Your personal political evolution

Aldarion

Neoreactionary Monarchist
To quote myself from Reddit:

I used to be a lot of things as my understanding of politics evolved. First I was a mild conservative - basically your average HDZ voter, or equivalent of a Republican voter in the US. But then I noticed some things I did not like: for example, how conservatives supported massive corporations while ignoring the damage that could do.

This in turn actually pushed me to become a leftist socialist. I was quite an avid reader of Naomi Klein for a time. But in a turn of irony, this is actually what started me on a road to reactionarism. Because while Naomi Klein was critical of large corporations and supported socialism and governmental regulation, she kinda made me realize that - if large corporations can be such an issue, then it is not an ideology that is the main problem, it is power. In other words, concentration of power.

This then made me become an anarchist. And I still am an anarchist, fundamentally. However, after some time I realized that simply getting rid of the government is not viable... if you do, then something else - say, corporations - will come into the void. And in order for government to be small enough not to be a threat yet still viable, you need something other than government to keep the society together. And that means essentially right-wing elements: tradition, land, nation, romanticism etc. This pushed me to study history: and it was then that I realized how much damage things like the Enlightenment and the French Revolution did to Western society.

Hence, I became a reactionary.


So, does anybody recall their own political evolution?
 

Simonbob

Well-known member
For quite a while, I didn't really have one. I played games, laughed and lived, and the only real thought I gave to politics was "I'm sure the best people are dealing with it, so I don't have to."

In Australia, everybody must vote. My first election, I voted for a party that's tag line was that they'd "balance the budget through meditation and levitation". That's how seriously I took it all.

On the other hand, my dad has been active in such things for longer than I've been alive, and he was radicalised into Left/Commie stuff going back to his Uni days. He even went to China as a commie student. As much as anything else, that got me to put a bit of time in. I didn't really have any opinion, much, but I went to the Young Labour party meeting, as part of that.

At the time, I was a metal working apprentice, and the Labour party has been a traditional "Workers" party. I was the only guy there who wasn't in Uni. There were two groups, the engineering students, who were fascinated with me. I mean, actual working class! How interesting! The other group were the law students, and they acted like they were terrified of me. They never even came close to me.

But, it was not that interesting to me at the time, so I wandered off, and didn't really think about it.

It was decades later, having seen many things get worse with Gov involvement, that I really started to think about it. First, I ignored everything except economy stuff, thinking if everybody was richer, that'make things better. That led me to libertarian thought, and I joined the local libertarian party. Well, I tried to join both the Republican and Democrat equivalents, but they control who can join them, so I joined with the much smaller libertarian party, instead.

That showed me that that whole system doesn't really work. The whole democratic system? Massive flaws. It might have worked, 50+ years ago, but it sure don't now.



I wasn't sure where to go from there, and in many ways, I'm not sure now. I'm an athiest, but I'm pretty sure that having a religion is a good thing, something to help hold a community together. I don't beleve in the sanctity of life, but I'm anti-abortion. After all, it's not like the baby has done anything to deserve it, have they?


I guess, as I go on, I get more and more conservative. Heck, while I kinda joke about dueling, there really is a part of me who really wants the right to stab a bastard in the face.



If we actually had nobles, royals and guilds and the like, at least we'd know who was in charge. And, thus, who to hate, or love.
 

Rocinante

Russian Bot
Founder
I used to be a hard-core lefty.

I've since changed a lot of views, however, I have also remained solid on many views, and the left just shot for pure left wing extremism.

Essentially, the left went crazy and pushed me away. Then I started talking with right wingers a lot more, and I realized they aren't all the evil boogeyman the Rachel Maddows had me believing. and through lots of discussions, I actually changed a few positions of mine over time.

I'm still not a right winger and I still disagree with them plenty. I'm independent if anything. However, by the left's current standards I'm a far right Trumper despite not liking Trump, so whatever. Here I am.
 

Simonbob

Well-known member
I used to be a hard-core lefty.

I've since changed a lot of views, however, I have also remained solid on many views, and the left just shot for pure left wing extremism.

Essentially, the left went crazy and pushed me away. Then I started talking with right wingers a lot more, and I realized they aren't all the evil boogeyman the Rachel Maddows had me believing. and through lots of discussions, I actually changed a few positions of mine over time.

I'm still not a right winger and I still disagree with them plenty. I'm independent if anything. However, by the left's current standards I'm a far right Trumper despite not liking Trump, so whatever. Here I am.
Happens. Happens quite a bit.


