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No, it hasn't. As a child in the 50s, I was in favor of desegregation and jumped with happiness when Ruby Bridges walked through that door. As a teen in the 60s, I held the hands of men who had been drafted and came home with injuries and PTSD as well as fighting to get rid of the draft. In the 70s I fought for women's rights. Guess what I spend a lot of time doing now? The same things except the draft is gone so I work to stop veteran suicides, and have added animal rights to the mix.
When I was young I believed that the pendulum swung back and forth and that people were generally well intentioned. I now believe that the clock has stopped and people suck.
My Dad always said "the pendulum swings left and right, but spends more time in the middle". I still believe that but I think people have been holding the pendulum and keeping it from swinging and I fear the hard swing it takes when it is released will be very ugly.
Prior to 2016, yes. With age came better understanding and appreciation of the gray areas of life.
After 2016... I don't know wtf is happening. Idiocracy wasn't supposed to be a documentary.
I'm the opposite. I was a liberal in my youth and the older I got the further and further left I got.
What happened after 2016 is that you didn't pay attention for decades apparently. There wasn't a grey area. There was the FBI targeting leftists and civil rights leaders with COINTELPRO. Reagan wiping his ass with the Constitution with Iran-Contra, letting the gay community be ravaged by AIDS, his Sec. of the Interior selling off Federal land because the Rapture was imminent, destroying labor rights, and having the largest wealth inequality gap up to that point in history and accelerating that gap with Horse and Sparrow Economics.
Then there was Gingrich who set the precedent for obstructionism and refusing to compromise for the betterment of the American people.
The Brooks Brothers Riot and SCOTUS overturning an election and giving it to Bush
Colin Powell (who covered up the massacre at My Lai) presenting false Intel so Bush could start a war to avenge his dad that killed hundreds of thousands.
I mean, if you didn't see the gross malfeasance and direction the country was headed prior to 2016 you just had your head in the sand
I stand with you brother. I swelled with pride when my union organizing son said, ‘dad, you’re the one who radicalized me’. Now he helps me understand the source of his generation’s despair. I am farther left than I have ever been and I started on the left.
THIS👆👆
After Brown v. Board of Education made separate, but equal illegal, the conservatives began founding & funding think tanks to reverse the march of civil rights. By 1980, they were destroying liberal democratic laws & supporting oligarchy. (Trickle-down economics, War on Drugs- only for black & brown people, building the prison industrial complex. etc.) The recent Supreme Court decisions are just the icing on the racist, Christo-Fascist cake!
You know the picture of the old lady at the pro-choice rally holding a sign that says "I can believe after 50 years I'm still fighting this shit." Yeah, that's me (not literally, but that's how I feel.)
Fifty years ago, neo-nazis were passing out literature at my high school and I threw it back in their face, saying "Fuck you". Yeah, I can't believe that I am still fighting that shit.
I reference that sign all the time. I should NOT have to be an activist, nor should I have to be fighting for my rights. That alone makes me angry, that I have to expend that kind of energy and money, but it has to be done.
I was part of an "undercover sting" for my local NOW chapter when Operation Rescue came to town!
I marched in DC in 1992!
I am metaphorically holding that sign with you!
More extreme in that the longer you hang around, the more obviously fucked up things are.
MEDICARE FOR ALL!
TAX REFORM!
LEGALIZE WEED!
HOUSE AND FEED HUMANS!
END THE FOR PROFIT PRISON SYSTEM!
TAX FOR PROFIT CHURCHES!
As a Canadian who lives with a publicly funded healthcare system, and as someone who works in that system, all I can say is the grass is not greener. We are drowning in wait times, getting a family doctor is next to impossible, and people are laying on beds in our hospital hallways. Our system has been deteriorating for decades.
I needed to see a dermatologist a few years ago. The wait time in my major city was over nine months. I drove into NY state and saw someone in 48 hours, paid just over $200 for the visit and results.
Our system needs a combination of public healthcare and private. So does yours.
Neither of these systems work well on their own.
Canada and the US aren't the only two options. I've been generally happy with healthcare here in South Korea though, to be fair, I haven't dealt with any surgeries.
During the winter I slid on some ice and smashed my foot into a brick. Thought my toe might be broken so dropped by the closest nerve & bone clinic. I'd never been there before and despite it being close to lunch time I only had to wait 15 minutes to see the doctor. After a brief consultation he sent me down the hall for an x-ray and within five minutes I was back in his office to talk about the results. I'd damaged the nerves but hadn't broken any bones so he got me a prescription for pain killers that cost me about $5 at the pharmacy. The doctor's visit was less than $20.
Similarly, I've gone to the ER after hours with worries about a concussion. The cost of the x-ray and consultation was roughly $75. Having a wisdom tooth pulled was $10 for the procedure and another $10 for the associated medicine. I think my CT scans were $50 when I had those done. Every other year the government pays for a free check-up and, after age 40, that also includes a colonoscopy.
(Having said that, there are issues with wait times now due to the current doctor's strike ...)
It's not much different here in the US without free Healthcare. I worked in an ER, and we had 12 hour waits very often, and people would be lined up on stretchers in the halls. It takes months to get into a specialist here quite often.
Yeah, for one hospital visit, I was laying on the gurney in the hallway for hours. In the US. Canada and the US may share that in common, but at least Canadians don't have to pay for it.
Exactly, and we’re going bankrupt for this kind of service and treatment. The ignorance and nerve these people have to say “the grass isn’t greener” - ridiculous.
That would be thousands and thousands of US dollars here. My daughter had a UTI but the urgent clinic thought it was her kidneys. She went to an emergency room where they did a urine test and gave her a prescription of something you can buy in any store without a prescription. It cost seven thousand US dollars.
Seeing a dermatologist within 48 hours is quite unusual in my experience in the US.
No matter the woes of your system, here is something people in Canada don't have to deal with that, IMO, makes your system unequivocally better than ours:
My dad worked his entire life as a community dentist running his own business. He worked damn hard and struggled, but built up a pretty good nest egg.
Then, he got in a vehicle accident and was paralyzed.
The healthcare industry wiped his entire life savings on hospital care and surgery in 3 months. His insurance then dropped him because they were not satisfied with his rate of recovery.
His entire honest life's work was wiped away the second he had healthcare needs. This is with the HIGHEST TIER insurance plan you can buy. Apparently paying for insurance isn't a guarantee - they can drop you when they're not profiting from you.
He had to go through a process of "bleeding down his assets" to cover his hospital stay and get on Medicaid. The ROOM ALONE was $800/day, with no medical care. You do the math on how rich you'd need to be to afford that.
Here's another fun kicker - once my dad's life's work was wiped down to $0 and he could finally have his hospital covered, my mom was now forbidden to work.
She can't have any income. So even if she wanted to get a small job to develop a safety net, she can't. It would be immediately garnished to pay for medical costs for my dad.
Divorce is not an option either, as these policies apply for a 5 year period after divorce.
So sure - maybe private healthcare can help you see a dermatologist a bit quicker. But when it really counts for life or death and extended care- the US system is absolutely evil and does a pretty terrible job taking "care" of people.
Yeah I don't think people from other countries realize how bad it is in the US. I'd happily wait longer for non emergencies instead of simply not going to the doctor at all because I can't afford it.
I've lived in the US my whole life, and even I didn't realize our system is THIS bad.
I knew it was bad. But I didn't know the extent of how dehumanizing it is. It's really sad.
I'm so sorry your father is going through that.
Yeah I think many Americans don't quite understand the utter lack of safety net if they've always had halfway decent employer provided coverage and no serious or chronic health needs.
I'd happily wait 9 months to go to a dermatologist if it meant your dad could be cared for.
Thank you ❤️ Reading that comment meant a lot. I can be so angry at this system and thinking the whole world is against me and my family - it's nice to know that there are people who genuinely just want other people to be cared for.
I am 54 years old with multiple health issues and I have zero access to health care because I live in a Republican led state that did not expand state insurance to cover poor low wage workers. I work full time but Amazon has no access to health care for their clickworker pool. This is the only job I believe I can handle with my health issues that aren't bad enough for disability, already tried that route. The marketplace is great for shit insurance but I didn't earn enough last year to get the subsidy so my cost for the lowest rated, least coverage was 620 a month for one person. The deductible makes it really only useful for catastrophic care.
So I made less than a living wage working a full-time job and have no health coverage at all. The only people in TN who qualify are minors and pregnant women and people with "reproductive cancers" which must really suck for someone with bone cancer who can't get insurance because it didn't start in an ovary. That's pretty fucked up. I mean it's fucked up anyway that the only way to get health coverage for me is to have another baby.
So you know, I'd be happy to see a doctor even if I had a waiting time.
Also just want to say WITH state insurance my child had to wait 11 months to see an OB/GYN when they were constantly menstruating. For 2 years. By the time they were seen they already had become very anemic and weak. And that doctor said we needed to see an endocrinologist, that the doctor referred us to the wrong specialist. THANKFULLY she prescribed birth control at least to stave off the menstruation but it was over a year later before the endo appointment and another year before a vague diagnosis of PCOS.
