I have seen this before, but not this close to home. A good friend of mine's dad, whom I've considered a good friend for a very long time, has turned into a liberal.

I have been friends with a guy since 1975. He and his family moved to D/FW from K.I. Sawyer AFB in 'the Yoop' in northern Michigan. That was the start of 7th grade. Over the ensuing 2-3 years I gradually got to know his dad and mom and his little brother. His Dad was a Vietnam vet as a FAC pilot and I first met him in their backyard, poolside. He was sitting there, knocking back a scotch and water, with those air force shades on. He was active duty for about 23 years. Very conservative. This guy became my other Dad and taught his two sons and I how to hunt upland game. He is the reason I bought my first firearm, a Browning A-5.

Anyway, he retired in the mid eighties, went to work for a local defense contractor. He was widowed in 2005. A few years later, I was talking to my friend and he and his little brother both warned me that their dad had, in their words 'become a liberal'. I tried to make sense of it and they both said it was real and they had both ceased discussing political matters with him as a result. They said it was sad.

The guy reconnected with a high school flame and eventually remarried about 7 years after becoming a widower. I asked if she was a factor and everyone said she was probably as (or more) conservative than we are. Belongs to the Daughters of the Republic of Texas.

His late wife was a very intelligent woman and seemed to me a pretty conservative moderate.
I had a theory that he had developed a political balance with his 1st wife. That marrying an even more conservative woman upset this. Maybe he's a natural contrarian, who knows?

It's his business of course and I am not looking for ways to change him. I only want to understand this as I have heard tales of this happening to many, where they swing hard to the side that they have opposed their entire lives. It's kinda troubling.

If we're talking about going from leftist to conservative, not only do I not find it peculiar, I find it to be natural and probable.

Concerns and knowledge, but especially concerns change as we get older.
It’s no different than how older people’s views of religion very often change.
Many—most?—people’s views about both religion and politics are not grounded in serious rational thought and analysis and when concerns about what may affect us personally change, change in our views often follows.

My brother turned commie in his 40s

I've seen a similar pattern with my parents, both were growing up fairly middle-of-the-road, registered Independents.

As they've gotten older they've become more Leftist in their comments and voting. I think some of it is their generation grew-up with Cronkite and the need to watch the news, everyday. Come 5:30, Dad is fixated on the news for the next two hours and pretty much regurgitates and absorbs whatever is being discussed. Tried to show him other news platforms like Rising or, Breaking Points and he thinks they're second-rate outlets who've not made it to the big leagues.

I think some of it is not being adaptable or, understanding some of the financial changes in their retirement and its easy to point the finger at one political party over the other...because that's what all the shows talk-about.

Because of their inflexiblity, they've continued a routine (AM and late-morning shows) but not recognized that how the news and discussions have evolved to be more strident and slanted while also being generally naive of what else is going on. They had no idea Biden is a mess without the teleprompter and rehearsals; no idea about lock-down protests around the world; no idea the volume of illegals who've streamed across the border nor the entire emigration process; still think 1/6/21 is a seminal event of our generation, while forgetting what happened in places like Minneapolis, Portland and Seattle.

If you're not a Liberal at 20 you have no heart. If you're not a Conservative at 35 you have no brain. Author unknown.

My parents were both essentially moderate conservatives all the time I was with them.

When they got older, they turned into radical conservatives.

Never saw one go from conservative to liberal and I've got to wonder if they were putting on a show before and decided to come out of the closet.

Different people are surrounded by different people and different sources of information over time. This is a cry for help from someone who's found themselves isolated in a deranged environment somehow.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
If we're talking about going from leftist to conservative, not only do I not find it peculiar, I find it to be natural and probable.

Yep. It's not uncommon.

quote:

Because of their inflexiblity, they've continued a routine (AM and late-morning shows) but not recognized that how the news and discussions have evolved to be more strident and slanted while also being generally naive of what else is going on...

I've seen that happen too. I knew a very sweet older lady who in her 80's had too much time on her hands and became hooked on TV and gradually went leftist. She hated Trump without any specific reason. It's just the leftist diatribe she was exposed to on a daily basis.

How did his first wife die? Was the liberalism conversion timed with her illness/death?

The reason I ask is I’ve seen people who helplessly watch a loved one die become very attracted to spending other people’s money (ie taxes). Often they conflate charity (ie giving out of free will) with taxes (taking with enough force as necessary).

quote:

Originally posted by hjs157:
If you're not a Liberal at 20 you have no heart. If you're not a Conservative at 35 you have no brain. Author unknown.