I'm glad to hear you're looking a little deeper, and I hope it helps.
 

ATP

Well-known member
To quote myself from Reddit:

I used to be a lot of things as my understanding of politics evolved. First I was a mild conservative - basically your average HDZ voter, or equivalent of a Republican voter in the US. But then I noticed some things I did not like: for example, how conservatives supported massive corporations while ignoring the damage that could do.

This in turn actually pushed me to become a leftist socialist. I was quite an avid reader of Naomi Klein for a time. But in a turn of irony, this is actually what started me on a road to reactionarism. Because while Naomi Klein was critical of large corporations and supported socialism and governmental regulation, she kinda made me realize that - if large corporations can be such an issue, then it is not an ideology that is the main problem, it is power. In other words, concentration of power.

This then made me become an anarchist. And I still am an anarchist, fundamentally. However, after some time I realized that simply getting rid of the government is not viable... if you do, then something else - say, corporations - will come into the void. And in order for government to be small enough not to be a threat yet still viable, you need something other than government to keep the society together. And that means essentially right-wing elements: tradition, land, nation, romanticism etc. This pushed me to study history: and it was then that I realized how much damage things like the Enlightenment and the French Revolution did to Western society.

Hence, I became a reactionary.


So, does anybody recall their own political evolution?
In Poland we had last liberal in Europe -Janusz Korwin-Mikke.And his parties,becouse he tend to made new ones when old one kick him out.
So,after 1992 as young man i become his supporter.Some 15 year ago i undarstandt,that he is either troll or silly,so i left - and start searching.
First it was Kaczyński,then Konfederacja/mix of nationalists,catholics and liberals/

Now,i undarstandt,that all parties would fuck us,so i vote for those who would do less harm.Which still is Konfederacja.


If i could choose idael party,it would be reactionary catholic monarchists - but,since maybe 1% would vote for such party,it is not possible.
 

Sergeant Foley

Well-known member
My personal politics: Moderate-to-Conservative.
*Pro-Capital Punishment.
*Pro-Life.
*Pro-Gun.
*Pro-National Defense.
*Pro-Missile Defense.
*Pro-Israel.
*Pro-Taiwanese Independence.
*Pro-Oil Drilling.
*Pro-School Vouchers.
*Pro-Border Security.
*Pro-Law Enforcement.
*Anti-Woke.
*Anti-Gay Marriage.
*Anti-Marijuana Legalization.
*Anti-Labor.
*Anti-Obamacare.
*Anti-Bidencare.
*Anti-BLM.
*Anti-Dodd/Frank.
*Anti-Homeless Encampment.
*Anti-Illegal Ballots.
 

Carrot of Truth

War is Peace
The only time I could say I was flirting with the left was during the tail end of the Bush era when I was like 18-19 and a stoner. But to call me politically aware during that time would be a lie. I just spouted the talking points in college to get laid 99% of the time. Once I was done with school I started noticing how broken the political system in the US was and became a libertarian. Once the sjw shit kicked off I started becoming far more socially conservative and lost most of my earlier idealism. I don't really know what I could be called now maybe a minarchist?
 

Blasterbot

Well-known member
Went from vaguely centrist leans left in my early 20s to reluctant trump voter. then I had to keep defending trump and got more right wing. I like libertarian ideas but the actual party is comprised of crazy people. maybe the Mises Caucus can turn them around. I doubt it. I remember when I first took the political compass test I was on the line for authority/liberty and 2 notches to the left. Haven't really drifted up or down but I have moved right a fair bit. I still hate most of the bush era shit the republicans pulled. but hopefully the republican party can ditch the neocons.
 

Circle of Willis

Well-known member
Little over a decade ago I'd have defined myself as 'apathetic with libertarian leanings', I guess. Didn't really pay too much attention to politics, the culture war and all that jazz, and when I did I was usually of a 'live and let live' inclination. Was on board the 'dude weed lmao' train, had no problem voting Liberal or NDP (Canada's socialist party), etc. Most of all I was generally optimistic about everyone in politics and believed most people in the field basically had the best interest of the country in mind, with corrupt bad apples being a minority: I was never a 'grr the conservatives are all ontologically evil reactionaries who want to kill/enslave women, bomb minorities abroad and so on' type precisely because of that, but that also meant I viewed even Communists as well-meaning.