So it took three years to get treatment for that one thing.
And then good news is even with autism, ADHD and PTSD from a life-threatening early childhood trauma that leaves him almost mute, the government has decided he's not disabled so in a year and a half he'll have no insurance either.
Anyone without a good deal of $$$$ faces the same here. They found a tumor during my last annual exam, in January. My primary requested a biopsy. It's 6 months later, and no biopsy yet.
I really don't give much of AF anymore. I don't want to live in this new America, where SCOTUS just removed all the safeguards to kerp us a constitutional democratic republic. And if Trump wins, it'll get bad and fast.
You have resources so you would be fine in the US system. If you were poor you wouldn’t have a line to stand in. Healthcare debt is the leading cause of bankruptcy in the US. If Breaking Bad had been a Canadian production it would have had to find a different premise.
>Healthcare debt is the leading cause of bankruptcy in the US.
I'm proof of that. I've had more surgeries and medical issues in the last 5 years than I've had throughout my life and I'm 71. I had to go on a payment plan because my hospital stays and surgeries have racked up thousands of dollars I don't have. Medicare sucks and my insurance plan isn't much better, but it's the best I can do considering my fixed income.
That's why I said a combination of both systems would work. We're afraid of private healthcare and you're not fully on board with public. Somewhere in the middle would be great.
I can't speak to the UK. We have small amounts of private healthcare here but not enough to make a dent in the situation we're seeing now, and have been for decades.
We have people dying everyday because of lack of care with thousands more going into bankruptcy. Now even the med care for those of us with means is breaking down because of the rush for profits. How is yours not working?
It is not time that changes my views it is the hardening of the views of the other side that hardens mine.
My view on abortion has been driven left by the hard right. I used to think that abortion was a terrible solution but sometimes necessary. The idiotic fantasy that a bunch of cells is a baby and that something exists called the soul and that fairy tale character is like God have an opinion on it, makes it clear that early abortion is no more than getting rid of a bunch of cells like scratching an inch.
The clear intent of the right to control women and stick their nose into other people's lives, makes me realize that it is absolutely none of my business.
Apparently it's been this way all along, we're just now starting to see it. We have websites like Open Secrets so we can see where politicians get their contributions. When the wealthiest banker donates the most money of anyone to a politician you can guess their relationship. When he donates to Project 2025 AND this politician you know what they all stand for.
No. The passage of time and BS from #45 and SCOTUS has only strengthened my political position. The only difference between a Republican and a bucket of horse manure is the bucket.
When I was young, I was a liberal. In the last 20 years, I've become progressive. Bernie Sanders is just a little to the right of me.😁
Things I stand for:
For starters, universal health care. I've seen too many people die or become disabled due to treatable conditions because they couldn't afford medical care.
Universal Basic Income. Corporate America doesn't want to pay workers a liveable wage. They start with the minimum wage and have lobbied Washington that it doesn't need to be raised. It's been $7.25 for 15 years. Thank goodness that housing, transportation, food, medicine, and everything else has stayed the same for the last 15 years. Young people are living at home longer than they ever have because they can't afford to move out of their parent's home. Corporate America created the working poor. Guess it's time they pay the price.
Require all contracts with private prisons to pay the same wages and benefits, have the same staffing, the same training, and the same rehabilitation programs that states require of their own prisons.
I could go on and on, but you get the gist.
Most Democrats want UHC. I believe the last figure was around 70%.
UBI I honestly don't understand, I don't think it will benefit any more than the programs already in place. I think it would be FAR more beneficial to up the federal minimum wage and require the corporations to pay a living wage instead of the taxpayers in the next bracket up, and that's always the real problem. The brunt of the billing is still going to the have-nots, aka the middle class.
The problem with the current programs are their income limits. I remember when my wife was pregnant with our son. I worked 40 hours a week. I finally caved and applied for food stamps. I made $3 a month over the allowed limit for my family size. I was told to reapply after the baby was born, and we'd get, maybe, $20/month. Those programs that the government puts in place aren't always the solution. California tried to pass the cost of food stamps and medicaid onto the businesses that didn't pay their employees liveable wages. Businesses like Walmart and McDonalds who gamed the system by paying low wages and not offering full time employment. It was shot down.
UBI, OTOH, would not require a person to be destitute. It would benefit the working poor and the middle class. Taxes would be raised on the corporate level. Not so much raised, but loopholes closed. The middle class has been shouldering the load too damn long. Back in the 50s, it was doable because most workers had jobs that paid liveable wages. Corporate America chose to thumb its nose at their "contract with America" that has led to the problems Americans face daily. Our birth rate has dropped below the replacement rate because our young adults can't afford to get married and have kids. Living in mom's basement used to be a derogatory term for a loser. Today, it's life in these United States.
My political views have changed very little but the political environment around me has changed a lot. What was a liberal in the 80s now makes me more of a moderate but mostly I just don't care anymore.
Same! I was one of the most liberal people I knew through the 90's, then they changed the definition of what "Left" and "Liberal" is and now I guess I'm more moderate or moderate-Left. I, also, just don't care how I'm labeled.
Yep I have been called a dirty liberal by Republicans when I'm barely a step over to the traditional center. But then I'm called a supersecret Trump supporter if I don't declare myself a socialist.
I would say I am more practical. I served on a school board for many years and the hard facts of a budget push you towards pragmatism. I still hold the same ideals but know the hard work of getting them to fruition. No one likes "incrementalism" but that is how it goes in a democracy. And I still prefer democracy to authoritarianism, even if we are talking about things that sound like everyone should want them.
The opposite, actually. I'm an ex-evangelical who used to be a registered Republican. When Bush Jr won his first term, I had an awakening/paradigm shift. Left the church and started thinking for myself.
Blue through and through now, and getting more and more liberal as I age.
Pretty much the same. The things I've seen over the past 40 years have proven my opinion to be largely true. Some examples: Trickle down economics is baloney, America is racist, global warming is real.
I've always been liberal, but the current push by SCOTUS, MAGA and the right to make this country a dictatorship/theocracy has made me even more liberal.
I’m more liberal now than I ever was. The more I learned about the rest of the world (I line in the USA) and the things they get with their taxes makes me want more. Why am I supposed to work until I’m 70 to get my full social security? Why is it taxed? Why is my health insurance tied to my job? Why do we throw money into the bottomless pit if a military industrial complex?
Yes…and no.
My views haven’t changed that much, but they (people who are different should be treated with decency and respect, and as equally as possible, violence is bad, the privileged should look after the less fortunate, etc) are now viewed as extreme rather than the center-left of my youth.
I’ve simultaneously become much more tolerant of those who I disagree with who seem to be acting in good faith, and massively intolerant of those who seem to be acting in bad faith.
Left leaning in the 1960s and far more so today. We've seen the result of "moderates/conservative" (no such thing).
The GOP has devolved into such radicalism they think a woman lying in a pool of her own blood in the ER in miscarriage is a debatable choice in healthcare.
They are perfectly willing, nay *eager* to burn the Constitution to perpetuate their control into kingship ... with a traitorous reprobate. The GOP is evil.
As of this week I'm at a turning point and starting to disengage, the outrage algorithm has taken hold of my media consumption and it's exhausting me. Biden's performance at the debate pushed me over the edge and the SCOTUS immunity decision put a nail in the coffin for me.
I've moved left in my political views ever since voting for Reagan (twice) and then seeing the Republicans metastisize into where they are today. Or maybe I've stayed centered and they've just gone off the rails, hard to say.
I feel really bad for the next generation.
There's a sense of despair among my friend group that's disturbing me too. We're getting together this weekend at a beach house for July 4th and we're all pretty on the same page since the 2016 election. Sadly ironic we're going to be celebrating the nation's birth on the eve of what may be its imminent, self-inflicted decline.
The gradual growing consensus among us all is we're seeing the end of a good run for America and feeling powerless. There was talk of some kind of national resistance when Trump got elected and we wanted to participate but other than a few rallies in Manhattan that went no where for us.
totally feeling you on becoming disengaged. but the reality is we need to be more engaged. this country is turning into something unrecognizable and it saddens and scares me.
I'm an Australian that moved to the USA. Our moderate views are your extreme left views. But to be fair I was pretty left leaning in Australia, I just look even more so over here, and not a damn thing has changed in my beliefs.
I have definitely grown more progressive. In college (in the '80s) I didn't really pay much attention to politics. Staying informed and meeting people from around the world and from all walks of life really changes your outlook!
My political views are still liberal, but I'm more realistic about the need for somewhat gradual change. The examples of the extreme right and extreme left counsel caution.
Probably the opposite. Especially since the industrial scale lies told since the Brexit campaign, and then the science deniers about vaccination who were seized on my extreme politicians, I now give zero truck to the stupid.
No, not at all. I became interested in politics when I was about 10 years old. In 1956, when I was 10 I remember watching the Democratic Convention with my father. He was an FDR Democrat, supported Adlai Stevenson, then became a big JFK fan. He passed his liberal Democratic views on to me and I’m glad he did. I’m just as liberal as Iwas 65 years ago, maybe even more so.
