Talk Elections

Forum Community => Forum Community => Topic started by: SPC on September 20, 2012, 01:32:39 AM



Title: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: SPC on September 20, 2012, 01:32:39 AM
Probably around 12 or 13 when the Ron Paul campaign made me realize what a stupid idea foreign interventionism is.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: Simfan34 on September 20, 2012, 02:10:37 AM
6, when I voted in the 1st grade mock election for GWB.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: courts on September 20, 2012, 02:16:56 AM
6, when I voted in the 1st grade mock election for GWB.
stop making me feel old.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: Queen Mum Inks.LWC on September 20, 2012, 02:44:17 AM
2006 when I really started getting involved in politics.  And over the past couple years, I've grown a fair amount apart politically.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: 後援会 on September 20, 2012, 03:00:56 AM
Not yet.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: LastVoter on September 20, 2012, 03:23:15 AM
Tough question, I won't be able to define the ideology of my parents.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: Niemeyerite on September 20, 2012, 05:07:54 AM
Never.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: Platypus on September 20, 2012, 05:22:03 AM
Both my parentys shifted over the years, away from their parents. I'd kind of like to suggest that they've moved towards my politics than that I've been followed in to theirs. Obviously, they influenced my philosophy, though.

I wrote a bit of a discussion on it ages ago, over in the Essays forum.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: They put it to a vote and they just kept lying on September 20, 2012, 05:26:08 AM
Up until about 2009, I was a pretty run-of-the-mill Catholic Conservative. Pro-war, Pro-life, Anti-gay marriage...that was until I started researching Ron Paul and I became a pretty softcore Libertarian. This was when I was about 13 years old. As I got older, I became more and more radical, going from small l libertarian, to a voluntaryist and, before long, a full on 'Guv'ment can't do NUFFIN rite' anarchist. That was actually pretty recent. It wasn't until about April of this year that I started to abandon anarchism and realized that my beloved Constitution does establish a form of Government. So I consider myself a Constitutionalist Libertarian Conservative. My parents, more specifically my mom, are pretty right-of-center, but certainly not Libertarian. My mom is a very big supporter of the war on terror, and my dad is an Archie Bunker type, if you catch my drift :P


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: ZuWo on September 20, 2012, 06:48:26 AM
My parents are both pretty apolitical so it wasn't possible for me to diverge from them ideologically. The only two people who care about politics in my immediate family are myself and my brother, and we're more or less polar opposites on most issues.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: Hatman 🍁 on September 20, 2012, 06:57:13 AM
I sort of formed my own ideology, independent of my parents who I think were uncomfortable or uninterested in sharing their political views growing up.

I started having my own political views in 1993, when I was 7.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: morgieb on September 20, 2012, 07:32:18 AM
It hasn't really....I don't really discuss politics that much with my family.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: Redalgo on September 20, 2012, 12:27:13 PM
My line of political thought broke off from those of my folks roughly eleven years ago, when I was twelve.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: Donerail on September 20, 2012, 01:36:08 PM
A few years back, when I started to drift more to the right fiscally than them, and a tad more left socially.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY on September 20, 2012, 03:24:56 PM
Never, except from my dad on abortion (he's Catholic).


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: Brittain33 on September 20, 2012, 04:06:01 PM
Around the time I was 12, although I wasn't that award of my parents' views, like that my father was fairly Republican.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: Yelnoc on September 20, 2012, 04:06:40 PM
Never, except from my dad on abortion (he's Catholic).