Well fast forward to Current Year+8, suffice to say that's no longer the case. I've seen the NDP jettison their union roots pretty much entirely in favor of the campus activist mob which has taken them over at every level and hollowed them out, leaving them in an organizational shambles since the 2015 election and especially since Jagmeet Singh became their leader in '17.

I've witnessed the Liberals fly off so far to the left as to become unrecognizable - just scarcely over a decade ago the MP for the riding where I used to live as a kid was a pro-life, anti-gay marriage social conservative who had aligned with the LPC for economic reasons, something completely unthinkable today. I have also seen for myself the arrogance and corruption which they wallow in and which was previously warned about by older Canadians who were politically aware during the Chrétien-Martin years, and which I was able to get a taste of myself on the provincial level (the Ontario Liberals are as vile as their federal counterparts and that's why the province has knocked them down to 3rd place for two elections in a row) in my brief stint as a gov't contractor.

I've observed the Conservatives rigging their own internal leadership elections to ensure the 'electable' milquetoast neocon get elected over a man with actual ideas in 2017, and to eliminate a real 'strong black woman' who held real socially conservative convictions early on so as to clear the path for an even more milquetoast Liberal wearing a blue tie in 2020. Of course, the 'electable' party leaders then went on to throw two eminently winnable elections in a row to Fidel Castro's bastard.

I've beheld the slippery slope ending in it being made illegal to 'misgender' or otherwise criticize the T in LGBT, lending legal protection to overt child predators like Jonathan 'Jessica' Yaniv, on top of all the other man-made horrors beyond our comprehension like drag queen story time, drag kids, and the infliction of trans-mutilation surgery and hormones on impressionable teens and even children while anyone who protests gets arrested.

Those who claimed to be all for the freedom of women to choose with their own bodies, now basically openly celebrate Molochian sacrifices and/or claim men can get pregnant (and abort!) too.

I've read and heard of an overly permissive stance on drugs and excess 'compassion' for the homeless turning Vancouver into a horrific dump (though the obvious results, and thus any chance for course-correction, are vigorously denied by those behind the policies in the first place to this day), in part from my own relatives who have the misfortune of living in the colder San Fran themselves.

I saw the anti-war crowd, for the most part, fall deathly silent about the wars which the West waged abroad - mostly the Afghan calamity here since we never got mixed up in Iraq, but we also had some schizophrenic involvement in Mali going on too - as soon as 'their guy' (Obama in the US, Trudeau here) got into power.

Similarly I've witnessed probably the one thing which could have unified most sectors of our atomized and fractured society, Occupy Wall Street, get hijacked by identity politics and directly segue into the racialization (which, like 'people of color', the woke say like it's a good thing!) of just about the entirety of our economic discourse, to say nothing of the greater SJW infection of everything in society (or perhaps it had been there all along, bubbling from the '60s onward and trying to emerge first in the '90s but being smacked down then).

So, yeah. Above all I would say that my faith in government and humanity in general is what's been eroded the hardest these past 10-13 years or so, and all other changes in my political outlook stem from that. Certainly I would never ascribe any remotely positive intentions to the left anymore, they're at best useful idiots and that's something I now hold in contempt, not look upon with misguided pity. Nor can I say I hold much faith in liberal democracy these days, my brush with the provincial government started me on the road to realizing that it's basically oligarchy (and an oligarchy comprised of some of the most corrupt, depraved and incompetent among us at that!) by a different name using the various parties and the democratic process itself as fronts for the sake of plausible deniability - and that if anything, the federal level of our government is wayyy worse than the provincial one.

I think whatever part of me still thought there was any way to vote out of this mess died when 68 churches were burned in 2021 over the supposed discovery of First Nations mass graves which, to this day, have never been examined and which almost certainly don't actually exist (indeed all coverage of the issue basically disappeared after the summer of 2021, why it's almost as if it was ragebait spun up to get an anti-Christian pogrom going): witnessing all the race-baiting and baiting in general by Trudeau's government leading up to and immediately after that, his passive-aggressive 'welllll I wouldn't directly tell anyone to burn any churches but...' nonsense during the episode, and actual First Nations chiefs begging people to not burn their churches down (and, of course, being ignored) has convinced me that a more militant attitude is in order. God might forgive that atrocity, but I will never - not and mean it - nor will I forget. And that was half a year before the 2022 Freedom Convoy was slandered, glow-op'd against and finally mercilessly suppressed by police and totalitarian bankster tactics while the residents of Ottawa (who cheered on the previous year's destruction of churches) screamed for their blood and clapped like seals for their repression.