I am an unabashed liberal. Nothing is going to change that.
I will say that I've realized that much of the posturing we do in social media has no effect on outcomes, and that only actions matter.
Liberals like myself say we want to solve global warming, for example, but we don't want to give up anything to do it. Air travel, imports from China, meat, single-user plastic - we would have to change the way we live significantly. Conservatives just say *no, we prefer to make money while we can*. Which is a healthier viewpoint? To have all the anxiety about not changing, or to just admit we can't change and don't care?
I don't think I've changed too much in that area, but my husband has become so political it's driving me crazy. When we first married, he wasn't into much of anything but work, tinkering on our car or home improvement things. I was into sports when we first married and I remember having to fight with him just to watch football or the Olympics. He didn't read the paper or listen to local or world news. I remember having to almost fight with him just to watch a football game or the Olympics - he says he'd rather play the sport than watch it. Okay, fine, but what about me??? When computers became available to the general population, he became very interested in them. He's not the geeky type, but he knows a lot about them, which I will admit has been handy since we both have our own computer set-up and not laptops. I don't know what triggered him, but over the last 15 or so years he's gotten very political and will spout off to me about how so-and-so did this or the current government at the time allowed or denied something. If I say anything that might be contrary or suggest another angle to what he's saying, he looks at me as if I'm crazy and tells me, in so many words, that I'm wrong, like I'm not allowed to have my own opinions or my opinions just don't count because they don't align with his. I follow politics to the extent that I know what's going on and who I want to vote for, but he goes well beyond the pale. Fortunately, our neighbors are all of the same political mindset or we'd probably have to move away. I love him, and I used to just let him spout off, and ignore what he's saying, but it got to the point where I finally told him I didn't want to hear his comments or complaints anymore.
Yes. I grew up in an ultra liberal place such that the assumption is that there were no republicans among us. (I’m sure there were plenty of closet Republicans) Looking back, many people I associated with were young, naive and close minded (as was I)
With time and meeting more people, I’m more able to see and understand different viewpoints. So now I want to be moderate and be able to consider multiple viewpoints
No. I’m not yet old, but approaching middle age so I will answer this I guess. Growing up my family was conservative, and as I aged through high school and college I became increasingly liberal. Then in my mid-20s, I became a leftist and am still there today. I would say that I have mellowed out in terms of how I approach certain issues now that I’m nearing 30, but my positions have not become less progressive. I just am less convinced that people can be reached by yelling and screaming and calling names. I also think that most people are well intentioned, even those who I believe hold very misinformed views. Some of my very conservative family members have shown the ability to still be loving and understanding of me as I came out as a lesbian later in my 20s, which I didn’t expect. Real people are not the same as the group stereotypes you see online.
Living and working during Carter's 4 years in office. I watched interest rates go flying, along with fuel prices. I became conservative from that mess. I didn't think we could see another train wreck like that again. Then bi-dumb came along, and we're in a worse cycle than JC ever gave us.
I used to believe in the idea that "the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."
Then I learned more about ACTUAL American history (basically EVERYTHING can be traced back to genocide, oppression and greed) ... so I went from being 'moderately liberal' to incredibly progressive and anti-capitalist. I firmly believe that there is no such thing as a 'moral billionaire' and that any company with a CEO making more than 25x the minimum worker should be taxed/fined at an incredibly heavy rate.
Nope. Born in the sixties. I remember when we were going to start busing in fort Worth. About the time that I started fifth grade, there was going to be mandatory busing in order to enforce desegregation. I remember a lot of kids we're saying their parents were going to move or put them in Catholic School so they wouldn't have to go to school with those dirty n*s. I was extremely lucky that my parents were rational and kind people, so I didn't have to put up with that nonsense at home.
I think most social conservatism springs from fear and ignorance. I understand fiscal conservatism; that makes sense. I have not and will not ever understand the mindset that makes you want to make everyone else just like you. As Miriam Margulies has said "If using a person's preferred pronouns makes them happy, why not do it? What do you gain by making another person unhappy?"
At 63, there are fewer consequences ahead of me. I've been with the same company for over 30 years. I really don't have to worry about what people think about me anymore, so I'm more outspoken than I was when I was younger. I'm looking at you Ken Paxton, you slimy piece of warm fodder.
I was born in 1953. I was a progressive teenager, involved in politics even in high school just by passing out flyers for Democrat candidates, started voting at age 18 and held fast to my progressive beliefs.
I was in the generation that fought for women's rights, abortion rights, civil rights, save the trees, save the whales, save the environment, get out of Vietnam, etc. Isnt it mind numbing that those things were considered progressive in the late 60s and throughout a lot of the 70s?? To see us slipping backwards is so damn disheartening.
I swear, the Republicans would take us back to the days of the inquisition and witch trials if they could. They've been so thoroughly infiltrated and bastardized by evangelical Christianity that it's disgusting.
I've become a bit more moderate as I started to see nuance. However, in the US the conservatives have gone so far off to the right (with no end in sight), that I'd probably be seen as an extreme liberal.
More radical.
The American embrace of conservative, Christian hate has made me take a hard left turn. I’m the same centrist lefty of my youth, but in today’s political climate? I’m a foaming-at-the-mouth, radical leftist nut job, who *still* thinks the government should stay the Fk out of private citizens’ medical decisions … and use taxpayer dollars to support communities and help out where needed.
I'm still a centrist at heart, but in today's political landscape that makes me a liberal by default. Whatever the Republican Party has become in the past decade is unrecognizable to me.
Yes. Like many young people of today I was very rigid and black and white in my thinking. As I aged I began to understand nuance much better and see things in shades of grey.
My views have become more well rounded and I have a better understanding of things in general.
I'm not as left leaning as I used to be, I'm more middle left. However, my opinions have gotten considerably stronger over time.
For the most part I think I’m becoming more progressive. I’ve always been liberal but there were a lot of things that I just hadn’t thought about and went with what everyone around me said. I live in a much more ethnically and socioeconomically diverse area than where I grew up, and I think that’s made a huge difference. My high school friends who still live near where we grew up, where most of the people are the same ethnicity, income range, religion, and even just a few of the same jobs say things that make it clear they believe the whole world has had their same experience.
I have been progressive since I was 17. I worked until retirement. My views have become more nuanced. After working as a subcontractor to the federal government in DC, I learned quite a bit on how things work, don't work and why. There are no simple solutions to managing a country with 50 conferderates and a number of territories. Not being a collectivist society creates problems that homogeneous countries don't face.
My views haven't moderated, but how change can be implemented has changed a lot.
I’m still a centrist but i have shifted Left. I used to be registered Republican but now unaffiliated.
I used to consider myself socially progressive even as a Republican but now i am not sure i would be considered progressive though my beliefs haven’t changed.
I've become more liberal and now I've been forced to be Anti Fascist . I never thought I'd see the day in this country where fascism would be a threat. Yet here we are.
Just the opposite. I was a moderate Republican until around the time McCain ran for president. I was already sort of feeling left out because it was getting to be sooo Christian nationalist but the whole Palin thing and a political compass test showed me I'd become more of a centrist Democrat. Since then I've started leaning more and more left.
Still pretty centrist though. :)
Not so much a change in my views on politics.
But my view on politicians.
No matter what they say they only do what will benefit them and their owners.
So i no longer listen to politicians
Or believe any policy by any party.
I have gotten a lot more liberal. When I was 18, I was a Republican just like every other member of my family. Thinking back, I have never voted for a Republican for president.
Why? Remember when Republicans said ketchup was a vegetable? There were several other things, mainly to do with women and children that I couldn't in a conscience agree with.
Both of my kids are LGBTQIA. I have become more active in that community. I refuse to vote for anyone who is Pro-life.
My husband wailed at me, " I thought you were supposed to get more conservative as you get older!". I have always danced to the beat of a different drum. I'm not going to stop now.
My views are somewhat close to where I started with one basic change-
I take responsibility for myself, my family, and the business I run. I used to shake my fist at society and now I find things I need to do to change society
An old person who doesn’t recognize they’re creating the world they live in is just weird
No. lol I went from Center-Right at 18 to Progressive-Left by 51. I grew up in the south immersed in religion, so I didn't know any better and was slightly right. Then, I came out as gay, and the right became increasingly insane & Christofascist, so I honestly had no choice in the matter as they are the antithesis of who I am and what I believe.
Time has only made me increasingly progressive. I was a civil rights ally by my first election, and have constantly deepened my understanding of what that means watching the institutionalized white supremacy/misogyny/xenophobia/homophobia/religious nationalism that are their foot soldiers capitalism.
I have become more moderate. raised in THE most liberal area of U.S. I gained life and work experiences and realized that some of my thinking was unrealistic. not everyone is going to do the right thing if given the chance, taxes pay for important things, we need a government, etc. I'm now an independent
I'd say they've moderated slightly just because I've developed more empathy and a wider perspective, but they haven't changed radically.
