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I've spent 30 days or more in Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Kuwait, Iraq, Panama, South Korea, Burkino Faso, Slovakia and Egypt. Lived several years in Britain, Germany and Romania. Worked occasionally in West Berlin when the Wall was still up. Spent 6 weeks in Czechoslovakia and Hungaria with the Soviet army during a Warsaw Pact military exercise as an observer. I worked at US Embassy Mission Bucharest for month (in Romania during the Ceausescu regime). I was in Honduras for 90 days of hell.
I was a cop for over two years before becoming a detective sergeant.
16 years ago, I went back to university to get two more undergrad degrees, a Master's and PhD. I worked full-time and part-time instead of using Guaranteed Student Loans. Taught classes every quarter for two years. As a doctoral candidate, I was paid a $10,000 stipend. I'd teach class at 9:00 AM then bike over to LaRosa's Pizzeria and make pizzas from 11:00-2:00 PM then bike back for a class at 3:00 PM.
I always had to waste an entire class period teaching kids the Declaration of Independence, since the vast majority of them didn't even know how to write a simple essay. Yet, there they were, Guaranteed Student Loan in hand, whining like cry-babies, complaining the class was too hard (I taught intro to Foreign Policy and International Relations courses).
As a result, I lean very heavily toward the extreme Right-wing and am a strict Constitutionalist. I see government as causing more problems than the solutions it creates, and it never creates solutions; just more problems.
Location: Live:Downtown Phoenix, AZ/Work:Greater Los Angeles, CA
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I grew up in a liberal household, and my own experiences made me a liberal, with no help from my family. The first thing with me was religion. I never believed in God, and being forced to go to church by my mother always made me uncomfortable, so I eventually stopped going. My father had been an atheist since childhood as well, but was forced to attend church until he was 18 by his strict Catholic parents. I have always seen religion as a cult which is intolerant of outsiders or those who are different. I also was bullied in elementary school and junior high, which made me want something to stand up for the little guy.
I also started to see just how much things like education and healthcare cost when provided by the private market for profit, and realized that socializing them would be much more cost efficient and effective for a larger number of people rather than leaving those who can't afford them out in the cold
For most of my life I didn't pay attention to politics. I just voted GOP because the perception was that they were fiscally responsible and wanted minimal govt intrusion in private matters. I agreed with that.
After Dubya's totally fabricated BS invasion of Iraq, I started paying attention. Lo and behold, the Pubs weren't ANY of the things I'd been sold on. They drove up insane debt and wanted to intrude into the most personal and private matters of law abiding citizens. They'd been taken over by a proudly ignorant religious fringe that hated science and denied reality. They cater to the whims of overprivileged and incredibly greedy corporate interests that have gutted the middle class.
So, I don't vote Dem now because I embrace a lot of their agenda. I just vote their way because they (mostly ineffectively) oppose the crap that the GOP has devolved into.
My views have been shaped by feeling like the outsider. Some of my politics beliefs have been influenced by my family. My parents are Democrats. I think some of this could have been influenced by growing up as Blacks in during the 60s and 70s.
I grew up during the early 2000s. I was bookish(although I did do sports as well), nerdy, didn't fit in easily. I got bullied alot. I lived in a very conservative, Republican county that happened to have a sizable "redneck" element to it. As someone who lived in other places and had been to other places, I basically felt like I was at odds with so much around me.
Alot of this engendered in me a "look out for #1" mentality when it came to politics. With a few exceptions, that is how I was. The older I get, the more I find myself leaning Libertarian. One might thing, that as I am a believer in Christ, and I agree with family values, that I could be Republican. That possibility is always there. I did vote Republican in my first election, but then turned against the Republican Party after Katrina. However, I am leaning more Libertarian these days. This election, after seeing the worst of BOTH parties, I was like "do what you want to do, I'm getting mine".
Some of my politics have involved race. Being from a Black middle class home, but not feeling like I fit in alot. Being that guy who got the "you talk White" comments. This with some racial tensions I dealt with. No, I never turned into someone who was into the "Black power" stuff. I was more like "how do I fit into this society".
At the end of the day, I ask "what are MY personal concerns? What is important to me as it affects MY life?", as it relates to politics.
I was raised under the ideal that force should never be used to get what you want and to fight for what is yours because someone will try and take it from you.
