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How I Went From Far-Left Socialist to Conservative Republican

When I first started voting in 1967, my main thought was to stay out of the Vietnam War, which I hated (and still do). It was a Democrat then who was waging that war (Lyndon Johnson), and a Republican (Richard Nixon) who said he had a secret plan to end the war. Lots of leftists, including me, stunned by the Tet Offensive in 1968, desperate for an end to the war, believed him and voted for him, just on that alone. Then, after getting elected, in 1969, he escalated the war with round the clock bombings of North Vietnam.

For the next 40 years, I never voted for a Republican again. I voted for every Democrat or Green presidential candidate from McGovern in 1972 to Obama in 2008.
Although I always did have reservations about the Democratic party's positions on illegal immigration and affirmative action, I still retained my strong Marxist beginnings, and viewed the Democrats as being for the poor, the middle class, and the Republicans as being for the rich.

I looked with disgust at the gay pride perverted spectacles that Democrats seemed to support, and always thought >> What is there to be proud of ?

After the turn of the century, and 9/11, terrorism and Islamization becoming major factors, and having that become part of the scenario, I began to look closer at the differences between the 2 major parties. I found the Democrats to be disturbingly friendly to radical Islam, and less and less a friend of lower income Americans, with each passing year. The shocking blow that knocked me right out of my Democrat shoes, in 2009 was the Fort Hood shooting. Being an Army veteran myself, I couldn't help thinking the 13 soldiers shot dead by terrorist Nidal Hasan could have been me. Couldn't deny that a lot of the blame for the massacre was with Obama (commander in chief of all US military) who, for months, refused to eject Hasan from the Army with a dishonorable discharge, despite official requests for that, from almost every Fort Hood officer of the rank of major and higher.

Then I saw Obama, pull US troops out of Iraq in 2011, created a vacuum, that was sure to be filled by jihadists. Sure enough, along came ISIS, and Obama mostly ignored them, while their convoys were on open, desert roads, sitting ducks for airstrikes. Obama's pitifully few airstrikes were called "pin pricks" by ex-Generals.

In 2012, I voted for Virgil Goode, rather than the RINO Romney. In 2016, when the Democrats had lost their connection to the low income classes, with Hillary Clinton's campaign heavily donated by rich, Wall St interests, and greatly outspent Trump, I knew I couldn't vote for that. Clinton also was a pure globalist with a strong connection to outsourcing, having voted for it in the Senate, and being a member of pro outsourcing organizations (Trilateral Commission & Council on Foreign Relations).

Trump was just the opposite. Was not in cahoots with Wall St., wasn't throwing US workers under the bus with illegal immigration, wasn't cool with the Islamic seditionists, was not a globalist and was a nationalist, supporting US businesses and workers, and wasn't an enemy of most of the US population on the affirmative action issue. I became a registered Republican in 2016, and voted for Trump in the primary and general election. He came through big, giving us a good economy, low unemployment (lowest ever for minorities) and the highest median wage in US history, along with many other things good for poor, and working class people.

All this was now in addition to the Democrats gone completely insane with riots, induced by media false reporting, and insane ideas like Critical Race Theory, police defunding, tran men competing with women in womens' sports, excessive gun control, immorally loose abortion ideas, and wrecking our democracy by election stealing and the shameful Biden Afghanistan fiasco, leaving Americans and tens of Billions of US equipment to the Taliban.
 
Whaaat? nobody wants to know how this happened ? No airkiss from the Republican women here ?

C'mon man!
 
When I first started voting in 1967, my main thought was to stay out of the Vietnam War, which I hated (and still do). It was a Democrat then who was waging that war (Lyndon Johnson), and a Republican (Richard Nixon) who said he had a secret plan to end the war. Lots of leftists, including me, stunned by the Tet Offensive in 1968, desperate for an end to the war, believed him and voted for him, just on that alone. Then, after getting elected, in 1969, he escalated the war with round the clock bombings of North Vietnam.

For the next 40 years, I never voted for a Republican again. I voted for every Democrat or Green presidential candidate from McGovern in 1972 to Obama in 2008.
Although I always did have reservations about the Democratic party's positions on illegal immigration and affirmative action, I still retained my strong Marxist beginnings, and viewed the Democrats as being for the poor, the middle class, and the Republicans as being for the rich.

