Times you have changed your mind on an issue

[Sonic Speed Monkey]

I used to be very right-wing when I was younger, but after debate after debate, I started mixing my views from all over the political spectrum. I found myself ending up agreeing with many opposing views. One of the main reasons I like to debate others is that I always learn something new, and I like hearing what other views are out there. I realized that I only identified as right-wing because that's what my mother told me was right, so I blindly went with it for a long time. Now I consider myself a moderate with varying political stances.

 

[ASoulMan]

I used to hate homosexuals because I was immature. Then I realized that they were people too and they had the right to marry whoever they want.

 

[TheProdigalStunna]

I used to think autists and trannies were people deserving of human dignity until I found this site.

 

[A Skeleton]

I used to be a hardcore Tumblr SJW until I realized all SJWs were teenagers with no grasp of reality whatsoever who only use certain movements to make themselves feel edgy and unique, and that none of them even had any idea what they were talking about.

(Also when I realized most of the antiracist "activists" were just white kids trying too hard to cover up their own racism)

 

[Pope Gregory IX]

I stopped being so judgemental about the lies people tell themselves when I realised the lies I tell myself are no different.

 

[chimpburgers]

I think economically speaking, I agree with Donald Trump more than I thought I did but I also still think he has a lot of issues. I'm looking at him from the mindset of a protectionist and trying to bring back more jobs here in the US. I am no fan of TPP, GATT or NAFTA either and I read that he'd also do something about that as well. I came to this conclusion after having a talk with a friend of mine about the different candidates, even ones that weren't getting so much coverage.

If he just kept his mouth shut on a lot of other shit and dropped all of it, he could just really hammer on that point, China and the tariffs because at the end of the day, the economy and healthcare are two of the main important issues that need to be addressed IMO. He's not perfect by any means but I'm not too big on Hilary Clinton and her own views on free trade, so I'd actually be more inclined to vote for Donald mainly because of that if I had no other choice and because it would actually be more politically interesting if he won. I did not have this view of him before and I was quicker to let all his shortcomings and past problems deter me from looking at what he's offering that the others aren't.

 

[Xarpho]

I swung more libertarian at one time, flip-flopped on public transit a few times, but mostly softened on smoking, specifically more supporting smoker's rights.

 

[GeorgeDaMoose]

I used to think the death penalty was a bad thing, but now I'm not so sure. I guess my opinion on it now just depends on the prisoner and his/her crime. I do think it should be legalized throughout the US though.
Politics in general bothered me a lot, but I've come to almost like politics recently. It stresses me out less and I've met some people I can have healthy discussions on politics with.
This was mentioned by someone else, but I used to be okay with Day 1 DLC and also on-disc DLC. Then I actually thought about it instead of blindly defending it and changed my mind.

 

[Cabonet]

I live in the South, and when I was little I used to be kind of racist. My parents never raised me that way, but growing up I spent time with other little kids that were raised by racists and reflected their parents views.

I ended up believing that black people were dangerous and that I had to be cautious/scared of them because the kids would tell me blacks were more violent and that they'd steal shit from you and that if I tried to play with black kids their parents would hurt me. No one really told me why, and I didn't ask, but I grew up thinking blacks were terrible people. I never said or did anything racist, but I definitely had racist views I kept to myself and intentionally avoided black people.

It wasn't until I was about 12 that I realized how bad that kind of opinion was and completely changed my view of it. Even though I never did anything or was actively racist I still feel guilty that I thought that way.

 

[Carlos Thin]

I used to be big into anarchism as a teenager but the whole theory that people would work just for the greater good became more and more bullshit, and I got sick of staying at squats, listening to people argue about the IRA and generally their uninformed history opinions.

 

[Sperglord Dante]

I used to think that "winners don't use drugs", and then after actually trying recreative drugs in my teen years, and seeing the negatives of banning drugs on the news on a constant basis, I realized it was dangerously stupid moralistic bullshit.

I very rarely smoke weed nowadays but I still favor legalizing everything.

 

[Tehshigelisok]

I was homophobic for a long time because my mother was. But over time, I came to realize not only how many of my peers were gay, but also how much more acceptable it was starting to become at the time (this was a while ago). And so, I felt I had no valid reason for being homophobic. This dovetailed into me being much less prejudiced as a whole — there are so many aspects of myself that someone else could be prejudiced against.

