I'm 45 years old. From the time I became "politically aware" at the age of 16 until just a few months ago, I identified as "right-wing".
Over the last year, I've experienced multiple traumas, not the least of which is an ever-present fear of homelessness due to a 30% rent increase and no new rentals insight. This has caused an existential crisis and a reevaluation of many things I thought I knew.
As I look at the motives of people on the left and the right, what I see is this: the motive behind the policies of the left (many of which I still don't agree with) seems to boil down to the desire to help other people. The motive behind the policies of the right boils down to helping oneself. Further, if in helping yourself you get to hurt others, that's even better.
Once you see this, you can't unsee it. I never thought at 45 years old I'd be reading Marx and thinking, "I kind of agree with that". The ranks of the proletariat grow every day. Maybe it's not such a bad thing in the long run.
Sarah:
Mohammad Ali once said, “a man who thinks the same at 50 as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years.” As a former Republican, I totally understand what he was saying. So with this quote in mind, it sounds like you have not wasted the last 30 years either.