I looked with disgust at the gay pride perverted spectacles that Democrats seemed to support, and always thought >> What is there to be proud of ?

After the turn of the century, and 9/11, terrorism and Islamization becoming major factors, and having that become part of the scenario, I began to look closer at the differences between the 2 major parties. I found the Democrats to be disturbingly friendly to radical Islam, and less and less a friend of lower income Americans, with each passing year. The shocking blow that knocked me right out of my Democrat shoes, in 2009 was the Fort Hood shooting. Being an Army veteran myself, I couldn't help thinking the 13 soldiers shot dead by terrorist Nidal Hasan could have been me. Couldn't deny that a lot of the blame for the massacre was with Obama (commander in chief of all US military) who, for months, refused to eject Hasan from the Army with a dishonorable discharge, despite official requests for that, from almost every Fort Hood officer of the rank of major and higher.

Then I saw Obama, pull US troops out of Iraq in 2011, created a vacuum, that was sure to be filled by jihadists. Sure enough, along came ISIS, and Obama mostly ignored them, while their convoys were on open, desert roads, sitting ducks for airstrikes. Obama's pitifully few airstrikes were called "pin pricks" by ex-Generals.

In 2012, I voted for Virgil Goode, rather than the RINO Romney. In 2016, when the Democrats had lost their connection to the low income classes, with Hillary Clinton's campaign heavily donated by rich, Wall St interests, and greatly outspent Trump, I knew I couldn't vote for that. Clinton also was a pure globalist with a strong connection to outsourcing, having voted for it in the Senate, and being a member of pro outsourcing organizations (Trilateral Commission & Council on Foreign Relations).

Trump was just the opposite. Was not in cahoots with Wall St., wasn't throwing US workers under the bus with illegal immigration, wasn't cool with the Islamic seditionists, was not a globalist and was a nationalist, supporting US businesses and workers, and wasn't an enemy of most of the US population on the affirmative action issue. I became a registered Republican in 2016, and voted for Trump in the primary and general election. He came through big, giving us a good economy, low unemployment (lowest ever for minorities) and the highest median wage in US history, along with many other things good for poor, and working class people.

All this was now in addition to the Democrats gone completely insane with riots, induced by media false reporting, and insane ideas like Critical Race Theory, police defunding, tran men competing with women in womens' sports, excessive gun control, immorally loose abortion ideas, and wrecking our democracy by election stealing and the shameful Biden Afghanistan fiasco, leaving Americans and tens of Billions of US equipment to the Taliban.

You've forced me to admit one thing at least:

I didnt read that.

:cry:
 
Whaaat? nobody wants to know how this happened ? No airkiss from the Republican women here ?

C'mon man!

"I used to be a liberal so you have to trust me when I say [insert canned anti-liberal rant]"

Bootstrapping is never convincing, especially when what you're trying to bootstrap is canned partisan swill. If you felt you had an argument against a position, you would simply make the argument.
 
not sure i would call your prior views socialist

democrat yes....liberal yes....and probably moderate

and today you are like millions of other who have swayed across the line towards the conservative side but still moderate

i believe MOST americans have moderate tendencies and can see both sides of the situation

and as we age, grow, learn, and see the world change, our view points also change

my views on drugs have changed over the last 20 years....i am still against....but not as far as i once was

If we dont have room to learn, and actually listen to the other side....then truly we are lost
 
When I first started voting in 1967, my main thought was to stay out of the Vietnam War, which I hated (and still do). It was a Democrat then who was waging that war (Lyndon Johnson), and a Republican (Richard Nixon) who said he had a secret plan to end the war. Lots of leftists, including me, stunned by the Tet Offensive in 1968, desperate for an end to the war, believed him and voted for him, just on that alone. Then, after getting elected, in 1969, he escalated the war with round the clock bombings of North Vietnam.

