Positive
Only logged in members can reply and interact with the post.
Join SimilarWorlds for FREE »

I used to be a "Tea Party" Republican...

I grew up as a Democrat, raised in Evangelical church. Independent Fundamental Baptist, to be more specific.
I served in Air Force 1993 to 1998. Had to get out for medical reasons. Different story different time. As a young adult I found myself going to Southern Baptist Church at one point. Late 90s to early 2000s. I used to be a tea party Republican. I listened to AM radio everyday. Rush Limbaugh. Glenn Beck. Mark Levin. And any other talk show host that came on AM radio. I voted for Trump in 2016. Because I saw him as the lesser of the two evils. As a living I work in civil service. And I'm a member of a labor union. I was led to believe that Trump would reform a lot of Labor laws. I guess that's why I voted for him. And he seemed to differentiate himself between the rest of the republicans. But after I voted for him I became a Democrat. Why? I think it was because ever since getting out of the air force, I struggled to make ends meet. One dead-end job after another. Usually just above minimum wage. And supporting a wife and three daughters, that doesn't fly too well. Of course I was getting disability compensation from the VA. But that only helped out a little. Kids were on WIC. And sometimes we had to get help from food pantries. All this happened while still a Republican. I got to thinking how the Republican party has done nothing for me as far as improving my economic condition. I don't like and see was hell rich people were getting richer and poor people were getting poorer. And all I kept hearing about that was how the "owners of means of production" kept on coming down on the laborers. So I had to find a party that would better represent me. That's why I choose to be a Democrat.

You may be a Republican. Good for you. Because the Republican Party may be better at representing your own "best interest"** as the "owners of the means of production." But keep in mind that as a laborer, I am obligated to preserve my own best interests. To meet that end, I choose to be a Democrat.

As a former Republican I need to caution correct Republicans upon the radicalization of the Republican Party by MAGA Republicans. I cannot take the Republican Party serious with all these trumpers are running around doing the things they do. Get rid of them. Come back to the table. And let us reason together the best direction for the United States.

*Marx & Engels, "The Communist Manifesto" (name of publisher, city and year of publication currently unknown to me)

** Adam Smith, "Wealth of Nations" (name of publisher, city and year of publication currently unknown to me)
This page is a permanent link to the reply below and its nested replies. See all post replies »
The ole saying goes.
If you’re not a liberal while you’re young- you got no heart.
If you’re not a conservative when you get older- you got no brain 🤓

Republican has lost all meaning.. it’s just a tribe at this point
Prisoner1972 · 51-55, M
@TheOneyouwerewarnedabout the only way I could even think about coming back to the Republican party as if they somehow reverse their radicalization. But at this point, how the hell do you do that?
HoraceGreenley · 61-69, M
@Prisoner1972
Your statement about Republicans implies that Democrats are not radical.

I beg to differ
Prisoner1972 · 51-55, M
@HoraceGreenley according to my understanding of our two-party system , 100 and something years ago the Democratic Party were the slave owners. And the Republicans were the abolitionists. In the 60s somehow it got reversed where the Democrats became more of the party that fights for civil rights, encompassing "the poor and huddled masses,' like the immigrants coming through Ellis island, labor unions, and poorer class of people ("laborers" as Karl Marx would describe them.) And likewise the Republicans became more of the upper class people, owners of businesses, and property owners ("owners of means of prodiction" as Karl Marx would describe them.) The Democratic party embraces people, including extreme liberal crackpots in the Democratic party, most of whom I don't agree with. But the radicals in the Republican Party seem to have increased at an exponential rate in a very short amount of time. During the Obama Administration, Republican Party President Michael Steele advocated for more of a centrist approach to the party in an attempt at making the party move relevant. I could somewhat understand that. And in such a short time the Republicans seemed to get radicalized, to a degree worse than the Democrats. So that's why I choose to be a Democrat.
HoraceGreenley · 61-69, M
@Prisoner1972
Then you aren't paying attention. And that's a word salad
Prisoner1972 · 51-55, M
@HoraceGreenley WTH are you talking about? Looks like the Texas chick blocked me. So she left a warm seat for you at the kids table. Now go finish her chicken nuggets.
HoraceGreenley · 61-69, M