What is the most embarrassing political belief you used to hold but no longer do?

[green73]

I was 21 at the time and it was a reaction (albeit dumb) to a current tragedy. I also didn't grow up in a gun household, so never knew the benefits, etc.

I also think that certain people are predisposed to "waking up" and others are not. Even as a kid I was very into the Nova JFK documentary. Before becoming politically awake I read Fast Food Nation in 2005 and loved it. I've always been fascinated by "alternative viewpoints". I think it was just a natural progression for me to eventually wake up. I've also always been naturally curious, and I think that trait goes a long way to helping you discover truth. Others you can hit them over the head with truth and they'll remain asleep.

I was teenager when I held that dubious belief. I don't think I held it for very long. I knew a something was very wrong with the system and that revolutionary changes were needed, and in pondering solutions my beliefs once or twice flirted with full-on authoritarianism. If it weren't for the evil neocons I might have been willing to explore more of the spectrum and discover libertarianism earlier.

 

[limequat]

I used to believe in gun control.

I was an easy convert though. All it took was for someone to ask me, "You want government to say who can have guns?"

 

[EBounding]

I have another one, feeling safe around the police.

Another good one. I used to think they were all heroes. But even the best cops who respect people and their rights aren't any more heroic than someone else just doing their job. The Taxi Cab driver in Detroit faces much more danger than any police officer.

 

[TomtheTinker]

I posted this on my Facebook page and have a pretty interesting thread going.

Mine: I thought the Iraq war was a good, no GREAT idea. I voted for George W. Bush 2x including in 2004 while I was actually IN Sadr City. I used to argue until I was blue in the face that we had to fight them over there or we would have to fight them here and collateral damage (death) was okay because it was a war and Saddam OF COURSE was involved with Al Qaeda and 9/11 and had weapons of mass destruction.

ditto

 

[RCA]

I was teenager when I held that dubious belief. I don't think I held it for very long. I knew a something was very wrong with the system and that revolutionary changes were needed, and in pondering solutions my beliefs once or twice flirted with full-on authoritarianism. If it weren't for the evil neocons I might have been willing to explore more of the spectrum and discover libertarianism earlier.

As time marches on and information is more readily available there's less and less excuse for being or remaining asleep. Someone who was asleep when they were 18 in 1950 is much more understandable than an 18 year old being asleep in 2013. So the question is, when were you a teenager?

 

[RCA]

Here's another, "nothing is certain but death and taxes".

 

[tod evans]

After a bit more thought.....

That anything peaceful effected real and lasting change in government...

 

[fisharmor]

I used to believe that bloodshed could solve problems.

I still believe that... but I'm aware of just how much bloodshed is necessary.
You can transform the largest nation on Earth from an agricultural to an industrial society in under 20 years - but you need to murder millions and starve millions more.

Americans don't have the stomach for it. They believe like I used to - that a little bloodshed goes a long way. Murder a murderer at home, topple a state overseas, and everything will be hunkey-dorey.
The problem is that in order to stop murder at home, you need to murder a lot more than the murderers. In order to topple a state abroad, you need mass graves.

The Nazis were on to something. The process needs to be sterilized. That's the only way sane people can tolerate it.

Anything less is just picking at scabs.

 

[RCA]

Yet another, that we choose our leaders, that they work for us and we can change them at any time.

 

[COpatriot]

Like others, I thought that invading Iraq was a noble, just war and that we had to take out Saddam and his WMDs and free the Iraqi people. I thought Saddam was involved in 9/11. I used to believe that they hated us for our freedoms and that we should fight them over there so we don't have to fight them here. I thought that bombing Iran would have been a good idea. I thought that poor, innocent little Israel was perfect and had a right to exist and that biblegod would hate America if we didn't support them. I was raised to believe that "end times" idiocy so it took me a while to shake it.

I would have voted for W had I been old enough and I voted for McCain in '08. I used to believe that marijuana was a gateway drug. I used to believe that Limbaugh, Levin, Hannity, and Beck were all true American patriots.