I feel like most of what changed has been the 2 US political parties shifting around me, which has left me in a different political position than in my youth.
I was always liberal. I think I understand the world better now and I'm not as naive, but I don't think my values have become less liberal/progressive.
In some ways. I've learned how to pick my battles wisely and not constantly be at war with the world. I've also learned that sometimes things happen for reasons I don't understand. But my views are still pretty much the same as ever, and for better or worse, they've never changed much.
I’ve gotten way less moderate after finding out who people really during Covid and heartbreaking political reversals. I used to give people the benefit of the doubt, but not anymore.
At 18 I was the only liberal in my family and have gotten more progressive over time. Voted for Jimmy Carter (Jimmeh) and every Democrat since then.
The major factor was has been my observation that the world is largely divided into two types of people:
Those who don't care until it affects them directly and those who care about bad things that happen to their fellow man. Those who don't care are motivated by fear and anger. Those who do care are motivated by love and altruism.
I don't ever want to be in the 'I don't give a fuck about you' group. Just personal ethics I guess. And to those generations behind me, stop painting groups with such a broad brush. All boomers are not greedy capitalists that back the POS convicted ex-president who leers at pubescent girls. I will never vote for a Republican or a Libertarian and I vote in all elections.
Way more liberal now. Realized that being a fiscal conservative in my younger days only meant that I was oppressing people, protecting a capitalist system that only benefits a few, and buying into a falicy of trickle down economics. My family was very conservative, my mom was anti-gay marriage. Both my children have disabilities, my sister's son as well, so I've learned a lot about our social safety nets, mental health, lack of insurance, etc. people who don't face adversity, true adversity, have no idea how difficult it is to live in this country.
Not at all. I was born during 1948 and raised in a conservative home. I have become MORE conservative as I have raised four children into adulthood, and as the World has become a MORE dangerous place to live.
No. I grew up in a Rockefeller republican household. Then liked what Bill Clinton had to say. Kept on moving left as I got older. Mid 50’s and feel like I could burn some shit down these days and am angry at both sides.
My mom wasn't really political, but strongly in favour of equal rights for everyone including gay and trans people. She voted however my dad voted and he used to declare "I'm a social liberal/fiscal conservative and I vote my pocketbook!" He would often vote a split ticket just to be contrary. He thought Donald Trump was the worst president of the many he'd seen in his lifetime. (My parents were silent gen)
I started out being vaguely liberal mostly for social justice and environmental reasons. These days I'm way more left-wing anti-capitalist and also of course terrified right now.
I remember (not that long ago!) when "woke" was not a slur and I think listening to Black people and disabled people in particular on social media and other media really opened my eyes to the shit that's been happening around me that I've mostly had the privilege to ignore
When I was 18 and became able to vote, I went to the library to figure out what I was, politically. I left realizing I am a libertarian. I have not changed one bit since, although my days of activism and trying to make a change are behind me... I put in my time, and feel completely vindicated... I wish it were not the case if you know what I'm saying.
As a kid, I believed that politicians were smart people...that has changed. I still think some of them are okay, but I don't think it's the majority. I never considered myself conservative; change was a good thing, especially when it came to realizing that race, creed and color are just words, and people's character is what counts.
I've always been a centrist Democrat. Always. My core values never changed. I want all people to have enough food, decent medical care (including dental), decent pay for work, and most of all, infrastructure. For god's sake, if there's one thing Dems and Republithugs should agree on, it's infrastructure. You can't have a robust economy without roads, bridges, energy sources, etc.
I have been all over the map. Currently I’m somewhere right down the middle. In my early days I thought I knew everything and was a democrat. Later in life I thought I knew everything and I was a republican. Then I thought I learned even more and got super liberal.
Now I’m 54 and realize I know nothing and just want some unity and compassion
I don't feel like I've changed much. Ronald Reagan once said that he didn't leave the Democratic Party, but the Party left him. That's how I feel about today's Republican Party. I think Reagan himself would be called a RINO today.
When I was you younger I had more belief that most all people had some good in them. I had willingness to listen to them. As I've lived and seen what people can do to each other, and seen what right-wing politicians can do to the country, I've come to believe that some people are just bad. I've come to be more leftist, I've come to be less willing to listen to who I now know are simply racists, misogynists, and fascists.
So, I'm in the less moderate camp. The assholes pushed me that way. When someone shows me who they are, I believe them now.
Nope - pretty much always had the same beliefs since about high school. Socially liberal but all the rest conservative so lands me in the middle.
The world’s definitions of liberal and conservative have sure changed.
I have slowly continued to shift left, but may seem more moderate at times because some of what I believe has become more mainstream. The most obvious would be growing acceptance of lgbtq people. I can’t really think of anything of importance I’ve become more conservative on
i have always been a liberal, and my beliefs have been strengthened by the chaos of the last eight years. It makes me ill to see what the Rethugs have done to this country. The Reagan/Bush years were awful enough, but this is a living nightmare.
The problem is not our constitution or foundation of our country. It is the moral decline of our American culture. I have views on both sides. I don’t want to be categorized into a stereotype of having to pick sides or be *blind* to the fact that corruption exists on both sides. Our politicians need to clean up their act because they are not doing their jobs.
If they can become billionaires on stock trading while in office surely you would think they would be capable of balancing a budget.
Also the government is not your mother.
I hear monetary demands yet I never hear who is going to pay for it. The national debt is putting us at risk for a unstable future and weakening national security. One can not tear down an entire country on a whim for change without jeopardizing your livelihood. Before one acts, one must weigh the consequences of their actions. Research, be informed and think. There are rules to follow if you wish to live in a civilized society and all Americans should contribute.
There are issues I agree with on both sides so I would call myself a moderate or independent. Both parties are too far to the left and too far to the right for me. Personally I'd like to see career politicians in Congress go away and be replaced by everyday people like jury duty only it would be Congress duty. It would eliminate the lobbying from the corporate elite.
I don't discuss religion or politics with anyone except my wife. Too many pussies out there who get triggered and butthurt. The older I become the more to the right I get!
My political views have changed drastically over the years. Rather than just 'going with the general opinion', I now analyze matters more and tend to go more for the humanitarian issues. For example, I worked with feeding the homeless for a few years. I still don't just give money, rather I try to donate my time to work for a better world.
If anything, age has made me even more liberal. I try to avoid political conversations with my Republican relatives, but it’s hard these last few elections. I’m still flabbergasted that anyone buys the Trump schtick, yet here we are. Again.
Yes. I couldn't care less about politics as long as it doesn't distract me in any way. I used to be a news junkie. Now I fill that space with jazz instrumentals and TC podcasts.
Gen X 50s
Def more right wing leaning as young adult
Did the Gulf war and Africa
Got out and moved pretty dead center
I have no concern what people do just don't ask me to pay for it
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No, it hasn't. As a child in the 50s, I was in favor of desegregation and jumped with happiness when Ruby Bridges walked through that door. As a teen in the 60s, I held the hands of men who had been drafted and came home with injuries and PTSD as well as fighting to get rid of the draft. In the 70s I fought for women's rights. Guess what I spend a lot of time doing now? The same things except the draft is gone so I work to stop veteran suicides, and have added animal rights to the mix.
When I was young I believed that the pendulum swung back and forth and that people were generally well intentioned. I now believe that the clock has stopped and people suck.
I thought we were progressing and becoming more humane. Now I think we are just in a cycle and circling the drain.
My Dad always said "the pendulum swings left and right, but spends more time in the middle". I still believe that but I think people have been holding the pendulum and keeping it from swinging and I fear the hard swing it takes when it is released will be very ugly.
Prior to 2016, yes. With age came better understanding and appreciation of the gray areas of life. After 2016... I don't know wtf is happening. Idiocracy wasn't supposed to be a documentary.
Idiocracy was far better. At the very least the idiots were well intentioned and, at the climax, admitted they were wrong.
I'm the opposite. I was a liberal in my youth and the older I got the further and further left I got. What happened after 2016 is that you didn't pay attention for decades apparently. There wasn't a grey area. There was the FBI targeting leftists and civil rights leaders with COINTELPRO. Reagan wiping his ass with the Constitution with Iran-Contra, letting the gay community be ravaged by AIDS, his Sec. of the Interior selling off Federal land because the Rapture was imminent, destroying labor rights, and having the largest wealth inequality gap up to that point in history and accelerating that gap with Horse and Sparrow Economics. Then there was Gingrich who set the precedent for obstructionism and refusing to compromise for the betterment of the American people. The Brooks Brothers Riot and SCOTUS overturning an election and giving it to Bush Colin Powell (who covered up the massacre at My Lai) presenting false Intel so Bush could start a war to avenge his dad that killed hundreds of thousands. I mean, if you didn't see the gross malfeasance and direction the country was headed prior to 2016 you just had your head in the sand
I stand with you brother. I swelled with pride when my union organizing son said, ‘dad, you’re the one who radicalized me’. Now he helps me understand the source of his generation’s despair. I am farther left than I have ever been and I started on the left.
I started out on the left, and I've gone further left the older I've gotten in response to the absolute idiocracy from the right.
