What made you become a Democrat/Leftist once and for all?

[spychoactive]

now that i have your attention, hello, this is my first thread and i was just curious as to how and what holds your hearts and minds to the left. and what (if anything) brought you to our side?

personally speaking, it was originally the abortion issue that brought me into the fold, and it's the raging hypocrisy of the religious right that keeps me here more than any one thing...

how about you?

one love
spike

ps: the DU rocks, and despite all of or percieved differences let us all remember we are on the same side and our party is fragmented enough...be good family!

happy holidays to one and all!

(edit on subject because a green just flamed me off list)

[kanrok]

1. Born and raised a Dem

and damn proud of it.

[CO Liberal]

58. Me, Too

My late parents were both Roosevelt Democrats.

[CalebHayes]

2. The KKK.

[SharonAnn]

3. It was the environmental issue under Reagan and James Watt

that first got me to take a serious look at things. Then it was women's issues, all of them, and how Reagan's administration handled them. Then it was the deficit under Reagan.

And so many more things.

[spychoactive]

9. i'm with you on that SharonAnn!

after i started the thread i thought of many more things...actually searching for the "one" reason has further cemented my beliefs, and it turned out to be a good exercise for me!

i cringe at the underlying subjugation of women by the GOP (well it's not all that underlying now is it?)

[maggrwaggr]

47. me too! That election, in 1980.

The fact that the Republicans wanted to destroy the environment simply out of spite. Just because they hate environmentalists.

I never understood that. At the time, over 60% of Americans (or maybe it was 60% of Republicans) believed environmental protections should be stronger, not weaker.

How could you possibly be AGAINST environmental protection? It's like being against God, or against art.

It's sacreligious. It's shitting in God's face.

[vi5]

4. Have always been liberal.....

Therefore I always voted Dem. But I never actually registered until last year when I felt it became more important than ever to show unity in numbers so I registered and got the forms for my wife to register as well.

Never one specific issue making me a Dem though, other than despising the religious right.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

5. Genetic, I guess. That and a pair of eyes.

[Dr.Phool]

6. Richard Nixon

Spiro Agnew, Henry Kissinger, Nelson Rockefeller, ad infinitum

[LiberalVoice]

7. Not a Dem, but very far left...

Im going to say the misery and pain brought on by the Conservatives demanding everyone live how, and where they want you to.

[spychoactive]

14. i guess that is an important distinction to many here

that being the "not a dem, but very far left" kids are represented here as well, but i think you get the question!

peace
spike

[damnraddem]

43. Yeah, and good on you for it.

And some of those conservatives have been Democrats.

[Ilsa]

8. The abortion issue got my attention

because George HW Bush did a flip-flop for political expediency, and that got me to thinking about the hypocisy in the GOP. Then the rising homeless population, lack of concern for the average American, trickle-down economics, then the foreign policy issues with Iran-Contra finally took me away from the party of crooks and liars.

[pmbryant]

10. Newt Gingrich, 1994

Always considered myself an "independent" prior to 1994, though one who virtually always voted Dem.

When the Gingrichites took over in 1994, though, I knew that I could no longer pretend to be independent. At the time, if I knew they would still be in power (even worse actually!) nearly 10 years later, I think I would have just died.

Looking back, maybe I will anyway. :-(

--Peter

[SlavesandBulldozers]

11. mostly

it was when I grew out of my teens and felt responsiblity not voting against Bush in 2000. I feel like, in many ways, I let the world down.

[5thGenDemocrat]

12. DNA, I guess

Mom's family (and parts of my dad's) have been Dems since before the Civil War (I know G2grandpa G voted for Breckenridge). Actually, I'm more likely a 7thGenDem, because I'm sure the Gs voted for Andy Jackson -- being Tennesseeans and all.
John
I'm not nearly as liberal/left as some here, but I'll be damned before I ever vote for a Republican for a national office (locally, where I actually know the candidates, it's been known to happen).

[brainshrub]

13. Healthcare issue

That and I'm 100% pro-union.

[Butterflies]

15. I grew up with a right-winger family

My parents were greedy self-righteous Repubs. The ugliness of the Repubs was obvious, so I registered as a Dem. As time goes by I get more and more determined to help get our side back on top.

[corporatewhore]

16. Dennis Kucinich

Not a dem but a liberal vote for policies not party

[libview]

17. Bill Clinton

A real leader of the people

[corporatewhore]

18. he turned me green

or rather made me see that you should not vote for party

[spychoactive]

21. may i ask a question corporatewhore?

who is that in the picture included in your posts...

thanks
spike

[corporatewhore]

62. jello biafra

hell he should run for president..again!!

[damnraddem]

45. Well, those are two different questions.

One can be a Dem and know what anyone with any sense does -- that one should not vote for the party.

Or one may be a Green and still be a party-line voter.

[Nazgul35]

19. 12 Years of Reagan-Bush...

I've lived through the time of pain and came out into the glorious sunshine that were the Clinton Years!!!!!

This current regime and the lack of attention by the American people is like a slap in the face....and i'm pretty pissed about it...

Seems many of our fellow citizens are just plain lazy and greedy...I'm giving them one last try....

If they should elect Bush to a second term....i've had it with the herd that calls themselves Americans....

Sorry folks...but there are much better countries to live in than this with a much smaller number of idiots and facists....and my job skills are transferable...

[Kolesar]

20. Belushi and Ackroyd busting on Nixon on SNL in the 1970s

Politics is a great source of material for satirists and humorists. Their skits sunk in after a few years. Too bad SNL has been castrated. We are left with only TDSw/JS to skewer *Bush.

[Iverson]

22. VietNam

There were many factors, but that was the biggest.

[GreenPartyVoter]

25. Out of curiosity

do you mean from reading about it or living through it?


(haven't seen you for a few days. Either we are posting in different threads or you've been busy elsewhere. :) )

[Iverson]

29. to satisfy the curious

It was seeing images and news of it on television as a kid. Also, my parents were against the war. They took me on a peace march in 1967, and my brother and I got to see ourselves on the news that night!

