Are liberals finding themselves becoming conservative?

Question

I was a liberal until things got totally out of hand. I was pro-illegal immigration, but not anymore. I was for helping the poor until I learned that many so called poor people are working the system and liberals are letting it happen. I had many liberal points of view but have learned that liberals have become too extreme, and have changed my point of views. I now consider myself a moderate conservative.

Has this happened to any of you?

Answer 1

Me! I even worked for an environmental group in college....

As we get older and experience real life, the vast majority of people will turn moderate/conservative.

Only those who are too immature/unwilling to open their minds stay lib. in their later years.

Answer 2

It is not happening to all liberals, but yes it happens to some. My father is a good example. He used to be moderately liberal but the older he gets the more conservative he becomes. I think it is that way for many. Not me though. I can't forsee myself ever being conservative. To me liberal is equal to freedom. I don't like illegal immigration either and fyi rich people work the system as much or more than poor people do.

Answer 3

I live in new england and was a former liberal. The liberals have really screwed up badly but claiming racism over any little thing (recently illegals and the national language). Now I am conservative and their views fit me more.

"I think the media has bought in to the swing to the Right, and therefor our opinions about everything move that way as well.
"If you repeat a Lie enough times, it becomes a Fact"-Orwell"

Uhh yeah like CNN, MSNBC, ABS, NBC, ClearChannel, etc.. those are all Right-wing networks right???
Jesus

I think there is a right-wing revolution in the youth. No one wants to be politcally correct anymore. They will rebell with their unpolitcal correctness, I garuntee you.

Answer 4

Poor are working the system??

What about the rich?

HALLIBURTON: In December Congressman Waxman (D-CA), announced that "a growing list of concern's about Halliburton's performance" on contracts that total $10.8 billion have led to multiple criminal investigations into overcharging and kickbacks. In nine different reports, government auditors have found "widespread, systemic problems with almost every aspect of Halliburton's work in Iraq, from cost estimation and billing systems to cost control and subcontract management." Six former employees have come forward, corroborating the auditors' concerns.

Another "H-bomb" dropped just before the election, when a top contracting official responsible for ensuring that the Army Corps of Engineers follows competitive contracting rules accused top Pentagon officials of improperly favoring Halliburton in an early-contract before the occupation. Bunnatine Greenhouse says that when the Pentagon awarded the company a 5-year oil-related contract worth up to $7 billion, it pressured her to withdraw her objections, actions that she said were unprecedented in her experience.

I am sure some poor person makes that kind of money on non-bid contracts. Overcharging and Kickbacks.

You protect the wrong people!

Answer 5

Yes- almost identical. I wish more people could be educated about these things, that way they could see how extreme the left is becoming! I'm a member of the idependant party, so I don't really fit in with either the republican or democratic label, but I do consider myself a moderate conservative, and I think that's the way it should be.

Answer 6

No, I think not, unless conservatives are changing to agree that Bush suck as a president and stole two elections. I really do not think that you know what a liberal is so I am including some study work for you.

Liberalism is an ideology, philosophy, and political tradition that holds liberty as the primary political value.[1] Broadly speaking, liberalism seeks a society characterized by freedom of thought for individuals, limitations on power, especially of government and religion, the rule of law, the free exchange of ideas, a market economy that supports relatively free private enterprise, and a transparent system of government in which the rights of minorities are guaranteed. In modern society, liberals favour a liberal democracy with open and fair elections, where all citizens have equal rights by law and an equal opportunity to succeed[2]. Liberalism rejected many foundational assumptions which dominated most earlier theories of government, such as the Divine Right of Kings, hereditary status, and established religion. Fundamental human rights that all liberals support include the right to life, liberty, and property. In many countries, "modern" liberalism differs from classical liberalism by asserting that government provision of some minimal level of material well-being takes priority over freedom from taxation. Liberalism has its roots in the Western Enlightenment, but the term now encompasses a diversity of political thought, with adherents spanning a large part of the political spectrum, from left to right. In the context of economics, the term "liberalism" refers to economic liberalism, which is associated with the political ideology of liberalism itself.

