There is a famous quote, often misattributed to Churchill, that if you’re not a liberal at 20 you have no heart, but if you’re not a conservative by the time you’re 40 you have no brain. Given my political history, I’ve already shown myself to be heartless. Whether I shall prove myself to be brainless as well remains to be seen. To quote an magic eight ball: outlook not good. It did occur to me the other day, however, that despite not following the trajectory set forth above, I have changed my mind on a lot of political issues over the years. To give a very non-exhaustive list, at one time or another I have supported each of the following:
Gun control,
Government Single Payer Healthcare,
Living Wage laws (i.e. like minimum wage laws, only not so minimal),
Hate crimes laws,
the Iraq war,
Affirmative Action,
Campaign Finance Reform,
Restrictive immigration laws,
Trade protectionism,
I could go on, but you get the idea. How about you? How often do you change your mind on a major political issue (and if the answer is ‘never’ doesn’t that give you pause)?
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