I was asked the other evening whether my partner was evolving similar political and worldviews to mine.
We
both came to our partnership with a heavy dose of Lefty (but not
Liberal) ideas. It has been our joint living experiences at the end of
the Twentieth Century and the beginning of the 21st that have shaped
our views, over the fifteen years we have been together. Therefore we
do think much alike on politics and the world.
We have spent
time in India and seen many failed development projects, up close,
along with enjoying the vitality of Bangalore. We have spent more than
a year's time living in Tokyo and traveling Japan. In Japan we have
spent much time with an array of commercial and foreign service
friends. We got lost in the hutongs of Beijing on a stormy night. We
have walked many of the streets and alleys of Havana to see the true
meaning of modern communism with an entire society imprisoned. We've
seen the luxury and squalor of Guatemala together. We spent time in
Laos with UN friends. We've dined with a woman who was at the
excavation of thousands buried alive by Saddam Hussein. We have been at the
bedside of several friends who were dying. Together we have spent time
with hundreds of my business clients, sole proprietors, artists and
giant corporation executives.
We never travel anywhere without a list of people to contact, to meet with and to spend time with learning about important elements of their culture.
Recently, we have spent time
together in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, with friends, staffers at think
tanks and we have spent time on the beach, in Jaffa and walking the
streets late at night. 
With a large number of friends,
domestically and worldwide, with a vast array of experiences in the
world, it is safe to say that our opinions have converged based on the
real world we live in. Our joint experiences are something people with
a narrower range of experience don't have as an opportunity to learn
about the world.
Actually, most of the people we know are stuck in the closed minds they had when my partner and I first met each other.