Have your political views changed over time? (1 Viewer)

[dieburndie]

My dad is as fundamentalist christian as you can pretty much get while still being a regular, participating member of society. EVERY political view he possesses he manages somehow to trace back to his faith somehow. He is extremely socially authoritarian, and generally centre right on other matters simply because he conflates them with the social issues he is so firm on.

I started getting into punk music when I was about 13, just before I moved and started living with my dad. In my first year living with him, I became a devoted fan of the genre, and started becoming interested in politics. I was a well behaved impressionable 14 year old, but started carving out a distaste for authority based on the messages of my favourite bands and my dad being so authoritarian in his thinking.

As I ventured further, starting reading political texts and coming into my own socially, I began to hate everything my father stood for. In the later years of high school I was an extremely socially liberal, pro-feminist, anti-capitalist, radical vegan semi-anarchist. I was very insistent on going against the 'mainstream', and hated the idea of authority. I'm pretty sure in retrospect this had more to do with my dad than anything (unlike a lot of you, instead of moulding myself on my parents, I tried to do the exact opposite pretty much from the beginning). During year 12 I finally started moderating my stance by reading new and different material. My social permissiveness stayed the same, but I discovered libertarianism.
Throughout the next year, I completely changed my economic viewpoint, studying the subject probably helped quite a lot with this. I was certain I was a libertarian at some point there

These days I'm centre rightish on economics, and very skeptical of both fringe libertarianism and socialism/anarchism. A lot of common political ideologies come across as very dogmatic to me, and I spend more time questioning other people's beliefs than figuring out exactly where I stand. I am still as socially liberal as it is really possible to be while remaining consistent. I also still have an underlying problem with authority, both that in the public and private sectors. I am firmly antithiest, that isnt likely to change any time soon.

More often than not though, on most issues I find myself feeling very apathetic.

 

[UndeadSamurai01]

As my sig suggests I seem to be moving in either direction on different issues.

 

[moll.]

This is incorrect. The government artificially lowered interest rates below the levels at which the market would set them, precipitating a massive period of leveraging at low interest rates because the easy credit was there.

The buck stops at greenspan's desk.

Not just him, although he's probably the largest single person to whom to point.
Blame also lies with the ridiculously stupid credit rating agencies who didn't properly rate the investment packages which had the sub-prime mortgages wrapped up within them, because they had a vested interest in these investments and the companies selling them.
Also, we have to of course blame the mortgage companies who for some idiotic reason thought that giving a large mortgage with increasing payments and zero per cent downpayment on the property to people of low incomes was a great idea and that everything would work out fine.

 

[ur_inner_child]

Yes, definetely have changed.

The whole time this stimulus was announced, I was like "But I don't understand?"

And when people explain to me how "more money = more demand = more jobs", I'm still like "but I don't understand? That just makes me ask more questions".

And Peter Costello's opinion article answered a few of those questions, which, despite the bias, I'm swayed a little to the right now. Not so loyal dirty labor voter now.

Unless you have something else for me to make me understand better.

 

[moll.]

Yes, definetely have changed.

The whole time this stimulus was announced, I was like "But I don't understand?"

And when people explain to me how "more money = more demand = more jobs", I'm still like "but I don't understand? That just makes me ask more questions".

And Peter Costello's opinion article answered a few of those questions, which, despite the bias, I'm swayed a little to the right now. Not so loyal dirty labor voter now.

Unless you have something else for me to make me understand better.

Search Sydney Morning Herald site for Ross Gittons articles. There's probably one by him on the stimulus package.
He aims at explaining what's happenning in economics and politics in clear and concise terms to the laymen.
It was only cos of him that I survived HSC Economics. lol.

 

[SylviaB]

Yay for liberty ^_^

 

[jb_nc]

I was a libertarian but then I found out I had bipolar disorder, started taking my medication and am now a liberal.

just lol'd @ my own post.

shameful

 

[Riet]

Both my parents were Labor, though my Dad believes more in the European egalitarian style society. I started of somewhat left leaning, it seemed that equality, even if through government intervention was the most fair system. As I went through highschool I guess my opinions have changed though, and I positively despise the SA members at uni blaming capitalism for the world's problems while their parents that support them have clearly benefitted from not living in a communist state.

 

[Sir-BigBoyJames]

far right > left leaning socialist > libertarian.

 

[Natendo]

I considered my self a 'lefty' when first considering my political identity during high school. Could I tell you then what my economic & social attitudes and values where in terms of policy? probably not. All I knew was that I was indoctrinated into a very anti-liberal party family. And so I distanced myself at all costs to political ideologies associated with 'the right'.

This is quite a naive conception of politics, but the education system is flawed when it comes to 'politics' - whatever that is.

I was quite nonchalant about politics for a very long time. And like most not very 'well read' people- I perceived politics as merely a 'left vs right' distinction.

That was until I got to uni and did a course on politics and political theory and finally understood that old feminist maxim- "the personal is political".
I realised that political ideologies are quintessential to society as we know it, and underpin near every decision made. That is to say; politics is not a political party. Politics is not how things are. Politics is how things should be.

I would describe myself as subscribed to a libertarian ideology. But to distinguish it any further would be difficult for me. I don't know where I stand when it comes to positive/negative liberty. I believe negative liberty is far too simplistic, yet I don't wholly agree with the 'interventionist' conception of positive liberty. Adam Smith argues extreme positive liberty can turn into absolute authoritarianism and I agree. But to stop at legal restrictions to freedom is a fatal flaw of negative liberty. BAH

 

[Uncle]

I used to call myself a communist but didn't really understand Marxism propperly. These days I call myself a a democratic socialist but am sympathetic to Keynes. A year or two I'd have had no time for Keynes.

yes

comrade, i am yuri gagarin, hero of the soviet union, first class. me and my dog laika think you are a fake and know nothing of the socialist ways of the glorious motherland. stfu

ahahahahaha