Can you describe the history of the development of your political views?

I grew up thinking both my parents were Democrats. Later on, when I found out my father was a Republican, I was dumbfounded. However, even though he was a Republican, I’m not sure he never voted a straight party line ticket, and after a while, he did become a Democrat.

My first ideas about politics were formed in one of the most liberal communities in the United States. We were all against the Vietnam war. I could not understand the rest of the country, since everyone I knew was a liberal. I was one of those who could say, about Nixon, Don’t blame me, I’m from Massachusetts!

Several events informed my early political development. At my high school, there was a fight going on to allow girls to take shop. Up until then, they were only allowed to take home economics. They won, and girls could take shop and boys had to take home economics.

I was all in favor of this as an issue of fairness. However the only culinary failure I ever had in my life occurred in that home economics class. Don’t know what that means.

This was also the time when environmentalism was first becoming important. The river in Cleveland started burning. Later on, Love Canal. The first Earth Day was around that time, and my father was working on developing a solar energy project (never panned out, but still…)

So, anti-war, pro women’s rights, pro-environment, pro population control efforts.

When I was 16, I came out as an Atheist (another story) and I went to Russia and fell in love with the Russian soul (by means of a beautiful Russian girl, my age, who showed me around Moscow). We had these amazing talks about ideology, and agreed that oppression of workers was a horrible thing. For several years after that, I considered myself a socialist.

That’s how it all started for me. There’s much, much more, of course. But I think I’ll leave that for another question.

How about you?