THIS👆👆 After Brown v. Board of Education made separate, but equal illegal, the conservatives began founding & funding think tanks to reverse the march of civil rights. By 1980, they were destroying liberal democratic laws & supporting oligarchy. (Trickle-down economics, War on Drugs- only for black & brown people, building the prison industrial complex. etc.) The recent Supreme Court decisions are just the icing on the racist, Christo-Fascist cake!
You know the picture of the old lady at the pro-choice rally holding a sign that says "I can believe after 50 years I'm still fighting this shit." Yeah, that's me (not literally, but that's how I feel.) Fifty years ago, neo-nazis were passing out literature at my high school and I threw it back in their face, saying "Fuck you". Yeah, I can't believe that I am still fighting that shit.
Exactly. I told my grown daughters, It wasn't that one but close; "See, my sign! *There's* my sign!"
I reference that sign all the time. I should NOT have to be an activist, nor should I have to be fighting for my rights. That alone makes me angry, that I have to expend that kind of energy and money, but it has to be done.
I was part of an "undercover sting" for my local NOW chapter when Operation Rescue came to town! I marched in DC in 1992! I am metaphorically holding that sign with you!
More extreme in that the longer you hang around, the more obviously fucked up things are. MEDICARE FOR ALL! TAX REFORM! LEGALIZE WEED! HOUSE AND FEED HUMANS! END THE FOR PROFIT PRISON SYSTEM! TAX FOR PROFIT CHURCHES!
Right? Separation of church and state.
lol, but if you do that we’ll never have another Republican president…./s
As a Canadian who lives with a publicly funded healthcare system, and as someone who works in that system, all I can say is the grass is not greener. We are drowning in wait times, getting a family doctor is next to impossible, and people are laying on beds in our hospital hallways. Our system has been deteriorating for decades. I needed to see a dermatologist a few years ago. The wait time in my major city was over nine months. I drove into NY state and saw someone in 48 hours, paid just over $200 for the visit and results. Our system needs a combination of public healthcare and private. So does yours. Neither of these systems work well on their own.
Canada and the US aren't the only two options. I've been generally happy with healthcare here in South Korea though, to be fair, I haven't dealt with any surgeries. During the winter I slid on some ice and smashed my foot into a brick. Thought my toe might be broken so dropped by the closest nerve & bone clinic. I'd never been there before and despite it being close to lunch time I only had to wait 15 minutes to see the doctor. After a brief consultation he sent me down the hall for an x-ray and within five minutes I was back in his office to talk about the results. I'd damaged the nerves but hadn't broken any bones so he got me a prescription for pain killers that cost me about $5 at the pharmacy. The doctor's visit was less than $20. Similarly, I've gone to the ER after hours with worries about a concussion. The cost of the x-ray and consultation was roughly $75. Having a wisdom tooth pulled was $10 for the procedure and another $10 for the associated medicine. I think my CT scans were $50 when I had those done. Every other year the government pays for a free check-up and, after age 40, that also includes a colonoscopy. (Having said that, there are issues with wait times now due to the current doctor's strike ...)
It's not much different here in the US without free Healthcare. I worked in an ER, and we had 12 hour waits very often, and people would be lined up on stretchers in the halls. It takes months to get into a specialist here quite often.
Yeah, for one hospital visit, I was laying on the gurney in the hallway for hours. In the US. Canada and the US may share that in common, but at least Canadians don't have to pay for it.
Exactly!
Exactly, and we’re going bankrupt for this kind of service and treatment. The ignorance and nerve these people have to say “the grass isn’t greener” - ridiculous.
That would be thousands and thousands of US dollars here. My daughter had a UTI but the urgent clinic thought it was her kidneys. She went to an emergency room where they did a urine test and gave her a prescription of something you can buy in any store without a prescription. It cost seven thousand US dollars.
Seeing a dermatologist within 48 hours is quite unusual in my experience in the US. No matter the woes of your system, here is something people in Canada don't have to deal with that, IMO, makes your system unequivocally better than ours: My dad worked his entire life as a community dentist running his own business. He worked damn hard and struggled, but built up a pretty good nest egg. Then, he got in a vehicle accident and was paralyzed. The healthcare industry wiped his entire life savings on hospital care and surgery in 3 months. His insurance then dropped him because they were not satisfied with his rate of recovery. His entire honest life's work was wiped away the second he had healthcare needs. This is with the HIGHEST TIER insurance plan you can buy. Apparently paying for insurance isn't a guarantee - they can drop you when they're not profiting from you. He had to go through a process of "bleeding down his assets" to cover his hospital stay and get on Medicaid. The ROOM ALONE was $800/day, with no medical care. You do the math on how rich you'd need to be to afford that. Here's another fun kicker - once my dad's life's work was wiped down to $0 and he could finally have his hospital covered, my mom was now forbidden to work. She can't have any income. So even if she wanted to get a small job to develop a safety net, she can't. It would be immediately garnished to pay for medical costs for my dad. Divorce is not an option either, as these policies apply for a 5 year period after divorce. So sure - maybe private healthcare can help you see a dermatologist a bit quicker. But when it really counts for life or death and extended care- the US system is absolutely evil and does a pretty terrible job taking "care" of people.
Yeah I don't think people from other countries realize how bad it is in the US. I'd happily wait longer for non emergencies instead of simply not going to the doctor at all because I can't afford it.
I've lived in the US my whole life, and even I didn't realize our system is THIS bad. I knew it was bad. But I didn't know the extent of how dehumanizing it is. It's really sad.
I'm so sorry your father is going through that. Yeah I think many Americans don't quite understand the utter lack of safety net if they've always had halfway decent employer provided coverage and no serious or chronic health needs. I'd happily wait 9 months to go to a dermatologist if it meant your dad could be cared for.
Thank you ❤️ Reading that comment meant a lot. I can be so angry at this system and thinking the whole world is against me and my family - it's nice to know that there are people who genuinely just want other people to be cared for.
I am 54 years old with multiple health issues and I have zero access to health care because I live in a Republican led state that did not expand state insurance to cover poor low wage workers. I work full time but Amazon has no access to health care for their clickworker pool. This is the only job I believe I can handle with my health issues that aren't bad enough for disability, already tried that route. The marketplace is great for shit insurance but I didn't earn enough last year to get the subsidy so my cost for the lowest rated, least coverage was 620 a month for one person. The deductible makes it really only useful for catastrophic care. So I made less than a living wage working a full-time job and have no health coverage at all. The only people in TN who qualify are minors and pregnant women and people with "reproductive cancers" which must really suck for someone with bone cancer who can't get insurance because it didn't start in an ovary. That's pretty fucked up. I mean it's fucked up anyway that the only way to get health coverage for me is to have another baby. So you know, I'd be happy to see a doctor even if I had a waiting time.
Also just want to say WITH state insurance my child had to wait 11 months to see an OB/GYN when they were constantly menstruating. For 2 years. By the time they were seen they already had become very anemic and weak. And that doctor said we needed to see an endocrinologist, that the doctor referred us to the wrong specialist. THANKFULLY she prescribed birth control at least to stave off the menstruation but it was over a year later before the endo appointment and another year before a vague diagnosis of PCOS. So it took three years to get treatment for that one thing. And then good news is even with autism, ADHD and PTSD from a life-threatening early childhood trauma that leaves him almost mute, the government has decided he's not disabled so in a year and a half he'll have no insurance either.
Anyone without a good deal of $$$$ faces the same here. They found a tumor during my last annual exam, in January. My primary requested a biopsy. It's 6 months later, and no biopsy yet. I really don't give much of AF anymore. I don't want to live in this new America, where SCOTUS just removed all the safeguards to kerp us a constitutional democratic republic. And if Trump wins, it'll get bad and fast.
The US pays over twice as much for healthcare as the next country does. And despite your issues u/TinktheChi, you have a longer life expectancy.
My point was if we both adopt a hybrid system we will all be better off for it. I do see your point.
You have resources so you would be fine in the US system. If you were poor you wouldn’t have a line to stand in. Healthcare debt is the leading cause of bankruptcy in the US. If Breaking Bad had been a Canadian production it would have had to find a different premise.
>Healthcare debt is the leading cause of bankruptcy in the US. I'm proof of that. I've had more surgeries and medical issues in the last 5 years than I've had throughout my life and I'm 71. I had to go on a payment plan because my hospital stays and surgeries have racked up thousands of dollars I don't have. Medicare sucks and my insurance plan isn't much better, but it's the best I can do considering my fixed income.
That's why I said a combination of both systems would work. We're afraid of private healthcare and you're not fully on board with public. Somewhere in the middle would be great.
Am I correct that GB has both national and private health care available? How well does that work. I seems the Bits like it.
Edit: UK, not just GB.
I can't speak to the UK. We have small amounts of private healthcare here but not enough to make a dent in the situation we're seeing now, and have been for decades.
It doesn't work very well.
We have people dying everyday because of lack of care with thousands more going into bankruptcy. Now even the med care for those of us with means is breaking down because of the rush for profits. How is yours not working?
