Why do you hold the political/social views that you do?

Mr. Psychologist · September 21, 2014, 10:08:20 PM

I know this is quite a broad question and I expect some vague answers, but take any example you like and consider why you hold those views in the first place >.>

I'll post one for me when I wake up tomorrow, I don't think 4am is too conducive to coherent thinking <.<

As promised, here we go <.<

Spoiler

I started off as a fairly close minded leaning towards the right sort of chap, I'll put that down to both Ignorance and having the Daily Mail as the only newspaper in the house for years. (8-11)
Then when I started High School, it sort of mixed a little. I still had the old conservative programming which reacted badly to seeing the scum that I had to share the school with, (The reasoning for this bad reaction in the first place isn't just from reading the Daily Fail, but from all the shit that was going on with my mum)

So that sort of negative reaction to seeing people drinking/discussing drugs and the sex really didn't help open my mind up. So then towards the end of High School I was basically a Conservative with a bit of religious fervour mixed in there.

The religious fervour is a joke, because I was actually an atheist at the time (Agnostic now) but I still held true to a lot of the old testament beliefs. Yeaaaah, lynch me/bite me/whatever. I'm not saying Only eat fish on a friday sort of shit but the whole righteous/degenerates dichotomy thing was going on.

Then when I finally started on forums/started sixth form, my mind opened up a little. Bit by bit, there were certainly some painful teething problems that I remember quite clearly, but they happened with good reason because without them I'd probably still be a fairly close minded prick.

So over the last two years, I've gone from Fire and Brimstone for the sinnahs! to Treat everyone equally, nicely and even to the point of arguing for the rights of various groups >.>

So with that ramble done, the tl;dr is this.
Started off as a kid with the Daily Mail and the Bible, went into high school as a right leaning/conservative/walk the righteous path sort of bollocks.
Came out of high school with this sort of eroded, but still present.
Spent time on forums/talking with people online/skype/whatever and basically opened up my mind.
And here I am now, a Centre-Leftist <.<

Not quite like Meta's Commie-Thatcherite conversion but still a bit of a swing >.>

DAS B00T x2 · September 21, 2014, 10:13:08 PM

A good bit of them are from my upbringing and family, I guess. Any and all racial tendencies definitely come from there...

SecondClass · September 21, 2014, 10:14:42 PM

Because I'm intelligent.

RustingFloor · September 21, 2014, 10:18:03 PM

They make the most sense, to me.

Mega Sceptile · September 21, 2014, 10:20:18 PM

28 years of learning the views of others had brought me to my ideals.

RustingFloor · September 21, 2014, 10:29:24 PM

Quote from: SecondClass on September 21, 2014, 10:14:42 PM

Because I'm intelligent.

Dustin · September 21, 2014, 10:36:52 PM

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SecondClass · September 22, 2014, 12:30:25 AM

Quote from: Not a Dustbin on September 21, 2014, 10:36:52 PM

Quote from: SecondClass on September 21, 2014, 10:14:42 PM
Because I'm intelligent.

Your jealously is so cute.

velox · September 22, 2014, 01:03:19 AM

Warning: wall of text coming through.

Spoiler

I see myself as an ecologist, feminist, and socialist.

I'm an ecologist because I think that we as a species has no right to destroy the earth as we are currently doing. Something needs to be done, and it needs to be done fast. I try my best to reduce my carbon footprint, and I recycle my trash as good as the system lets me. Good thing that metal, plastics, paper, biological waste and normal trash is sorted separately where I live.

I'm a feminist because I believe in equality. Now, don't start to shout "feminazi" at me, I'm not a radical feminist. I just simply think that we should have equality. True equality, not the "women are allowed to vote and work, so stfu" kind. People should be allowed to be themselves and to express that, and that includes but is not limited to transgenders, genderqueers, and other identities that doesn't fit the "norm" of society. The norm itself serves no purpose, and should be critically thought about. When even the glasses at the optician are separated into "Men's" and "Women's", something is wrong. Glasses have nothing to do with the sex chromosomes.

