When did you last change your opinion?
Discussion
I mean an important opinion or viewpoint, not which burger chain is the best!
Most of the time on here (and in the real world) it seems that people have very fixed opinions and aren’t really open to having them changed. Debates and discussions don’t really go anywhere as few people listen.
The recent thread on abortion brought this up for me. I was very pro choice when I was younger. Looking back I think I was heavily influenced by my opposition to religion (particularly evangelical Christians) and as they were pro life I automatically associated with the opposing viewpoint. Over the years, especially after becoming a parent, my support for abortion has waned considerably, in particular after reading about the secular, ethical objections to it.
I used to be pro asylum and immigration. My position has changed considerably. I was ignorant of or didn’t really give much credence to the problems that immigration can bring to the indigenous population. Having said that, there were far fewer immigrants when I was growing up so some of the problems were less apparent. Overall I’m still pro immigration but think it needs to be controlled more tightly (although to be fair that ship has probably sailed already as far as the U.K. is concerned).
I voted remain. Jury still out on that to be honest. However, I am willing to concede I was wrong if there are demonstrable benefits that outweigh the negatives.
Have you had a big change of opinion? If so for what and why did you change?
Most of the time on here (and in the real world) it seems that people have very fixed opinions and aren’t really open to having them changed. Debates and discussions don’t really go anywhere as few people listen.
The recent thread on abortion brought this up for me. I was very pro choice when I was younger. Looking back I think I was heavily influenced by my opposition to religion (particularly evangelical Christians) and as they were pro life I automatically associated with the opposing viewpoint. Over the years, especially after becoming a parent, my support for abortion has waned considerably, in particular after reading about the secular, ethical objections to it.
I used to be pro asylum and immigration. My position has changed considerably. I was ignorant of or didn’t really give much credence to the problems that immigration can bring to the indigenous population. Having said that, there were far fewer immigrants when I was growing up so some of the problems were less apparent. Overall I’m still pro immigration but think it needs to be controlled more tightly (although to be fair that ship has probably sailed already as far as the U.K. is concerned).
I voted remain. Jury still out on that to be honest. However, I am willing to concede I was wrong if there are demonstrable benefits that outweigh the negatives.
Have you had a big change of opinion? If so for what and why did you change?
I'm pro choice, but when faced with that option I couldn't do it, my wife wanted to but I convinced her otherwise. It meant selling the car I loved and we will need a bit more space, but I'm not playing god with a human life, especially not one of my own, so it wasn't a hard decision. However, I wouldn't stop others making that choice.
I used to like old cars, then I owned one. Now when I see these crazy values I shudder inside and feel relieved I'm not maintaining one or trying to source parts.
I used to dislike cruiser bikes, but now it's what I look at the most. After riding a sports bike and getting enough cramp to last a lifetime, it sucked the enjoyment out of it. But I really enjoyed cruising about at a leisurely pace - maybe its a getting old thing.
I used to like old cars, then I owned one. Now when I see these crazy values I shudder inside and feel relieved I'm not maintaining one or trying to source parts.
I used to dislike cruiser bikes, but now it's what I look at the most. After riding a sports bike and getting enough cramp to last a lifetime, it sucked the enjoyment out of it. But I really enjoyed cruising about at a leisurely pace - maybe its a getting old thing.
Ivan stewart said:
Changed my opinion of the Conservative party in the last year !!
I believed they were about small government, personal responsibility, enterprise, confidence and making it possible people to better themselves , I now know different
Think that should be; Conservative Cabinet Ministers, friends and relatives of same, BJ supporters who donate large sums, and anyone BJ forgot to give a supply contract to, to better themselvesI believed they were about small government, personal responsibility, enterprise, confidence and making it possible people to better themselves , I now know different
Sadly, had hoped for better
The above is AIMHO of course
Probably with the pandemic. Originally started off s
tting my pants like everyone else but soon realised it was a bit of a pantomime with low risk for anyone outside the vulnerable groups.
Other recent one would include immigration where I was originally against those flooding the U.K. or crossing over from Calais on dinghies. But really I can’t blame them. I’d do the same in their position. Just because they popped out of their mum’s vagina in a different part of the world, why should they be doomed to have a life of struggle and suffering in a dangerous environment?
tting my pants like everyone else but soon realised it was a bit of a pantomime with low risk for anyone outside the vulnerable groups.Other recent one would include immigration where I was originally against those flooding the U.K. or crossing over from Calais on dinghies. But really I can’t blame them. I’d do the same in their position. Just because they popped out of their mum’s vagina in a different part of the world, why should they be doomed to have a life of struggle and suffering in a dangerous environment?
Ivan stewart said:
Changed my opinion of the Conservative party in the last year !!
