Turn left

I went to a podium discussion tonight at the Latin America Institute with extra-parliamentary German academic idole Uli Brand and a woman I'd never heard of before, Juliana Ströbele-Gregor. She is more into details, he's into concepts. The discussion was on "left" wing movements in Latin America between State and emancipation. There were all sorts of thoughts and ideas that I found interesting, but one question suddenly jumped up to the front of my continuous string of questions floating in my head:

How do people become left wing?

And by left wing, I don't mean institution-loving socialdemocrats, nor do I mean pessimist frustrated authoritarian revolution-loving left intellectuals. I mean experimentierfreudige people geared towards emancipation, solidarity, openness, and generally believing in the creative potential of humans to build an alternative, a better society.
Another one of those biographical socio-psychological political questions I keep having. Suggestions welcome.