I also grew up Republican thanks mainly to a very excellent poli-sci teacher I had in college. Energetic 80-year-old guy who was very persuasive and encouraged students all the time, even if he didn't agree with their opinions. Not long after I left the class, I found that I was merely parroting a lot of his points (which was probably more of a me thing, as most of the students seemed to already have their minds more made up politically than I did — I knew that mom is Republican and my sister hated Obama, but that was about it). Nowadays, I stay informed on certain political issues, but I don't get very deep into it because I find that not a lot of it interests me.

 

[Len Kagamoney]

I used to be homophobic, but that's because I was a closeted bisexual and afraid of ridicule.
I also used to be very religious and right winged, due to my upbringing. When I was a teen, this turned into being an SJW.
Now, I am kind of in the middle of right and left wing. I'm all for equality and human rights, trans people and gay people can do whatever so long as it doesn't hurt anyone.

 

[Andy27]

I used to believe that gay people shouldn't be able to adopt kids, now I don't.

I used to believe anarchism was worse than communism. Now I think it's the other way around.

I used to believe boycotts and similar actions could only be positive things and would enhance free markets, providing a counter-balance to free-reigning companies. Currently doubt that one.

 

[The Lizard Queen]

The death penalty.

While I still think people who committed those crimes should burn, many studies have shown that its not worth the cost and effort to deal with them that way. It's more cost effective to just let them rot behind bars forever.

If they could streamline the death penalty to reduce the time and cost, like making it an expidited process for heinous murderers convicted on hard evidence, I'd be all for that.

 

[AnOminous]

If they could streamline the death penalty to reduce the time and cost, like making it an expidited process for heinous murderers convicted on hard evidence, I'd be all for that.

There are certainly people who actually don't deserve to live and who will only ever improve the world by leaving it.

It's just not worth the excess expense of getting rid of them while at the same time ensuring that innocent people, or at least people whose crimes were not that heinous, don't get killed in the process.

The problem is the only real capital crime is having a shitty lawyer.

Except for the absolute worst of offenders, a good enough lawyer can give at least one person out of 12 on a jury enough reason not to put some guy to death to save the vast majority of defendants, even people who really do have it coming.

Meanwhile, another guy rots on death row because his lawyer was a drunken idiot, slept through the entire trial, and some blind guy is the only "eyewitness" whose testimony put him there.

 

[Tookie]

I've flipped on the death penalty as well. My concerns are mostly about wrongful convictions. There have been a few cases determined after the fact to not have been committed by the person put to death, to me it just isn't acceptable to let the government potentially kill an innocent.

Seeing the conditions at Supermax prisons have also made me adjust my position. I would gladly take death over a lifetime at ADX Florence, so I think it is a suitable punishment for people who have committed truly heinous crimes.

 

[AnOminous]

I would gladly take death over a lifetime at ADX Florence, so I think it is a suitable punishment for people who have committed truly heinous crimes.

Sadly, despite its reputation as being solely for the "worst of the worst," a lot of people end up there just because of repeated disciplinary infractions.

There just aren't enough "worst of the worst" to justify the institution. Not everyone there is the Unabomber.

 

[Adamska]

I used to be leery of nuclear power, since I grew up near a plant and I remember looking up and reading stuff about events like Chernobyl and Three Mile Island. Then I learned more about the saftey features involved in newer generation plants, why those prior events occurred, and more about other fuel sources. Essentially I became pro-power in general, since I realized how key electrification is, as well as how badly we need to maintain the grid.

 

[Enclave Supremacy]

I used to be leery of nuclear power, since I grew up near a plant and I remember looking up and reading stuff about events like Chernobyl and Three Mile Island. Then I learned more about the saftey features involved in newer generation plants, why those prior events occurred, and more about other fuel sources. Essentially I became pro-power in general, since I realized how key electrification is, as well as how badly we need to maintain the grid.

Yeah man, nuclear technology is nothing to be scared of. I've lived my whole life right next to nuclear facilities and never worried a damn thing about either of them (particularly since I worked at one of them); they have so many checks and red-tape these-days that something is really unlikely to happen.