I believed they were about small government, personal responsibility, enterprise, confidence and making it possible people to better themselves , I now know different
This. For most of my life I voted Labour, but found that impossible to do in 2017 and 2019 when I voted Tory. I had changed my view towards the things that you list, believing that those were core Conservative values.I believed they were about small government, personal responsibility, enterprise, confidence and making it possible people to better themselves , I now know different
Well, I've changed my opinion again, and will certainly not vote for this government again. I am bitterly disappointed with Boris, and it's really annoying having my mother say "I told you so!" all the time.
That said, there's no one party I can now vote for. They all seem to be lockdown supporters, or crazy, or both.
Not sure if it's my "last" or most recent change of opinion but the main one I've changed my opinion on (to an extent) is the death penalty. I was always very pro, and I still am on moral grounds, but I would not want a return of it here. Don't get me wrong, from the moral side of things, if a society democratically and lawfully decides to have capital punishment for murder, especially for the worst murders, then it has the right to impose it. I have absolutely no problems with the likes of Ian Huntley, Lee Rigby's murderers or that Pitchfork lunatic they are about to release going to the gallows. None at all and they all thoroughly deserve it.
It's the inevitable border-line cases or the ones who ultimately turn out to be innocent which are obviously the issue for me. We would most certainly would have hanged several "terrorists" in the 1970's had we still had it then, people who turned out to be entirely innocent. The current case of the nurse who's accused of murdering babies, Lucy Letby, is another as I suspect that even if she's convicted (and I still think she's innocent) it will be on highly circumstantial evidence. Would we be confident that the death penalty would be the appropriate sentence given that? Lets say that she actually is guilty though, do we really want her on the end of a rope? What effect will that have on her elderly parents?
The other thing which swayed me on this subject are the repeated claims that it acts as a deterrent. From 1900 to the late 1950's when the law was reformed we executed on average 2 people a month. Moreover, more than 50% of death sentences were commuted. So, capital punishment didn't act as a deterrent in any of those cases. It also clearly isn't going to work in the cases of religious murder where the perpetrators expect or hope to die as a result. It wouldn't have stopped Lee Rigby's killers.
It's the inevitable border-line cases or the ones who ultimately turn out to be innocent which are obviously the issue for me. We would most certainly would have hanged several "terrorists" in the 1970's had we still had it then, people who turned out to be entirely innocent. The current case of the nurse who's accused of murdering babies, Lucy Letby, is another as I suspect that even if she's convicted (and I still think she's innocent) it will be on highly circumstantial evidence. Would we be confident that the death penalty would be the appropriate sentence given that? Lets say that she actually is guilty though, do we really want her on the end of a rope? What effect will that have on her elderly parents?
The other thing which swayed me on this subject are the repeated claims that it acts as a deterrent. From 1900 to the late 1950's when the law was reformed we executed on average 2 people a month. Moreover, more than 50% of death sentences were commuted. So, capital punishment didn't act as a deterrent in any of those cases. It also clearly isn't going to work in the cases of religious murder where the perpetrators expect or hope to die as a result. It wouldn't have stopped Lee Rigby's killers.
Edited by AJL308 on Tuesday 22 June 11:02
BabySharkDooDooDooDooDooDoo said:
Other recent one would include immigration where I was originally against those flooding the U.K. or crossing over from Calais on dinghies. But really I can’t blame them. I’d do the same in their position. Just because they popped out of their mum’s vagina in a different part of the world, why should they be doomed to have a life of struggle and suffering in a dangerous environment?
Because that's just the way of the World. How many people live in sub-optimal conditions to us in the uk - 5bn? Where do you intend to house 5 billion people? Also, a lot of them are not escaping despotic regimes or grinding poverty. They are coming for financial reasons and lying about it. poo at Paul's said:
BabySharkDooDooDooDooDooDoo said:
Other recent one would include immigration where I was originally against those flooding the U.K. or crossing over from Calais on dinghies. But really I can’t blame them. I’d do the same in their position.
Agree, France is, a sthole 
jimPH said:
I'm pro choice, but when faced with that option I couldn't do it, my wife wanted to but I convinced her otherwise. It meant selling the car I loved and we will need a bit more space, but I'm not playing god with a human life, especially not one of my own, so it wasn't a hard decision. However, I wouldn't stop others making that choice.
That's not a change of opinion. You were pro choice, and you still are. You made a choice. Being pro choice means you're in favour of choosing abortion if you wish, and you didn't wish.The question is, if your wife had dug her heels in and decided to abort, would you have (perhaps reluctantly) supported that. Because ultimately, it's the woman's choice.
