ATS Changed My Political Leanings

a reply to: FamCore

i see.

progress is always a good thing. you just switched paths it sounds like. good if its for the better.

a reply to: Edumakated

Sadly, that also tends to preclude any effort in working towards an ideal. Idealism without any realistic avenues to travel on tends to be little more than mental gymnastics. "Realism" with no idealism tends to lead to nothing but stagnation.

ATS hasn't really changed my own ideology, but it has given me a glimpse into some of the detrimental outlooks and behaviors that pervade modern liberalism. One facet of that is a victim mentality, pointed towards with the constant, ironically numerous posts exclaiming ATS is a conservative haven of sorts.

I've always felt there was a balance to be achieved there. Ideally, liberalism and progressive thought leads the charge and is then tempered with conservative reality.

That requires a conscious effort to work together though, and if nearly all ideas are specious and without reasonable paths to achieve.. its no wonder conservatives take the immovable stance that they do.

Then it just becomes a "game" of conversion. Where the only thing that really happens is heels dug in deeper all around and less and less chance of reconciliation or teamwork as time marches on.

Im neither left or right
Im just stayin home tonight
Gettin lost in that hopeless little screen
-leonard cohen

a reply to: odzeandennz

I definitely switched paths, entirely. I was headed nowhere and headed there fast. Luckily I had the opportunity to change and chose to take the necessary steps to do this. It taught me a lot about accountability, hard work, and how "life isn't fair".

You can try to do the right thing every single day - show up early for work, stay late, hold the door for strangers, pick up extra work to help someone else out, etc. but your employer might just exploit you and not actually appreciate or compensate you accordingly (in fact they probably won't).

However, if you are unhappy with your situation you have the ability to make changes. If you aren't actively doing everything you can to improve your situation then you have no right to complain.

This applies to my own life, but I also understand many people do not have the same opportunities or resources that I do.

originally posted by: darkbake
It only makes sense that if you are around a certain culture, like the conservative culture on ATS, that it will make you more like the culture you are engrossed in over time. If a conservative were to join and participate in a liberal forum and stay there for a decade or a half, it would influence their thinking, too.

Your sentiments are often shared by other "liberals" on ATS and I call bs.

ATS is NOT a conservative website no matter how many times the libs on here wish to shout it. This is the most balanced website politically on the net, IMO. Just look at how many stars and flags the anti Trump threads get. They get pretty much the same love as the "conservative" ones do. Also there are, IMO an equal amount of threads created by each "side".

I think better points are made by the right-leaning posters and so this infuriates the libs, therefore creating the accusation that ATS is a huge conservative circle-jerk. ATS isn't Hollywood and people here tend to not go along with the sjw narrative just because it's the popular thing the mob nut bags in popular American culture do.

Anyway...yeah. Sick of the horde of libs here always accusing ATS as being a right-wing site.

a reply to: FamCore

Thrilled to be of service. It's not really about left/right, though. In the beginning it was the UFO thing mostly, but after a while, you discover the fact that you just don't know quite as much as you believed when you first visited.

There are some truly awesome people here, and many of them are VERY knowledgeable, and in many areas. But after a while, you discover all the interesting tidbits of truth that are scattered all over the site. Then, well, would "obsession" be the proper term?

The signal to noise ratio has dropped considerably, lately, but make no mistake, the signal is still there.

originally posted by: theantediluvian
a reply to: FamCore

There's a tendency for older voters to skew conservative. That's a voting pattern that can be observed. What's less certain is why. Do people become less tolerant of change with age or do people of different ages have similar tolerances to change and it's just that older people have experienced more societal change? Some mixture of both, something else entirely?

Older = Wiser perhaps? A lot of cultures around the world subscribe to that belief.

Either that or liberals just have a higher mortality rate I guess

originally posted by: theantediluvian
a reply to: FamCore

There's a tendency for older voters to skew conservative. That's a voting pattern that can be observed. What's less certain is why. Do people become less tolerant of change with age or do people of different ages have similar tolerances to change and it's just that older people have experienced more societal change? Some mixture of both, something else entirely?

What fascinates me is how in the Controlled Media Model, its "liberal" vs. "conservative" viewpoint (PROPAGANDA) ratio is roughly 5:1, yet the society is still perfectly split straight down the middle.

Damn they're good!

The main thing I guess is they just keep "third" viewpoints the hell out of there and its mostly just self-sustaining after all these decades.

a reply to: Edumakated

You mean that fantasy world where schools aren't segregated, women have the right to vote and gay people can get married?

In each of those instances, the conservative position of the time was of course to preserve the status quo. These days, two of them are no longer contentious issues and in a generation, conservatives will have given up trying to discriminate against gays.

a reply to: theantediluvian

I'm old and I am not against changes,unless they have an effect on my way of living,or anyone elses,I am retirement age but I prefer to work,and I see all these young people sit at home,in their late 20's still in parents home,the"millenuims" you see any good comming from them? I think not,they think they are owed a favor not on my watch

Though I've spent a great deal of time entertaining right and left, belief and denial, trust and paranoia, my time here has brought me to the current belief that these systems (politics/religion/whatever) are in still place primarily to keep us divided into groups and that the real problem is the person (or people) who actually crave power and authority in the first place. Until we deal the basic thirst for power we will only be chasing our tails.