[GreenPartyVoter]

31. I don't recall seeing it on the news

(I was born in '71) But my mother says I used to cry when the VN segments came on because they were too scary.

Maybe they did make a subconscious impression on me and led me to being anti-war. (Not anti-troops though. Lots of military folks in my family.)

[GreenPartyVoter]

23. It wasn't me.. i'm not a flamer *g*

I have a whole spiel on my site about why I'm a Green, but I would say that I am what I am thanks to my folks who raised me to think for myself and think about the needs of others. (And also my understanding of my Christian faith, after wrangling with the fundamentalist ideas shoved down my throat for years and years in church. *No, my folks didn't make me go. It was my choice.*)

edited for typos

[Iverson]

26. wasn't me either

Peace.

[spychoactive]

34. i know it wasn't either of you...

ok so i got flamed offlist (kinda fun on a good day), does this officially signify the end of my newbie status???

if not i will sit back down...

iverson AND lennon...nice!

one love
spike

[GreenPartyVoter]

36. I have no clue

I may have 500 posts, but that just means I am a really prolific newbie. Still dunno much about the way things work here. *l*

[RWPTRBL]

24. I was born with a heart...

a conscience,and a brain, that automatically disqualified me from being a republican!!!

[demnan]

27. The eloquence of John F. Kennedy

Even at the age of six I knew I would always vote for the "Democratic wing of the Democractic Party".

[Booberdawg]

28. The Gingrich Revolution

I was a RINO up until the mid 90's but I didn’t know it yet. I knew not a damn thing about politics and was a Republican up until that time only because my family members were and, well, "we" just were. But I was becoming more aware and paying more attention ....

I voted for Bush Sr in 92 when Clinton won. I wasn't so involved in politics that I was devastated like the R's were, but I noticed the hostility that built up over the next couple years. There was the Contract with American, none of which I agreed with, and what put my OVER the edge was the Gov’t shutdowns. tap .. tap …. tap …

And then there was Gingrich. . tap .. tap …. tap … I couldn’t stand his sorry ass. I thought he was an OBNOXIOUS ASSHOLE!

Then – I received a survey to fill out about how the Republican Party was doing and how I felt about key issues and there was a question about Gingrich in particular. For the first time I answered a survey in complete and thorough glowing color and elaborated on each and every answer, and when it got to Gingrich I said I thought he was the biggest horses ass in the whole Republican Party.

That was around 94 or 95. I was in my late 30’s. Then I went downtown and changed my Party affiliation to Democratic and have been the pain in the butt liberal in my family ever since. Now, in order to keep the peace and my sisters’ sanity, my sisters’ husbands and I have respectful mutual agreements to simply not discuss politics, because I won’t shut-up or back down. And cuz we really DO love each other. :D

[damnraddem]

50. Ooh, this is wonderful to read!

This country needs a lot more people like you. Well, it's up to us to convince more people that they should be.

[Booberdawg]

83. I just woke up by myself because I started to LISTEN

That's the problem. Someone bugging me about politics would not have moved me. I would have been annoyed.

But I tell you what. I NEVER would have been moved by the rushbo or o'reilly shit. That would have pissed me off.

The thing is, I was a liberal and didn't know it yet because I was naive and stupid. I was NEVER a Republican, I just thought I was. I would have NEVER agreed with any of that had I known what the fuck I was signing on to.

I'm betting there are more like me out there.

BUT. I can't explain those who buy in to the rushbo and o'really hatred and bullshit???? What's THAT all about??

WTF?? :wtf:

[ThomC]

30. A Dem but not left

The left will never inherit America..Dems will.

[RandomKoolzip]

33. Look out! Drive-by flame bait!

Explain yourself, please.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

35. I inherited America, once. The estate taxes were astronomical.

[GreenPartyVoter]

38. *lol*

Thank goodness Bu$h is on your side as far as estate taxes.

[KamaAina]

40. Growing up in Bridgeport, CT

on Clinton Ave., a street that was sort of like a narrow peninsula of middle-class whiteness jutting out into a sea of urban poverty.

Two blocks in any direction (save North) was the 'hood.

Four blocks south was the corner of State Street, covered at all times in broken glass.

Then there was the time I got hold of a Bpt. city directory -- and noticed that many of the listings at the south end of Clinton didn't even have phone numbers.

All this five or ten miles away from some of the richest suburbs in the land (Martha Stewart lives in one).

It just offended my fundamental sense of fair play. So do Repukes.

Edit: should have been response to original message. New wish list feature: The ability to drag one's own posts around the thread diagram that's shown right beneath the original message.

[damnraddem]

51. But if the left is meek enough ...

will it inherit the world?

[regularguy]

32. Ronnie Raygun.

.

[RebelOne]

37. Was always a Democrat

but swung far to the left after the chimp was selected.

[Fuzz]

39. My conscience

Born and raised by a fundamentalist Assemblies of God preacher father who has since moved more to the center, but back then, was very conservative. He went to the Bible School, Central Valley Bible College, in Missouri that Ashcroft's father ran.

I finally had enough of hearing the everyone is going to hell unless you do as we say scare tactic my whole life, not so much from my father, but from everyone else around me, especially from people who were hypocritical bastards.

Now my fundy family even acknowledges that I, the agnostic tree hugging liberal black sheep of the family, is more moral and righteous than most of the religious zealots they have met. Something that I'm sure is not easy for them to come to grips with.

[damnraddem]

41. Who says I'm a Democrat once and for all? Leftist, sure.

I was raised in a conservative, Catholic, working-class, Democratic household. I grew up reading The Machinist, with its praise of Dem. Senator Scoop Jackson, the senator from Boeing. I followed the careers of Democratic candidates long before I could vote -- likewise, distributed literature for local Dems. In 1972, I was a McGovern delegate to my state Democratic convention. I was grossed out by Democrats after Johnson sunk us in Vietnam but still hung onto the Party until it proved itself so ineffectual after the McGovern defeat. For years, I was a Peace & Freedom registrant, but still voted for Dem candidates in some close elections, where it could matter -- and always voted Dem for prez. In the past decade, I have reconnected with the Party, donated to campaigns, worked for candidates, and so on; and I have this year been involved in the Dean campaign. This time, unlike with McGovern, I want to support a decent candidate who still has a chance to win.