These days I would define myself as a 'pragmatic conservative with reactionary leanings', if you'll pardon the mouthful. Suffice to say my attitude toward modernity, its societies and its systems are pessimistic to the core, and that I support curbing its negative effects and undermining its underlying structures by any feasible means (which would not also engender a counter-productive backlash, of course) whenever and wherever possible.
 

LordsFire

Internet Wizard
I started thinking about philosophy and theology when I was 12 or 13 years old. Politics followed within a couple of months.

Going back that far, it's hard to remember exactly what the formulation pattern was, but I can definitely say that seeing the Clinton Impeachment, reading Dilbert's depiction of incompetent management, listening to talk radio, and then seeing incompetent low/mid-level leadership at school had a heavy influence on my perspective.

If teachers and principles are not just incompetent, but fundamentally fail to understand why their students behave the way that they do, why should I expect better of people in higher strata of management who don't even directly interact with the people they hold authority over to do any better?

When I was getting started, Rush Limbaugh was an entertaining guy who talked about distant things that I didn't really think of as interacting directly with my life.

As I moved into high school and started getting into regular political, religious, and 'scientific' debates, it became increasingly obvious to me that people ran mostly on motivations of what they wanted to be true, rather than what evidence actually supported. It still wasn't until my twenties that I really wrapped my mind around how part of the bedrock assumptions of the entirety of society is based around self-pleasing lies people repeat like mantras.

The 2008 economy crash hit, the people directly responsible for it lied publicly about who was responsible, when just a few years earlier they'd been calling the people they were now blaming crazy for claiming there was a problem coming. My friends who were graduating college with Engineering degrees couldn't get jobs better than waiter.

I was 22 when what had been just an accepted truism, that getting a college degree guaranteed a good job and middle class lifestyle at minimum, died, and died hard. For those of you who didn't see that, I don't know if I can overstate how big of a deal that was. In the 90's and early/mid-2000's, prosperity as an American who was reasonably diligent wasn't just taken for granted, anything else was basically unthinkable.

That didn't just die, it died hard and ugly. Tuition had already skyrocketed over the last 25 years, and colleges/universities accelerated the rate at which they increased tuition after the 2008 financial collapse. I recall checking on tuition rates a few years later, and they had gone up 39% since I had been a freshman.

All of this made it increasingly obvious to me that not only were conservatives right about what government interference does to markets, not only was the democrat solution to every problem 'more power and money to government,' not only were they pathological and incessant liars, but that they didn't actually give a damn about the people they were purporting to help.

Some time in my 20's I realized that the fundamental alliance that builds tyranny is two-sided and very simple.

On the one side, you have people who hunger for power, and are willing to do anything to get it. They don't have a 'work ethic' so much as an appetite for control that will drive them to work hard. On the other side, you have people who don't want to take responsibility, don't want to work hard, and will give power and control to people who promise them an easy, low-effort life in exchange.

I saw some of this in my own life, as I struggled to motivate myself to be gainfully employed, and it's not hard to see the allure. Just vote for X person, they'll make sure that the welfare payments, food stamps, etc, continue, and you don't have to work! Life is hard, isn't it? Why don't you vote for someone who'll make it a little easier?

...Nevermind what else they do with that power. Nevermind that the wealth you are living off of has to come from somewhere else, someone else.

The more of human behavior I see, the more firmly entrenched I become in the belief that government redistribution of wealth is evil, not just in how it's theft, but in how it is the bootstrap that raises tyranny into power.
 

Bacle

When the effort is no longer profitable...
Founder
I'd say that my political evolution was going from a Dem who just went along with most things as a kid because of family, and wasn't really political till after 2000, more like 2008 (first time I voted), and most thought the centrist Dem positions were the bread and butter of American politics.

What did set me apart from the rest of my family, and was where I began to shift Right, was on illegal immigration and on guns.

I was forced to go to the Million Mom March after Colombine, but never felt like blaming the tool for the choices of it's user, and was never supportive of the under-the-table slavery Dems and corpos have been using illegals for (and just not a fan of people entering this country illegally period).

However, it was Trump's 2015 GOP POTUS run announcement came at a time when I was drifting further Right because of the stupidity of a lot of Obama's 2nd term (Iran Deal never should have happened) and because I actually listend to people who dissected the MSM narrative and showed the truth of things.

