Do more people switch from right to left, or from left to right?

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[Lindacooks]

1. I'd like to think they switch from right to left, like I did.

Once I grew up and started thinking about it, being liberal was a 'no brainer', because the Repuke side of every argument is not only counter intuitive, it's illogical.

[charlie]

2. Left to right seems to be the prime trajectory

for the past 40 or so years.

[Mr_Spock]

10. I've noticed a slowing and some reversal in the past few years

One can only hope this is true in other places as well...

[charlie]

14. I agree with you, it does seem to be slowing

And I hope I'm not fooling myself. Among the political movers and shakers, the exodus from left to right has been damn near a tidal wave for way too long. The roster of former lefties is ginormous, while the only Democrat of note that I can think of who jumped ship is Leon Panetta (and possibly Hillary, but she bailed when she was still a pliable pup).

There does seem to be at least a lull, with an undercurrent of real honest to god reconsideration of liberalism going on. I certainly hope that it's a harbinger of real momentum to come.

[CBGLuthier]

3. common wisdom is left to right

There are many attributions for this quote or something similar;

one who is not a socialist at 20 has no heart,
and one who remains a socialist at 40 has no head.


Other versions substitute liberal and conservative.
This is attributed to Disraeli;

A man who is not a liberal at 16 has no heart;
a man who is not a conservative at 60 has no head.

[Qibing Zero]

9. This has always been faulty logic

I attribute it to the fact a lot of people give up their dreams of changing the world as impossible after years and years of trying and not having much result.

It has nothing to do with brains, because if you REALLY think about things and open your eyes, you'd realize that it's foolish to just blame the individual when the society is responsible. Blaming just the individual and ignoring the nurture (and lack of it) that caused them to act in whatever manner they did is a cop-out used by people who want to think humans are born 'good' or 'evil'. It's the easy way out, especially for the people who have been able to succeed in the system and refuse to believe others cannot.

[Vektor]

13. Anyone who is a conservative at any age...

Hasn't a brain cell to speak of. No, there's no good that comes out of moving right. At any age. Unless you LIKE becoming a greedy, heartless pig.

There's NO excuse.

[DanCa]

4. I want to say right to left

Before i could vote I was a rightie i grew up ina fundamentalist house hold. But the more I became involved, and the more educated I got the more hypocritcal and mean the right seemed. It just seemed like a mean brain washing camp to me. At best the right wingers I know are condecesing at the worst there wolves dressed in sheeps clothing.

[MojoXN]

5. As the Spainard would say...

Estan igual...

MojoXN

[Just Me]

6. Most folks are a mixture.

They are neither "left" or "right",...but, rather, a blend of adaptation.

Seriously,..."LEFT",..."RIGHT",....as if people fall squarely into just weird pegs.

[Vektor]

7. Right to left and there's a good explanation for that.

The more wisdom you gain in life the more likely you are to realize that the conservative (bowel) movement is about oppression, greed, and bigotry. Anyone who gains knowledge, and grows as a human being as they move along in life (which most people do) will become more "left". Those that don't are incorrigible, irredeemable, or suffering from arrested development.

[Wapsie B]

8. right to Left for me.

But then I question a lot of things in life. As we know questioning the status quo does not sit well with the gop.

[B Calm]

11. I never have switched.. Most people switch back to left after they

get older and wiser...

[Blue_In_AK]

17. Me, too...

I'm left and lefter.

[kohodog]

12. dunno...been down so long it looks like up to me.

Today's center is yesterday's right. You can be moving left and still be in the middle. Maybe the tread mill will change directions soon.

[cynatnite]

15. I never switched...

Looking back on it now, when I was a republican, I was left all along.

[VPStoltz]

16. I think to the right. The propoganda machine on the right

has been more successful in leading people to believe they don't have to give a shit about anybody but themselves.

[New Earth]

18. depends if they like to go backward or forward

i would hope most people like to progress and move forward, not regress and go backward.

i think more people switch from right to left. it's an awakening of sorts :)

[More Than A Feeling]

19. Well, I went from centrist Clinton-crat to proud liberal...

I have never met anyone who has gone from left to right.

[Rainscents]

20. I use to be center, not no more! I am a flaming liberal!

[Giant Robot]

21. I remember research indicating

that as we got older, we were more likely to move from the left to the right. The older we got the more conservative we got. Can't tell you much more as its 5am and my memory ain't so good this time o'the morning. That seems to jive with my anecdotal experience, as I hardly remember seeing an people older than me supporting Kerry in my neck of the woods. As an interesting side note, the older I get, the more socialist I become. For what its worth.

[Crunchy Frog]

22. I'm wondering if people don't tend to switch to

where they percieve the power is. It seems to me that there have been more Dems switching to the Repub side than the other way around. My guess is that they were mostly unprincipled and went with the prevailing winds.

I think if you talk about the extremes of left and right, they have alot of similarities in terms of absolutism. If someone gets disillusioned with one, it may be pretty easy to switch to the other. I'm wondering if people on the extreme left switch to the extreme right when they get jaded and lose their idealism. They get to keep the absolutist world view, while gaining access to the corridors of power and wealth.

I think most people who make the switch the other way do it more from moral awakening rather than hope of personal gain. Unfortunately, I think that phenomenon is somewhat rare.

[Lecky]

23. Left to Right sees to be the trend

http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?PageID=947
(Scroll towards bottom)

"Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, Democrats outnumbered Republicans in the adult population.

It is not surprising, then, that a sizable minority of Republicans (38%) say that, at some point in the past, they thought of themselves as Democrats.

Overall, only about one-in-five Democrats (22%) say they have thought of themselves as Republicans in the past."