For the next 40 years, I never voted for a Republican again. I voted for every Democrat or Green presidential candidate from McGovern in 1972 to Obama in 2008.
Although I always did have reservations about the Democratic party's positions on illegal immigration and affirmative action, I still retained my strong Marxist beginnings, and viewed the Democrats as being for the poor, the middle class, and the Republicans as being for the rich.

I looked with disgust at the gay pride perverted spectacles that Democrats seemed to support, and always thought >> What is there to be proud of ?

After the turn of the century, and 9/11, terrorism and Islamization becoming major factors, and having that become part of the scenario, I began to look closer at the differences between the 2 major parties. I found the Democrats to be disturbingly friendly to radical Islam, and less and less a friend of lower income Americans, with each passing year. The shocking blow that knocked me right out of my Democrat shoes, in 2009 was the Fort Hood shooting. Being an Army veteran myself, I couldn't help thinking the 13 soldiers shot dead by terrorist Nidal Hasan could have been me. Couldn't deny that a lot of the blame for the massacre was with Obama (commander in chief of all US military) who, for months, refused to eject Hasan from the Army with a dishonorable discharge, despite official requests for that, from almost every Fort Hood officer of the rank of major and higher.

Then I saw Obama, pull US troops out of Iraq in 2011, created a vacuum, that was sure to be filled by jihadists. Sure enough, along came ISIS, and Obama mostly ignored them, while their convoys were on open, desert roads, sitting ducks for airstrikes. Obama's pitifully few airstrikes were called "pin pricks" by ex-Generals.

In 2012, I voted for Virgil Goode, rather than the RINO Romney. In 2016, when the Democrats had lost their connection to the low income classes, with Hillary Clinton's campaign heavily donated by rich, Wall St interests, and greatly outspent Trump, I knew I couldn't vote for that. Clinton also was a pure globalist with a strong connection to outsourcing, having voted for it in the Senate, and being a member of pro outsourcing organizations (Trilateral Commission & Council on Foreign Relations).

Trump was just the opposite. Was not in cahoots with Wall St., wasn't throwing US workers under the bus with illegal immigration, wasn't cool with the Islamic seditionists, was not a globalist and was a nationalist, supporting US businesses and workers, and wasn't an enemy of most of the US population on the affirmative action issue. I became a registered Republican in 2016, and voted for Trump in the primary and general election. He came through big, giving us a good economy, low unemployment (lowest ever for minorities) and the highest median wage in US history, along with many other things good for poor, and working class people.

All this was now in addition to the Democrats gone completely insane with riots, induced by media false reporting, and insane ideas like Critical Race Theory, police defunding, tran men competing with women in womens' sports, excessive gun control, immorally loose abortion ideas, and wrecking our democracy by election stealing and the shameful Biden Afghanistan fiasco, leaving Americans and tens of Billions of US equipment to the Taliban.
Welcome to the right side.
 
The fact that you included "socialist" in the title reveals your bias and extreme partisanship.
That's what I was. A socialist. All the way. "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs" What's the problem ?
 
"I used to be a liberal so you have to trust me when I say [insert canned anti-liberal rant]"

Bootstrapping is never convincing, especially when what you're trying to bootstrap is canned partisan swill. If you felt you had an argument against a position, you would simply make the argument.
Please repost this in ordinary American English. I don't speak 21st century Leftese. Got no idea what you said, but I would like to know what it was. Say what you mean in words you believe would most be most likely to be understood.
 
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Welcome to the right side.
Thanks. I've been here now for 12 years.

As I see the statue vandalism, mindless riots, tran nutjobs, immigration gone wild, CRT anti-white racism, police defunding (replaced with police refunding), I realize that today's far-left isn't really the far-left that I was part of, when I was wearing Mao buttons, and carried soft cover copies of the Communist Manifesto and Lenin's State & Revolution, in the big inner pocket of my Navy pea coat.

Today's far left isn't even really "left". It is more like LUNACY.
 
Ditch the protectionism, it's both stupid and immoral. Outsourcing is a good thing, you probably couldn't survive if you didn't outsource food, clothing, building materials etc. What's true for you individually is true for the country collectively. Outsourcing is a major reason why Americans are so wealthy.
 
Whaaat? nobody wants to know how this happened ?
You became a conservative Republican because you realized (or started to prioritize the fact that) you dislike gays, foreigners, Muslims and Latin immigrants.