As to leftist, that is a different matter. I was raised in the anti-Communist 1950s, then awakened in the 1960s. In college, I moved steadily leftward. For a decade or so, I described myself as a Marxist, but was never a good fit with any of the Marxist orthodoxies. Now, I'm generally to the left, without a grand theory of the world, but with my own leftist views. Whether or not this intersects with the Democratic Party depends on many things, including what Dems say and do, but also on what else appears viable. Right now, I see reforming the Democratic Party as the only viable approach, especially to ending the Dubya disaster. Sorry to any Greens, but I just don't see the Green Party as going much of anywhere under current conditions. I do think that real democracy will require breaking the two-party oligopoly -- I just don't see how that can come about. So I vote Dem.

[West Coast Democrat]

42. It's only logical to be a Democrat

Being a Democrat is logical, sensible and humane.

[catmandu57]

44. Quick answer poverty

and the ill treatment of the less fortunate. Also the hypocracy, lying, greed of the reptillian members of our society. Growing up with a wallace loving stepfather, watching race riots, vietnam, protests, marches for civil liberties, human rights, when I was old enough to understand the bible I was made to read and taking the message from it to love and treat everyone as a brother and sister. I'd say that started my feet down the left hand side of the road.

[cally]

46. The ERA and environmental issues

My family is all republican. I was very confused over Viet Nam and protests. They all hated the protestors and I didn't know how I felt. I remember wondering what was so wrong about free speech. When I hit my teens, the ERA was a big issue. I was about 12 or 13 and I followed the issue very closely. I realized that the Republicans were thwarting the passage.

I was also enthralled with Earth Day and the new environmental movement. When I figured out the Republican stance, I became a Democrat. I have never voted for a Republican.

[ecstatic]

48. I accidentally discovered Bill O'Reilly

one night while flipping through the channels (I was 19 at the time). His arrogance intrigued me. I began watching his show on a regular basis and then I watched some other FNC shows like Hannity & Colmes. The more I watched, the more I realized that I disagreed with almost EVERYTHING they said. That is how I learned about my political affiliation, and also how I, like many others, realized that Fox News Channel was disgustingly rightwing and biased.

[blindpig]

49. 1st, seeing the chicago police riots on live tv at age 16, then

james watt. damn him & his ilk to the realm of Cluthu

[spychoactive]

70. how intense was that???

while 16 isn't the most 'impressionable' age, it had to be quite an experience seing that go down live, what did your folks say? were you alone at the time? were you able to grasp just how huge an event it was?

holy mackeral
spike

[dawn]

52. Many things...I've been this way since I was a teenager

I grew up with a father who is still very right-wing. The town I grew up in was full of right-wing greedy tightwads. Then I moved to Orange County, California, and my left-leaning nature only intensified. If you visit here, you'd know why.

The abortion issue was a big one for me, as well as the hypocrisy and life intrusion of the Religious Right. Corporate greed and worker's rights were also biggies.

But I think the main reason I've stayed to the left is because of all of the traveling I've done. I've lived in England, spent alot of time in France, traveled to Asia, and whenever I come back, I am always stunned when talking to right-wingers. Many of them exhibit ignorance about the rest of the world and believe that only in America are things "done right." I am always amazed to come back to this richest of first world nations and find that our social safety net and health care are closer to that of the third world. Among other things, traveling has also made me aware of how others in the world view the right-wingers in our government and in this country, and there's no way in hell I'd want to be one of them.

[proud patriot]

53. This is how God made me

:hi:

[Bandit]

54. I guess Common Sense or Intelligence and not being greedy

:shrug: I don't like hurting people and conservatives love to.

[murielm99]

55. I grew up this way.

My father was very strongly union. He is a retired railroad man. His mentors, who grew up in the twenties and thirties, were old socialists and communists. They were the best organizers. My first puppy came from a guy who was a communist.

My family is Christian, so my parents would never have joined the communist party. However, they do remember going to Paul Robeson concerts, and having FBI guys there writing down everyone's license numbers. My dad remembers getting literature about communism from a friend, and burning it in the dead of night, because he was so afraid of Joe McCarthy. That was in about 1951.

I would say that my parents have moved to the center, while I have moved to the left. But they are in their late seventies, and still active at the grassroots level. I cannot conceive of them ever voting repuke.

Our party has room for all sorts of people. I am sure some posters here must be devout Christians, too, like my parents. We are the part of compassion, after all.

[scarlet_owl]

56. I don't know. I was just born this way.

I guess nothing made me a Democrat, it just seemed like the natural thing to do.

[last1standing]

57. I'm not a leftist, I'm a moderate.

I look at everything in terms of balance. If you take both extremes of an argument then meet in the middle, you'll usually find the correct answer. Unfortunately, the Democratic party in this country is more to the right than the left, leaving no real moderate party in this country. I vote Democratic to try to at least move the debate in the proper direction.

Right now, I'm in Toronto for the weekend, and find that Canada is much more moderate than anything most establishment Democrats are working towards.

[QC]

59. Growing up a manufacturing worker's kid.

That gve me a very good practical education in the haves and have-nots, how companies bust unions and break strikes, how the rich man is not your friend, etc.

When I got to college and read Marx, I had the strangest feeling of recognition.

[Kazak]

60. Birth...

;-)

[jayfish]

61. GHW BushCo*'s 1992 SOTU Speech.

All of the Pug tricks and lies took on a sort of translucence after that shitball of a speech.

Jay

[rucky]

63. I'm incapable of wrapping my mind around any other ideology

for better or for worse, I'm what you call a leftist

[bushisanidiot]

64. Repuke Wrote and Pushed DOMA

i should have switched earlier

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

65. 4 years in the marines were a good convincer.

It made me take a look at what I believed in. The fact that powerful people wanted me to kill people for reasons that had nothing to do with what this country is supposed to stand for. You know, things like Justice, Equality, Liberty, and all that stuff that are now branded "too liberal", "socialist", "left wing", etc, by the reactionaries and the timid.

