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Well I have, when I was 17 I used to be very conservative, I was against immigration, I supported the death penalty, I thought homosexuality was morally wrong, I believed totally in the market with a minimum safety net provided by the state - I used to be really into Talcott Parson's view of society.
Then I read some Marx, and in the arguments we used to have in sociology class, it was just like I started to see everything from a totally different perspective - and I went from being one of the furthest right in our class to be the furthest left - all through university I studied Marxism as much as I could, and we got really into depth into it in my Masters degree - I dont look at Das Kapital as a bible as some people do, but I do see it as a scientific statement of why things are the way they are, and a guide to the way things logically will have to move in the future.
The main reason I post here is honestly because I want people to see things how I do, because not in an arrogant sense, but I really think I am right, or that Marx was right, I want to try and make other people see the flaws and hypocrisies of capitalism and the capitalist state. Also, I do like to test my own arguments, and see how people come back at me.
I mean, the place I used to post politics stuff at, we would have debates on whether or not George Bush would receive the death penalty when found guilty of war crimes, I have never posted anywhere where there are so many right wing people here - and it is interesting to see how other people understand the world too.
I think most people who would come to a board like this are going to be quite passionate about their political world view, and it will be quite deeply entrenched in them, so it is hard for people to say "ok, youre right I'm wrong" because they really dont see it. I mean, Im not saying the war in Iraq is wrong because I want to be trendy or I think its what a left wing person should say, I really feel it in my heart and it makes me angry that it is happening, I want everyone else to be as angry as I am, to reject the leaders who took us there as much as I do... but at the same time, I think if any person is not at least prepared in principle to reverse or modify their view on something, they are missing out a part of the point of the debate - because if no one is prepared to modify their view, it just becomes two sides shouting slogans and soundbites.
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"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."
The Gospel of Thomas
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