Honestly, you are not a strange story. I think most conservatives follow this path. When they're young, they don't care or are pretty laidback. Then as they get older and more set in their ways. They start thinking, "Gay people are icky." Or "All those Latinos talk and look funny, and shouldn't be allowed in my hometown."

Then you find political conservatism, which is just a bunch of crotchety and bitter people who wrap up their discomfort around words and concepts like "anti-globalist" or "illegals" or "perverts" ... so they feel better and can rationalize the fact that they're just antisocial assholes.

I feel you're fine to embrace or vote for conservatives Republicans. It's a free country. Just don't wrap it up in the context of some "intellectual" discovery. You've solely become attracted to conservatism because you just don't like people that you find strange or uncomfortable.
 
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Help fight Zika, TB, HIV/AIDs and water pollution by donating your CPU's excess processing time to scientific research.

Lemme guess, a Zika vaccine would be an abridgment of @protectionist75's freedoms. 🤣

(WARNING, picture of Zika baby with microcephaly may be disturbing)

a_101_HowZikaWorks_160823.jpg
 
Ditch the protectionism, it's both stupid and immoral. Outsourcing is a good thing, you probably couldn't survive if you didn't outsource food, clothing, building materials etc. What's true for you individually is true for the country collectively. Outsourcing is a major reason why Americans are so wealthy.
You can have your leftist outsourcing, along with all your globalist outsourcers (Hillary Clinton, Obama, Biden, etc) and all the outsourcing globalist orgs they belong to (Trilateral Commission, Council on Foreign Relations, etc). I'll stick with conservative protectionism, conserving America's businesses and jobs, Made in USA good quality stuff over Chinese junk, and Trump economics, that gave us the V-GRAPH in 2017/2017, with rising GDP, after 2 years of Obama's globalist, sinking GDP.

1630836786023.png

Also, manufacturing things in the US is a matter of national security as well. Right now, many of the pharmaceuticals we depend on are made in China. Happy with that, are you ? Talk about "stupid".

Maybe YOU can't survive without outsourcing, but AMERICANS can, and very well, as proven by Trump's economic success.

How many companies operating in China, do you own stock in, Mr Outsourcer ?
 
Then I saw Obama, pull US troops out of Iraq in 2011, created a vacuum, that was sure to be filled by jihadists. Sure enough, along came ISIS, and Obama mostly ignored them, while their convoys were on open, desert roads, sitting ducks for airstrikes. Obama's pitifully few airstrikes were called "pin pricks" by ex-Generals.
Always blaming others for their own Republican presidents decisions and deals. In 2008 Bush (not Obama) made a comprehensive deal with the Iraqi leaders in which the US would start withdrawing troops with all troops leaving Iraq at the end of 2011. So the deal was made, Obama tried to alter it but the Iraqi leaders did not want to agree to Obama's demand that US troops would have legal protection. The Iraqi's did not want to budge to Obama had no other choice than withdrawing.

Blaming Isis on Obama is NONSENSE, ISIL started in 1999, they gained their power several years after the US troops left. Obama used the US power (and not having US troops on the ground but other methods) to defeat ISIS. Which worked. But sure, Obama was to blame for the deal Bush made :rolleyes:
 
You became a conservative Republican because you realized (or started to prioritize the fact that) you dislike gays, foreigners, Muslims and Latin immigrants.

Honestly, you are not a strange story. I think most conservatives follow this path. When they're young, they don't care or are pretty laidback. Then as they get older and more set in their ways. They start thinking, "Gay people are icky." Or "All those Latinos talk and look funny, and shouldn't be allowed in my hometown."

Then you find political conservatism, which is just a bunch of crotchety and bitter people who wrap up their discomfort around words and concepts like "anti-globalist" or "illegals" or "perverts" ... so they feel better and can rationalize the fact that they're just antisocial assholes.

