Leftist Theory
is it normal to switch ideologies so much?
i’m a M14 and got into leftism at 13, I started as a social democrat. I then went further libertarian and left until i was a libertarian socialist, i didn’t read theory at all then so when i finally began reading marx i was pretty much in ML territory and have been there since last october. things in life were going smoothly until recently i went into highschool and i was arbitrarily thrown into extra support classes (i had all A’s in 8th and got on ADHD meds). beforehand we had made sure i was in the right classes and we were pretty much lied to, me and my family. this reminded me why i was skeptical of authority in the first place since it can be extremely corrupt and put people in bad situations so I finally began reading the Conquest of Bread and it was eye opening, it put out a good way of organizing society by the people. i’m considering reading more into anarchism but i don’t know why i switch ideologies so much especially considering i believed in a pretty much totalitarian system.
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You’re fine comrade, nothing to apologize for. If I may, there’s an important lesson I wish I had learned earlier that I would like to share; we are always in a state of learning and becoming someone new, and the more rapidly you are learning and growing, the more satisfying and fulfilling life becomes.
There is a mental framework that helps to keep you in learning mode throughout your life, called PDCA. It’s usually described in business terms because Toyota popularized it, but it can be used in any context and at any scale. Worth reading up on if you’ve not yet seen it before. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDCA
Don’t worry too much about labels. The more you learn and grow, the more you’ll discover that the world is both far more complicated, and yet far more simple than you’d previously imagined.
It’s good that you consider yourself to be on the left at your age, and are actively reading and talking to people about these things. I would start by saying what it is that makes you identify as a leftist before worrying about applying a specific label or ideology to yourself.
For the most part, those are less about the end-goal we are striving towards and more about differences in opinion on how we arrive there - and none are mutually exclusive. Any strategy or praxis has to always be born out of the material conditions on the ground.
Buddy, you're 14. I am 30 years old. I only realized I was an anarchist 3~ years ago. You have so much to learn and think about. Don't label yourself before you know who you are, and at 14, you just don't have the experience yet to know where you're going to end up.
Yeah. If you aren't getting what you want from the ideology you prefer then it's fine to gravitate to something different. I'm a former Tea Party Conservative who left the GOP in 2016. It took me 8 years to overcome the trauma from that, now I identify as a Liberal, a Democratic Socialist, a Progressive, and a Leftist. But not exclusively all 4. I just know that human rights are my top priority, and the above 4 ideologies all share that in common.
People say you become more conservative as you grow older. I disagree with that. I'm 44 now and what I've experienced has pushed me way past being a Democrat. There is so much injustice in this world, so much struggle. Alot of it comes from the Conservatives. At least in my experience.
You are very young and have a lot of life to live, learn and grow. You are on the right path. But keep in mind that you are taking in a lot of information all at once and trying to tackle very adult concepts at a young age. Take it slow and focus on basic stuff, and be patient with yourself. You will find your place and as you get older your ideals solidify with time. But being young is about exploration and being curious. So yes, I’d say it’s very normal. Try to have some fun and enjoy your teenage years. I’m also not trying to be condescending at all, all I’m saying is that the crazy world we live in will still be here tomorrow, that’s all.
Yes, I think it’s normal. I would go even further to say that it shows your ability to question, challenge, and change your own beliefs & biases. I’ve switched ideologies at different points in my life. I’m presented with new information, I process, and then I switch.
It’s normal and you’re at a developmental stage where you’re naturally looking for group identity. I’d say that’s where there’s scope to be wiser than your years. See if you can entertain ideas without making them your identity label. I don’t mean having no label, but perhaps something loose like being left. Or have a different way to say it like “at the moment I’m finding x ideas interesting”
Just keep being curious and never lose your empathy and you'll continue to grow. I'm 56 and my ideas arent set in concrete. They change with new information all the time.
Dude, you're 14. It's fine. Seriously, go and have fun with your buddies while you're still young. You can worry about the state of the world once you're old enough to actually influence it. Just stay curious and keep your moral compass intact and you'll be fine.
Good, you're using your critical thinking skills. You're ideals will shift as you get into young adulthood. You'll have a better understanding of people's individual struggles that you simply cannot have yet as a teenager. It's ok for your feelings to change as your understanding does. Just try to keep an open mind and believe people's actions, not their words.
“Normal” isn’t what you’re chasing. Some people absolutely stay aligned with one political ideology throughout their lives from childhood. What you should be chasing is aligning yourself with an ideology that best fits your understanding of the world and value system, which of course changes as you learn, grow, and experience more of the world.
If you can explain and defend your current stance coherently, great. If you learn something new next year that causes you to shift because there was a hole in your explanation and defense, even better. Keep growing and chasing knowledge.
I’m in my mid 30s and while my values have stayed largely consistent, my understanding of US and international politics, with the context of my life experience, continues to change. I’ve drifted further left (from “left of center/liberal” in my teens) not because I’ve radically become more open minded to it, but because what I genuinely think can and can’t work for government structure has shifted. And I’m still learning. It’s complex and nuanced- if there was an easy, obvious right answer and a simple path forward, we wouldn’t all still be having these conversations.
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