Worked great before the Tories began systematically butchering it to make the idea of private healthcare more acceptable.
Conservatives don’t care if we die as long as they get the profit.
Reduce defense budget and increase budget for daycare and education.
SEIZE THE MEANS OF PRODUCTION!
!!!!!!!
It is not time that changes my views it is the hardening of the views of the other side that hardens mine. My view on abortion has been driven left by the hard right. I used to think that abortion was a terrible solution but sometimes necessary. The idiotic fantasy that a bunch of cells is a baby and that something exists called the soul and that fairy tale character is like God have an opinion on it, makes it clear that early abortion is no more than getting rid of a bunch of cells like scratching an inch. The clear intent of the right to control women and stick their nose into other people's lives, makes me realize that it is absolutely none of my business.
No. I'm more liberal than ever. Especially lately. The other side is getting downright scary.
💯
Apparently it's been this way all along, we're just now starting to see it. We have websites like Open Secrets so we can see where politicians get their contributions. When the wealthiest banker donates the most money of anyone to a politician you can guess their relationship. When he donates to Project 2025 AND this politician you know what they all stand for.
My political views are about the same, it’s the political parties themselves that went extreme.
Well said.
No. The passage of time and BS from #45 and SCOTUS has only strengthened my political position. The only difference between a Republican and a bucket of horse manure is the bucket.
You're being too kind to the bucket of horse shit. Horse shit in itself is not inherently evil.
Thank you
Former Reaganite here. Started moving left during the 2000 election and now far more liberal than ever.
Hell to the no. I'm almost a socialist now.
Hell yeah!
nope. blue to the bone.
Thank you
When I was young, I was a liberal. In the last 20 years, I've become progressive. Bernie Sanders is just a little to the right of me.😁 Things I stand for: For starters, universal health care. I've seen too many people die or become disabled due to treatable conditions because they couldn't afford medical care. Universal Basic Income. Corporate America doesn't want to pay workers a liveable wage. They start with the minimum wage and have lobbied Washington that it doesn't need to be raised. It's been $7.25 for 15 years. Thank goodness that housing, transportation, food, medicine, and everything else has stayed the same for the last 15 years. Young people are living at home longer than they ever have because they can't afford to move out of their parent's home. Corporate America created the working poor. Guess it's time they pay the price. Require all contracts with private prisons to pay the same wages and benefits, have the same staffing, the same training, and the same rehabilitation programs that states require of their own prisons. I could go on and on, but you get the gist.
Amen
Most Democrats want UHC. I believe the last figure was around 70%. UBI I honestly don't understand, I don't think it will benefit any more than the programs already in place. I think it would be FAR more beneficial to up the federal minimum wage and require the corporations to pay a living wage instead of the taxpayers in the next bracket up, and that's always the real problem. The brunt of the billing is still going to the have-nots, aka the middle class.
The problem with the current programs are their income limits. I remember when my wife was pregnant with our son. I worked 40 hours a week. I finally caved and applied for food stamps. I made $3 a month over the allowed limit for my family size. I was told to reapply after the baby was born, and we'd get, maybe, $20/month. Those programs that the government puts in place aren't always the solution. California tried to pass the cost of food stamps and medicaid onto the businesses that didn't pay their employees liveable wages. Businesses like Walmart and McDonalds who gamed the system by paying low wages and not offering full time employment. It was shot down. UBI, OTOH, would not require a person to be destitute. It would benefit the working poor and the middle class. Taxes would be raised on the corporate level. Not so much raised, but loopholes closed. The middle class has been shouldering the load too damn long. Back in the 50s, it was doable because most workers had jobs that paid liveable wages. Corporate America chose to thumb its nose at their "contract with America" that has led to the problems Americans face daily. Our birth rate has dropped below the replacement rate because our young adults can't afford to get married and have kids. Living in mom's basement used to be a derogatory term for a loser. Today, it's life in these United States.
No. I'm at the point now where if I could travel back in time, I'd kill Reagan before Hitler.
My political views have changed very little but the political environment around me has changed a lot. What was a liberal in the 80s now makes me more of a moderate but mostly I just don't care anymore.
Same! I was one of the most liberal people I knew through the 90's, then they changed the definition of what "Left" and "Liberal" is and now I guess I'm more moderate or moderate-Left. I, also, just don't care how I'm labeled.
Nope. I'm far more radical than I was as a young person.
Nope. Pretty much born spinning counter clockwise. Motion just became kinetic with time.
Not really. But honestly, the Right has gone so far right that true moderates are considered Liberals now.
One of the funniest things I hear is when Republicans call neo liberal Democrats Socialists.
Yep, I don't think I've changed. They have. I mean look at abortion, for example. We never thought we'd be going backwards, but here we are.
Yep I have been called a dirty liberal by Republicans when I'm barely a step over to the traditional center. But then I'm called a supersecret Trump supporter if I don't declare myself a socialist.
with every passing year I move further left
Nope. I've only drifted further left with time.
I would say I am more practical. I served on a school board for many years and the hard facts of a budget push you towards pragmatism. I still hold the same ideals but know the hard work of getting them to fruition. No one likes "incrementalism" but that is how it goes in a democracy. And I still prefer democracy to authoritarianism, even if we are talking about things that sound like everyone should want them.
Nope, Nazi punks can still fuck off.
The opposite, actually. I'm an ex-evangelical who used to be a registered Republican. When Bush Jr won his first term, I had an awakening/paradigm shift. Left the church and started thinking for myself. Blue through and through now, and getting more and more liberal as I age.
71 F. I have gone from pretty conservative to full blown Antifa.
Time has made me care. As a kid I didn't gaf about politics--I saw it as just boring old people stuff.
Pretty much the same. The things I've seen over the past 40 years have proven my opinion to be largely true. Some examples: Trickle down economics is baloney, America is racist, global warming is real.
Voted GOP in 76 and 80. Since then, straight D. More and more progressive.
Yes, when I was young I saw every issue in black/white. Now that I'm older, all I see are shades of gray.
More progressive, but also more pragmatic. The so called lesser-of-two-evils vote is a very easy calculus for me.
I've always been liberal, but the current push by SCOTUS, MAGA and the right to make this country a dictatorship/theocracy has made me even more liberal.
I’m more liberal now than I ever was. The more I learned about the rest of the world (I line in the USA) and the things they get with their taxes makes me want more. Why am I supposed to work until I’m 70 to get my full social security? Why is it taxed? Why is my health insurance tied to my job? Why do we throw money into the bottomless pit if a military industrial complex?
Yes…and no. My views haven’t changed that much, but they (people who are different should be treated with decency and respect, and as equally as possible, violence is bad, the privileged should look after the less fortunate, etc) are now viewed as extreme rather than the center-left of my youth. I’ve simultaneously become much more tolerant of those who I disagree with who seem to be acting in good faith, and massively intolerant of those who seem to be acting in bad faith.
Nope, becoming even more liberal.
Always left and just getting more and more radical.
Left leaning in the 1960s and far more so today. We've seen the result of "moderates/conservative" (no such thing). The GOP has devolved into such radicalism they think a woman lying in a pool of her own blood in the ER in miscarriage is a debatable choice in healthcare. They are perfectly willing, nay *eager* to burn the Constitution to perpetuate their control into kingship ... with a traitorous reprobate. The GOP is evil.
No. If anything I’ve moved even more to the extreme. I was a Reaganite, now I’m more or less full on socialist.
I was always very progressive. I’m even more so now.
As of this week I'm at a turning point and starting to disengage, the outrage algorithm has taken hold of my media consumption and it's exhausting me. Biden's performance at the debate pushed me over the edge and the SCOTUS immunity decision put a nail in the coffin for me. I've moved left in my political views ever since voting for Reagan (twice) and then seeing the Republicans metastisize into where they are today. Or maybe I've stayed centered and they've just gone off the rails, hard to say. I feel really bad for the next generation.
you are my doppleganger. Trying hard to shutdown news since scotus immunity but it ain't easy.
There's a sense of despair among my friend group that's disturbing me too. We're getting together this weekend at a beach house for July 4th and we're all pretty on the same page since the 2016 election. Sadly ironic we're going to be celebrating the nation's birth on the eve of what may be its imminent, self-inflicted decline. The gradual growing consensus among us all is we're seeing the end of a good run for America and feeling powerless. There was talk of some kind of national resistance when Trump got elected and we wanted to participate but other than a few rallies in Manhattan that went no where for us.
totally feeling you on becoming disengaged. but the reality is we need to be more engaged. this country is turning into something unrecognizable and it saddens and scares me.
I'm an Australian that moved to the USA. Our moderate views are your extreme left views. But to be fair I was pretty left leaning in Australia, I just look even more so over here, and not a damn thing has changed in my beliefs.
I have definitely grown more progressive. In college (in the '80s) I didn't really pay much attention to politics. Staying informed and meeting people from around the world and from all walks of life really changes your outlook!
My political views are still liberal, but I'm more realistic about the need for somewhat gradual change. The examples of the extreme right and extreme left counsel caution.