You're 14, give it time.  Mine did not begin to diverge until I started high school.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: Hash on September 20, 2012, 04:13:32 PM
I unaligned from my parents generally in late 2008-2009 (maybe 2010) when I started shifting to the left, amusingly my mom has kind of joined me while my dad has shifted hard to the right.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: Atlas Has Shrugged on September 20, 2012, 04:57:46 PM
Started just about two years ago. I am more of a paleocon, while everyone else is a neocon.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: Snowstalker Mk. II on September 20, 2012, 06:59:03 PM
We're all Democrats, but I'm more left-wing (yet less hackish) than either Mom or Dad.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: Lasitten on September 21, 2012, 08:36:57 AM
My father is right-wing social democrat and I think that my mom always voted for the Greens so I'm not so far away from their beliefs. And now both are supporters of the same party as I. We had our share of fights when I was teen and more radical left.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: RogueBeaver on September 21, 2012, 07:58:31 PM
2007-8. We all vote Tory (my parents were previously lifelong Liberals) but I'm the only ideological conservative. My folks are Liberals who vote Tory. We do agree on certain things: namely monarchism, federalism, foreign/defence policy, capital punishment and censorship.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: Joe Biden 2020 on September 21, 2012, 08:09:21 PM
I would have to say after the 2002 mid-terms, probably closer to late 2003.  I was a staunch Republican at the time having voted for Governor Bush in 2000 and Rep. Steve Largent (R) for Oklahoma Governor in 2002.  In the summer 2003, while working in Glorieta, NM I was visiting Santa Fe and stumbled upon a Howard Dean rally.  I was still adamently for Bush that summer, but when I came back to college in August 2003, my ideology started changing in support of Sen. John Kerry.  My registration was changed to Democratic in September 2006, but I voted for Kerry in 2004, Gov. Henry in 2006, Sen. Obama in 2008 and will vote for Obama again in 2012.  I think I may have voted for Lt Gov. Mary Fallin for Oklahoma Governor in 2010, but I can't remember for sure.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: MaxQue on September 22, 2012, 02:25:18 AM
When I was 10, on one issue, independance of Quebec. They are strauchly independantists, while I was strauchly federalist (through, I'm currently "meh" on that issue and don't really care).
On the other issues, we are similar.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: They put it to a vote and they just kept lying on September 22, 2012, 09:19:34 AM

Whatever happened to voting for Romney? I missed that tumour in the update thread.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: The world will shine with light in our nightmare on September 22, 2012, 10:08:45 AM
My parents and I are rather similar ideologically speaking, though if I had to guess, my E score would probably be to the right of my mom's.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: opebo on September 22, 2012, 12:21:05 PM
When I experienced the humiliation of paid employment.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: Supersonic on September 23, 2012, 07:57:28 AM
They didn't.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: Tender Branson on September 23, 2012, 08:29:13 AM
I wasn't following politics until about 13 or so. I've always been a left-winger. My parents have always been right-wingers.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: Smash255 on September 23, 2012, 09:31:25 PM
Wouldn't really say it diverged though I was always a bit more liberal.  If anything over the last few years our ideologies have gotten a bit more in line s they have become a bit more liberal.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: 後援会 on September 23, 2012, 09:44:51 PM
Hm. My father's side of the family were pretty standard urban leftists/communists. His father was a labor union head and there's been a long history of flirtation with left-communism. But his mom came from former nobility (lol how does that happen) and he seemed to be closer to her, so he ended up falling much closer towards being a populist right-wing/liberal type. My mother's family was more westernized but never really flirted with either of the ideological sides. Generally centrists/elitists. Though she herself is generally apolitical, her more patrician background does sometimes show through.

So yeah, I don't really think they diverged that much. Maybe. Hah.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: Joe Biden 2020 on September 23, 2012, 09:47:54 PM

Whatever happened to voting for Romney? I missed that tumour in the update thread.

Romney has said a few things in the past couple months to turn me off.  I'm afraid of him repealing Obamacare and leaving those with pre-existing conditions SOL.  His frequent remarks of how he prefers the wealthy and looks to be the president only of the rich and powerful, leaving us middle-class folk getting the leftovers.  The 47% debachle only reinforced my decisions.  The past couple months have been good for determining where I really stand in this election.  I am moderately conservative socially and economically liberal.  I tend to vote economically more than I do socially or religiously.  As much as I get criticized for my Democratic tendencies (mainly on facebook), there are those (including my mother, dad, and grandmother) who urge me to vote how I believe, not how others think I should vote.  Note, my parents and grandmother are staunch Republicans and would never vote Democratic if their life depended on it.  Yet, they still support my Democratic leanings.  I still probably wouldn't make it known to them how I will vote this time around, because of uncertainties of how I will be received.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: Fmr President & Senator Polnut on September 23, 2012, 09:55:35 PM
My mother never let me know her political views until I was old enough to understand them, her view is that it's not her job to tell me what to believe in.