That, and just looking around at the racism, the power of the rich, the poverty that exist around the world, the injustice, the fact that my country is responsible for much of the that misery.

And, much more.

[screembloodymurder]

66. U of Michigan in 60's probably had a lot to do with it

but I'm a fairly conservative democrat, middle of the road, and I just think the GOP has taken a hard turn to the right. Before Bush the issues I felt were important:
1)economic justice (a fair distribution of wealth)
2)environmental protection
3)health care
4)education
Now my list is to long to type and I'm fighting for the BOR instead of a living wage. I can't understand how any good American can side with these fascist God Owning Pricks.

[screembloodymurder]

67. U of Michigan in 60's probably had a lot to do with it

but I'm a fairly conservative democrat, middle of the road, and I just think the GOP has taken a hard turn to the right. Before Bush the issues I felt were important:
1)economic justice (a fair distribution of wealth)
2)environmental protection
3)health care
4)education
Now my list is to long to type and I'm fighting for the BOR instead of a living wage. I can't understand how any good American can side with these fascist God Owning Pricks.

[greekspeak]

68. Shrub's daddy

Leaving high school and entering college, I had about all I could stand of BushCo I. The turnaround started happening during my Liberty and Law (civics) class in high school, though. I was born and raised conservative, but actually looking at the political process and being forced to see what the dems had to say started turning me left. Ironic, considering that the teacher was pretty conservative.

[spychoactive]

69. wow

offlist i have heard from almost every subtle nuance of this side of the political fence re: my "narrow" brushstroke of a question,

my first mistake (in typical "newbian" fashion) was adding 'leftist' to appease the first couple rumblings, this opened the floodgate, and i have since been told i should have added 'liberal' as well, i think the only factions i have not heard from are the right-wing leftist ultra conservative moderate liberals...lol

live and learn right?

please tell me this fragmentation and nitpicking will dissolve after the primaries!

many different roads, many different embarking points, many subtle shades of belief, but again let me remind you we're all on the same team!

game on!

[littlejoe]

71. I'm a glutton for punishment.

[CBHagman]

72. Voted for Ford in 1976, but...

...then life happened to me. I was on the conservative side in high school but left for college at age 17 thinking I was a political moderate.

I wasn't a registered ANYTHING until I was well into my 20s. I think what pushed me over the edge was a combination of talking to a rather thoughtful and sensitive professor about things like the Moral Majority and the Reagan administration, studying in Europe, and seeing what really happened during the Reagan years. It didn't hurt that I had a roommate at one point who used to try my patience by discussing political matters that I found rather painful, such as abortion.

Ah, it had all looked so simple when I was 15.

Anyway, I finally became a Democrat during the '80s and have never looked back. I'll confess to having split my ticket on an occasion or two, but I'm thrilled to report that I never voted for Ronald Reagan or any of various Bushes.

[Sterling]

73. Leaving the South

Meeting people with new ideas. It is really hard to be a liberal in the South. I have to hand it to anyone who can do it. I also think pandering to southerners is a huge misteake.

[Fla Dem]

74. Growing up Irish, Italian, and Catholic in Boston area

Definitely something in the the air in the 50's and 60's. Probably in the genes too. The Kennedy era, civil rights struggles, equal rights for women, Vietman, Nixon, Regan, corporate greed, 60's space program, Ohio State, college sit-ins, environmental indifference. All had positive and negative impacts on shaping my thinking. Ended up where I started..a Dem through and through. Never voted repug, never will.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

81. Welcome, fellow Sox fan and Boston Half and Half!

:hi:

In case you don't remember, a 'half-and-half' is someone who's part Irish and part Italian. A Boston term, I believe.

[ldoolin]

75. D -> I -> D

I have been a Democrat since first registering to vote in the 80s, with the exception of 1993-2001 when I registered "independent" or "non-partisan". Switched back to Democrat for good after the 2002 congressional elections.

The only reason I went non-partisan for a while was disappointment at seeing Democrats during the Clinton era sell out liberal values in favor of political expediency, during a time when my own views were undergoing a shift from the centrist Democrat I was in the 1980s to one of those raving left-wingers. During the 90s I went through brief infatuations with both Marxism and Libertarianism, but got over both pretty quickly and returned to a kind of generic left-progressive stance.

The one thing I have never ever been, is a Republican. (I did infiltrate one of their county conventions once, but that's another story.) ;)

What settled the issue for me that I am a left-winger were, in order: Gulf War I, Newt Gingrinch's 1994 revolution, and growing alarm at how much civil liberties have deteriorated in the past couple of decades.

What settled the issue that I am a Democrat and will work in and stay in the Democratic Party regardless, is the Bush regime, and seeing how infinitely worse the Repuke party is than any of the most waffling, mediocre Democrats could possibly ever be.

[cryofan]

76. I only recently became a Lefty, but have long been a radical

I quit my job recently to do contract work when it comes available (not much software patent work around lately). So I have been doing a lot of research on political systems over the last few months.

I have also had the opportunity to come into contact with some people who have lived and visited overseas recently, specifically Europe, Australia and Canada. What I have learned from them about what is going on over there with respect to the welfare states there prompted my political research, which caused me to learn about Dean, whom I originally supported, and then Kucinich, whom I now support.

This URL was the first one to really bend my mind:

http://www.american-pictures.com/english/racism/articles/welfare.htm

It tells the story of how the Danes have fought time and time again for their welfare state. And it tells you what a welfare state is and should be.

I highly recommend it!

Also, here are some other links of similar nature:


http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Economics/AmericanProsperityMyth.html

http://www.geocities.com/kew1788/SocialDemocracy.htm
http://www.geocities.com/kew1788/TakeBackNation.htm

http://maxspeak.org/gm/archives/00000791.html

http://geocities.com/aufheben2/stc_intro

http://faculty.insead.fr/fatas/econ/Articles/Chasing%20the%20Leader.htm

http://post.economics.harvard.edu/hier/2001papers/HIER1933.pdf

http://www.mylinuxisp.com/~cryofan/

A thread discussing this subject can be found here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=920274

[prisonerseven]

78. Is America ready to become a Welfare State?

My gut tells me no. You will first need a replacement for the term "Welfare State" since it will elicite much negative reaction from those that believe one must put in a days work for a days pay and only those that can't walk, talk or feed themselves and have no family to support them deserve a free ride.

