Recently I had an interesting on-line conversation about a candidate running for an office who now has a different view on things. One side of it is that people look at it as "flip-flopping," which was coined in a 2004 election against Senator Kerry. But there's another side of it. It's called educating and changing and growing. Or put simply, being progressive.A couple of the people I conversed with thought any kind of change of mind or heart was a BAD thing and showed false character.
As a scientist, I disagree. Every day, there's new research in science and medicine. That's why there are scientific journals. Each month hundreds of new discoveries are published after intense peer review. So, scientists, doctors, and even good politicians need to be advised of the new research. Sometimes the research is mind-changing. That's progression. That's education. That is the kind of people we hope are leading our science, medical care and governing.
I bring this up because someone said a leader thought fracking was an acceptable thing to do in 2008 and would not have strong consequences. So, the leader, working for the administration at the time, encouraged it in an other country. That was the science of the time. Particularly since 2012, USGS and other studies have shown that fracking causes instability and promotes earthquakes. So, today, in 2016, people are saying this candidate should have "known" about the dangers of fracking before encouraging it, although the science catch up until after the person left office.
Now, armed with the new science, the candidate has changed position and is against fracking. That's called educating yourself and growing and changing your position. Sometimes it seems like voters would prefer that a candidate continue to remain ignorant of science and not educate themselves and keep outdated views.
The SAME thing happened with gay rights. In the 2000s, we had an ultra conservative President who was fueled by the religious right and extremists (Evangelicals). The thought of gay people having equal rights in anything was a far reality. So, democrats could not risk coming out and supporting gay marriage in full until the states started recognizing it. As disappointing as it was to my husband and I, we understood why the party couldn't come out full force and support it - it would be politically dangerous. Why go 100% against the grain if you want to keep doing a service? Don't you work with people you don't like (and not say anything)?So, once gay rights and finally marriage equality became a long-overdue reality, people changed their positions. There's nothing wrong with that. Even the President did it. It's called growing and progressing.
If we don't progress we don't get smarter. In fact, we stick to old outdated ways and remain uneducated and conservative and afraid to change.
So, next time you criticize someone's change of heart, look at the fact they may have educated themselves before criticizing them as ridiculous "flip-flopper." Education is a GOOD thing
