...not if you're paying attention...

[kpete]

[niyad]

1. Exactly.

[EYESORE 9001]

2. My experience has been similar

My progressive convictions have only become stronger over time.

[TNNurse]

3. Not sure I have become more radical,

but my husband certainly has..

[Magoo48]

24. I'm becoming more radical as I age. It began in high school; I'm 73 now.

[TNNurse]

25. I am 72, my husband will be the same in March.

I encountered someone in the grocery store the other day who I knew from an exercise class. We were two of the few people wearing masks. We discussed that we older folks may survive this because we are taking precautions.

[Magoo48]

26. Let's hope so.

[jaxexpat]

4. Churchill is supposed to have originated the saw, "A youth who is not liberal has no heart but

a mature man who is not conservative has no brain&quot paraphrased). I'm staying with my theory that Churchill was often prone to speechify simply because he thought it made him sound profound.

We seem to be living in Churchillian times what with all the moronic things being said by people in lofty and powerful positions. Could theoretical physics finally be approaching another breakthrough theory of matter wherein it can be proven that the concepts of "up" or "down" are illusionary but there is definitively, no way out?

[PatSeg]

8. And I think Churchill may have been talking about himself

justifying a more reckless youth while acknowledging being more pragmatic in his old age. I like your theory that Churchill did go out of his way to sound profound. I'm sure he just loved being quoted. The man had a massive ego.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

9. The first time I heard that sentiment,

and I was perhaps 25 at the time, I thought that it was stupid and ignorant.

[c-rational]

14. Well said.

[MyOwnPeace]

5. BRILLIANT!!!!!!

Really drives it home, doesn't it - especially after being asleep so long as to allow IQ45 to run his reign-of-terror.

[PatrickforB]

6. Yep. Once you know about stuff like the Powell Manifesto and shareholder primacy,

there is no going back.

[Evolve Dammit]

13. I'm cynical enough. These sound interesting but after watching "The Corporation" I just can't.

[ck4829]

7. K&R

Last edited Tue Feb 15, 2022, 01:42 PM - Edit history (1)

https://deepblueleague.freeforums.net/board/109/sour-oil-project

[Binkie The Clown]

10. I leaned slightly conservtive in high school. In the 60 years since, ...

... I've gotten more liberal with every passing year.

[MAJones]

11. Conservatism

is born of fear. Which is why it is such a pinched, hateful way of thinking. Some older folks are terrified. Some believe in the future and in the young people who are going to live in it.

[momta]

27. THIS

I grew up in a conservative household, and when I turned 18 I registered as a Republican. Four years later I moved to California, and became a Dem. I cried when GHW Bush was elected. My husband moved me (without much difficulty) further to the left. My kids have turned me in to something pretty close to a socialist.

Honestly, though, I'm not sure how much of it is me moving left vs. the Overton window moving right.

[Evolve Dammit]

12. truth

[CaptainTruth]

15. So have I.

[wendyb-NC]

16. That's right

I totally agree with that.

[LoisB]

17. Absolutely true.

[halfulglas]

18. I have always been Democrat but this past 20 years.

Even my grown kids tell me I'm far left now. On the other hand, a few of my sibs are now Republicans. So much of that is environment.

[MustLoveBeagles]

19. When I was young I was a moderate

I've definitely become more liberal as I've aged.

[calimary]

20. That's how it went for me, too.

I always leaned left but never got involved to the extent I am now.

[MustLoveBeagles]

23. As a youngster I was anti-abortion

I didn't learn that from my parents as they were both pro-choice. I changed my thinking on that as teenager. When the 92 election cycle came around I initially supported Paul Tsongas who if I remember right was a moderate to conservative democrat. That was the first year I was eligible to vote for president and I took that responsibility.

[calimary]

28. I was always pro-choice, as far back as I can remember.

Always regarded it as a woman’s right, and a woman’s right that no man had a right to second-guess, much less subvert or take away.

Govern YOUR OWN gonads, guys.

[MustLoveBeagles]

30. I think it had to do with the church I went to

I was very religious as a kid and went to a very conservative church. I eventually grew out of it and realized that people should be able to make their own healthcare decisions.

[MontanaMama]

21. True for me!

Interestingly…true for Mr. MontanaMama as well. He claimed to be a repub when I met him in 1990. Either he wasn’t then or he’s changed a whole lot between then and now.

[DFW]

22. I have always been conservative, but never "a conservative." I speak English, not Republicanese.

In the era of Fox Noise (prompted by W. F. Buckley), the definition of "conservative" has been perverted from its original meaning in English. The term "conservative--in the South, also known as conserv'tive--" has been perverted to describe someone who is intolerant, bigoted, insensitive and self-righteous--and proud of it. Webster would have been scratching his head in bewilderment. But his dictionary was of the English language, not Republicanese or any of its offshoot dialects.

I always put it this way:

I am your classic conservative, at least as defined in a dictionary of the English language (as opposed to Republicanese).

I still work for the same outfit that recruited me out of college in 1975. I have been with the same wonderful woman since 1974. We have raised two solid, intelligent children who have grown up, think independently, did well in their respective colleges, and have jobs in which they earn their own living, have stable, long-term relationships, and are well-respected in their chosen fields.