Don't blame me (fair warning) but that is the overwhelming attitude of voters in America today.

[Sterling]

85. Americans felt differently in the 30's

And most likely will again before the BFEE is through. I doubt we will have another FDR to save us this time.

[cryofan]

87. you may have a point

If you read a lot of real hardcore lefty literature/writing, you will find out that they know this, and that they think it is because of decades of media propaganda that has brainwashed much of the public.

What we need to do is put out our own propaganda. But what channel do we us? If we could elect Progressive Dems or Greens, these officials could do it for us. But on the national level, we are shut out by the media who decide who is a longshot and who is not well before the campaigns even begin. See for example Matt Taibbi's coverage of how the media diminished Kucinich'c campaign this year, and how that has set him up for comparatively less media coverage, which of course is what drives the polls.

Another possible channel is local third party officials. But most locales have made this harder to do by removing all party affiliation from local ballots.

If we were willing to think out of the box, we lefties might consider freeway blogging as part of a lefty propaganda push (see the DU thread on freeway blogging).

So ultimately of course we lefties need to create our own counter propaganda. But what language, terminology or vocabulary to use? I suggest co-opting the biz/marketspeak that has saturated the press and the public domain in the last decade. So for example instead of calling for a "welfare state" we demand that citizens as joint owners or shareholders in America be granted by right of law (a penumbral right, in legalese) DIVIDENDS. These dividends might consist of PAYMENTS of a MINIMUM CITIZEN INCOME, for example. Also, a universal medical care for citizens would be a dividend paid to citizen-shareholders.

How do we pay for it? HIGH INCOME TAXES. Just like they do in the EU social democracies. As I have posted here before, the USA taxes 30% of GDP, and the EU social democracies tax 45-55% generally. And the citizens there get SO much more for their taxes. Literally, a cradle to grave welfare state, and given quite freely, BTW, not grudgingly as it is here, generally speaking.

Of course, we would still have a capitalistic society, with means of production controlled by and large privately. Healthcare is most run by the govt.

It really works for them. I have looked into it. Read the URLs posted above. They really like what they have. Do you see a lot of Danes, Swedes, Dutch, etc over here on a permanent basis, looking to make a living here permanently? There were some tech people here during the boom, but they stay at home, where they know they have a good deal....

What makes it work for them is that even though there is less you can keep of your earnings when you do extra work, a lot of people still do that extra work because it sets them apart from their fellow citizens. And that is a very strong drive among humans and all animals. It goes back to needs for social status and sexual drives. The EU Social Democracies are taking advantage of this for the benefit of the state and the citizenry at large. Here in the USA, we let that huge surplus of extra effort go mainly to the worker, business owner, investor, etc. But there is no need to do that--they would do the extra work anyway! That is the natural drive that most humans have at some time in their lives.....

[prisonerseven]

77. I'll take Democrat for 500 Alex. The left however has nothing to offer me.

My family has always voted Dem and hence so go I. It's the "left" that has made it more difficult for us to get a leg up on the Repubs.

The left may have nobel goals but the American voters appear not ready for their ideas judging by recent election results. Maybe abroad but not here yet...

[Sterling]

86. Really what leftist may I ask have help office

Recently that have discredited the notion that people want a government responsive to the people, not just the wealthy?

[jbm]

79. Anita Hill....

When the repubs confirmed Clarence Thomas,I knew they would never ever get another vote from me.

[ComerPerro]

80. Dumbya

When he was selected in 2000, I was upset but didn't put too much thought into it. I mean, the man repulsed me, I knew he had stolen the presidency, and I knew he was the biggest idiot alive. But I was apathetic, and figured, "How much harm can one moron do?".
Then, well, you know the rest...

[ozone_man]

82. Nixon, Vietnam,

Reagan, Star Wars, religous right, the environment, Bush, PNAC, hope for peace.

[lancemurdoch]

84. authority, economy

The right wing is authoritarian, or at least, in the US, most authority (bosses, police, school deans, clergy, media owners) is right-leaning. I have probably been averse to authority through my whole life. I was brought up in a socially conservative climate, but in my teenage years I realized even more that authority figures were corrupt, lied and not interested in "justice" but their own ends. That would be police and the media ownership I was alienated from, with the beginnings of alienation from corporate ownership.

As I said, I grew up in a socially conservative atmosphere, probably more so than a lot of my surroundings in New York City. If you look at conservative Christians, a lot of it is isolation. "We must isolate ourselves from the evil influences of television and whatever else". Secular schools, even to some extent secular friends. Your natural sexuality is of course evil, as is all reference to sex.

There are anti-authoritarian subcultures in the US that have links back to (semi)-political stuff back in the 1960's-1970's, like punk and so forth, and I was in one of them. I became interested in the history of it all and began reading stuff like Aldous Huxley, Abbie Hoffmann, Norman O. Brown. I also was concerned about how much the US was spending on the military, prisons and so forth. Later I would begin reading Noam Chomsky and if the anti-authoritarian subculture was the first catalyst, that was the second one. I read his stuff for years, and he put it all in a very good framework.

In 2000, the stock market crashed and then the "new" economy, which I was very much a part of. I began wondering why the economy crashed and began reading people like Keynes and Marx, who were not big believers in laissez-faire capitalism. I would say the collapsing economy, plus the shock of 9/11 and it's aftermath propelled me out of just reading and actually going out and going to meetings, going to protests, volunteering and doing various work for causes I am interested in. That was the third catalyst. I was soaking in all of this information, and then I began using it in an active way. I still think understanding issues theoretically is important, and I still read stuff, but being active is important to, nothing gets done if it's all in my head, and I'm not part of a progressive community working to make things better.