A paraphrase of the same sentiment is what came to my mind when I read the OP.

I think Sigfreund is dead on. I believe that people in general are innately selfish. With that said, in general people’s views are absolutely shaped by the things that affect them the most. Yes, usually you see leftists awaken toward conservatism but I certainly see it go the other way too. I have a sibling who while once conservative, is unionized and works in the .edu arena. she has become a full blown commie. In her words, the people before her got free cake, now it’s her turn and it doesn’t matter if the .gov can no longer afford to pay. It’s sad but we will end up on opposite sides when the turning point is reached.

Amazing what a crack on the beak will do for some people; even if metaphorical.


Last I checked, the laws of nature still wholly intact.

quote:

Originally posted by hjs157:
If you're not a Liberal at 20 you have no heart. If you're not a Conservative at 35 you have no brain. Author unknown.

We do know the source was not Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, DL, FRS, RA.

quote:

Originally posted by corsair:
I've seen a similar pattern with my parents, both were growing up fairly middle-of-the-road, registered Independents.

As they've gotten older they've become more Leftist in their comments and voting. I think some of it is their generation grew-up with Cronkite and the need to watch the news, everyday. Come 5:30, Dad is fixated on the news for the next two hours and pretty much regurgitates and absorbs whatever is being discussed.

That'll do it.

People who don't have all the facts, and one certainly won't get all the facts, if any facts at all, watching the dominant media. If that is one's only source of "news" and opinion, and one believes it, they will naturally become leftist.

It's funny, because the left refers to the right as "low-information voters" when, in fact, it is those who swallow the dominant media narratives hook, line, and sinker that are the low-information voters.

Depends if you're talking ideological shift meaning a lock, stock, and barrel total reversal. Or, some things you just change your mind about as you get older. No doubt I've have been right of center most of my life naturally. As my life has unfolded a couple of things have happened causing me to think about things from another point of view. And, yes most of the shift I've experienced has been leftward. I don't know how to classify myself today. I believe some things the left doesn't like and visa versa.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
How did his first wife die? Was the liberalism conversion timed with her illness/death?

The reason I ask is I’ve seen people who helplessly watch a loved one die become very attracted to spending other people’s money (ie taxes). Often they conflate charity (ie giving out of free will) with taxes (taking with enough force as necessary).

My understanding is that she had a heart attack while in the shower at about 58 yrs old. He found her. He lived alone for around 3 years before I heard about his getting together with a high school sweetheart in coastal east Texas. I do think I remember his sons telling me that he told them he voted for Obozo.

I don't think McCain or Romney helped this situation now that I think of it.

That eastern coastal region of Texas has had it's moments where it seemed to obviously still have some significant racist elements. This is the area where some mental midgets chained John King to the back of a pickup and dragged him to death. The thought that he was raised in the area from WWII on, even made me wonder about a feeling of guilt.

I do not know about most people, but as for myself, I have noticed lately that I have become more environmentally aware as I grow older. Back when I was a kid, we used to use a ravine behind the house as a landfill. We burned our plastic food containers in a 55 gal drum out back. It was not uncommon for my grandfather to throw his bottles out the window while we were driving. We poured used motor oil on the driveway as a means of dust control, and our grease rack was actually over a flowing creek.

I now find myself much more concerned about these things. My family will throw their AL cans in the trash, and I will pick them out and put them in the recycle aluminum bin. I haul my used motor oil to a collection point. Just two weeks ago, we changed a semi truck tire on the side of the road in Nevada. The other employee threw the old casing over the rail down the embankment. I jumped over and hauled it back up and strapped it onto a trailer deck for later disposal. I'm not saying I'm going nuts, but I'm much more likely now to do little things than in the past. I don't think this makes me a liberal. Unfortunately, I'm worried some around me think it may. I don't feel that concern for the environment is incompatible with conservative beliefs. We are now, unfortunately, so polarized that everything seems to be a litmus test for the whole enchilada of political ideology.

Perhaps I just don't like litter. I was, after all, raised on images of the crying fake Indian.

He spent his entire life being a part of the system. That definitely has an effect on people.

sigcrazy, 100%

I am not an environmentalist, but I am a conservationist. We are merely occupying this planet for a few years, generations after us will also come and I want them to experience the same.


Stuff like littering, destroying nature etc isn’t ideal. There’s a balance, hunting species to extinction is horrible, as is banning hunting - somewhere in the middle is ideal, as seen in the US, parts of Africa with trophy animals etc. Same for trash, etc. For example, Everest is a waste dump right now.