My father died when I was young, but I gather he was an old school Labor guy. My mother used be a traditional blue-blood Liberal voter, but over the years has shifted more to the left, primary on social issues.

My grandmother was the one who tried to force her views down my throat, which led me to being a teenage conservative. But then I got older and realised that she's actually a bigot and I needed to re-evaluate.

Long story short, funnily enough, I think I'm closer to my mother's ideology now than ever, but that's more by happenstance than design. We've both evolved ideologically.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: Oldiesfreak1854 on October 03, 2012, 08:47:45 AM
I don't know if it ever diverged, but if it did, it was probably somewhere in elementary school when I became a Republican, in large part after I learned that the Republican Party was founded to end slavery.  Most of my immediate family has been all Democrats or Independents.  My mother and grandmother both voted for Carter over Reagan in 1980.  My mother worked for Dukakis in 1988, but then voted for Bush I in '92 and Dole in '96.  Over the past few years, however, she has taken a hard turn to the left and was the only person that I know of in my immediate family who voted for Obama in 2008 (and will likely do so this time).  My aunt was a far-left Democrat for many years who voted for all Democrats for president from 1984-2000.  After I began voicing my views, however, and with more personal experiences, she has become more conservative and voted for Bush in 2004 and McCain in 2008 (and is voting for Romney this year), so she has supported all Republicans for president from 2004 onward.  Another one of my aunts is a teacher and a liberal Democrat to this day.  She voted for all Democrats for president through 2004 (including Kerry), but dislikes Obama and I believe voted for McCain in 2008.  But she will probably vote for Obama this time, under the premise that he is "better for teachers".  My grandmother likewise has had erratic voting patterns.  Most of my immediate family also backed Gore in 2000.  I am the only person in my house who identifys with a major party (Republican), since my family has mostly been Independent and voted based on the person rather than policy.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: Donerail on October 03, 2012, 12:27:10 PM
it was probably somewhere in elementary school when I became a Republican, in large part after I learned that the Republican Party was founded to end slavery.

Slavery is the #1 issue in modern-day politics...


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: 後援会 on October 03, 2012, 12:31:03 PM
It's not strictly necessary to discuss politics with someone in order to make your political affiliation very obvious. This is America - there are plenty of cultural and social cues that people can indicate in order to show their affiliation.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: Donerail on October 03, 2012, 12:38:44 PM
It's not strictly necessary to discuss politics with someone in order to make your political affiliation very obvious. This is America - there are plenty of cultural and social cues that people can indicate in order to show their affiliation.

()

()


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: Torie on October 03, 2012, 12:39:51 PM
It never really did, in part because starting in my teenage years, both my parents looked to me for political "guidance." Yes, I was a weird kid - very weird, easily lapping most of you. :P


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: Grumpier Than Uncle Joe on October 04, 2012, 02:22:10 PM
When I experienced the humiliation of paid employment.

This


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: Torie on October 04, 2012, 04:09:16 PM

Very odd, because I found making my own money - at last! - the most liberating thing that ever happened in my life. I was finally a free man. It suffused me with joy - it really did.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: Oakvale on October 04, 2012, 04:16:01 PM
My parents are probably somewhat to my left - they always give their first preference vote to whichever socialist independent is running in our constituency - but obviously the main thing I've inherited from them is a hatred of Fianna Fáil, which is kind of interesting given that their parents were all very staunch FF voters.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: Vote UKIP! on October 05, 2012, 09:15:37 AM
I haven't really deviated from my parents, except I might be more to their right on certain issues. My father was a New Democrat until after Bill Clinton's election, whose presidency before the Gingrich Revolution was fairly left. As the years progressed, my father has gravitated more towards the right with the exception of capital punishment, which he says he struggles with, and gun control.

My mother was more of a moderate conservative when she married my father. She had been a longtime supporter of George H.W. Bush, and voted for him in 1980. She was also attracted to McCain's candidacy in 2000. However, with the advent of the Tea Party, and the apparent antipathy of Establishment Republicans toward SoCons, she has also shifted to the right. However, she doesn't have a problem with the welfare state for those in need, as her father was nearly thrown off the disability rolls during the Reagan years.