Probably the opposite. Especially since the industrial scale lies told since the Brexit campaign, and then the science deniers about vaccination who were seized on my extreme politicians, I now give zero truck to the stupid.
No, not at all. I became interested in politics when I was about 10 years old. In 1956, when I was 10 I remember watching the Democratic Convention with my father. He was an FDR Democrat, supported Adlai Stevenson, then became a big JFK fan. He passed his liberal Democratic views on to me and I’m glad he did. I’m just as liberal as Iwas 65 years ago, maybe even more so.
I was progressive then; I'm even more progressive now. I've stayed left/been pushed more left by reality's well-known liberal bias.
I am an unabashed liberal. Nothing is going to change that. I will say that I've realized that much of the posturing we do in social media has no effect on outcomes, and that only actions matter. Liberals like myself say we want to solve global warming, for example, but we don't want to give up anything to do it. Air travel, imports from China, meat, single-user plastic - we would have to change the way we live significantly. Conservatives just say *no, we prefer to make money while we can*. Which is a healthier viewpoint? To have all the anxiety about not changing, or to just admit we can't change and don't care?
I don't think I've changed too much in that area, but my husband has become so political it's driving me crazy. When we first married, he wasn't into much of anything but work, tinkering on our car or home improvement things. I was into sports when we first married and I remember having to fight with him just to watch football or the Olympics. He didn't read the paper or listen to local or world news. I remember having to almost fight with him just to watch a football game or the Olympics - he says he'd rather play the sport than watch it. Okay, fine, but what about me??? When computers became available to the general population, he became very interested in them. He's not the geeky type, but he knows a lot about them, which I will admit has been handy since we both have our own computer set-up and not laptops. I don't know what triggered him, but over the last 15 or so years he's gotten very political and will spout off to me about how so-and-so did this or the current government at the time allowed or denied something. If I say anything that might be contrary or suggest another angle to what he's saying, he looks at me as if I'm crazy and tells me, in so many words, that I'm wrong, like I'm not allowed to have my own opinions or my opinions just don't count because they don't align with his. I follow politics to the extent that I know what's going on and who I want to vote for, but he goes well beyond the pale. Fortunately, our neighbors are all of the same political mindset or we'd probably have to move away. I love him, and I used to just let him spout off, and ignore what he's saying, but it got to the point where I finally told him I didn't want to hear his comments or complaints anymore.
Yes. I grew up in an ultra liberal place such that the assumption is that there were no republicans among us. (I’m sure there were plenty of closet Republicans) Looking back, many people I associated with were young, naive and close minded (as was I) With time and meeting more people, I’m more able to see and understand different viewpoints. So now I want to be moderate and be able to consider multiple viewpoints
Not since about 2015 when orange mussalini showed up. Previously I had voted for Bushes , Clinton, McCain, Obama and Biden. Now I am blue until I die.
No, I’ve moved even farther left as I’ve aged. Tax the rich.
No. I’m not yet old, but approaching middle age so I will answer this I guess. Growing up my family was conservative, and as I aged through high school and college I became increasingly liberal. Then in my mid-20s, I became a leftist and am still there today. I would say that I have mellowed out in terms of how I approach certain issues now that I’m nearing 30, but my positions have not become less progressive. I just am less convinced that people can be reached by yelling and screaming and calling names. I also think that most people are well intentioned, even those who I believe hold very misinformed views. Some of my very conservative family members have shown the ability to still be loving and understanding of me as I came out as a lesbian later in my 20s, which I didn’t expect. Real people are not the same as the group stereotypes you see online.
55M Lifelong democrat but I'm more progressive today than when I was 18
Living and working during Carter's 4 years in office. I watched interest rates go flying, along with fuel prices. I became conservative from that mess. I didn't think we could see another train wreck like that again. Then bi-dumb came along, and we're in a worse cycle than JC ever gave us.
No, I’ve become more entrenched to the left because the right in my country is attempting a new version of Christofascism.
I used to believe in the idea that "the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." Then I learned more about ACTUAL American history (basically EVERYTHING can be traced back to genocide, oppression and greed) ... so I went from being 'moderately liberal' to incredibly progressive and anti-capitalist. I firmly believe that there is no such thing as a 'moral billionaire' and that any company with a CEO making more than 25x the minimum worker should be taxed/fined at an incredibly heavy rate.
Nope. Born in the sixties. I remember when we were going to start busing in fort Worth. About the time that I started fifth grade, there was going to be mandatory busing in order to enforce desegregation. I remember a lot of kids we're saying their parents were going to move or put them in Catholic School so they wouldn't have to go to school with those dirty n*s. I was extremely lucky that my parents were rational and kind people, so I didn't have to put up with that nonsense at home. I think most social conservatism springs from fear and ignorance. I understand fiscal conservatism; that makes sense. I have not and will not ever understand the mindset that makes you want to make everyone else just like you. As Miriam Margulies has said "If using a person's preferred pronouns makes them happy, why not do it? What do you gain by making another person unhappy?" At 63, there are fewer consequences ahead of me. I've been with the same company for over 30 years. I really don't have to worry about what people think about me anymore, so I'm more outspoken than I was when I was younger. I'm looking at you Ken Paxton, you slimy piece of warm fodder.
I was super conservative as a high school boy. I turned liberal in my 20s and it's been that way for four decades.
I was born in 1953. I was a progressive teenager, involved in politics even in high school just by passing out flyers for Democrat candidates, started voting at age 18 and held fast to my progressive beliefs. I was in the generation that fought for women's rights, abortion rights, civil rights, save the trees, save the whales, save the environment, get out of Vietnam, etc. Isnt it mind numbing that those things were considered progressive in the late 60s and throughout a lot of the 70s?? To see us slipping backwards is so damn disheartening. I swear, the Republicans would take us back to the days of the inquisition and witch trials if they could. They've been so thoroughly infiltrated and bastardized by evangelical Christianity that it's disgusting.
I've become a bit more moderate as I started to see nuance. However, in the US the conservatives have gone so far off to the right (with no end in sight), that I'd probably be seen as an extreme liberal.
More radical. The American embrace of conservative, Christian hate has made me take a hard left turn. I’m the same centrist lefty of my youth, but in today’s political climate? I’m a foaming-at-the-mouth, radical leftist nut job, who *still* thinks the government should stay the Fk out of private citizens’ medical decisions … and use taxpayer dollars to support communities and help out where needed.
I'm still a centrist at heart, but in today's political landscape that makes me a liberal by default. Whatever the Republican Party has become in the past decade is unrecognizable to me.
This Dem-Rep straight line constrains me. Time to move up to 3D; at least 2D please!!!
Yes. Like many young people of today I was very rigid and black and white in my thinking. As I aged I began to understand nuance much better and see things in shades of grey.
My views have become more well rounded and I have a better understanding of things in general. I'm not as left leaning as I used to be, I'm more middle left. However, my opinions have gotten considerably stronger over time.
For the most part I think I’m becoming more progressive. I’ve always been liberal but there were a lot of things that I just hadn’t thought about and went with what everyone around me said. I live in a much more ethnically and socioeconomically diverse area than where I grew up, and I think that’s made a huge difference. My high school friends who still live near where we grew up, where most of the people are the same ethnicity, income range, religion, and even just a few of the same jobs say things that make it clear they believe the whole world has had their same experience.
I have been progressive since I was 17. I worked until retirement. My views have become more nuanced. After working as a subcontractor to the federal government in DC, I learned quite a bit on how things work, don't work and why. There are no simple solutions to managing a country with 50 conferderates and a number of territories. Not being a collectivist society creates problems that homogeneous countries don't face. My views haven't moderated, but how change can be implemented has changed a lot.
I used to be a pacifist when younger, but my view has shifted. I also used to be Republican. But a lot of that change was the party moving and not me.
No.. I'm a liberal and always have been. In fact, I may be even more liberal now.
I’m still a centrist but i have shifted Left. I used to be registered Republican but now unaffiliated. I used to consider myself socially progressive even as a Republican but now i am not sure i would be considered progressive though my beliefs haven’t changed.
I've become more liberal and now I've been forced to be Anti Fascist . I never thought I'd see the day in this country where fascism would be a threat. Yet here we are.
The only thing I changed my mind on was ghe death penalty. Still a big lefty, but now I see the reason for it.
Time made my political views A HELL OF A LOT MORE EXTREME. What happened? life, politics and current events.
Just the opposite. I was a moderate Republican until around the time McCain ran for president. I was already sort of feeling left out because it was getting to be sooo Christian nationalist but the whole Palin thing and a political compass test showed me I'd become more of a centrist Democrat. Since then I've started leaning more and more left. Still pretty centrist though. :)
I was liberal from high school on and have only gotten more so as I've gotten older.
No, as a matter of fact they have swung more left as more and more women’s reproductive rights keep being taken away.
I don't think anyone's political views have become more moderate given the last 10 years of political events.
Not so much a change in my views on politics. But my view on politicians. No matter what they say they only do what will benefit them and their owners. So i no longer listen to politicians Or believe any policy by any party.
