This is a challenging ask for a political thread, but let's see if we can keep this discussion at a high level - meaning that if you want to debate a specific topic (say, abortion as an example) we already have threads with a plethora of responses for you to address. Let's not drag those same conversations into this thread, please. This thread is for discussing how/why we've changed our minds, so let's leave the active debate to the other threads; it'll help keep the forum organized and keep our conversations from de-railing.
When I was younger, I was pretty staunchly against giving homeless people money. I never talked openly about it or anything, but I personally felt that giving the homeless money was enabling, and they had the tools necessary in my area to get help if they really needed it. I had failed to really think about the different ways people end up in that position and just hadn't bothered to really sit and think about it beyond 'irresponsibility leads to being homeless', ignorantly. One day I came across this youtube channel, 'Invisible People' - it got me thinking about the homeless in my area more, and I realized that I really didn't agree with my younger self at all anymore as time went on. I've since talked to many homeless people and handed out cash to them. A few months ago I had lunch with a recently homeless guy who lost his home, job and son all at once. His 12 year old son was shot in a drive-by shooting in another state - they drove down to the motel 6 across the street from me, and were working from scratch. He was showing me all of the evidence of his job, wife, life back at home, etc., and it was sad, because so many people wrote him off as another junkie that you could see the panic in him as he was trying to show that he's just a normal guy in a really shitty situation. It could have all been an elaborate ruse, but he didn't even ask me for cash - he genuinely seemed to just really need somebody to talk to without them assuming he's trash. I can't imagine the toll that must take mentally. I wound up just getting him some food while keeping the conversation going. He had a gameplan for getting back into a new home, and I haven't seen him around for months now, so maybe the plan worked out for them after all.