I'm a socialist because I believe that people have the right to a certain standard of living. Still, I believe that if you are successfully in life, you should be able to keep at least a part of that success. I've yet to settle on a theoretical balance between welfare and taxes vs personal economical freedom, but I do believe that people shouldn't have to suffer just because they were born into the "wrong" family. People should have at least moderately equal opportunities in life, such as free education, even in the higher fields. It's what people do with those opportunities that decide their further success.

More Than Mortal · September 22, 2014, 01:49:35 AM

I'm fairly neutral when it comes to a lot of social issues, which is exactly how the government should be.

Although, that's not to say neutrality doesn't come with its principles. I think a strong judicial system from the government, along with healthy respect for the government from the citizenry, are the two most important points of relation between the public and the State.

While I've noticed myself becoming somewhat more conservative socially, it's actually led me down some rather radical paths. I'm disgusted by the conservatives who advocate for a tougher war on drugs (or a tougher anything really), since it seems altogether hypocritical to be sceptical of government and yet eager to use it.

I suppose I follow the "British tradition" of classical liberals, who emphasise respect for tradition and empiricism. Essentially, the two main points of my social views come down to gradualism, and whether or not it works.

Probably a bit of a ramble, but oh well.

challengerX · September 22, 2014, 04:57:05 AM

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BrenMan 94 · September 22, 2014, 10:23:50 AM

Quote from: True Velox on September 22, 2014, 01:03:19 AM

I'm a feminist because I believe in equality. Now, don't start to shout "feminazi" at me, I'm not a radical feminist. I just simply think that we should have equality. True equality, not the "women are allowed to vote and work, so stfu" kind. People should be allowed to be themselves and to express that, and that includes but is not limited to transgenders, genderqueers, and other identities that doesn't fit the "norm" of society. The norm itself serves no purpose, and should be critically thought about. When even the glasses at the optician are separated into "Men's" and "Women's", something is wrong. Glasses have nothing to do with the sex chromosomes.

That makes you an egalitarian, not a feminist.

OT: I was raised in a very conservative home, and had very conservative/Republican beliefs and values until I got into high school. That's when the real world started settling in, and I was introduced to gays, rednecks, socialists, other Republicans, etc. My political ideology eventually rested on anarcho-capitalism because I saw how voluntary exchange works on a personal basis, and, seeing as society is just a congealed mass of individual interactions, decided that voluntarism and free exchange for all would lead to a better society. For practicality's sake, I'm a minarchist (libertarian) because the only way an anarcho-capitalist society could exist is if that was the "system" in place at the birth of a society. Ultimately where you are on the political scale depends on how much force you believe is reasonable from the state. Taxation is theft, there's no denying it, but if you want to maintain a state it's necessary for the judicial system and military to function.

At first my friends reacted negatively, but they came around when I started explaining the illegitimacy of force and the power of voluntary exchange. My dad doesn't really care about my political beliefs, and my mom thinks I'm some sort of antichrist for not caring if guys fuck each other in the asshole or if Mr. and Mrs. Smith down the street smoke a little reefer.

Mordo · September 22, 2014, 10:28:32 AM

I get a lot of my social views from my mother. She's extremely leftist, a supporter of LGBT, bodily autonomy, social security etc. That being said, I'm usually open to dissenting viewpoints as well. (I've adopted a fair amount of right wing views recently when it comes to economics. The more I work, the more economically conservative I get.)

velox · September 22, 2014, 10:43:11 AM

Quote from: BrenMan 94 on September 22, 2014, 10:23:50 AM

Quote from: True Velox on September 22, 2014, 01:03:19 AM
I'm a feminist because I believe in equality. Now, don't start to shout "feminazi" at me, I'm not a radical feminist. I just simply think that we should have equality. True equality, not the "women are allowed to vote and work, so stfu" kind. People should be allowed to be themselves and to express that, and that includes but is not limited to transgenders, genderqueers, and other identities that doesn't fit the "norm" of society. The norm itself serves no purpose, and should be critically thought about. When even the glasses at the optician are separated into "Men's" and "Women's", something is wrong. Glasses have nothing to do with the sex chromosomes.
That makes you an egalitarian, not a feminist.

