What made you a liberal or a conservative?
What's your reason for being a liberal or a conservative?
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-liberal-or-conservative.ht
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Education did it for me.
I grew up in a politically mixed family. My father was a Republican, and my mother voted Democratic in every election since 1942. She was in the Navy. Her CO authorized time off for them to vote, and the next day, anyone who didn't vote found themselves restricted to post. At 88 years old, she just cast her mail-in ballot for Obama.
My first presidential election was 1972, I voted for Nixon. I voted Ford in '76, because he pardoned Nixon, effectively ending the Watergate mess; allowing the country to move on. And also because of the Mayaguez incident.
1980 was my year for youthful idealism, when I voted the Anderson Coalition. Remember John Anderson? One of his platform planks was to place a fifty-cents a gallon tax on gasoline. The tax would artificially inflate the cost of gas, and stimulate a demand for alternatives. Revenues from the tax were to be plowed into basic research on alternative fuels, public transportation improvements, etc. Where would we be if these programs were instituted in 1980?
But it was morning in America, and no politician has successfully run on a platform to raise taxes, no matter how noble the purpose. Anderson turned out to be the Ralph Nader of 1980. He received about 7% of the popular vote, Carter received 41%, and Ronald Reagan took office with 51%. My youthful enthusiasm helped pave the way for the Reagan era.
Because of some other bad decisions, I ended up in a nowhere, dollar above minimum wage job after getting out of the service. My income was low enough I qualified for government tuition assistance. If I skimped and saved, I could live on part time work and my GI Bill while I attended school.
Reagan went on a binge of cutting government spending, and PELL grants were among the first to go. I had to drop out of school. Luckily, I had finished my AA which got me a slightly better job, and kept going to school part time. It took me 10 years to get through college.
To me, it was extremely shortsighted to cut education funds. Because of my education, I have a better job. I am less likely to be out of work, and when I am, I am able to find work sooner. The government will not have to take care of me as much as it does an unskilled man. In my lifetime, I will pay several times the amount in taxes that it would have cost the government in tuition aid. Taxes they wouldn't have gotten from my bottom of the food chain job which was outsourced to the Third World.
I began to realize these same principles applied to a lot of social problems. Help people get on their feet, spend a little on education, health care, etc. Enable people to improve their lot, and it pays off in the long run. I have been a Democrat ever since.
Education did it for me.
I grew up in a politically mixed family. My father was a Republican, and my mother voted Democratic in every election since 1942. She was in the Navy. Her CO authorized time off for them to vote, and the next day, anyone who didn't vote found themselves restricted to post. At 88 years old, she just cast her mail-in ballot for Obama.
My first presidential election was 1972, I voted for Nixon. I voted Ford in '76, because he pardoned Nixon, effectively ending the Watergate mess; allowing the country to move on. And also because of the Mayaguez incident.
1980 was my year for youthful idealism, when I voted the Anderson Coalition. Remember John Anderson? One of his platform planks was to place a fifty-cents a gallon tax on gasoline. The tax would artificially inflate the cost of gas, and stimulate a demand for alternatives. Revenues from the tax were to be plowed into basic research on alternative fuels, public transportation improvements, etc. Where would we be if these programs were instituted in 1980?
But it was morning in America, and no politician has successfully run on a platform to raise taxes, no matter how noble the purpose. Anderson turned out to be the Ralph Nader of 1980. He received about 7% of the popular vote, Carter received 41%, and Ronald Reagan took office with 51%. My youthful enthusiasm helped pave the way for the Reagan era.
Because of some other bad decisions, I ended up in a nowhere, dollar above minimum wage job after getting out of the service. My income was low enough I qualified for government tuition assistance. If I skimped and saved, I could live on part time work and my GI Bill while I attended school.
Reagan went on a binge of cutting government spending, and PELL grants were among the first to go. I had to drop out of school. Luckily, I had finished my AA which got me a slightly better job, and kept going to school part time. It took me 10 years to get through college.
To me, it was extremely shortsighted to cut education funds. Because of my education, I have a better job. I am less likely to be out of work, and when I am, I am able to find work sooner. The government will not have to take care of me as much as it does an unskilled man. In my lifetime, I will pay several times the amount in taxes that it would have cost the government in tuition aid. Taxes they wouldn't have gotten from my bottom of the food chain job which was outsourced to the Third World.
I began to realize these same principles applied to a lot of social problems. Help people get on their feet, spend a little on education, health care, etc. Enable people to improve their lot, and it pays off in the long run. I have been a Democrat ever since.
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What made you a liberal or a conservative? | 12 comments (12 topical, 0 hidden)
What made you a liberal or a conservative? | 12 comments (12 topical, 0 hidden)