I will quote the great warrior Kahless to sum up my views.

"Great men do not seek power, they have it thrust upon them"

originally posted by: theantediluvian
a reply to: Edumakated

You mean that fantasy world where schools aren't segregated, women have the right to vote and gay people can get married?

In each of those instances, the conservative position of the time was of course to preserve the status quo. These days, two of them are no longer contentious issues and in a generation, conservatives will have given up trying to discriminate against gays.

You mean the polices put forth by the southern DEMOCRATS? It is ironic you bring up segregated schools when for the most part schools are still segregated in most cities (not intentionally, but segregated still). Instead of supporting school choice so kids whose parent's give a damn can get their kid out of a failing public school, liberals rather support teachers unions.

You act like only conservatives are against gay marriage. Your boy Obama was against it to until the gay mafia bent him over and made him "evolve." For the record, I am not really against gay marriage as marriage is really just a legal construct. It really isn't an issue I care about.

With Trump, my hope is that the Republican party finally kicks all bible thumping conservatives to the wind.

a reply to: FamCore

Most people's views change over time. I used to be pretty liberal back in high school. I was also one these pro-black, back to Africa types walking around with X hats, Africa medallions, and a copy of Final Call. I pretty much hated white folks. It wasn't until I got into college and started reading Thomas Sowell and some other conservative authors that I really started to reevaluate my politics and thinking on a lot of issues.

I'm mostly libertarian / conservative in my thinking these days. I support affirmative action. I hate America playing the world police and wish we'd cut back on military intervention in sh*thole countries. Support legalization of some drugs.

ATS helped cement my decision to remain and self identify as an independent.

I see way too many crazy Republicans and Democrats on this board. By crazy, I mean that they want change, but keep voting for the same people. They Don't really care about issues they only care about voting for "Their" side. I see republicans voting for creepy Roy Moore because the other guy was a democrat. I see people voting for Hillary, not because they like her but because she's a democrat.

When you decide to get out of that two party sham/scam then you can really see what's going on. You also have to turn off Talk radio, MSNBC< Huff post and Fox News.

Its not that peoples political leanings have changed. Most people have always been moderate. Its that liberals are no longer liberal.

My political identity was shaped by growing up in Texas with a , racist, baptist, republican, family.

Being on ATS only confirms that I made the correct choice in rejecting that mindset.

I lean a liberal libertarian, but thankfully have been marginalized and labeled as "people like you" by many on the boards. I owe you my sincerest
thanks for not including me in your ranks.

I think as a person gets older they develop a better understanding of people... and their limitations. I like the idea of liberalism, where everybody is accounted for regardless of race or gender and treated fairly. But I also know that there are many people out there who -- regardless of their socioeconomic background -- are just plain no damn good and only serve to disrupt society, and not in a good way.

So I think a mix is in order. Go with the Golden Rule when you can, but respond quickly and decisively against brutal, subhuman people who can only be described as "evil."

Definitely increased the political rhetoric on ATS.

Growing up in Texas, I was able to go to various churches of all sects, a strict set of family values and sense of pride in our country, patriots and nationalist. Its like one big team.

Being on ATS, I can say that I have met some very rational and logical leaners of the right paradigm. Even neutral members. ATS has reinforced my views of how leftist act and behave, quite frankly, some need to grow up. Some go as far as claiming "libertarian" to deflect from their obvious association with the left.

In the end, we are all posters who seem to follow a good rule of communication, unlike other forums where cussing and bullying run rampant, for the most part, political discussions on ATS are pretty good, both sides have fun.

a reply to: Skyfloating

Each side has historically changed back and forth .. it is called progress..


The conservatives were pro-slavery
The liberals were pro abolition..

Then conservatives are pro abolution
And the liberals are pro civil rights.

Then the conservatives are pro civil rights,
And the liberals are pro gay rights..

Wash reminds repeat..

The reason everyone is a liberal when their young and a conservative when they are old..

What is considered liberal when they are young, is considered conservative when they are old..

Progress always trumps the traditions of the past.

a reply to: theantediluvian

Oh, dear. You went and lumped us oldsters into one political group and conservative at that. I beg to differ.

In college I was president of the Young Republicans-very active and a big volunteer-Newt Gingrich was my professor.

As I have aged and stayed politically interested, I am now a member of no party but definitely NOT conservative and neither are my friends. My family is deeply involved with the Libertarians but they are just embarrassing these days.

I am becoming more liberal by the day-partly thanks to Trump but ATS and others have opened my eyes.

Time for a revolution-after all, I was a child of the 60s.