CONFESS!!!!! How old were you and what made you a liberal/progressive?

[LynneSin]

What turning point in your life made you become the liberal/progressive thinker you are today? Were your parents democrats and thus you became one too? Did you hear someone speak and that made you think "Damn, I want to be like him/her". Did a failed policy of Nixon/Reagan/Bush Sr and/or Jr. screw over your life and you realized that liberals would make this a better place.

When in your life did you officially become a liberal/progressive/democrat or whatever term you use to describe yourself?

For me - it was 1976 & Jimmy Carter. I was a young, elementary schoolchild raised in redneck Pennsylvania and I knew nothing positive about any minority out there since there were no minorities in my home county. My brother subscribed to TIME magazine and I enjoyed glancing through the magazine each week. I had read that Democratic Candidate Jimmy Carter was a peanut farmer and my favorite food is Peanut Butter. So I became a major Carter fan even though I really didn't have a clue what democrats or republicans were. I figured he grew peanuts that made my peanut butter so how could Jimmy Carter be a bad guy?

My parents let me stay up to watch the Democratic Convention because I thought it was the greatest thing that a peanut farmer could be president. The keynote address speaker for the first night was Democratic Congresswoman Barbara Jordan of Texas. Now mind you, everything I had ever heard about African-Americans was truly dismal. My parents would never speak ill of African-Americans but believe me, the kids at school would critize "The N Word" left and right. So my attitude towards African-Americans was pretty much in the same path as most racists.

But I saw Barbara Jordan (an African-American) speak and she really impressed this 10 year old girl. And she made me realize that most of the kids at school were tell me crap when they would say horrible things about minorities. From that moment on, I was a progressive person. I was the only girl who would willingly take Clarinet lessions with this girl Letitha who happened to be half African-American (she was sweetheart, but transferred out of school after that year we had together for lessons).

So what moment do you recall when you knew you were on the left? Do share!!

[Kid_A]

1. I've been liberal my whole life but...

I became a LIBERAL on the day after the election in 2000.

[sniffa]

2. sniffa - copy/paste from the franken board

i was raised in the projects as one of the few white kids. my parents were together which was rare for the neighborhood. even though we were dirt poor, i never reaLLy noticed growing up. i don't know where i got it from, but i was raised with resentment; resentment of peopLe on weLfare, resentment of affirmative action, resentment of my neighbors, resentment of rent controL, and resentment of 'LiberaLs'.

at 18 i was a proud independent, with conservative Leanings... which mostLy amounted to kennedy hating. i Loosened up some in the next few years as i befriended peopLe i previousLy hated. i had many 'LiberaL' positions, but my hate dominated.

i Loosened up more through out coLLege (but stiLL usuaLLy voted the repubLican/independent ticket) as i met wonderfuL peopLe who benefited greatLy from some of the programs i hated.

as the years went by, certain 'LiberaL' positions pushed to the forefront as they were now issues that were directLy affecting me. i aLso recognized my hatred as a bad thing; as raging jeaLousy and finger pointing for my famiLy's Lower cLass status.

in 92, i supported ross perot. i thought bush 1 was doing a horribLe job, and i wouLd never support the dem. in 96 i voted for doLe. in 2000, i was torn between mccain and bradLey. i Loved mccain and his honesty resonated with me. i Loved bradLey - his inteLect astounded me. i voted for bradLey based on his heaLth care position, which became a dominant position for me as my fiance' feLL iLL without heaLth care. she was Left by the wayside and got sicker and sicker. this was one of those moments in my Life where i reaLized that peopLe need heLp and we are obLiged to heLp them.

i voted for gore as i thought bush was a fuck up. bush won, and i didn't reaLLy care. i raised my eyebrows at some of his earLy decisions but i just assumed do aLright (and of course return honor and integrity to the white house).

by the time 9-11 came, i was fairLy disgusted with bush and was Longing for the days of cLinton (even though i spent most of his 2 terms nodding aLong with the dittoheads). i feLt that the first 8 months were spent rehashing and bashing cLinton and i was ready to move on. i aLready came to terms with the fact that biLL didn't kiLL 49 peopLe, snort cocaine, rape women and such. i recognized the great things biLL cLinton did for our country in stark contrast to dubya.

then 9-11 came and i gave shrub a cLean sLate... which proceeded to smudge with the patriot act and his use of fear as a tooL. a whoLe bunch of smudges came as he buiLt his case for iraq. i wanted to beLieve him, but i feLt that this was just a pLoy to use 9-11 to shake up the worLd order. i had no doubt we'd kick saddam's ass, i just feLt the act wouLd change the worLd and not for the better. i didn't feeL that we were Lied to at the time... just fibbed to. i never feLt truLy threatened by saddam. i knew he couLdn't fire missLes at us or invade. i did buy into the mobiLe weapons Labs and such, and the fact that he couLd hit israeL or kuwait or even the u.a.e.

as weeks turned into months, and no wmds turned up, i became angry; outraged that i had been so guLLibLe.