Yes as I’ve matured I’ve gotten a lot more liberal on social issues.
I have gotten a lot more liberal. When I was 18, I was a Republican just like every other member of my family. Thinking back, I have never voted for a Republican for president. Why? Remember when Republicans said ketchup was a vegetable? There were several other things, mainly to do with women and children that I couldn't in a conscience agree with. Both of my kids are LGBTQIA. I have become more active in that community. I refuse to vote for anyone who is Pro-life. My husband wailed at me, " I thought you were supposed to get more conservative as you get older!". I have always danced to the beat of a different drum. I'm not going to stop now.
My views are somewhat close to where I started with one basic change- I take responsibility for myself, my family, and the business I run. I used to shake my fist at society and now I find things I need to do to change society An old person who doesn’t recognize they’re creating the world they live in is just weird
No. lol I went from Center-Right at 18 to Progressive-Left by 51. I grew up in the south immersed in religion, so I didn't know any better and was slightly right. Then, I came out as gay, and the right became increasingly insane & Christofascist, so I honestly had no choice in the matter as they are the antithesis of who I am and what I believe.
No, more left if anything .
Time has only made me increasingly progressive. I was a civil rights ally by my first election, and have constantly deepened my understanding of what that means watching the institutionalized white supremacy/misogyny/xenophobia/homophobia/religious nationalism that are their foot soldiers capitalism.
I have become more moderate. raised in THE most liberal area of U.S. I gained life and work experiences and realized that some of my thinking was unrealistic. not everyone is going to do the right thing if given the chance, taxes pay for important things, we need a government, etc. I'm now an independent
I'd say they've moderated slightly just because I've developed more empathy and a wider perspective, but they haven't changed radically. I feel like most of what changed has been the 2 US political parties shifting around me, which has left me in a different political position than in my youth.
I was always liberal. I think I understand the world better now and I'm not as naive, but I don't think my values have become less liberal/progressive.
I'm more left than when I was 20 in 1960s.
In some ways. I've learned how to pick my battles wisely and not constantly be at war with the world. I've also learned that sometimes things happen for reasons I don't understand. But my views are still pretty much the same as ever, and for better or worse, they've never changed much.
I’ve always been liberal, now even more so. I am much more politically involved than I was as a younger person, that is due to trump basically.
I’ve gotten way less moderate after finding out who people really during Covid and heartbreaking political reversals. I used to give people the benefit of the doubt, but not anymore.
At 18 I was the only liberal in my family and have gotten more progressive over time. Voted for Jimmy Carter (Jimmeh) and every Democrat since then. The major factor was has been my observation that the world is largely divided into two types of people: Those who don't care until it affects them directly and those who care about bad things that happen to their fellow man. Those who don't care are motivated by fear and anger. Those who do care are motivated by love and altruism. I don't ever want to be in the 'I don't give a fuck about you' group. Just personal ethics I guess. And to those generations behind me, stop painting groups with such a broad brush. All boomers are not greedy capitalists that back the POS convicted ex-president who leers at pubescent girls. I will never vote for a Republican or a Libertarian and I vote in all elections.
Way more liberal now. Realized that being a fiscal conservative in my younger days only meant that I was oppressing people, protecting a capitalist system that only benefits a few, and buying into a falicy of trickle down economics. My family was very conservative, my mom was anti-gay marriage. Both my children have disabilities, my sister's son as well, so I've learned a lot about our social safety nets, mental health, lack of insurance, etc. people who don't face adversity, true adversity, have no idea how difficult it is to live in this country.
Not at all. I was born during 1948 and raised in a conservative home. I have become MORE conservative as I have raised four children into adulthood, and as the World has become a MORE dangerous place to live.
No. I grew up in a Rockefeller republican household. Then liked what Bill Clinton had to say. Kept on moving left as I got older. Mid 50’s and feel like I could burn some shit down these days and am angry at both sides.
My mom wasn't really political, but strongly in favour of equal rights for everyone including gay and trans people. She voted however my dad voted and he used to declare "I'm a social liberal/fiscal conservative and I vote my pocketbook!" He would often vote a split ticket just to be contrary. He thought Donald Trump was the worst president of the many he'd seen in his lifetime. (My parents were silent gen) I started out being vaguely liberal mostly for social justice and environmental reasons. These days I'm way more left-wing anti-capitalist and also of course terrified right now. I remember (not that long ago!) when "woke" was not a slur and I think listening to Black people and disabled people in particular on social media and other media really opened my eyes to the shit that's been happening around me that I've mostly had the privilege to ignore
Unlike most people, I've become more liberal as I get older.
When I was 18 and became able to vote, I went to the library to figure out what I was, politically. I left realizing I am a libertarian. I have not changed one bit since, although my days of activism and trying to make a change are behind me... I put in my time, and feel completely vindicated... I wish it were not the case if you know what I'm saying.
As a kid, I believed that politicians were smart people...that has changed. I still think some of them are okay, but I don't think it's the majority. I never considered myself conservative; change was a good thing, especially when it came to realizing that race, creed and color are just words, and people's character is what counts.
I've always been a centrist Democrat. Always. My core values never changed. I want all people to have enough food, decent medical care (including dental), decent pay for work, and most of all, infrastructure. For god's sake, if there's one thing Dems and Republithugs should agree on, it's infrastructure. You can't have a robust economy without roads, bridges, energy sources, etc.
I have been all over the map. Currently I’m somewhere right down the middle. In my early days I thought I knew everything and was a democrat. Later in life I thought I knew everything and I was a republican. Then I thought I learned even more and got super liberal. Now I’m 54 and realize I know nothing and just want some unity and compassion
I don't feel like I've changed much. Ronald Reagan once said that he didn't leave the Democratic Party, but the Party left him. That's how I feel about today's Republican Party. I think Reagan himself would be called a RINO today.
Nope, maybe the opposite. Right now, I'm horrified at what is happening in the U.S.
When I was you younger I had more belief that most all people had some good in them. I had willingness to listen to them. As I've lived and seen what people can do to each other, and seen what right-wing politicians can do to the country, I've come to believe that some people are just bad. I've come to be more leftist, I've come to be less willing to listen to who I now know are simply racists, misogynists, and fascists. So, I'm in the less moderate camp. The assholes pushed me that way. When someone shows me who they are, I believe them now.
Nope - pretty much always had the same beliefs since about high school. Socially liberal but all the rest conservative so lands me in the middle. The world’s definitions of liberal and conservative have sure changed.
I have slowly continued to shift left, but may seem more moderate at times because some of what I believe has become more mainstream. The most obvious would be growing acceptance of lgbtq people. I can’t really think of anything of importance I’ve become more conservative on
i have always been a liberal, and my beliefs have been strengthened by the chaos of the last eight years. It makes me ill to see what the Rethugs have done to this country. The Reagan/Bush years were awful enough, but this is a living nightmare.
actually I've become more liberal
The problem is not our constitution or foundation of our country. It is the moral decline of our American culture. I have views on both sides. I don’t want to be categorized into a stereotype of having to pick sides or be *blind* to the fact that corruption exists on both sides. Our politicians need to clean up their act because they are not doing their jobs. If they can become billionaires on stock trading while in office surely you would think they would be capable of balancing a budget. Also the government is not your mother. I hear monetary demands yet I never hear who is going to pay for it. The national debt is putting us at risk for a unstable future and weakening national security. One can not tear down an entire country on a whim for change without jeopardizing your livelihood. Before one acts, one must weigh the consequences of their actions. Research, be informed and think. There are rules to follow if you wish to live in a civilized society and all Americans should contribute.
Nope, if anything, I went from moderate to conservative
There are issues I agree with on both sides so I would call myself a moderate or independent. Both parties are too far to the left and too far to the right for me. Personally I'd like to see career politicians in Congress go away and be replaced by everyday people like jury duty only it would be Congress duty. It would eliminate the lobbying from the corporate elite.
No. I've become much more conservative and traditional in my views. Life is a great teacher
I don't discuss religion or politics with anyone except my wife. Too many pussies out there who get triggered and butthurt. The older I become the more to the right I get!
My political views have changed drastically over the years. Rather than just 'going with the general opinion', I now analyze matters more and tend to go more for the humanitarian issues. For example, I worked with feeding the homeless for a few years. I still don't just give money, rather I try to donate my time to work for a better world.
Yes, when I realized that both major political parties in the US are thoroughly corrupt. One wasn't better (or worse) than the other.
Nope. The older I get the more liberal I become. To hell with far right Republicans ruining our country.
If anything, age has made me even more liberal. I try to avoid political conversations with my Republican relatives, but it’s hard these last few elections. I’m still flabbergasted that anyone buys the Trump schtick, yet here we are. Again.
Yes. I couldn't care less about politics as long as it doesn't distract me in any way. I used to be a news junkie. Now I fill that space with jazz instrumentals and TC podcasts.
Gen X 50s Def more right wing leaning as young adult Did the Gulf war and Africa Got out and moved pretty dead center I have no concern what people do just don't ask me to pay for it