It seems like there is always a ton of back and forth on this forum, but you never see anybody admitting to be wrong, or changing their mind.

So I ask all of you on here, what political stances are you know for or against, that you used to hold the opposite belief, and what changed your mind?

I'm starting to believe in decriminalization of weed.

Death penalty -- used to be for, now against.

Only penalty that cannot have amends made for it. And I cannot believe that no innocent people in the last 50 years havent been executed.

Further, the cost of death row and the process is far more expensive than just putting a bad guy in a deep dark hole for the rest of their lives.

Further, having lived in California, the death penalty emphasizes the perpetrator as opposed to the victims. Last execution was a shitshow which glamorized a complete thug with no focus at all on the people he murdered. Think of the difference between the one small byline that Charlie Manson died a broken down old creep versus the headlines if he actually had been executed.

Finally, for those people that are actual rotten apples (think Dahmer, etc.), a life behind bars in a deep hole of a prison may actually be a worse punishment than execution.

I think we should end the drug war.

Let it all be legal and tax the crap out of it. Not only would we rake in the money the heavy drug users will dispose of themselves in due time.

It would be a hard transition.

I used to be pro death penalty, now I am again' it

Even though I don't think it's a moral evil I have come to believe that a society with the resources to incarcerate for life should accept that they could be wrong every now and again.

(02-19-2018 11:21 AM)tanqtonic Wrote:  Death penalty -- used to be for, now against.

Only penalty that cannot have amends made for it. And I cannot believe that no innocent people in the last 50 years havent been executed.

Further, the cost of death row and the process is far more expensive than just putting a bad guy in a deep dark hole for the rest of their lives.

Further, having lived in California, the death penalty emphasizes the perpetrator as opposed to the victims. Last execution was a shitshow which glamorized a complete thug with no focus at all on the people he murdered. Think of the difference between the one small byline that Charlie Manson died a broken down old creep versus the headlines if he actually had been executed.

Finally, for those people that are actual rotten apples (think Dahmer, etc.), a life behind bars in a deep hole of a prison may actually be a worse punishment than execution.

Great post with excellent points. To a megalomaniac living and dying old, alone, and ignored would be punishment

I support gay marriage.
If you legalized pot tomorrow you'd find no argument from me.
I begrudgingly support abortion rights.

My support for the above is grounded in my strong belief in states rights, a small unobtrusive federal government, and the Constitution.

The only stance of mine that has changed is with regard to gay marriage. I'm still 100% against it, but I support legal unions that would allow partners legal rights with regards to medical, inheritance, and other issues. Most every other political, ethical, or moral stance of mine has strengthened.

(02-19-2018 11:13 AM)NCeagle Wrote:  It seems like there is always a ton of back and forth on this forum, but you never see anybody admitting to be wrong, or changing their mind.

So I ask all of you on here, what political stances are you know for or against, that you used to hold the opposite belief, and what changed your mind?

Okay.

Gay Marriage.

I originally believed that marriage was a religious institution and that no religion should be forced to recognize a union of same sex individuals and I still largely believe this.

However, if the state wants to recognize it - I guess I'm okay with that, particularly for property rights, hospital visitation, etc. types of reasons.

Initially, I wasn't for gay marriage at all - now I really don't care.

(02-19-2018 11:31 AM)200yrs2late Wrote:  The only stance of mine that has changed is with regard to gay marriage. I'm still 100% against it, but I support legal unions that would allow partners legal rights with regards to medical, inheritance, and other issues. Most every other political, ethical, or moral stance of mine has strengthened.

I agree.

(02-19-2018 11:13 AM)NCeagle Wrote:  It seems like there is always a ton of back and forth on this forum, but you never see anybody admitting to be wrong, or changing their mind.

So I ask all of you on here, what political stances are you know for or against, that you used to hold the opposite belief, and what changed your mind?

I don't know if I'd go as far as to say changed, but probably softened.

Gay Marriage - Used to be against, now I don't care either way. If two people wish to get married, that's their business.

Abortion - Used to be for, now I think setting limits and having restrictions is acceptable. Abortion early term is one thing, late term is quite another. Aborting a fetus that's severely deformed is one thing, using it as another form of birth control is another.

Marijuana - Used to be against legalizing it, now I say do it, tax the hell out of it, and use that revenue as a way to relieve the tax burden on everyday people.

Guys there is no gay marriage, there is same sex marriage.

Pot legalization (now for it) and gay marriage (don't really care anymore).
I'm not nearly as concerned about welfare and food stamps as I used to be as that's not what busts the budget.
I'm not a big eco-freak but I do think we need to change our energy portfolio and CO2 emissions are not the only good reason to do so.

I used to be against legalization of any of the currently illegal drugs. Now, I think marijuana should be legalized, and maybe even the harder drugs - though I have not thought about that too much.

i'm just about seasick from all the rocking i've been doing. conservative, democrat, libertarian. now it's just whatever. through all of that, i've never wavered in my compassion for those who go about bothering society. we make it perfect

Legalization of Marijuana, tax the **** out of it.

Having clinics for people with drug addictions, so they can safely administer their addiction. Less dirty needles for them to use and less dirty needles to be left lying around in parks and places.

Lets utilize all energy resources. Trying to with one only is just ignorant IMO.

I believe in the right to have choices. So I guess that makes me for abortion. I used to believe if you got pregnant, than you needed to take responsibility and have the baby. But this has left us with unfit parents and kids not being raised properly. Many ending up in foster care. I believe in late term abortion should only be used to save the mothers life or if the baby destined for a life of pain and suffering.

man, i heard grass in colorado was cheap as sh!t because of all the competition. you could probably tax it quite a bit and it'd be still affordable. i haven't run the numbers

I used to be in favor of citizenship for the illegals who had been in the country for a long time. But the Reagan "fix" which offered citizenship to deal with the massive 3 million illegal alien problem quickly turned into a 12 million illegal alien problem. It simply caused more of the same problem instead of fixing it. These people are not stupid. They look at what we do. It was like Obama and DACA. Thousands of children were sent across the border after he did that.

We simply cannot give citizenship to illegals on a preferential basis to those who follow the rules. Legalization, ok, we can't kick 12 million people out of the country without crashing the economy. But citizenship just brings in more illegals.

(02-19-2018 11:47 AM)SuperFlyBCat Wrote:  Guys there is no gay marriage, there is same sex marriage.

same thing.

Globalism.

Used to be in a huge fan of free trade even though it never was. Once it destroyed much of our manufacturing base, I had to reconsider. If we ever get cross-ways with another country, like China, we'd better damned-well have our manufacturing capabilities back up to snuff. From that perspective, Trump looks like divine intervention at work, because if anyone will make the effort reinvigorate our manufacturing sector, it's His Orangeness.