[davekriss]

108. Norman O Brown?

Ahh how seldom do I see anyone reference him, but Life Against Death was a very influential book on my world perspective (to say nothing of Love's Body). :) And, like you, Chomsky was Phase II.

[no name no slogan]

88. Recessive gene in my family

My great-grandfather (mom's dad's dad) was an activist and even a candidate for city council in Minneapolis in the 1930s-1940s in Minnesota's nascient Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. The DFL was a fusion of the state's liberal Democrats and the progressive Farmer-Labor party. As a matter of fact, my grandfather got Christmas cards from Hubert H. Humphrey each Christmas long after my great-grandfather passed away in 1965. :-)

My grandfather (mentioned above) was fairly apolitical, but tended to vote moderate Republican. He was a small businessman in the 1950s-60s, so it's understandable.

My mother is apolitical and tends to vote Republican, but is still fairly moderate and has voted for Democrats (when she votes).

I first became a progressive in the mid-80s, when I was in my early teens, and I first learned about the subversive actions of Reagan in Central America. I became a Democrat in college, after meeting Paul Wellstone my freshman year of college in 1988. He showed me that progressives DID have a place in the Democratic Party, but that we may have to fight for it from time to time.

I have NEVER, EVER voted for a Republican in my life, and I highly doubt I ever will, unless the Repubs start supporting single-payer universal health care, an end to the military-industrial complex, and an end to government intrusion into people's private lives.

:toast:

[Pattib]

89. A few things...The Christian Coalition and Newt

to name two. I was living overseas from 1987-1994. Upon my return I was shocked at how "loud" the right had become. Rush, Newt, Falwell to name a few. I was taken aback at the sheer audacity of a few big-mouths. I kept wondering what happened.

I came of age in the 1970's and I have never seen such bigotry. It seemed as if the country was going in reverse.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

90. Gradual process

I was brought up by anti-Communist parents who thought the Dems were soft on Communism.

Seeing professors I respected criticizing the Vietnam War was the first crack in my youthful conservatism. I voted for McGovern in my first election, and I'm proud of the fact.

Nixon's dirty tricks were another factor, as was having a part-time job managing a library collection on Third World economics and politics. Reading books during my time in that little-used collection, I found a lot that I'd never learned in American history class.

The Reagan administration coincided with a period when I had to survive by patching together part-time teaching jobs and temp jobs. I saw the economy from the bottom. At the same time, it was clear that Reagan's positions made no sense and were downright immoral in the case of Central America.

I've been a left Democrat since then.

[Tinoire]

91. Genetic defect

There's not a single conservative in my entire family except for an aunt-in-law and her children who are waaaay too attached to their money.

[arewethereyet]

92. JFK. He was different, special and a man with a vision.

have not seen it to the same extent since but I'll never forget that dems CAN achieve this again if we want it enough.

[Ksec]

93. Ive always been a Dem but didnt

really get interested or involved until a few years ago, btw Im 47. Yea I was about 40something and the repubs started this fanatical smearing they have become famous for. They were constantly making up lies about Clinton and Media was playing along as if it were truth. I got so pissed off I swore Id get involved and do whatever I could to fight these aholes. Now I have become an Activist for the Dems. I spend most of my free time licking envelopes for candidates and mailing congress about issues.

[Terwilliger]

94. probably when I saw "The Panama Deception"

and realized that our "beloved" US of A is not all it's cracked up to be

[Blue_Tires]

95. '94 elections

'nuff said

[Faygo Kid]

96. Rush Limbaugh

I always leaned left, but mostly a centrist who would vote for the person, including Republicans. Then, the putrid and hateful Limbaugh became the voice of the GOP, and when none of the Republicans would condemn him - in fact, embraced him - I rejected the GOP for all time. How could they approve of his sniveling, dishonest diatribes? Can't someone disagree with another without their arguments being rejected as simply evil and/or stupid? According to Limbaugh - and now according to the GOP - the answer is no. No moral courage left in the party of Lincoln.

[durutti]

97. Two words:

Allen Ginsberg.

[spychoactive]

99. *raises glass*

to allen ginsberg!

brilliant, brilliant man!


good call durutti!

one love
spike

[durutti]

115. The modern Blake.

No doubt.

[Blade]

98. I was raised that way and...

the Democrats are the only people who care about me or my family, as well as the rest of us.

[FlaGranny]

100. I've always been a Democrat - in a way.

I was raised in a Democratic household. I heard my parents discussing Roosevelt, Hoover, etc., but I had no idea about political parties. They didn't tell me I was a Democrat or to vote for Democrats. I learned to be a Democrat from the way I was raised, and that included honesty, kindness, compassion, and fairness (among other things). If you believe in fairness, you can't help but be a Democrat.

[leftofthedial]

101. learning to read

n/t

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

102. That'll do it.

The Grapes of Wrath
Catch-22
War and Peace
etc.

A world without books would be unbearable - and entirely republican.

[kodi]

103. you really want to know? its a long story from my youth

When I was 14 and in junior high school, my basketball team had just won our league championship. After our game, the team, our cheerleaders and some of our schoolmate fans were on the late bus to drive us home. We were celebrating and singing our fight song, when the superintendent of the transportation system came on the bus and shouted at us to shut up and said “What is this some sort of dago picnic?” Being of Italian heritage I stood up and said to him, in front of everyone, “hey I'm Italian I don’t like what you said. This man was about 6 foot 4 and I was only about 5’9” He stood over me and hollered back at me, “If you’re so thin skinned I'll see you in the principal’s office tomorrow morning,” and he left.

I was scared to death, not at him but because I thought I would get in trouble at school and my dad would be mad at me for getting in trouble at school as he had enough troubles at that time raising me and my sister and supporting our sick grandmother without a mom around.

The school bus driver was a black man everyone loved, he was the head custodian and assistant baseball coach too. His own son was a star basketball player at that time at Temple University and we all looked up to Mister Anderson in our 99% white school, especially the athletes. Mister Anderson said nothing at the time, but as we were driven around the town dropping people off at their stops, usually a couple of blocks from our homes, he drove me right to my house and told me everything would be alright. It made me feel a bit better, but I was still scared that my dad would be mad at me, so I did not tell him what happened.