I feel you're fine to embrace or vote for conservatives Republicans. It's a free country. Just don't wrap it up in the context of some "intellectual" discovery. You've solely become attracted to conservatism because you just don't like people that you find strange or uncomfortable.
Hate to burst your bubble, but those "Latinos talk and look funny" happen to be ME, who is 1/2 Hispanic, and I am bilingual in Spanish & English, and those "foreigners" you speak of happen to be my paternal grandparents, who immigrated here from Central America (Belize), and from whom I learned to speak Spanish. They are also my mother who immigrated here from Denmark, and her entire family, my aunts and uncles. And no, I don't dislike them.

As for gays, I don't call them "icky" (your word not mine), but yes, I DO call them perverts, for a good reason - that's what they ARE.

I don't "wrap up" anything. I call things as I see them, from what they are. Illegal aliens are here illegally, the the word "illegals" fits, as does the word aliens. No need to sanitize their lawbreaking, and the many harms of their wrongful immigration, with stupid words like "undocumented".

Anti-globalist isn't a word to make somebody feel better, It describes what I just finished talking about in Post # 15, which is available for your edification, to improve your perceptions.

Muslims can vary from people who pay little or no attention to Islam, and even serve in the US military and heroically sacrifice their lives in war, to Muslims who are devout to the Koran, and its many lunacies, beat their wives in accordance with Koran 4:34, are pedophiles, rapists, misogynists, genocidal murderers, and supremacists in conflict with the US Constitution (Article 6, Section 2, the Supremacy Clause).

Lastly, I don't need coaching from you to tell me why/how I'm "attracted to conservatism", or any from anybody else who clearly isn't to well settled in their thoughts about gays, foreigners, Muslims, and Latin immigrants.
 
Always blaming others for their own Republican presidents decisions and deals. In 2008 Bush (not Obama) made a comprehensive deal with the Iraqi leaders in which the US would start withdrawing troops with all troops leaving Iraq at the end of 2011. So the deal was made, Obama tried to alter it but the Iraqi leaders did not want to agree to Obama's demand that US troops would have legal protection. The Iraqi's did not want to budge to Obama had no other choice than withdrawing.

Blaming Isis on Obama is NONSENSE, ISIL started in 1999, they gained their power several years after the US troops left. Obama used the US power (and not having US troops on the ground but other methods) to defeat ISIS. Which worked. But sure, Obama was to blame for the deal Bush made :rolleyes:
The idea that Obama had no choice is about as ridiculous as Biden claiming that HE had no choice, because of Trump's Doha agreement (after his EOs reversed practically everything Trump did). Obama was the president of the United States, his job is to protect the American people, not cowtow to Iraq, the UN, or some vision of world opinion.

Obama did not defeat ISIS. When Trump took over the presidency the Middle East was as much of a mess as the US economy (see Post 15). Trump fixed both of those things, and for all effective purposes, knocked the hell out of ISIS, just like he said he would, including killing their top leaders. And when Trump ordered an airstrike, it was an airstrike, not pinpricks.


 
You can have your leftist outsourcing, along with all your globalist outsourcers (Hillary Clinton, Obama, Biden, etc) and all the outsourcing globalist orgs they belong to (Trilateral Commission, Council on Foreign Relations, etc). I'll stick with conservative protectionism, conserving America's businesses and jobs, Made in USA good quality stuff over Chinese junk, and Trump economics, that gave us the V-GRAPH in 2017/2017, with rising GDP, after 2 years of Obama's globalist, sinking GDP.

Autarky is left wing, always has been. The USSR, Nazi Germany, China under Mao, Mussolini, all had autarky as a goal, and all that does is make the country poorer. Free trade is how individuals, and countries, get rich, not by self-sufficiency.

Maybe YOU can't survive without outsourcing, but AMERICANS can, and very well, as proven by Trump's economic success.

Trump is an economic illiterate. Like you, he believes the economy is a jobs program.
 
The idea that Obama had no choice is about as ridiculous as Biden claiming that HE had no choice, because of Trump's Doha agreement (after his EOs reversed practically everything Trump did). Obama was the president of the United States, his job is to protect the American people, not cowtow to Iraq, the UN, or some vision of world opinion.

Obama did not defeat ISIS. When Trump took over the presidency the Middle East was as much of a mess as the US economy (see Post 15). Trump fixed both of those things, and for all effective purposes, knocked the hell out of ISIS, just like he said he would, including killing their top leaders. And when Trump ordered an airstrike, it was an airstrike, not pinpricks.


