Something different: How did you develop your personal politics?

[deadheadskier]

First and foremost, I believe that all people are created equal and should be afforded the same freedoms, dignity, opportunity, respect, pursuits of love and happiness, and health protections no matter who they are. Unfortunately, humans can be inherently selfish and not all will land in similar beliefs of this social contract naturally, in which case I believe government needs to intervene.

I spent my formative years from 15-25 living in Vermont. This was during the 90s when Vermont lead the nation on fighting for the above for gay people. Those opposing were Republicans and the Church, both often in a very hateful fashion. "Take Back Vermont." For this reason I have never pursued a life of organized religion and have rarely supported anyone from the Republican Party.

Now 3+ decades into adulthood the above still all holds true, but also objectively, whether viewing performance by states or nations, with few exceptions it is liberals who deliver the best results in so many quality of life metrics.

When you look around this country, with few exceptions, which states have :

The best education systems
Best Healthcare
Lesser poverty
Lower crime
Longest lifespans.

Answer: Blue States

The last statistic is really something. People in many blue states live on average as much as 5 years longer than many of the red states. I don't know about you, but I want me and my loved ones to have the longest lives possible.

After 250 years, wouldn't you think that the red / conservative states would have surpassed the blue states in these quality of life metrics if they had the better formula? This all holds true at the international level as well. There are very few exceptions.

So that's me.

Harris 2024

[easyrider16]

Grew up in a conservative evangelical household going to church every Sunday and Wednesday night. Was raised to be anti-abortion, anti-homosexual, and pro-conservative Republican. Even joined the Christian Coalition for a little bit.

Then I grew up. Attended college, then grad school, then started working. In that process I met people outside my little circle, ventured into the big city, and saw things I hadn't seen before. That process caused me to rethink a lot of what I was taught, from the role of religion to the morality of social conservatism.

Today I think I'm middle of the road. I'm still pretty fiscally conservative, particularly when it comes to the growing deficit, but I also acknowledge the value of government spending and the important role it plays in our society. People would probably label me socially liberal but frankly I think that's a misnomer. What's more conservative than wanting the government to stay out of my bedroom and out of my doctor's office?

In any case, I don't think the labels do many of us justice. I disagree with both parties in some areas and agree with both in other areas. In fact I tend to think both parties aren't really so far apart as the media and our partisan politics makes them out to be.

[Skid Mark]

Nobody gives a sh*t

[easyrider16]

Nobody gives a sh*t

I do. I'd like to hear your story if you are willing to tell it.

[skidogg]

coming of age in the 60's shaped my thoughts on life
being raised by parent's not to be hateful or racist in the 50's
lucky me

[Low Rider]

For me, traditionally fiscally conservative and more moderate / lean left on social issues (women's reproductive rights etc). So most identified with Northeast Republicans such as Bill Weld etc. As the Republican party has progressively gotten more and more crazy they have moved further away from where i stand.

I wish there were still a place for the Charlie Bakers of the world. Oh well.

Kamala/Walz 2024

[XtremeJibber2001]

I grew up in a conservative Christian family on the West Coast, where I learned that Jesus emphasized personal responsibility over imposing Christian ideals through laws. My early political memories include listening to Rush Limbaugh on car rides with my father and witnessing Bill Clinton’s impeachment. I registered as a Republican at 18, joined the College Republicans, and voted Republican in every presidential election until 2016.

My disillusionment began with Sarah Palin’s VP nomination in 2008, deepening after Romney’s 2012 loss and the rise of the Tea Party, pushing the GOP further right. By 2016, with Trump as the nominee, I voted third-party, hoping he’d adopt a presidential demeanor if elected, but soon realized otherwise. I then registered as an independent.

[volklopposition]

I follow Skid Mark on this forum and develop my viewpoint from there

[G-smashed]

My first vote was in 1968 for Hubert Humphrey. I which affected was raised to hate Nixon because of his support for Joe Mc Carthy and later because of his support for extending the Vietnam war. Truly thought we would be more color blind by now but it seems we are now consumed by identity politics. I did not vote for Kamala because of her ethnicity but because she was the alternative to Donald Trump who I consider to be pure evil. My main concerns these days are separation of church and state and healthcare. I don't see Trump being good for either of these.

[ANGUS]

A good family. Public service. Church. My civics teacher. Community.

[Atomic1]

Being an adopted baby born in the 50’s I became a mostly pro-life supporter.

[Low Rider]

Being an adopted baby born in the 50’s I became a mostly pro-life supporter.

Congrats - now say Josseli Barnica's name.

Supporters of anti choice policies are complicit in her death.

[asher2789]

i grew up as a visibly queer kid in the 90s (despite not knowing or understanding) and got treated as horribly as one can imagine for it from a young elementary school age all the way through young adulthood. every authority figure failed to protect me and even instead punished me for it, which as i got older and started to develop political views pushed me towards anarchism due to my extremely deep distrust of authority. i also was educated in both jewish and english schools simultaneously and learned the horrors of the holocaust in-depth at far too young of an age, which deepened both my cynicism (how could it not, i mean, wtf are humans even doing?) and interest in learning history in a quest to prevent repeating it.

i tried to "grow up" and "mature" into more acceptable and mainstream liberal / social democrat views, but between 9/11, the iraq war, the 2008 crash and the following near decade of austerity, inability to respond to climate change in general, and us currently being on the verge of WW3 (or arguably, since russia invaded ukraine, in it)... i still cant help but feel deep cynicism and distrust in general and i remain anarchist. i am somewhere between libertarian socialist and anarcho communist in ideals, and am accused of being a trump supporter by democrats and a harris supporter by republicans. right now my harris supporting friends arent thrilled with me because i voted third party (although add up all the third party votes and give them to harris in the swing states and trump still wins the popular vote and electoral college), but to go back to my initial point about being educated far too young about the holocaust, never again means never again. both candidates support the genocide in gaza and i cant stomach that.