The next day I got up early and walked the 4 miles to school because I did not want anyone on the bus to talk to me that morning.

I got to school about an hour before classes and sat out in front of the principal’s office scared to death about what would happen to me. As the time ticked by I grew even more scared and wondered if I would be expelled from school.

Then the principal, Dr Novak came in the main office and saw me and told me to follow him into his office. He took off his coat and told me to sit down. I was sweating the whole time. Then he looked at me and said he had heard about what had happened and looked mad as hell. I thought “this is it, I’m expelled” but he sat there and told me that the night before a number of my classmates parents had called him to tell him what had happened and he told me that he raised hell with the superintendent about what he, not I, had said. And that I had done a brave thing to stand up for myself and that he was proud of me.

I did not know it, but my girlfriend’s mom was on the school board and my girlfriend who was sitting next to me on the bus that day told her mom all about what happened and her mom, who really liked me went and called all the school board members that night and told them what had happened, then they called Dr Novak about it and called for the superintendent to be fired.

Years later I heard the phrase, “Be bold and noble forces will aid you."

That event shaped me. It made me realize that it was important to stand up for right over wrong, to stand up for others when such things happened to them, and that somewhere, people were out there who would come to your aid when you stood up for good.

It is the single most important thing of my youth that made me a liberal and stand up for what i belived in, regardless of the cost.

And to this day, my dad still does not know about what happened on that bus in 1969.

I am going home to see dad next week, he's now 73 and finally i will tell him.

[spychoactive]

105. i admire you

thanks for that story kodi, it was very brave considering how old you were, i couild read these kind of stories all day and night, the DU is definitely a blessing, and i must contact my friend ed that turned me onto this forum, it feels like home...

as i am prone to say a lot of the time lately, despite our differences, we are all in this together, i kind of felt sort of "alone" in my sentiments until i cam ehere, thank you all and i wish you all the best in the coming new year in which we cirlcle the wagons and transplant the shrub, whatta year it wil be, huh?

:)

SPIKE

[Spinoza]

104. Pornography and Prostitution

The religious nuts (i.e. Republicans) constant efforts to criminalize pornography and prostitution. What right do these hypocritical moralists have to tell us what we can see or read, or on what terms consenting adults can have sexual relations?

[spychoactive]

137. they have no right...

plain and simple, they have no right

[sid dicious]

106. Senator Robert Byrd

If that's what the Republicans and conservatives have to offer. I don't want any part of it. He's NOT Okkk with me!

[cirej2000]

109. uhhh, Byrd is a Democrat

Bad example. Might wanna check your facts.

[sid dicious]

110. Thanks cirej

My bad. I must be getting him confused with Strom Thurmond.

Your ID looks familiar...

Is this the only political board you visit?

[cirej2000]

112. Doan menshun it kid...and I visit lots of sites...

So you might've seen me IGN.com, ESPN, etc.

[sid dicious]

118. Nope I usually only visit political or science forums

Maybe it was something else with a "2000" in it.

Later.

SID

[Zero]

107. The Last Straw

I REALLY hate people telling me what is right and wrong. I'm a grown-up, I can think for myself. I really dislike someone telling me that I'm going to hell because I'm not their religion or because I don't think it's right to tell others how to live or to attack them and hate them because of who they are.

[wanderingbear]

111. Um..Grew up in a Hippie Commune in the 70ies..

That would about do it.

[cirej2000]

116. Wow I've heard some kids say that's why then went to the right!

That's cool.

[wanderingbear]

120. Na..I loved it..

I didnt accually live in the commune itself. I just spent most of my time there..Better than staying at home with an abusive cop for a father.

[cirej2000]

113. Oh does Democrat have to be associated with Leftist?

Can we also have Liberal?

[spychoactive]

131. YES! (see post #69)

of course,and i think you may have a thread in yer head right there with that very question?

can democrat be associated with rightist???

[LWolf]

114. I never really defined myself.

I always thought of myself as an independent moderate. Independent enough to have never registered with a party until last spring.

But 24 years of living in a republican stronghold found me leaning further and further to the left, as ballast to try to keep the ship afloat. I realized that even as a rebellious independent, I never chose to vote for a republican when there was a different choice; there often isn't in local elections. And I usually voted for the democrat. Then came GWB; there was obviously no other option but to vote for the democratic nominee, and I wanted to participate in choosing that person. Lo and behold, I registered and found a candidate that matched my personal platform very closely. And, who would've thunk it...I discovered that I was a "lefty liberal."

[dudeness]

117. my first job ...

was in construction about 25 years ago...I was 18 or so ..we had no toilets..hot water..etc..absolutely no facilities..safety was non-existant...well I agitated for change was elected as union rep and its continued from there..I am a committed social democrat and peacenik..merry xmas all

[the_boxer_]

119. Always leaned left..but Bush's election theft did me in...

and I've been going left and left and left...now I'm a virtual commie.

[maveric]

121. Being from blue collar roots and seeing how the workingman/person

has to struggle to get by in this country.

Oh, and my parents were on JFKs campaign commitee in the Merrimack Valley, Massachusetts. They knew him and told me that I actually shook his hand, although I have no memory of that.

[QC]

133. Good answer! I'm surprised at how rarely having a blue-collar background

has come up in this discussion.

Most of us seem to have come left thanks to social issues, not liking Republicans, etc.

Maybe the old-style economic Left really has been replaced by the cultural Left.

[banana republican]

122. Chicago 1968

My father was the president of a local union.

[ithinkmyliverhurts]

123. Funny . . .

To the dismay of many here, it's my religious-humanist convictions that make me side with liberalism. Perhaps it's yet another example of the diversity of approaches here: common ends, but wildly varying means.

Cheers.

[Vadem]

124. Born a "yeller dog Democrat" and proud of it......

:kick:

[devinsgram]

125. Bush's father when he

ran by using scare tactics instead of real issues. That did for me. From that time on I knew they were all nothing but hipocrites.

