flstf

When I was on a debate team many years ago we were sometimes assigned to take a position opposed to the way we really believed. As you might expect the best debators usually got the upper hand no matter which position they took.

But I did find that debating in favor of and doing research into positions and policies that I did not believe in caused me to re-think some issues and soften my objection to the other side. In the real world I have flip-flopped several times on issues.

I believe it is a lot harder to try and stay open minded about issues that we feel are important instead of taking a hard line and defending it to the bitter end. Universal health care, tax reform and social security private accounts are a few of the hot topics that I am unsure of. I generally approach things from a Libertarian point of view but I am starting to question that in regards to these issues.