So the US can decide to occupy a country further without approval? After having made a deal leave? More right wing fantasy.
 
When I first started voting in 1967, my main thought was to stay out of the Vietnam War, which I hated (and still do). It was a Democrat then who was waging that war (Lyndon Johnson), and a Republican (Richard Nixon) who said he had a secret plan to end the war. Lots of leftists, including me, stunned by the Tet Offensive in 1968, desperate for an end to the war, believed him and voted for him, just on that alone. Then, after getting elected, in 1969, he escalated the war with round the clock bombings of North Vietnam.

For the next 40 years, I never voted for a Republican again. I voted for every Democrat or Green presidential candidate from McGovern in 1972 to Obama in 2008.
Although I always did have reservations about the Democratic party's positions on illegal immigration and affirmative action, I still retained my strong Marxist beginnings, and viewed the Democrats as being for the poor, the middle class, and the Republicans as being for the rich.

I looked with disgust at the gay pride perverted spectacles that Democrats seemed to support, and always thought >> What is there to be proud of ?

After the turn of the century, and 9/11, terrorism and Islamization becoming major factors, and having that become part of the scenario, I began to look closer at the differences between the 2 major parties. I found the Democrats to be disturbingly friendly to radical Islam, and less and less a friend of lower income Americans, with each passing year. The shocking blow that knocked me right out of my Democrat shoes, in 2009 was the Fort Hood shooting. Being an Army veteran myself, I couldn't help thinking the 13 soldiers shot dead by terrorist Nidal Hasan could have been me. Couldn't deny that a lot of the blame for the massacre was with Obama (commander in chief of all US military) who, for months, refused to eject Hasan from the Army with a dishonorable discharge, despite official requests for that, from almost every Fort Hood officer of the rank of major and higher.

Then I saw Obama, pull US troops out of Iraq in 2011, created a vacuum, that was sure to be filled by jihadists. Sure enough, along came ISIS, and Obama mostly ignored them, while their convoys were on open, desert roads, sitting ducks for airstrikes. Obama's pitifully few airstrikes were called "pin pricks" by ex-Generals.

In 2012, I voted for Virgil Goode, rather than the RINO Romney. In 2016, when the Democrats had lost their connection to the low income classes, with Hillary Clinton's campaign heavily donated by rich, Wall St interests, and greatly outspent Trump, I knew I couldn't vote for that. Clinton also was a pure globalist with a strong connection to outsourcing, having voted for it in the Senate, and being a member of pro outsourcing organizations (Trilateral Commission & Council on Foreign Relations).

Trump was just the opposite. Was not in cahoots with Wall St., wasn't throwing US workers under the bus with illegal immigration, wasn't cool with the Islamic seditionists, was not a globalist and was a nationalist, supporting US businesses and workers, and wasn't an enemy of most of the US population on the affirmative action issue. I became a registered Republican in 2016, and voted for Trump in the primary and general election. He came through big, giving us a good economy, low unemployment (lowest ever for minorities) and the highest median wage in US history, along with many other things good for poor, and working class people.

All this was now in addition to the Democrats gone completely insane with riots, induced by media false reporting, and insane ideas like Critical Race Theory, police defunding, tran men competing with women in womens' sports, excessive gun control, immorally loose abortion ideas, and wrecking our democracy by election stealing and the shameful Biden Afghanistan fiasco, leaving Americans and tens of Billions of US equipment to the Taliban.

I moved through a similar conversion, but it occurred in the late 80's. I had a company car with an AM only radio and was subjected to Rush Limbaugh or silence driving across the plains between accounts.

After several months of Limbaugh and in view of the Reagan Revolution, I was converted, too.

Regarding your observations of Trump and my observations of Reagan, we were both deceived to some extent. Neither were representative of the Republican Party.

Both Reagan and Trump were Classical Liberals. Both the Republican and the Democrat Party Loyalists are lying thieves with Globalist tendencies.

The goals and freedoms endorsed by both Reagan and Trump are antithetical to either of the parties as they are currently constituted.