My defection began in 2009, around spring-summer time. I was on Justin.tv late one night and someone was playing the Jones film The Obama Deception. I saw someone bashing Obama and I thought I would watch. After finishing that I started digging deeper. Even then I wasn't completely sold. It took me about a year to cross over so by summer of 2010 I was officially "in".

 

[RCA]

Like others, I thought that invading Iraq was a noble, just war and that we had to take out Saddam and his WMDs and free the Iraqi people. I thought Saddam was involved in 9/11. I used to believe that they hated us for our freedoms and that we should fight them over there so we don't have to fight them here. I thought that bombing Iran would have been a good idea. I thought that poor, innocent little Israel was perfect and had a right to exist and that biblegod would hate America if we didn't support them. I was raised to believe that "end times" idiocy so it took me a while to shake it.

I would have voted for W had I been old enough and I voted for McCain in '08. I used to believe that marijuana was a gateway drug. I used to believe that Limbaugh, Levin, Hannity, and Beck were all true American patriots.

My defection began in 2009, around spring-summer time. I was on Justin.tv late one night and someone was playing the Jones film The Obama Deception. I saw someone bashing Obama and I thought I would watch. After finishing that I started digging deeper. Even then I wasn't completely sold. It took me about a year to cross over so by summer of 2010 I was officially "in".

We got a fresh one! Congrats!

 

[amy31416]

I thought that Obama couldn't possibly be worse than Bush/Cheney on foreign policy, the drug war and some civil liberties. I also thought for a short while that he might close Gitmo.

 

[RCA]

I thought that Obama couldn't possibly be worse than Bush/Cheney on foreign policy, the drug war and some civil liberties. I also thought for a short while that he might close Gitmo.

Dang, really?

 

[Matthew5]

I'd need to start my own thread.

How about just a few from many moons ago?

I believed Bush was not at fault for the war.
I believed Obama would actually do the things he said he would do (stop wars, close gitmo, etc.)
I believed that voting mattered and that all we needed was to be centrists (Coffee Party movement)

I've had the privilege of being both a neocon and a socialist. Guess I had to sample all the flavors of statism. :o

 

[Original_Intent]

I used to believe that the GOP was predominantly good guys with a few bad apples, and the Dems were predominantly either stupid or evil with a few moderates that were decent. Now, I know that they are all rotten and it is simply a matter of degree. There are a few with good intentions, and among them 95% are either shaky in principle or too easily turned to the dark side. Most people in politics have absolutely terrible intentions, only caring about amassing power no matter what it takes or the price paid.

 

[amy31416]

Dang, really?

Serious wishful thinking. I heard him yammer on about wanting to bomb Pakistan prior to his election, but assassinating US citizens? Didn't see that coming.

It only lasted about a month into his election when I started realizing that his administration was going to be worse on all counts.

 

[Miss Annie]

I used to believe that we could and should legislate morality.

 

[otherone]

I used to naively believe that voting against a candidate was a politically effect strategy. Now I realize that our system of tyranny relies on it.

 

[Carlybee]

That Dems were anti-war. Luckily I found Ron Paul. After spending several years on a liberal message forum I found out libs will justify anything their leaders do and are some of the most hateful people to debate with not to mention incredibly naive about economics. I'm not sure the GOP understands how badly Dems hate them.

 

[Christian Liberty]

I used to be a Reconstructionist and it took Gordon Clark and John Robbins to set me straight.

Cool. I can see that actually.

What did they tell you?

As for my beliefs, I used to be a hardcore neocon. Pro-war in Iraq, pro-war in Iran, pro-war everywhere. But I held those views through a misguided desire for humanitarianism and a belief that it was self-defense. Even after I broke out of neoconnery, I hated the North Korean regime so much that I wanted to take them out. I didn't give that one up until about a year and a half ago.

That said, to my credit, I DID see through the hypocricy of Patriot Act type legislation... I reasoned "If they hate us for our freedoms, aren't we letting them win?" So I did have that much going for me. That was enough for Ron Paul to work with...