This is what caused me to formally move from a D besides my name to an I, because I was pissed at the Dems for how they treated Bernie and how they lied about Trump. The GOP itself I still am rather sure is worthless for most things, and hasn't learned shit from their mistakes under Bush Jr., however the Dems have become even more insane with time.
 

Sobek

Disgusting Scalie
Depends on how long it has been since I last took my meds.

I had some left leanings when I was young but looking back I was mostly into the USSR aesthetics not any political reasons. I blame CoD 2 having a amazing Eastern Front campaign.

Nowadays I swing from paleoconservative libertarian, classic liberal and organic feudalism. Also a extremely deep and primal hatred of the UN and Blue Helmets.
 

The Whispering Monk

Well-known member
Osaul
Well, my formative years saw me spend a great deal of time playing D&D and other role-playing games like Champions and Star Wars. OF COURSE I became a fan of the Samurai and Knightly cultures! Feudal society seemed to have a lot of characteristics that were worthwhile to my young mind.

As I passed through high school and into the Army, I of course saw the value of directed efforts. I was probably at the point where I was the 'left'est I would ever be. I was a young man, and I knew I had all the answers. God was I ever dumb.

This viewpoint really started to shift when as I progressed through the ranks and became and NCO. As I aged, read, and studied the world as it was instead of how I imagined it to be...I realized that I couldn't identify with all the people that wanted to have others provide for them. I guess I had too much pride and identified with being able to secure my own ends. I saw value in that.

I also began to see how much I was blessed because of my family growing up. My parents are still happily married and about to have their 58th wedding anniversary. I have seen what love provides to those that are sheltered in it. I have been even more blessed in my wife and children.

I have seen the damage fatherless homes caused in my fosterlings. I know how much that hurts a child to not have that presence in their life as they grow. I've seen how the 'care' that the Democrats, the Left and their society has hurt this country and our culture. I'm not a fan at all.
 

*THASF*

The Halo and Sonic Fan
Obozny
My path on the political compass looks something like this, starting from the upper-right.

1280px-Political_Compass_purple_LibRight.svg.png

Child *THASF*: "Abortion is evil! We need a bible in every home, blah blah blah-"

Teen/Twenties *THASF*: "I'm an edgy atheist anarchist watermelon now. Also, we could stand to be less consumerist and stop destroying the environment and stuff."

Thirties *THASF*: "THEY VIOLATED THE SOCIAL CONTRACT AND ARE ENGAGING IN OPEN DEMOCIDE WITH A POISONED VACCINE, WE ARE IN A POST-POLITICAL HELLWORLD, FUCK THEM, BURN IT ALL DOWN AND START OVER".
 

ThatZenoGuy

Zealous Evolutionary Nano Organism
My path on the political compass looks something like this, starting from the upper-right.

View attachment 1823

Child *THASF*: "Abortion is evil! We need a bible in every home, blah blah blah-"

Teen/Twenties *THASF*: "I'm an edgy atheist anarchist watermelon now. Also, we could stand to be less consumerist and stop destroying the environment and stuff."

Thirties *THASF*: "THEY VIOLATED THE SOCIAL CONTRACT AND ARE ENGAGING IN OPEN DEMOCIDE WITH A POISONED VACCINE, WE ARE IN A POST-POLITICAL HELLWORLD, FUCK THEM, BURN IT ALL DOWN AND START OVER".
Can't disagree with that reasoning, good work!
 

Aldarion

Neoreactionary Monarchist
My path on the political compass looks something like this, starting from the upper-right.

View attachment 1823

Child *THASF*: "Abortion is evil! We need a bible in every home, blah blah blah-"

Teen/Twenties *THASF*: "I'm an edgy atheist anarchist watermelon now. Also, we could stand to be less consumerist and stop destroying the environment and stuff."

Thirties *THASF*: "THEY VIOLATED THE SOCIAL CONTRACT AND ARE ENGAGING IN OPEN DEMOCIDE WITH A POISONED VACCINE, WE ARE IN A POST-POLITICAL HELLWORLD, FUCK THEM, BURN IT ALL DOWN AND START OVER".
I guess mine would be like this...

1080px-Political-Compass-purple-Lib-Right-svg.png
 

Aldarion

Neoreactionary Monarchist

ThatZenoGuy

Zealous Evolutionary Nano Organism
Anarcho-reactionary, to be exact.
Any examples of your personal beliefs on current events, in regards to such a stance? :V
 

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