Classical Values :: Exercise in apostasy

September 09, 2006

Exercise in apostasy

Is it just Google, or are there more ex-liberals than ex-conservatives?

At 284,000, the ex liberals would seem to outnumber the 51,900 ex conservatives by a margin approaching sixfold.

Of course if you put a hyphen in it, the ex-liberal number drops slightly to 266,000, while the ex-conservative number rises slightly -- to 53,000.

What about the numbers? Are they conservative or liberal? Are conservative figures more reliable than liberal ones?

The transition from liberal to conservative or conservative to liberal often involves a highly personal process, and the decision to switch "sides" is often seen as an act of dishonesty, perfidy, even treason depending on the ideological perspective of one's friends.

The whole thing is enough to make me feel politically exercised.

Of course, I'm such a sneak that instead of calling myself an "ex liberal," I call myself an "ex Marxist." (Only 16,600 hits for that species.)

As might be expected, the biggest Google losers are the ex-libertarians, who barely top 4,000.

Even the ex-bloggers have them beaten -- by a more than 4-1 landslide!

posted by Eric on 09.09.06 at 12:47 PM

Comments

Ex-liberals, of which I am one, can be an interesting phenomenon, and we pop up in some extraordinary places. In 1960, Henry Wallace -- yes, that Henry Wallace -- endorsed Richard Nixon

Bleepless · September 9, 2006 2:10 PM

I'm an ex libertarian. I discovered that it was more important to me to defend a life than to excuse a death in the name of another's liberty.

Socrates · September 9, 2006 4:45 PM

I think one reason for this is there is one major, huge, unstoppable force that converts vast numbers of liberals into conservatives. Its called getting older.

Mick · September 9, 2006 9:07 PM

Mick is, of course, correct. Being an ex-liberal (read: ex-LEFTIST) is like being a former teenager. For most people, it's something that ends and you move on. For some � well, what's so WRONG about being 50 and living with your parents?

Mr. Snitch · September 11, 2006 6:57 PM

Mick is almost always right!

Eric Scheie · September 11, 2006 11:08 PM

Heh. Im just careful about which topics I comment on :).

Mick · September 12, 2006 5:42 PM

A recap, part 1 With Digital ID World in the books as a success, I always like to take a look back at "what I learned." As an organizer of the conference, Digital ID World is always a whirlwind experience for me, but I find that as I look back

Johanson · September 20, 2006 12:42 AM

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