But, long story short, I am now an "independent" who nearly always votes Democrat and am generally liberal. Once I actually studied the philosophical arguments for liberalism, I became a liberal.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Old Gringo
They drove up insane debt and wanted to intrude into the most personal and private matters of law abiding citizens. They'd been taken over by a proudly ignorant religious fringe that hated science and denied reality. They cater to the whims of overprivileged and incredibly greedy corporate interests that have gutted the middle class.
So, I don't vote Dem now because I embrace a lot of their agenda. I just vote their way because they (mostly ineffectively) oppose the crap that the GOP has devolved into.
As I mentioned in my earlier post, I tend to vote Democrat, but I didn't really say why. Old Gringo's response sums up a few of my gut reactions fairly well. The related philosophical arguments are, of course, more complex.
Growing up in a corrupt, third world country full of lying politicians, I developed a good sense of detecting liars & frauds. When I moved to usa, the politicians were far better than back home. But over the years honesty & patriotism took a back seat & I saw politicians pushing pc above everything else. I could see blatant lies, hypocrisy, deception & racism from the left extremists. I didnt care much before about being faithful to any particular party but now I am a conservative republican. Especially after liberal politicians started accepting big donations from middle east to sell refugees to their voters. Whatever was done to Europe was being planned for us & that was a deal breaker for me. I dont care who was corrupt or which party was worst in the past but I do care about the present & future of this country & for me Trump was the bully who could whip other bullies into shape.
I was raised in a Democratic Household. But Walter Mondale, Jimmy Carter, Hubert Humphrey...those guys are not around anymore as far as the Democratic Party. I was loyal to that party most of my life but the Obama Presidency opened my eyes wide. These are NOT the Democrats of even 20 years ago. This is something else. They don't care about jobs or unions.
I am a product of my upbringing. I grew up in the northeast in a place that was primarily upper middle class/wealthy, but I didn't realize until I was older that it was unusual in that it was very diverse. Most of the black families in the area (and there were many) were also wealthy. I did not grow up thinking that black = urban or any of the other nonsense you hear today. We also had a solid core of working class families, of all type from white, black, spanish, etc. But even as a kid it was clear some kids had families who struggled, it was not uncommon for some kids and families to have to get assistance for food or whatever in the winter when the fishing season was bad. They were not lazy, or stupid, or any of that and they certainly didn't deserve to starve in the street or be made to be ashamed because they had a bad season. I knew kids my age whose families valued education but due to circumstances out of their control they could not put in the hours the rest of us did on school work and extracurriculars. It seemed unfair that all this emphasis is on "education" as a way to improve ones circumstances, but those same circumstances prevent you from completely pursuing your educational goals.
I also believe society benefits me in many ways, but with those benefits comes responsibilities, and one of those is chipping in for all those services I use, but also the social safety net for the elderly or those who have fallen on hard times. I suppose it comes from gratitude, I truly believe "there but for the grace of god go I". Sure I work hard, I have earned my degrees, etc but the head start I got from my family advantages is priceless.
I've spent 30 days or more in Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Kuwait, Iraq, Panama, South Korea, Burkino Faso, Slovakia and Egypt. Lived several years in Britain, Germany and Romania. Worked occasionally in West Berlin when the Wall was still up. Spent 6 weeks in Czechoslovakia and Hungaria with the Soviet army during a Warsaw Pact military exercise as an observer. I worked at US Embassy Mission Bucharest for month (in Romania during the Ceausescu regime). I was in Honduras for 90 days of hell.
I was a cop for over two years before becoming a detective sergeant.
16 years ago, I went back to university to get two more undergrad degrees, a Master's and PhD. I worked full-time and part-time instead of using Guaranteed Student Loans. Taught classes every quarter for two years. As a doctoral candidate, I was paid a $10,000 stipend. I'd teach class at 9:00 AM then bike over to LaRosa's Pizzeria and make pizzas from 11:00-2:00 PM then bike back for a class at 3:00 PM.
I always had to waste an entire class period teaching kids the Declaration of Independence, since the vast majority of them didn't even know how to write a simple essay. Yet, there they were, Guaranteed Student Loan in hand, whining like cry-babies, complaining the class was too hard (I taught intro to Foreign Policy and International Relations courses).
As a result, I lean very heavily toward the extreme Right-wing and am a strict Constitutionalist. I see government as causing more problems than the solutions it creates, and it never creates solutions; just more problems.
With your world experience, I can see your points and certainly respect them. Thanks for sharing
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Why do you believe what you believe??
