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What led you on the path to a true political education?
For me it was Bill Clinton and his Empire of Lies.
Plus the fact that he was unfaithful to his wife and daughter. (If he didn't care about them then what hope did we have?)
Plus the fact that he shrugged at domestic terrorism except when it was performed by the U.S. government, in which case he commended it.
Plus the fact that he signed into law the ability for investment banks to be commercial banks and insurance firms too. That led to the housing depression.
Plus the fact that he never fired Alan Greenspan.
Plus the fact that he didn't use the "surplus" to pay down debt or shore up Social Security.
You should have titled this, "My rant about Bill Clinton." I can't imagine allowing one politician to change my entire political philosophy. To me, that sounds like someone who doesn't really have anything guiding his principles. It's more of a personal vendetta. Changing political philosophy based on one politician's actions is a way of feeling like you're getting some "revenge" on that person.
With that said, yes, I've become more conservative and libertarian in a number of areas - too many to mention here. Believe it or not, it's this forum that has changed my views more than anything else over the last couple of years. I'm thankful.
Last edited by AnUnidentifiedMale; 06-28-2011 at 06:30 PM..
Yes. I used to just not give a damn about politics back in middle school, and that was probably a good thing. For most of high school I was more on the liberal side of things. Now in college I'm more of a libertarian-leaning fellow. I think the turning point was near the 2008 primaries when I first heard about Ron Paul. I don't agree with all his positions but a lot of them simply make sense to me. I've always been a sort of "live and let live" person... I don't like telling others what they can't do with themselves and I don't like others telling me what I can't do with myself.
I've never fallen for the die-hard liberalism that was somewhat prevalent at my high school (let me put it this way: we got the day off for Obama's inauguration but I don't think for any other previous president, certainly not for Dubya). And die-hard conservatism strikes me as simply a different flavor of liberalism. A leftist will force you to be an atheist, a right wingnut will force you to accept god and Christ. One will say you can't smoke, the other will say you can't love someone of the same gender. One will spend too much money on welfare, one will spend too much on defense.
Yes. I used to just not give a damn about politics back in middle school, and that was probably a good thing. For most of high school I was more on the liberal side of things. Now in college I'm more of a libertarian-leaning fellow. I think the turning point was near the 2008 primaries when I first heard about Ron Paul. I don't agree with all his positions but a lot of them simply make sense to me. I've always been a sort of "live and let live" person... I don't like telling others what they can't do with themselves and I don't like others telling me what I can't do with myself.
I've never fallen for the die-hard liberalism that was somewhat prevalent at my high school (let me put it this way: we got the day off for Obama's inauguration but I don't think for any other previous president, certainly not for Dubya). And die-hard conservatism strikes me as simply a different flavor of liberalism. A leftist will force you to be an atheist, a right wingnut will force you to accept god and Christ. One will say you can't smoke, the other will say you can't love someone of the same gender. One will spend too much money on welfare, one will spend too much on defense.
Good to see somebody around here can throw up a good reply.
My Dad was a card-carrying Communist and I was raised on the "Communist Manifesto". My Mom, on the other hand, despised parasites and would rather starve than take any kind of charity. At twenty I read The Fountainhead, The Virtue of Selfishness and then Atlas Shrugged. Ayn Rand's defense of Capitalism put the Collectivist philosophy down like the rabid dog that it is. Impossible to go back after that.
My mind changed when I was in the 5th grade, Carter was in office and the hostages were captive in Iran for 444 days. I would watch the news like religion every single night. I liked Carter - his "peanut farmer" background and brother Billy was always a hoot!!
When Ronald Reagan was sworn into office... they were released.
The lightbulb flipped on over my head and in that instant my ideology switched to Republican.
I haven't reconsidered once... Although I do think we need to have a viable political party for conservatives who don't necessarily toe the Republican party line. If that party had legs, I might re-evaluate the party I belong to now.
My Dad was a card-carrying Communist and I was raised on the "Communist Manifesto". My Mom, on the other hand, despised parasites and would rather starve than take any kind of charity. At twenty I read The Fountainhead, The Virtue of Selfishness and then Atlas Shrugged. Ayn Rand's defense of Capitalism put the Collectivist philosophy down like the rabid dog that it is. Impossible to go back after that.
I was very far to the left until a couple months after Obama's inauguration. I used to be a Marxist-Leninist and my favorite spin on socialism was Castro's. Now I'm a freedom loving, free market (free market, not the corporatist market of today) person since someone linked me to Alex Jones and my sister's husband lent me his Arguing with Idiots book. I consider myself a Libertarian now and a Constitutionalist. I've yet to read Atlas Shrugged
Last edited by theunbrainwashed; 06-28-2011 at 05:43 PM..
I was very far to the left until a couple months after Obama's inauguration. I used to be a Marxist-Leninist and my favorite spin on socialism was Castro's. Now I'm a freedom loving, free market (free market, not the corporatist market of today) person since someone linked me to Alex Jones and my sister's husband lent me his Arguing with Idiots book. I've yet to read Atlas Shrugged
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