then one day at work, a coworker toLd me he was reading this book by aL franken, and said it was great. he advised me to pick it up. out of everyone i work with, i vaLue his opinion the most so i went out and got the book.

i devoured Lying Liars 2 days and was numbed by it. i read it again the day after that just to make sure i was reading it right. i then started doing research on aL's cLaims and became more outraged that what was in the book, was in fact, true. i feLt bush had Lied about many things... i just didn't know the Lengths the administration and media whores wouLd go to, to perpetuate the Lies.

from that point, i found this board. i found out about pnac, which confirmed my suspicions on the true intent of iraq. i've Learned to read through everything that crosses my path.

i now have a fire in my beLLy that drives me to expend so much energy to research aLL i can on this administration, the current media, and this time in history. it was aL's book that struck the match and i can't thank him enough. i am doing anything in my power to heLp remove this stain from our great history.

whew... that was Long.

[LynneSin]

15. Glad to have you on our team, even if you did vote for Dole

:eyes:

[sniffa]

17. i'LL never Live that down

doh! i'm sure there's much, much more to add to sniffa's ingredients, but i condensed it for the previous post.

[agates]

3. Born a Dem

Realized in the Reagan years that I really WAS a dem. Those were bad years. How could any party/platform/person be so meanspirited to human beings? That is what baffles me about the "GOP".

[amber dog democrat]

4. The Vietnam War

did it for me. All I had to do was look at what we were doing over there, and listen to Nixons paranoid statements.
I was 17 when i enlisted in the Navy in 69. Already polarized. Verging on radical
I still feel that way now.

[wryter2000]

5. No particular incident

I've always been liberal. I was raised by my parents to care about people, even if I didn't personally know them. It was strongly reinforced by the schools I attended.

When I was quite young, I thought the Viet Nam was was heroic, like World War II. But I was naive and didn't realize that the United States could do things for base reasons. I'll never understand the reasoning behind "Liberals hate America." We love America enough to believe that it can be perfect (or close to), and we won't settle for anything less.

[sus]

6. I was indoctrinated in the womb.

[SarahB]

11. Me too I think.

My dad used to be active in college in Democratic politics (was a delegate a couple of times, advocate/attorney). Lots of family stuff and other stuff happened to prevent him from going forward with his own political aspirations, but I grew up with a lot of exposure to ideas with detailed explanations. It's been a part of me as long as I can remember.

[bratcatinok]

7. I was 17 and it was Viet Nam

Several of the guys that lived in my subdivision in Houston had been drafted. Two of them had come home, one in a box and the other seriously wounded. When it's childhood friends that are getting killed and hurt, you begin to pay attention.

We organized protests against the war and held a couple of sit-ins at our high school. We also marched in our protests to Hermann Hill.

I never spit on any of our military or called any of them names because it would have been abusing my childhood friends.

On edit: My parents were republican and my sister still is today.

[GOPisEvil]

8. Adopted into a liberal family.

Went off on a dalliance with the Republicans as a stupid revolt and to belong to the crowd in high school. (I still have a Reagan/Bush '84 button somewhere.) That ended with Iran/Contra. I realized what greedy, lying, hypocritical bastards the GOP is during those hearings. I've gotten more liberal as I have aged!

[Whitacre D_WI]

9. My parents raised me right.

You know, to actually care about the poor. To hope for peace. To believe that everyone -- regardless of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, or net worth -- should be free.

In other words, they raised me as a Democrat.

What truly cemented it was growing up under Reagan. When I saw friends of mine made poor when their parents were "downsized." When I saw the news reports of Central American death squads; and selling weapons to terrorists who had killed Americans, and would continue to do so, in order to fund another group of terrorists in Nicaragua. When I prayed every night that the world would not end in a nuclear holocaust.

I am a Democrat because I believe in the right of everyone to live the life they want to live. I am a Democrat because I know that true freedom only occurs when people can afford to be free. Above all, I am a Democrat because I believe that the promise of America should be available to all.

[ronnykmarshall]

10. 16 and it was Reagan that did it.

[ACK]

12. My Grandfather was a yellow dog Democrat

Yes, I was raised in the South and his support had very little to do with racial politics.

It had everything to do with his experience in the Depression. I sat on my grandfather's knee listening to his and my grandmother's recollections of living through the great Depression.

He said to me sitting there with the blood and sweat of 50+ years of hard labor behind him and he said sighing, "Son, the Republicans don't care about nobody but the rich man."

I have never ever seen anything in my life to make me believe different.

There were other turning points in my life like watching the "I Have a Dream" speech on GPTV (PBS in Ga) and realizing the racial hate still alive under the surface in my home was wrong and stupid.

However, my grandfather and his memories of the Great Depression made me a Democrat.

_

[David__77]

13. Age 11: 1986.

The contras and apartheid were big issues. My first demonstration was against US aid to the contras. All at once, I realized our role in the world, in maintaining cruel, wicked systems of oppression like Nazi apartheid.

[Misunderestimator]

14. 16 and it was Carter for me.... Reagan solidified it 2 years later.

