Confessions of an EX liberal

[Mr.Kenny]

A Click n Paste from another board....
*Confessions of an EX-Liberal*
When I was young I was crazy. I was rebellious. I was a snob. I hated authority. It all accelerated when I went to college, and I started taking part in life as an acknowledged adult. I was enamored with my new status, and aggressively participated in my new discovery of politics, believing I could truly make a difference. But having some education, I soon discovered that many of the people I was arguing with outside of school were functionally illiterate, and that changed me. It made me feel superior to them, and I behaved badly when addressing them, focusing on their literary mistakes and regional dialect with a method of ridiculing attack to discredit, rather than confront their substance directly. I found that I could easily manipulate these simple people and that reinforced my feelings of superiority. I was caught-up in a whirl of egotism, and gravitated toward the group that I identified with most, the Liberals. Their elitist snobbery attracted me the most, although I did not realize it at the time. I envied their self-importance. They accepted me with open arms, and I emulated them as best as I could for a long time, feeling satisfied I was among the best of the best. It was years later when I finally realized that I had allied myself with a party of illusion, snobbery, ego, vanity, and irresponsibility, and that I had fooled myself. The disillusionment was pervasive, and my life began to change. I began to admit how foolish and naive my younger self was, an admission I would never have been able to make as a devout Liberal, but one I found most mature adults made upon leaving their twenties. I became humble, and stopped bragging about my intellect, an intellect which seemed hollow for the first time in my life. I suppressed the Pavlovian impulse to rebel, and I abandoned silly conspiracy theories that I had relied upon as truth for years, understanding that I had even invented some of them myself, unconsciously, as a defense mechanism in debate. Finally, and most importantly, I began taking responsibility for my own actions, and improved on my newly discovered hypocritical tendencies. At that moment an epiphany was impressed upon me...that I was no longer a Liberal, and that leaving that absurd ideology behind opened a world of opportunity I could never have previously imagined. That was twenty years ago. My life has seen nothing but success from that day forward. I laugh when I see many of the posts here from Liberals, as one would laugh at a younger, immature self.

[GermanStar]

Ironic that that rant is chocked full of the very 'illusion, snobbery, ego, and vanity' that the poster claims to have abandoned. Sometimes change provides the illusion of growth.

[koop]

As the late John Stuart Mill opined;

Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives.

[Maroon 300D]

The above post doesn't seem to reference any actual political ideals, only a perceived change from snobbery to humility as age progressed. I don't see what this has to do with one's political beliefs.

[davidmash]

Strange. I consider my self a liberal and I do not every recall feeling that way or associating with any liberals who did either. Perhaps you were just hanging out with the wrong crowd or perhaps you just had some extreem personality flaws.

[WVOtoGO]

Originally Posted by davidmash

Strange. I consider my self a liberal and I do not every recall feeling that way or associating with any liberals who did either. Perhaps you were just hanging out with the wrong crowd or perhaps you just had some extreem personality flaws.

My thoughts exactly.

"had"?

[Mr.Kenny]

DISCLAIMER: This is not me or my ideas or "my confession".
I just found it mildly interesting and pasted it here from a yahoo board.

So please don't associate me with the author.

[koop]

Originally Posted by Mr.Kenny

DISCLAIMER: This is not me or my ideas or "my confession".
I just found it mildly interesting and pasted it here from a yahoo board.

So please don't associate me with the author.

Sorry, propagate mindless drivel and you are guilty by association.

[H2O2]

Oh thank goodness this intellectually robust thread has been preserved as a sticky. One man's embrace of his inner @sshole is so very important to chronicle for posterity's sake.

[GermanStar]

Aw c'mon Z -- how about a 'Confessions of an EX conservative' post? This could be some outstanding material for you!

[chowpit]

Just change the title of the post to "Confessions of an Ex-Conservative." No need to change the content.

[GermanStar]

Good point -- I was just trying to give Z some creative latitude.

[cmac2012]

How's that old saw go? When you're young, if you have a heart, you're a liberal. As you get older, if you have a brain, you're a conservative.

I don't think that covers all of it but I have noticed that the older I get, the more I understand why rednecks have a problem with hippies.

Some so-called liberal thought (and people) is brainless smugness. Other aspects are more sound, like the GI Bill, a LIBERAL program.

[kerry]

I went to college and became an *******. I realized I was an ******* , now I'm not. However, I've never had a political thought in my entire life because I'm so self-consumed.

[A264172]