A Progressive Becomes Conservative

I used to post on this board back in 2007-09. I considered myself a progressive. I was 19-20 years old and big Obama supporter. I knew that my opinions on political matters were correct. Over the last ~12 years I have matured into a conservative. Below is a timeline that describes my ‘awakening’:


2007-2012 – Five years at LSU (victory lap) showed me that conservatives weren’t bad people, they just had different opinions than me. Nearly all my friends at LSU were republicans. After spending 5 years in Louisiana, I could see that government wasn’t that effective at solving issues related to poverty. I grew up in a Pleasantville bubble in suburbia and hadn’t experienced any real diversity or poverty in my first 18 years. I pulled the lever twice for Obama, but I was much less enthusiastic about the second vote.

2012-2013 – I worked as a substitute teacher in the inner cities. This was a big turning point for me. The schools were an absolute disgrace. I could go on for hours, but in short, I saw tremendous apathy amongst 50% of the public school staff. The best way to describe it is a ‘go along to get along’ attitude. Students couldn’t be punished for what where I come from would have been suspension or expulsion type event. The root of the problem with the schools was the lack of accountability of the students’ families. I felt terrible for the minority of parents who actually cared, but were stuck with a failing school because of the neighborhood they lived in. I saw the impact that the breakdown of the American family has had on our society.

2014- By this time, I considered myself a middle of the road independent. I joined the military and took to it like a fish to water. On day one I was told you get out what you put in, which I found to be 100% true in any endeavor. Mindset is everything. In the middle of my pipeline, a cadre member rounded up all us wannabees and berated us because of our classes unusually high attrition rate. “When I set out to do something, I don’t f*cking fail!” I adopted that attitude for the rest of my time in service. Over the years I learned that life isn’t fair, and no one can make it so. Hope is not a good plan. Someone on this planet has it worse than you, so don’t complain. Finally, opportunity exists for everyone in this country. Everyone has a choice to take a risk and make something of themselves.

2016- I was a secret conservative at this point. Although I didn’t vote in the 2016 election, I was silently rooting for Donald Trump. I was sleeping out at the range on election day. I remember staying up, refreshing my phone every few minutes watching the results come in.
2018- I made a vow in the fall of 2018 that I would never vote for a democrat again. The disgusting tactics used to try and railroad Justice Kavanaugh enraged me. I immediately registered to vote. When I got my absentee ballot, I voted for every name with an R next to it without hesitation. I was pissed and finally came out as a conservative. Relatives were shocked and disturbed, but I didn’t care.

2020- There is a way to get free college. Taking a break in service to attend grad school, I stroll into the university veterans affairs office. I had no idea how much the GI bill was going to pay for, I didn’t sign up for free college. It turns out if you are within 3 years of separation from service, any public school university is 100% free. I will be voting in my first presidential election since 2012. I think there are a significant number of Americans like me who will be showing up to the polls in November.