[ihaveaquestion]

16. My family is mostly New-England Liberal

My liberal (anti-establishment) views formed at the same time I realized that adults (especially politicians) lie about lots of things - in the throes of puberty. At 13, I clearly remember spouting off to my mother that we would win the war in Vietnam if we sent more troops to really do the war right. By the time I was 15 in 1970, I was so sickened by the news about the war and anti-war protesters being beaten that I stopped watching the TV news and reading the newspaper. I still don't watch TV news, but I finally started reading newspapers again after about 20 years.

The disillusionment caused by Vietnam led some to support Reagan as the great savior, but not all of us. The more intelligent and cynical of us could usually see through the facade of patriotic talk to the dirty politics beneath. This is the political legacy of Vietnam.

[scarlet_owl]

18. I just came up that way.

I've been a liberal ever since I can remember. My dad does a lot of social activism. My mother, while liberal, isn't very politically involved.

[cmf]

19. My parents raised me that way

They were politically active Democrats. One of my earliest memories is the 1980 election. I remember watching the election coverage, and remember crying when they were projecting for Reagan. I was only 4 years old. ;-) And I have never swayed.

[DemExpat]

20. I come from hard-nosed Repub parents.....

so perhaps my progressiveness was total rebellion against this thought.

But I remember when I was tiny in Beaumont, Texas, that I noticed how different Blacks were regarded and treated, and it hurt me to the core. I knew that this was not right.

DemEx

[Arugula Latte]

21. I was 14 and Reagan turned me into a staunch liberal.

Thanks, Ronnie! Ya did one thing right! :hi:

[supernova]

22. Don't recall being conservative

even as a very young child. I remember being 5-6 years old. Before he was a Senator, Jesse Helms owned the local ABC affiliate. Everynight after the local news and before the national news, Jesse had about a 5 minute editoral spot. I remember being 5 years old, watching Jesse and thinking "He's crazy!" :crazy:

In the 37 years since, I have not changed my mind.

[Qanisqineq]

23. my parents are democrats, my grandparents are democrats

Everyone I can think of in my extended family is a democrat. Ok, except my former Clinton-loving (and I mean she adored the man) turned Left-Behind-reading sister.

[BigMcLargehuge]

24. 34

never had a defining moment. I was raised by parents who refused to pidgeon hole me (or my brothers) and encouraged us to do what was right in every situation, to put ourselves second (mostly), and to respect and appreciate other people's perspective.

I guess you could say I was raised that way, but it isn't entirely true. I was simply given good ground rules and helpful folks who'd answer all of my increasingly complex questions.

[gpandas]

25. lifetime liberal-due to parents and...

the teachings of jesus christ, which imho negate any chance of being a conservative and a christian. ironically, as i grew apart from all established religion, i became more liberal. although now a self-declared atheist, i still try to achieve the standards of behavior and morality that christ taught. to me, the message of love for all is what christianity means, and i see so little of it in america today.

[fudge stripe cookays]

26. Raised by noncommittal Republican parents

who didn't want their taxes to go up.

I remember my mom calling Carter a "stupid peanut farmer" and that colored my judgement for most of the rest of my life.

I didn't vote until I was around 28. Just didn't care. Was completely uninterested in politics. Period.

Then I got pregnant and had an abortion. I had just managed to get my life together, go back to school, and on the way to a career (instead of just a job). There was no way I could manage a pregnancy during all that. In the center where I went, they had information about the Religious Right and their infringement on female rights. This woke me up enough to begin voting, and made me a liberal.

I watched the election coverage in 2000, and I was upset that Bush won, but still didn't pay enough attention to know the real implications behind Florida and what it all meant.

Howard Dean was the one who REALLY woke me up and made me a LIBERAL. I went from simply voting to working for candidates, marching, voter registration, doing door to door canvassing, and more.

While what happened to me was initially unfortunate, it changed my life in a much better way than I could have imagined.

[mvd]

Been liberal ever since I understood politics

That was towards the end of the Dukakis/Bush election season. Before then, I would go by soundbytes. I would have been a liberal without my parents' and maternal grandparents' influence, but they helped to get me interested at a younger age.

[Lavender Brown]

27. The first Bush presidency

I remember the 1988 presidential election so well, even though I was pretty young. My parents were voting for Dukakis. My understanding of politics was obviously kind of hazy at that point, but it was so obvious to me from the debates and the convention that the Republicans were backward-looking in thought, whereas the Dems were about the future. I remember Ann Richards and JFK Jr. speaking and thinking how much, well, cooler the Democrats were.

I also remember doing a mock debate at my Catholic school, where we had to make a little speech on behalf of either Bush or Dukakis - the Dukakis students won. Our teacher (a nun) hated Bush and Dan Quayle with a passion. :)

[LuLu550]

28. young very young maybe 7 or 8

seeing the school boycott in Little Rock on TV.

[BBradley]

29. The 2000 elections were when I started following politics.

That gave me a reason to hate Bush, and be afraid for this country. 9/11 and the fear that Bush abused were what pushed me to the extreme left.