As a country, we are well and truly screwed. All of the Framers are spinning like pin wheels in their graves.
 
I can somewhat relate. I went from being a liberal Democrat to my moniker.
 
That's what I was. A socialist. All the way. "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs" What's the problem ?

Typically only those unfamiliar with socialism think that "from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs" is a socialist tenet. It was popularized as a strawman argument against socialism by Ayn Rand in Atlas Shrugged.

If you had actually read Marx, you would have noticed that the only context in which he said "from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs" was to point out why it was a stupid motto that could never work for any resource scarce enough for there to be any competition over. He was literally arguing against the idea of "from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs" in Critique of the Gotha Programme.

I don't know how you imagined that you could convince people that you used to be a socialist without actually learning anything about socialism.
 
When I first started voting in 1967, my main thought was to stay out of the Vietnam War, which I hated (and still do). It was a Democrat then who was waging that war (Lyndon Johnson), and a Republican (Richard Nixon) who said he had a secret plan to end the war. Lots of leftists, including me, stunned by the Tet Offensive in 1968, desperate for an end to the war, believed him and voted for him, just on that alone. Then, after getting elected, in 1969, he escalated the war with round the clock bombings of North Vietnam.

For the next 40 years, I never voted for a Republican again. I voted for every Democrat or Green presidential candidate from McGovern in 1972 to Obama in 2008.
Although I always did have reservations about the Democratic party's positions on illegal immigration and affirmative action, I still retained my strong Marxist beginnings, and viewed the Democrats as being for the poor, the middle class, and the Republicans as being for the rich.

I looked with disgust at the gay pride perverted spectacles that Democrats seemed to support, and always thought >> What is there to be proud of ?

After the turn of the century, and 9/11, terrorism and Islamization becoming major factors, and having that become part of the scenario, I began to look closer at the differences between the 2 major parties. I found the Democrats to be disturbingly friendly to radical Islam, and less and less a friend of lower income Americans, with each passing year. The shocking blow that knocked me right out of my Democrat shoes, in 2009 was the Fort Hood shooting. Being an Army veteran myself, I couldn't help thinking the 13 soldiers shot dead by terrorist Nidal Hasan could have been me. Couldn't deny that a lot of the blame for the massacre was with Obama (commander in chief of all US military) who, for months, refused to eject Hasan from the Army with a dishonorable discharge, despite official requests for that, from almost every Fort Hood officer of the rank of major and higher.

Then I saw Obama, pull US troops out of Iraq in 2011, created a vacuum, that was sure to be filled by jihadists. Sure enough, along came ISIS, and Obama mostly ignored them, while their convoys were on open, desert roads, sitting ducks for airstrikes. Obama's pitifully few airstrikes were called "pin pricks" by ex-Generals.

In 2012, I voted for Virgil Goode, rather than the RINO Romney. In 2016, when the Democrats had lost their connection to the low income classes, with Hillary Clinton's campaign heavily donated by rich, Wall St interests, and greatly outspent Trump, I knew I couldn't vote for that. Clinton also was a pure globalist with a strong connection to outsourcing, having voted for it in the Senate, and being a member of pro outsourcing organizations (Trilateral Commission & Council on Foreign Relations).

Trump was just the opposite. Was not in cahoots with Wall St., wasn't throwing US workers under the bus with illegal immigration, wasn't cool with the Islamic seditionists, was not a globalist and was a nationalist, supporting US businesses and workers, and wasn't an enemy of most of the US population on the affirmative action issue. I became a registered Republican in 2016, and voted for Trump in the primary and general election. He came through big, giving us a good economy, low unemployment (lowest ever for minorities) and the highest median wage in US history, along with many other things good for poor, and working class people.

All this was now in addition to the Democrats gone completely insane with riots, induced by media false reporting, and insane ideas like Critical Race Theory, police defunding, tran men competing with women in womens' sports, excessive gun control, immorally loose abortion ideas, and wrecking our democracy by election stealing and the shameful Biden Afghanistan fiasco, leaving Americans and tens of Billions of US equipment to the Taliban.

I went from right-winger to liberal. So we're even. :)
 
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