticket, and I was the most conservative of all of them.
But after I voted for Reagan in 1980, and then watched my small business, which had been flourishing, hit the wall when Reagan's policies put the entire country in a world of hurt, I became a liberal.
I decided to stop being so intellectually lazy, as I had a wife and 3 kids to feed. And I was older than you at the time, but only by a decade. I was in my early 30s then.
They were a greater concern than holding to the luxury of a political philosophy that nearly drove me to bankruptcy.
In the end, just holding my business together became such a strain that I ended up selling it, even though I was able to barely avoid going bankrupt and losing everything I had ever worked for.
I regretted selling it a lot at the time, but when Bush #1 followed Reagan, I realized I did the right thing, because the economy got no better under Bush.
In some ways, if a poster is knowledgeable about their subject. For instance, for years I had believed that all coal is 'dirty', but reading the postings by coalman, and studying information he has supplied, I see that I had been mistaken.
A person that is unwilling to learn new information, or learn a new way of looking at an issue (even if it does not change their mind on said issue), is a pitiful person indeed.
Of course, I had made a life-long habit of listening to knowledgeable people. I am fortunate to live in a city with a college (TCU), and I used to be in the habit of attending evening lectures by knowledgeable guests (which I also did during my college/law years). Of course, prior to the advent of the personal computer, such was one of the few ways of obtaining information or being exposed to new views. Another, of course, was reading books. If one wanted foolish opinions, one went to a bar (think Cliff of Cheers).
I have never been one to pledge allegiance to one political party or another. In my youth, I rather assumed that many people were the same way (save for some professional politicians, of course) and would vote for the better person in elections, or those that best represented their own viewpoints. I am now wiser in that respect.
Forums such as CD (and, years ago, on Prodigy) has taught me that there is a rather large class of people that are not open to any new thoughts, or have any willingness to learn. They will only seek out information that supports their opinion.
I started reading this forum in 2008, before joining in 2009. Even in that rather short period of time I have witnessed posters that 'changed their minds' on various subjects, without admitting to it, but only because of their allegiance to a particular political party, or to individuals within said party, had changed first. In other words, they follow the lead bull.
Indeed, some of these posters will maintain that a present belief they now uphold has always been their belief, and I find it rather entertaining to bring up some of their old postings to show how they have changed. Such people are not changing their minds on a subject due to new information, but merely because some person they admire changed his or her mind, usually for political reasons.
Of course, I also recognize that some posters that found their old opinions or beliefs to be 'inconvenient' in the present political climate, to simply de-register their old 'handle', and start a new one, in which they can express their new beliefs without danger of being called out.
Ah, well. Such is life. This is a forum for entertainment, which it certainly supplies in full.
We don't come here to have our minds changed, silly.
Ditto
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