I share my parents' social conservative views, but I am probably much more of a free market capitalist than either.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: Grumpier Than Uncle Joe on October 05, 2012, 09:22:59 AM

Very odd, because I found making my own money - at last! - the most liberating thing that ever happened in my life. I was finally a free man. It suffused me with joy - it really did.

That wasn't the question, Torie......the questions was, hen did my views diverge from my family's.....I became much more fiscally conservative......


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: Хahar 🤔 on October 05, 2012, 09:24:54 AM
Nobody in my family has an ideology, obviously, since none of us are politicians. We don't have a list of positions on various issues. My dad doesn't always speak with disapproval regarding Republican economic policy, but that doesn't matter since he does always votes Democratic. I don't ever talk about political opinions with my mom, but she likes Barack Obama and watches Jon Stewart regularly and always votes for the Democrat.

My parents are probably somewhat to my left - they always give their first preference vote to whichever socialist independent is running in our constituency - but obviously the main thing I've inherited from them is a hatred of Fianna Fáil, which is kind of interesting given that their parents were all very staunch FF voters.

Don't they come from an academic background? I feel like that should explain things.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: Torie on October 05, 2012, 09:28:01 AM

Very odd, because I found making my own money - at last! - the most liberating thing that ever happened in my life. I was finally a free man. It suffused me with joy - it really did.

That wasn't the question, Torie......the questions was, hen did my views diverge from my family's.....I became much more fiscally conservative......

I was responding to opebo's favorite meme that work is a synonym for humiliation and degradation. In my case, it was precisely the opposite. I have always enjoyed work, at a record store, delivering the mail for law professors, grading papers, suing people. And making my own money, rather than taking Daddy's (that was humiliating to me), was always job one in my life. Life is beautiful. :)


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: Grumpier Than Uncle Joe on October 05, 2012, 09:42:27 AM

Very odd, because I found making my own money - at last! - the most liberating thing that ever happened in my life. I was finally a free man. It suffused me with joy - it really did.

That wasn't the question, Torie......the questions was, hen did my views diverge from my family's.....I became much more fiscally conservative......

I was responding to opebo's favorite meme that work is a synonym for humiliation and degradation. In my case, it was precisely the opposite. I have always enjoyed work, at a record store, delivering the mail for law professors, grading papers, suing people. And making my own money, rather than taking Daddy's (that was humiliating to me), was always job one in my life. Life is beautiful. :)

Oh, ok, on that part we agree :)


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: Oakvale on October 05, 2012, 10:03:57 AM
My parents are probably somewhat to my left - they always give their first preference vote to whichever socialist independent is running in our constituency - but obviously the main thing I've inherited from them is a hatred of Fianna Fáil, which is kind of interesting given that their parents were all very staunch FF voters.

Don't they come from an academic background? I feel like that should explain things.

They do and it does. :P


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: Oldiesfreak1854 on October 05, 2012, 10:10:07 AM
My mother was more of a moderate conservative when she married my father. She had been a longtime supporter of George H.W. Bush, and voted for him in 1980. She was also attracted to McCain's candidacy in 2000. However, with the advent of the Tea Party, and the apparent antipathy of Establishment Republicans toward SoCons, she has also shifted to the right. However, she doesn't have a problem with the welfare state for those in need, as her father was nearly thrown off the disability rolls during the Reagan years.

I share my parents' social conservative views, but I am probably much more of a free market capitalist than either.
This summarizes my political views very well.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: 後援会 on October 05, 2012, 02:06:50 PM
My parents are probably somewhat to my left - they always give their first preference vote to whichever socialist independent is running in our constituency - but obviously the main thing I've inherited from them is a hatred of Fianna Fáil, which is kind of interesting given that their parents were all very staunch FF voters.

Don't they come from an academic background? I feel like that should explain things.

They do and it does. :P

Eh. My mom comes from an academic background. And she'd be far-right by American standards. Now admittedly, that means liberal-leaning from native standards, so...I guess that's not that unique of a divergence.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: TJ in Oregon on October 05, 2012, 09:04:35 PM
I'm not sure my ideology ever really diverged from my parents any more than my parents' ideologies diverge from each other. My Dad is a fiscal conservative, pro-business type of guy and my Mom is basically a Reagan Democrat. I grew up in a very political household; Dad watched with interest to every word in political discourse. He became politically active in the 80s in the Ronald Reagan era and still fosters fond memories of the man. My Dad has always been a glowing beacon of positivity about America and capitalism. The closest match to him on here would be some sort of cross between Torie and Naso. My Mom has always been far less political and only chimes into political conversations on rare occasion.