Answer 7

My experience is the opposite. When I was in college in Montana, I was very conservative. I watched Fox News Channel loyally, making fun of those who watched CNN in the Student Union. I disliked the hippy protesters on campus and in the streets. I proudly exclaimed the need for the Iraqi invasion, telling everybody within earshot that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, that he was murdering and raping and brutalizing his own people, that he needed to be stopped. I fell hard for the conservative line of thought. Once the weapons of mass destruction argument was determined false, everything unraveled from there. I questioned my loyalty to the party, but never to my country. Since I've moved back home to California, I have obviously let slide my conservative tendencies and instead embraced the idea of free thought.

Answer 8

NO. In fact, over the last 34 years that I have been able to vote, I have found that I am becoming more and more liberal because the "conservative" puppetmasters in America have very covertly taken over the media and done a spectacular job of brainwashing the not so intelligent public into thinking they have all our best interests at heart.

I must ask you to tell me what the "opposite" of LIBERAL is. First read the dictionary definition of the word and then respond.
From Merriam-Webster

Main Entry: 1lib·er·al
Pronunciation: 'li-b(&-)r&l
Function: adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin liberalis suitable for a freeman, generous, from liber free; perhaps akin to Old English lEodan to grow, Greek eleutheros free
: of, relating to, or based on the liberal arts b archaic : of or befitting a man of free birth
: marked by generosity : OPENHANDED b : given or provided in a generous and openhanded way c : AMPLE, FULL
: not literal or strict : LOOSE
: BROAD-MINDED; especially : not bound by authoritarianism, orthodoxy, or traditional forms
a : of, favoring, or based upon the principles of liberalism b capitalized : of or constituting a political party advocating or associated with the principles of political liberalism; especially : of or constituting a political party in the United Kingdom associated with ideals of individual especially economic freedom, greater individual participation in government, and constitutional, political, and administrative reforms designed to secure these objectives
- lib·er·al·ly /-b(&-)r&-lE/ adverb
- lib·er·al·ness noun
synonyms LIBERAL, GENEROUS, BOUNTIFUL, MUNIFICENT mean giving or given freely and unstintingly. LIBERAL suggests openhandedness in the giver and largeness in the thing or amount given . GENEROUS stresses warmhearted readiness to give more than size or importance of the gift . BOUNTIFUL suggests lavish, unremitting giving or providing . MUNIFICENT suggests a scale of giving appropriate to lords or princes .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The opposite would be stingy, selfish, closeminded, exclusive.

These are NOT the qualities of anyone you would want to marry, be related to, be best friends with or work for or for that matter, they are NOT the kind of descriptive adjectives you would want written next to your name in your high school yearbook or under your photo in your local newpaper.

So why, then would you be so "proud" to say this is the way you behave??

Answer 9

Wow, this is interesting. I've found the opposite to be true. To me, it feels like the political climate is becoming so conservative that it's like screws tightening on us here in the US, so, while I've always been "liberal" (I don't like that term, as I think most Democrats are too conservative, personally), I've become even more so in the last year or so as Bush and his cronies push my buttons (creationism in schools, abortion rights, supreme court appointees, lack of environmental consciousness, the overuse of god as a political tool, the quagmire that is Iraq, etc.). Phew, sorry for that run-on sentence...those guys get me going!

Answer 10

No. I mean, there are problems with the system but that doesn't necessarily mean the people who are responsible for it are to blame. Politicians aren't demi-gods who are either good or bad and can do whatever they want.

Besides, I pesonally don't agree with many conservative policies (like trying to to have creationism taught in public schools).

Answer 11

yes, I had many liberal ideals, and still do, to an extent. But the left has gone so far out left, those ideals are now thought to be moderate.