I am risk-averse, and do not like to make rash, un-thought-out decisions. I have no debts. I have no addictions, not even to alcohol, religion, gambling, or nicotine. My favorite American philosopher is the 18th century Thomas Jefferson.

I am the epitome of “conservative.” Why am I a Democrat? Simple: I do not believe that having a different ethnic background, belief, or income makes one a superior or an inferior being to myself.

[Collimator]

29. I refer to myself as. . .

. . . conservative in my personal habits, but politically liberal.

And congratulations to you on your long, supportive relationship and two exemplary offspring. Call those things "blessings" or "accomplishments" if you choose, but they are two of the finest joys of life.

[DFW]

34. My wife is a social worker by profession

I think she secretly thinks of me as her longest-term and most stubborn case. We met when we were 22, and we'll be 70 this year. We have vague memories of life "before," but at this point, the most terrifying word we know is "without."

As for our daughters, we did what we could to shepherd them through their young years and adolescence. The rest, they accomplished through sheer will and perseverance. We may have given them the genes, but from then on, they chose their own (very different) paths, and made the best of it. We're proud, of course, but their accomplishments are their own. They most definitely ARE two of the finest joys in life.

[DENVERPOPS]

31. Watching people these last 40 years

I have found that indeed: most have not been paying attention.............

Besides, the Top Republicans have not become more conservative, they most certainly have become incredibly radical.......

Look no further than Trump or McConnell speaking daily these past four years....Do they remind you of a Conservative Statesman?????

[soldierant]

32. "not if you're paying attention" is exactly right.

And it is discouraging how many Americans are NOT paying attention. And how the right hammers that lack of attention into extreme right wing loyalty.

It's probably true world wide, but, nt being totally arrogant, I admit I am not educated enough in world history, particularly recent world history, tobe confident of thet.

[murielm99]

33. My son, who is very politically active,

used to yell at me for being too far left.

Now he says I have become more moderate. But is it moderate to support Mayor Pete and Biden? They are progressives. Every political stand I support is progressive.

Our disagreement is over Bernie Sanders. I don't like him. My son does. He is forty now, so we just avoid the topic. I raised great activists and Democrats. That is all.

[Progressive Jones]

37. You're lucky. I've got a 35 year old son who's a full on trumper.

A direct quote from a recent email: "You fucken (sic) liberal boomers trashed this country!
Y'all spport (sic) pedos (sic) and BLM".

When he left home, he was able to spell, and nobody ever said "Y'all" where we come from.

This came about in the past five years or so. He loves his Podcast Overlords who tell him whose fault everything is. His life sucks, through nothing but his own failures, so he wants to blame it all on me and an-tee-fa and old hippies. We're all Commies and Marxists, you know.

He's even taken to overt racism, which he certainly didn't learn at home.

[Skittles]

39. very sorry, Progressive Jones

that has to be so distressing

[murielm99]

41. I am sorry.

This is not your fault.

[Progressive Jones]

42. Oh, I know. Just stressful. Kind of like seeing a good guy get in with the wrong crowd.

He was once a normal dude. Smart, funny, hip. He wasn't even very political. He lost a great girlfriend over this shit, too.

I don't know what changed, but he took a 180 degree right turn into the darkness.

[SergeStorms]

35. I was a "radical" in the 60s....

and I may have physically mellowed out a bit because of age, but my mind is still in the same place.

Racial injustice is STILL racial injustice.

Sexual discrimination is STILL sexual discrimination.

The greedy monied elite are STILL the greedy monied elite.

And republican assholes ARE WORSE THAN EVER BEFORE!

What I used to do physically, I now do by donating money. Money itself has no political aspirations. It is neither bad nor good. It's what people DO with that money which determines it's worth, its evil, or its good.

[MasonDreams]

36. I just must add you need to also avoid being so traumatized by fear that you lose your humanity.

[vercetti2021]

38. MAGAts turned me more radical

Told I would be more conservative when I hit my 30s. Nope Dump and his circus freaks turned me into a liberal who doesn't take shit from the likes of those people.

[bhikkhu]

40. 57 years old myself

Not conservative in the least. The older I get, the more willing I am to burn the whole mess down for the sake of the ideals I was taught when I was young. Which were no more complicated than that we were all equal and should all be allowed to make our own choices and decisions, and that the playing field should be level. And that if a person makes a mistake and doesn't make the grade somehow or other, there should be a safety net where they don't simply fall away and die in pain and misery.

Even the idea that those are "liberal" positions is still absurd to me.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

43. Born in

A democratic home.
We were a family of political junkies.

My grandma was liberal her whole life. When Bill Clinton was running she had awesome Clinton swag in her yard..and this was in Galax virginia.

I took a photo with her saluting her Clinton swag.

It would have been awesome if she lived to see Hillary run.

Tfg,would have caused my grandma to do her epic rants. They always ended with damn republican assholes.
When I took her picture with her Clinton swag she was 87 years old.

Sometimes I really miss grandma.



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