I began to form my own ideas when I was in 6-7th grade and became extremely conservative for a while, more or less choosing the conservative side of every major issue. I was probably more conservative on fiscal issues than social ones at the time; I was basically my Dad except further to the right over all.

My Mom going on strike when I was in high school was the main event that brought me to realize "more conservative" was not always synonymous with "better". I didn't have a political crisis by any means, but I slowly started to drift in what would be up and to the left on the PM. When I went to college, this trend was accelerated because of a greater interaction with a large number of poor people in Cleveland so I began to see some value in the social safety net, and me coming to the conclusion that I needed to make my faith a more important part of my life. I realized that I put so much effort into temporal things like school and running and basically none into something I supposedly believe is for eternity. Part of it too was a certain discontent with the college drinking culture I found myself immersed in. I realized things didn't need to be that way and tried hard to change them by setting a good example of how to conduct oneself without consenting to the depraved ways of the world and still standing by my friends with patience and love no matter what they've done. I may have gone off on a bit of a tangent here away from politics specifically, but you can probably see how this has shaped my views to arrive at where they are today.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: Small Business Owner of Any Repute on October 06, 2012, 04:36:08 PM
My ideology began seriously diverging from that of my parents as a result of three key events in my life:

1. Coming out as gay
2. Moving to Boston
3. Moving to Los Angeles

Start associating with more liberal folks, and you'll find yourself agreeing with them more and more.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: anvi on October 06, 2012, 05:00:43 PM
My parents were born in 1915 and 1924 respectively, and both lived through the Great Depression, WWII, and so on.  My dad passed away in 1990 and my mom is still alive.  My mom's political ideology is not that detailed, but in her sensibilities she is an FDR New Deal Democrat.  My dad was basically an Eisenhower Republican.  My first experience of political arguments in the household took place on convention night nomination acceptance speeches.  I started to diverge from my dad's thinking in some ways when I started going to college, before then I was more strongly influenced by him.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: Torie on October 06, 2012, 05:12:31 PM
My ideology began seriously diverging from that of my parents as a result of three key events in my life:

1. Coming out as gay
2. Moving to Boston
3. Moving to Los Angeles

Start associating with more liberal folks, and you'll find yourself agreeing with them more and more.

I generally prefer associating with liberals I find, but I would like to think I influence them more politically than visa versa. Be strong Mr. Moderate!  :)


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: 後援会 on October 06, 2012, 05:20:15 PM
I don't really associate with many liberals, at least Wesern ones. The culture clash is simply insurmountable. Which is not to necessarily say I flock to those with similar views - most people I associate with tend to fall considerably to my right. I suspect there's not a lot of political influence flying in either direction.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: TheDeadFlagBlues on October 08, 2012, 10:29:39 PM
When I stopped attending church and lost my spiritual side, my social beliefs became very different from those of my parents very quickly. That doesn't mean that they're social conservatives by any means but that I became a caricature of an angry young liberal on them with a fierce libertarian streak. Now that I've matured, I've swung back to their views on a few issues and my only real ideological differences occur because of cultural differences (I'm an "intellectual hipster/alt/whatever" who attends a liberal arts college vs typical lower middle class/working class roots) As far as their values are concerned, they're social democrats with a big emphasis on, reducing poverty and protecting the environment. If they read the same literature that I did, they'd come to the same conclusions.

My parents have certainly been an incredibly major influence on my political development. They come from pretty different demographic backgrounds but at the end of the day their rearing taught me the basis that led me to my current path: income says nothing about about a person's worth, that everyone is entitled to the same basic existence and that we have a moral obligation to protect our planet.

I definitely disagree with my father's inherent dislike for the wealthy and my mom's distaste for gays. That's about it.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: tmthforu94 on October 08, 2012, 11:24:28 PM
While I'm a bit more moderate than my parents on social issues, particularly same-sex marriage, I haven't really differed from them too much, and I don't expect to.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: 後援会 on October 09, 2012, 12:08:08 AM
I definitely disagree with my father's inherent dislike for the wealthy and my mom's distaste for gays. That's about it.

