We are born with nothing, no knowledge. Throughout life we learn, some more then others, some sooner than others. New things we learn, may convince us that what we used to believe in fact doesn't work. Hence the changes others see in us, sometimes profound changes.
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said it best. Someone pointed out to him that he was once a yelling, fist-in-the-air, angry liberal radical; but now he is a dedicated conservative supporting small govt and personal responsibility. They asked him why.
His reply: "I grew up."
Another popular way of expressing the development many of us go through: "If you aren't liberal at age 20, you have no heart. And if you aren't conservative by age 40, you have no brain."
Modern liberalism - the philosophy that says we are better off with government influencing large parts of our private lives, guiding us, sometimes coercing us to do the right thing - looks good to those who have not delved deeply into human nature and the effects on people of a controlling authority, in comparison to the effects on people of personal responsibility and bing the ONLY one in control of your fate. Sometimes it takes a lot of "growing up" (in Thomas's phrase) to arrive at conclusions that match reality. And those conclusions usually come later in life, than the conclusions that lead people to liberalism.