I had to look up this term, and it seems it's a word used to try to either escape the negative connotations people have with the word "feminism", or by people are affected by those connotations themselves. On paper the ideologies seem pretty similar, but I don't want subscribe to a belief that seem to be created, at least in part, to throw blame on feminism. Not until I've done further research.

Sandtrap · September 22, 2014, 10:49:58 AM

I base my social views off of my experiences. And, as I grew older, I watched people, studied them. Compared them to what I had experienced, and then eventually drew my conclusions.

As for political, as far as I'm concerned, I don't really care. Men signing papers a province away mean nothing to me when I'm the one who has to go out there and make the wheels turn. The only thing I watch out for is related to money. Changes that those far away men make on paper, that will affect the cost of things. But everything else, every decision they make otherwise, means nothing.

BrenMan 94 · September 22, 2014, 10:55:36 AM

Quote from: True Velox on September 22, 2014, 10:43:11 AM

I had to look up this term, and it seems it's a word used to try to either escape the negative connotations people have with the word "feminism", or by people are affected by those connotations themselves. On paper the ideologies seem pretty similar, but I don't want subscribe to a belief that seem to be created, at least in part, to throw blame on feminism. Not until I've done further research.

I just think it better describes your views. If you call something red and I call it scarlet, we're both right, but one of us better describes it.

velox · September 22, 2014, 10:56:56 AM

Quote from: BrenMan 94 on September 22, 2014, 10:55:36 AM

Quote from: True Velox on September 22, 2014, 10:43:11 AM
I had to look up this term, and it seems it's a word used to try to either escape the negative connotations people have with the word "feminism", or by people are affected by those connotations themselves. On paper the ideologies seem pretty similar, but I don't want subscribe to a belief that seem to be created, at least in part, to throw blame on feminism. Not until I've done further research.
I just think it better describes your views. If you call something red and I call it scarlet, we're both right, but one of us better describes it.

Maybe so. I'll look more into the definitions of egalitarianism when I'm less tired.

PSU · September 22, 2014, 11:14:07 AM

They were formed through my life experiences.

As such, I was a liberal when I was young.

Verbatim · September 22, 2014, 11:23:46 AM

We're not good enough.

cxfhvxgkcf-56:7 · September 22, 2014, 02:45:43 PM

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Yu · September 22, 2014, 02:56:48 PM

Growing up with my family and realizing I don't agree with them on a lot of things, also high school. Also by musing from time to time.

More Than Mortal · September 22, 2014, 03:17:37 PM

I resent my characterisation as a Thatcherite >.>

Mr. Psychologist · September 22, 2014, 03:20:54 PM

Quote from: Meta Cognition on September 22, 2014, 03:17:37 PM

I resent my characterisation as a Thatcherite >.>

It's better than being a commie <.<

But I was kidding anyway >.>

Dustin · September 22, 2014, 10:40:00 PM

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ban me · September 24, 2014, 05:50:13 PM

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More Than Mortal · September 24, 2014, 05:52:36 PM

Quote from: Iberian Husky on September 24, 2014, 05:50:13 PM

extremely conservative, die hard Libertarian

what

ban me · September 24, 2014, 05:55:00 PM

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DAS B00T x2 · September 24, 2014, 05:57:33 PM

Quote from: Iberian Husky on September 24, 2014, 05:55:00 PM

Quote from: Meta Cognition on September 24, 2014, 05:52:36 PM
Quote from: Iberian Husky on September 24, 2014, 05:50:13 PM
extremely conservative, die hard Libertarian
what
Libertarians are conservative, are they not?

inb4 ideological ranting and economics jargon

More Than Mortal · September 24, 2014, 06:02:31 PM

Quote from: Iberian Husky on September 24, 2014, 05:55:00 PM

Quote from: Meta Cognition on September 24, 2014, 05:52:36 PM
Quote from: Iberian Husky on September 24, 2014, 05:50:13 PM
extremely conservative, die hard Libertarian
what
Libertarians are conservative, are they not?

Oh, fuck that's a complication question.

If you mean conservative in the sense of wanting to conserve the constitution - Ron Paul, say - then yes, I suppose you could say conservatives are libertarian.

Current Republican conservatives, neocons and traditionalists? Perhaps not so much.

challengerX · September 24, 2014, 06:08:45 PM

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