But gays are so tasty...


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: The Mikado on October 09, 2012, 12:32:20 AM
My dad's somewhat to my left, and also a real firebrand.  I think our differences are more stylistic than substantive, though.

He has an annoying habit nowadays of referring to people that believe in God as "the lesser-educated" or "the superstitious."


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: Simfan34 on October 09, 2012, 12:47:06 AM
My dad's somewhat to my left, and also a real firebrand.  I think our differences are more stylistic than substantive, though.

He has an annoying habit nowadays of referring to people that believe in God as "the lesser-educated" or "the superstitious."
While I find the thought rather distressing, I'm pretty sure my father's an atheist. He only goes to church on Christmas and Easter and is constantly dismissive of the religious right. I recall being younger and my father defining heaven as a mental state and my mom telling him to stop. This was in the car.

Anyway, you know the song Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer? And the accompanying silly lyrics? I.e.:

Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer
had a very shiny nose. (Like a lightbulb!)
And if you ever saw him,
you would even say it glows.

All of the other reindeer
used to laugh and call him names.
They never let poor Rudolph
join in any reindeer games. (Like a monopoly!)

Then one foggy Christmas Eve
Santa came to say: (In his underwear!)
"Rudolph with your nose so bright,
won't you guide my sleigh tonight?"

Then all the reindeer loved him
as they shouted out with glee,
Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer,
you'll go down in history! (Like George Washington!)

I recall being in kindergarten and refusing to sing the part about Santa's underwear because I thought it obscene.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: Wake Me Up When The Hard Border Ends on November 02, 2012, 11:38:18 AM
Firstly, I will state that my parents are left of centre (if they were American, and would be quite solid Democrats, they would have voted for Mondale in '84.)

My earliest stance on political matters came when I was in third grade, when I expressed my love for guns and money. By eighth grade, I was a very vocal supporter of George W. Bush and the war on terror. In ninth grade, however, my science teacher, who I believed was like a god (I was agnostic and religiously apathetic back then), was a strong supporter of the global warming theory, evolution, green energy, and the bird flu threat, which I lapped up like a cat does milk.

I retained much of these views over the next two years, in part because whenever I brought up opinions like my support for gun rights for example, I was responded to with a strong counter argument from my parents, and I didn't know how to respond very well to these arguments back then. Also, being a typical teenager, I thought the current Prime Minister (J W Howard, who would be a moderate Republican in the US), had been in for too long, purely on the basis of being in office for 10+ years.

My real interest in politics, however, began when I was in twelfth grade and began to watch the famous 1970s sitcom All In The Family. Also in twelfth grade, my father came up to me one day and said "Son, you really DO like George Bush, don't you?", and I became more of a social conservative when I saw something so disgusting on TV, it basically crashed my brain and made me rethink my moral positions. I also started to believe in God and Christianity (I was baptized undefined Christian) around this time.

Basically, I started the year supporting Obama, and by the election came around, I was the only person in my family who wanted McCain to win, even being shunned by a couple of family members. That was the year I began to think for myself, and my political views were more or less separated from my parents'. I realized I didn't have to agree with my parents on most things to be a good son.

Now, I identify with paleoconservatism more than neoconservatism, and I can't see my politics being similar to those of my parents any time soon.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck on November 02, 2012, 12:37:11 PM
Actually, I line up with my mom's side of the family fairly well.  Generally liberal Democrats, almost all women, many who work for the USPS.  I've been what you would call a liberal since I was 12 or 13.  Strongly pro-union, pro-choice, strongly for separation of Church and State, and generally pacifist.  Only times we butt heads are on certain social issues (reverse racism was a point of contention between us in 2008, as they were claiming black people all voting for Obama was somehow racist, not to mention that they were pro-Clinton and I was pro-Obama), and I'm somewhat more pro-business than they are.   They also seem to treat my coming out as an atheist as an example of my "quirkiness" and "a phase", which can be irritating, but not tremendously so.