The Conservative Party
I used to think they were, well, Conservative. I even thought Boris would do a good job. But as this Covid debacle rolls on I have lost all faith.
In fact, governments in general are now absolutely hopeless...Biden in the US is a joke, and his next in line Cackling Kamala is an even bigger joke. Trudeau, Morrison, Castex etc...pathetic. Out opposition parties are a joke. Putin must be quivering in his boots lol.
I'm sure I'm not alone in this feeling.
I used to think they were, well, Conservative. I even thought Boris would do a good job. But as this Covid debacle rolls on I have lost all faith.
In fact, governments in general are now absolutely hopeless...Biden in the US is a joke, and his next in line Cackling Kamala is an even bigger joke. Trudeau, Morrison, Castex etc...pathetic. Out opposition parties are a joke. Putin must be quivering in his boots lol.
I'm sure I'm not alone in this feeling.
If we are talking significant opinion change on something, not just "I've decided I don't like cheese crisps" then my answer is:
The Conservative party.
I have voted Conservative in every election, local and general, apart from the last one in 2019, when I voted Liberal Democrat as a protest.
I was convinced, at the time, that Boris would be a liar, a charlatan, a snake-oil salesmen, dishonest, disinterested, and that his cabinet would be mostly a bunch of self-serving, useless, arrogant, incompetent and potentially vile individuals. You only have to look at BJ's history of vanity project disasters to know how much of a liability he is.
That's before we even get to the utterly obscene amount of money that has been handed out for all kinds of insane reasons. Failed £38bn Test and Trace systems, faulty PPE, numerous ministers handing contracts and money to friends, and so on.
While he's around, and while the conservative party is filled with people either the same as him, or worse, I won't be voting Conservative.
The Conservative party.
I have voted Conservative in every election, local and general, apart from the last one in 2019, when I voted Liberal Democrat as a protest.
I was convinced, at the time, that Boris would be a liar, a charlatan, a snake-oil salesmen, dishonest, disinterested, and that his cabinet would be mostly a bunch of self-serving, useless, arrogant, incompetent and potentially vile individuals. You only have to look at BJ's history of vanity project disasters to know how much of a liability he is.
That's before we even get to the utterly obscene amount of money that has been handed out for all kinds of insane reasons. Failed £38bn Test and Trace systems, faulty PPE, numerous ministers handing contracts and money to friends, and so on.
While he's around, and while the conservative party is filled with people either the same as him, or worse, I won't be voting Conservative.
I voted remain.
Once Boris got elected with a majority I stopped mithering about it as it was obviously going to happen.
I am now at peace with the fact we have left the EU and don't think about it any more.
On a darker note: Racism. I grew up listening to the views of my father, and took on board some of his attitudes.
I am proud to say that I have banished it from my life now, but it is sad how entrenched certain views can be when drip fed over your whole childhood.
Once Boris got elected with a majority I stopped mithering about it as it was obviously going to happen.
I am now at peace with the fact we have left the EU and don't think about it any more.
On a darker note: Racism. I grew up listening to the views of my father, and took on board some of his attitudes.
I am proud to say that I have banished it from my life now, but it is sad how entrenched certain views can be when drip fed over your whole childhood.
Lord Marylebone said:
That's before we even get to the utterly obscene amount of money that has been handed out for all kinds of insane reasons. Failed £38bn Test and Trace systems, faulty PPE, numerous ministers handing contracts and money to friends, and so on.
Every side of politics has pretty much failed at Covid 19 response in their own way. It's nice to be able to think that "your side" would do a better job of it but to me it's more an indication of how much the world isn't really capable of handling these types of events. The World has gotten too complicated for itself.And that's something that I've changed my opinion about. I thought that people in positions of power and influence knew what they were on about. It turns out that they're often struggling at best, or are put in the position to help someone else screw the pooch.
Stick Legs said:
On a darker note: Racism. I grew up listening to the views of my father, and took on board some of his attitudes.
I am proud to say that I have banished it from my life now, but it is sad how entrenched certain views can be when drip fed over your whole childhood.
A good point. In relation to that, I believe that the number of true racists we have in the UK, as a percentage of people overall, is very small indeed. I think it was always the case, to be honest. Yes, there are still a lot of unpleasant words and behaviours around but I personally can't bring to mind a single person from my almost 50 years on the planet (other than perhaps one) who genuinely holds the belief that other races are inferior and should be eradicated or shipped off to foreign lands. I think that a lot of what we perceive as racism today is actually more an intolerance of other cultures (which is not the same and may or may not be justified) rather than intolerance of people due to their race or other biological factors. I am proud to say that I have banished it from my life now, but it is sad how entrenched certain views can be when drip fed over your whole childhood.
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