What shaped your political affiliation?

[blissinanarchy1]

Growing up in an inner city, diverse neighborhood, I was naturally directed to the left side. Not super strongly. I support equality with race, gender, etc I support BLM. But I do NOT think it's a free pass to just hate on whites. I agree with some policies of republicans, but right winged personality really pushes me away. Truth be told, the majority of Conservatives that I've met are pretty narcissistic, assume that the white man's experience is the same for colored people, resort to insults instead of debate, and as soon as you disagree you get called "libtard". Left side does this too, but I don't see it as much. I see a whole lot of "We support freedom of speech but if you disagree with us shut the fuck up" mindsets on the right side. Overall, I'd probably identify center-left. Because there are plenty of liberal policies I don't like.

[WonderBell99]

I don't have a political affiliation. I merely have common sense and try not to generalize people. However, my views do align with the center left. Funnily enough, I was born and raised in a family with a strict religious and conservative upbringing... I turned out to have views which are COMPLETELY different from that of my mother's and she hates it. Where I'm from, there is a lot of internalized racism and misogyny. My mother hates the people of LGBTQ, racist towards people with darker skin tones, thinks I'm going to go to hell and has mentioned numerous times that I will live my life in despair because I'm not religious whereas I follow the policy "live and let live". I'm not saying that this is true for ALL conservatives - people like this exist in both the sides. My mom has had bad experiences with some people of the LGBTQ+ community and she thinks all of them are bad.. As a human being with self awareness, why should ANYONE hate others? Isn't that stupid? Almost all my friends are a part of the LGBTQ+ community. Two of my friends are bisexual and one is aroace.

I'm not as idiotic as some people categorize me to be.. why? just because I'm young and impressionable? I have seen some older people act like childish morons.

To be honest, my father played a huge role in influencing some of my ideologies. He has always encouraged me to be a free thinker, not to categorize people and brand them as "bad" or believe anything that politicians say.

[WonderBell99]

Thanks for the MHO!

[HighlyVolatile]

I tend to lean heavily towards the freedom side (right-libertarian on the two-dimensional political compass). I think it's because I've always been stubbornly independent as a child. I didn't like being told what I can and can't do to do even by my parents let alone the state. I don't like being told who I can and can't hire, how much or how little I'm allowed to charge for my services, what I can and can't say, etc.

I like to succeed or fail on my own terms and would rather die a fool through my own failures than live a more successful life while being controlled.

[HighlyVolatile]

* I didn't like being told what I can and can't do [even] by my parents let alone the state.

I can go into more consequentialist reasons for why I tend to lean this way (ex: how the most economically free nations tend to be the most prosperous) but I think fundamentally it's my stubborn independence and pride that drives me that way. I prefer a free world to a safe world.

[exitseven]

I have been working since I was17 years old. I have seen how unfsair the system is for middle class people who work for a living. We are expected to just pay our tribute and keep our mouths shut. I went to a school where they had a black student union where white people ere not allowed. I f somebody had wanted a white student union they would be burned at the stake. I watched the people who demonstrated on Jan 6th end up doing serious jail time or else locked up for 14 months without being charged with a crime. Meanwhile this guy was never charged.

[blissinanarchy1]

Januarary sixth was an insurrection. It ain't even about disliking trump. If it was a Biden group doing it I'd have said the same thing. A cop got killed and others injured.

[exitseven]

An unarmed woman was the only fatality. She was murdered for trespassing and the cop was never held accountable. I think they pinned a medal on him. No cop was killed with a fire extinguisher like the fake news reported. Outside a few broken windows there was no damage to the capitol. Not so much in most of the democrat run cities throughout the country. There were millions of dollars in damage and Kamela was busy bailing them out of jail.

[blissinanarchy1]

They literally took videos inside the capitol, and the plans were to storm it. A cop was killed by being crushed between doors. I didn't hear anything about a cop being killed with a fire extuingisher. There was a video of the cop being smashed.

[exitseven]

No cop was crushed between doors. That was staged by the fake news. The only fatality was Ashlee Babbitt. They would not even release the name of the cop that killed her. Thee was no real investigation and the fake news portrayed the Air Force veteran as a crackpot.

[blissinanarchy1]

I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm sure plenty of people were there peacefully protesting. But once you plan to storm an area, and a cop gets crushed between doors, and civilians start to get killed, it ain't a protest. If civilians retaliate, even if they ARE in the right, it's no longer a peaceful protest.

[Anonymous]

As a centrist and a "recovering leftist" myself I find some of your comments here interesting. The "if you disagree with us shut the fuck up" mindset is more of a left thing in recent years. The left has become increasingly intolerant of anyone who disagrees with them and seems to be increasingly hateful and vitriolic toward those who disagree with them.

I used to be quite liberal but I've found I can't stand how most liberals think and behave anymore. The right is no better, but it's the left who has really gone off the deep end lately.

[Anonymous]

I was shaped and influenced since birth to "think" liberal. But during the years I started to see all the lies, games and betrayals the political parties did. I also started to have some trouble with "coloured" people which also caused me to hate them. So slowly I move to the other side because I keep seeing how corrupt the liberals are in my country.

[blissinanarchy1]

Hating on an entire race is never justified dude. I'm from a black neighborhood. I been jumped, robbed, hell, even grazed by a bullet by black people. After all that shit happens, it's natural to catagorize black people as dangerous. But as a human being with self awareness, you got to realize that that those black people are a very small portion of the population. White people are just as violent.

[Opinion Owner]

I understand. Since some years i slowly start to realise that too. That not every "colored" person is like the persons i'd problems with.

[Hispanic-Cool-Guy]

I learned that the best way a country works is to care for the citizens and under privileged.

A country that cares for its low skill workers, sick, uneducated, poor elderly by placing social programs in place.

It's important to rally around those less fortunate because it makes the country stronger and the morale stronger of the country, rather than a selfish me first and everything is about me approach greed which ruins a country long term.

[andreasderjuengere]

My shapers were: empty promises; broken promises; lies; bigotry; lobbyism and such.
My ''affiliation'' is: political refusal of 'established policies'.

[NathanDavis]

I don't have any political affiliation... common sense and a considerable review of history shaped that determination since I was quite young

[OddBeMe]

I think I can look at any policy and see the benefits or negatives. No matter left or right. But I probably was influenced into liberal thinking somewhat. Being in the media feild, probably.

[blissinanarchy1]

I can appreciate this. Too many people side with idiotic decisions soley because of their affiliation. To me, if you're right, you're right. If you're wrong, you're wrong.

[OddBeMe]

Yeah, but you still have to think maybe 15-20% is based on how you’re raised. Liberal household, lots of education.

[007kingifrit]

the most important thing was seeing how stupid my elementary school teachers were, how many arbitrary rules schools had. how many pointless over precautions they had. i just saw the entire school system as weak

[Dargil]

Ronald Reagan's story line and his speeches did. I was a lazy, aimless liberal before then.

[blissinanarchy1]

There are some who abuse socialism for sure. But from an outside perspective, the seemingly simple answer "Get a job and work" isn't always as simple to get out of a rut.

[fireforeffect]

Education, Common sense.

[MrTaboo]

Common sence.

[blissinanarchy1]

Common sense*

[MrTaboo]

Yeah, autocorrect... saw that just as I hit submit.