Mom is a registered Democrat, one of those who works for the postal service, and we mostly agree except for the fact that I tend to think she forms outlandish opinions at times out of emotion.  Like when she claimed that businesses have been purposely tanking for over a year to get Romney elected.  I got almost angry when I had to explain to her how absurd that was.  

I would diverge from my dad, though.  We match up identically on social issues, we're both agnostic/atheist, and he despises the anti-science and pro-religion aspects of the GOP, but he's more of an economic conservative.  Feels that Republicans tend to be in the pockets of big business and that they provide more economic certainty than Democrats.  Also, he's a very successful accountant/asset manager and is inclined towards a moderate GOP because it helps his investments.  I generally agree with this sentiment, but I'm not driven by the virtue of increased profits like he is.  Perfect example, he is annoyed with the stagnation of business due to the uncertainty regarding Obamacare.  I agree, but I told him that making sure people are covered is far more important to me, not to mention a much more pressing matter, than a relatively marginal difference in profits that businesses are seeing due to this uncertainty.  It's tough when you tell your dad that I don't care if he takes a hit in his bank account, but we can't have people dying due to lack of healthcare coverage.  

As for the rest of my dad's side of the family?  Staunch Republicans, nearly all of them.  We don't agree on anything and viciously disagree to an extent.  I suspect a strong racist streak from them and I refuse to even engage at times because I get very heated.  


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: CountryRoads on November 02, 2012, 02:57:07 PM
I'm more conservative then my Dad now on a decent number of issues (though we both are every conservative). My Mom is trending towards the right. She's Moderate with slight right wing leanings.

My Sister, since I've started college, has taken over my mantle of right wing nutjob :P She makes me proud :D  lol


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: All Along The Watchtower on November 02, 2012, 03:21:20 PM
My political views became somewhat more left-leaning than my parents about five years ago.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: Wonkish1 on November 02, 2012, 11:54:33 PM
Mom: A bit more socially conservative than anything else, but sees herself as a reliable Republican. She's the type that teaches a bible study, but you would never guess unless you started a conversation about religion with her.

Dad: He's the type of guy that started listening to Rush Limbaugh in his first month of national syndication back in the late 80s. Saw himself as a rags to riches story until the dot com bust almost cost him everything. Most of my life he was more professorial and after that crash he got way more emotional. Recently courtesy of a blow to the head and old age he's gotten extremely(almost unbearably) emotional about politics. He dances between Libertarian and Conservative.

My freshman year of high school I starting diverging on style(up until that point I was largely a mirror image of my dad). Basically, I became a lot more, well, wonkish than my parents. I started studying economics on my own instead of relying upon my father to 'teach'. I got 'into the weeds' when it came to policy.

My senior year of high school I starting diverging a bit on substance as well. This came from 2 places:
1) The first was in the priority of my goals. I honed in on conservative solutions for healthcare, education, social security, and poverty. My parents stayed with the more simplistic lower taxes and less government spending.

2) The fact that I always saw myself as person that always first dealt in reality. See something always bothered me about smart economic conservatives is that they would study up and could see the realities of the world, the marketplace, policy, etc., but that only resulted in them becoming more idealistic in their politics. For me to be a true realist you had acknowledge both the economic reality and the political reality. Through this I started focusing more on what compromises I could accept and which ones I couldn't; strategy; and what moves the ball forward policy-wise.

Today, a popular description surprisingly used by New Democrats to describe themselves is actually probably the best description of me: I "look to harness the power of markets to solve social problems"(the only difference is that I disagree that creating government owned, funded, and operated programs is the best way to do that) This I guess in a certain practical sense puts me to the left of my parents.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: Fmr. Pres. Duke on November 02, 2012, 11:57:05 PM
It never has. My family is full of RINOs. Deal with it, Atlas.


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck on November 03, 2012, 01:41:23 AM
It never has. My family is full of RINOs. Deal with it, Atlas.

But I CAN'T deal with it!


Title: Re: (When) Did Your Political Ideology Diverge From Your Parents'?
Post by: Torie on November 03, 2012, 03:59:37 PM
I had more influence on my parents' views than visa versa actually, starting at around the age of 14. Yes, I was a weird kid. No doubt about it.    So there never really was much divergence. Later on, my brothers were annoyed (both Dems), that I was the one with the influence. :P