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

126. Would you believe...

I voted for Bush in 1988. My first election, and I screwed it up. (Vain idea that I would vote for the "winner" because I didn't think Dukakis could win. Sadly, I was right, but it's wasn't about voting for the winner, as I realized later on.)
Right as I submitted the vote, (stupid punch card) I realized my mistake. But I remained apolitical for a long time.

But the clincher was during the buildup for the first Gulf War.
I was watching the evening news, and I saw a clip of a bunch of drunk guys at a bar singing "Proud to be an American" and then various clips of them talking about how they're gonna bomb the shit outta those people. (I could have sworn I heard someone say "ragheads".)
It nauseated me so much, I realized that I could not be apolitical anymore.
And now, when people challenge my liberalism, scoff at me, and laugh, I never back down.

[citizen snips]

127. My family.

My family is moderate Democrats but I am a lot more liberal than they are.

[Hippo_Tron]

128. Born and raised liberal, Then...

became literally dead centrist a few months after 9/11. Came to DU and started going much more toward the left.

[rppper]

129. when reagan tried to turn ketchup......

...into a vegetable for school lunch programs.......

[AntiCoup2K4]

130. Watching Ronnie Reagan take the oath of office the same exact second .....

....that the hostages were being released from Iran. Even at 14, I knew that just wasn't right. I had an inherent distrust for Reagan & Bush from that moment and the more I learned, the more that distrust grew. The Moral Majority that was neither. The would be assassin (Hinkley) who just happenned to be a Bush family friend. The treason of arming Iran and Iraq to fight each other.... I could go on with this list for hours.... :grr:

[spychoactive]

132. i thought that was fishy as well!

and i never heard the hinckley>bush conection, i'd like to hear more about that...

[He loved Big Brother]

134. Spent ages 10-17 dreaming of going into the USAF

Until I worked at a Pizza Hut buffet at age 17 (while in AFJROTC all through high school). I loved Bill Clinton so much I hung up pictures of him in my room when I was in 7th grade (when he was elected) and always kept a picture or two of him up everyhere I lived for the next ten years (that has since changed).

Anyway, we'd save the leftover buffet pizza for the local Vetran's Hospital in the freezer and once a week a nurse from the VA would come pick them up...and it hit me in a "moment of clarity"...

I go devote my life to defending my country, GLADLY, and I'll end up eating other people's week-old leftovers, that was the best my government was going to do for me? Suddenly I understood, all too well.

Three years of Junior Recruiting Officer Training Corps down the drain, and thank GOD. I gave up so much...no GI Bill, no agreement from the family that maybe it was a bad idea to just switch course...ut sometimes you just know.

My second "moment of clarity" came about a year later, when I listened to Rage Against the Machine. Over and over. Sometimes on acid. "I dig them, but what are they so angry about?", I asked, after listening and not being able to decipher most of the lyrics..."They'r angry at the government, the establishment..." my friends answered...

Amazing how little it took, given my education credentials.

The third and final moment of solidifying clarity was when the WTO protests went down here, inspiring my moving to Seattle from an apathetic mostly intellectual-free wasteland where nobody cares. (south Florida)

[Piperay]

135. Ronnie Raygun & his supporters.

I came from a repug family, my mother was very active in repug politics (running their headquarters etc.) BUT we were all moderates. In 1976 when then President Ford was running against Raygun in the primaries to get the nomination my mother belonged to this repug women's club. My mother and another woman were the only ones who were for Ford, the rest were for Raygun (this was in Cal). These other women harrassed them and called them TRAITORS, that really sickened me, the cultism of the Raygun people, you were a "traitor" if you didn't go their way. :wtf: After that my whole family began seeing things in a whole new light. When the re-election of Carter rolled around in 1980 we were ALL Democratic supporters and never went back to the darkside! :-)

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

136. working as a temp, and Newt Gingrich

One of my first jobs after high school was working as a temp tearing down stores that had gone out of business. That made me a lefty (I had become class conscious in high school).

Newt Gingrich made me a Democrat, before that I couldn't really tell the difference between the two parties on most issues.

Something like that.

[Name removed]

138. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[WatchWhatISay]

139. What made you become a Democrat/Leftist once and for all?

Asshole Republicans

[depakid]

140. Simple- a good education taught me critical thinking

plus an appreciation for the diversity of information and opinion avaialable. This despite being raised around souther right wing Republican propaganda all my life. Boy, did I have an epiphany about the 3rd year into undergrad. The proverbial lightbulb just turned on one afternoon and I've seen right through republicans ever since.

[arwalden]

141. AIDS, HIV, Hate Crimes, Legislated Bigotry, Christian Hatred Of Queers

Hi. My name is Allen. And I'm a recovering Republican.
"HI ALLEN!"

Yes... it's true. I was once a Republican. A self-loathing homo who was content to blame rather than take action. I fooled myself into believing that the Republicans were merely apathetic and negligent toward the issues that are important to Queer Americans.

Eventually a closer look--a more critical look--revealed to me that Republicans weren't just being negligent, they were ACTIVELY WORKING AGAINST Queer Americans on every front.

-- Allen

[MrBenchley]

142. The JFK/Nixon election in 1960

and the ugliness and dishonesty of the Republicans...no lie or slander was too outrageous for Nixon supporters....

[Iverson]

143. Well, you know ...

... we don't have Dick Nixon to kick around anymore!

;-)

[MrBenchley]

146. Ah, hell... Let's dig him up and kick him again

good and hard.

[blondeatlast]

144. Being born into the right (perhaps Left is more apropos) family.

[WoodrowFan]

145. Matthew 25: 31-46.

Raised a Democrat like Mom, but it is my faith as a Christian that keeps me "in the fold."

31. "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne,
32 and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
33 He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34
Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me,
36 naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.'
37 Then the righteous will answer him and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?
38 When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?
39 When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?'
40 And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.'
41 Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
43 a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.'
44 Then they will answer and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?'
45 He will answer them, 'Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.'
46 And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."


the "goats" sure sound like Republicans to me!