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To what extent did your parent's political beliefs influence your own?

How much influence did your parent's plitial beliefs have on your own?

  • A great deal of influence

    Votes: 8 16.7%

  • Some influence

    Votes: 23 47.9%

  • No influence

    Votes: 12 25.0%

  • We support the same party

    Votes: 6 12.5%

  • We do not support the same party

    Votes: 13 27.1%
  • Total voters
    48
Anima

Anima

Cànan a' Gàidheal
DP Veteran
Joined
Aug 25, 2008
Messages
1,741
Reaction score
699
Location
West Coast of Scotland
Gender
Female
Political Leaning
Socialist
I was reading a discussion on another board about how much the beliefs held by our parents influence us as adults and it got me thinking. Do we tend to do so? Do we still carry some elements of our parents beliefs - maybe coming from a hunting family and opposing gun control as a Democrat. What do we think, guys?
 
As I said in the other none.
 
Some influence, but very little. I broke away from their beliefs long ago.
 
No influence whatsoever. My father had strong communist tendencies and my mother is not interested in politics at all.

As for me, I'm dead center most of the time. Depending on the issue I either lean left or right. Mostly right, but towards the libertarian side. I tend to be socially liberal, tho.
 
Not that much tbh, elements of it but that is to be expected.
 
Anima said:
I was reading a discussion on another board about how much the beliefs held by our parents influence us as adults and it got me thinking. Do we tend to do so? Do we still carry some elements of our parents beliefs - maybe coming from a hunting family and opposing gun control as a Democrat. What do we think, guys?
Click to expand...

I came from a gun hunting family yet support gun control.

I'm not very much like my parents at all.
 
My parents are very very conservative. I'm fiscally conservative and socially liberal.
 
My parents had no impact on my political beliefs. My parents were apolitical, althought Dad leaned decidely to the right.

I am a politically engaged liberal with a strong interest in civil rights and social justice.
 
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While I think they had a good influence in other ways, politically (and religiously) they are conservative christians while I am an agnostic liberal.

Luckily for me, they've mellowed out over the years so we get along great.
 
No influence at all that I can see, my parents were entirely apolitical, they didn't ever talk about politics or show any interest, I don't even remember if they voted. They were registered members of the Republican party, but registering doesn't require any kind of involvement or interest, it's a one-time thing and they fill your mailbox with crap for life.
 
My political beliefs are almost identical to those of my parents. They've been my #1 influence in politics.

Gay marriage is pretty much the only area where we disagree, and even then it's an issue neither of us finds to be particularly important. Sometimes I disagree with them on an issue but they reason their view so well that I change my mind.
 
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Some influence. My parents were both disgustingly socially liberal, and I've obviously parted ways from them on that. My father was part of the "libertarian wing" of the Republican Party, except he always turned around and supported every authoritarian or theocratic measure they proposed-- just like every other "libertarian conservative." My mother's been on public assistance most of her life and her family is very strongly pro-union.

On the other hand, my father's collection of Heinlein novels deeply influenced my early political development, and they still have a profound effect on my thinking-- despite that my ideological position is in most ways opposed to Heinlein's libertarian ideals.

I have very much inherited my parents' views on guns and gun control and the honor of military service. I fall somewhat between them on issues concerning Welfare, and lean more toward my father's views when it comes to labor unions. My views on the positions I consider important, such as family law, education, the corrections system, and the space program have nothing in common with theirs.
 
Some. Even in the views I hold that are totally opposite from them, there was some influence. All people I've had any amount of political discussions helped me shape my views as they exist today.

Just as this is true for me, I know the reverse is true for them. I know for a fact that my views have influenced their views.

Some of the very best political debates I have ever had have been with my mother. Often we both end the debate with starkly different views than what we had when we entered the debate.
 
Some, for me. My mother's mostly apolitical, although she will occasionally spew out something rankly racist, which has actualy informed by political opinions in that I tend to put a high premium on judging people for who they are, and distrustig any party or politician that appears to do otherwise. My father is liberal with some socialist leanings, and a Scottish nationalist. I wouldn't say he greatly influenced my beliefs either though; it was more a matter of talking about my own beliefs and then being shocked he actually agreed with me on most of them.
 
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My parents are both solidly Republican (though my Mom was more liberal in her youth) and I was for a while too. My two brothers were also solid Republicans. We all grew up loving Reagan and loathing Clinton.

I've broke ranks with the GOP and call myself a moderate libertarian now and have been able to influence both of my brothers and to a certain extent my mom as well. It's made for some lively discussions at family gatherings, which we all enjoy since we're all born debaters.
 
My mother - not at all.
My uncle and father - a lot.
But we're not on the same political mind.
 
Anyone who says their parents had no influence on their political viewpoints is incorrect.

Of course they had an influence.
 
Tucker Case said:
Unless they grew up in an orphanage.
Click to expand...

True, true.

Perhaps: "Anyone who says that their parents/guardian/adult authority figure did not influence their political viewpoint is incorrect."
 
Quite a bit. They laid the groundwork for what I believe, and I have only refined and(I think) modernized it.
 
My dad's slightly conservative. My mom's moderate, but leans left. I used to be conservaive, and while I still think that the Republicans tend to be less bad than the Democrats. I since broke away. I was sick of the family values crap, constitutional overreach, and massive expansion of government that the GOP presided over. The bailouts were the last straw for me.
 
My father has a philosophical inclination. More that he asks somewhat random questions and at times seems to try to have different views on a subject.

I actually believe that my views influenced my father & step mother this election. They weren't sure who to vote for, and I pushed them towards Obama.

My real mother...She's a tad apathetic. She cares more about selling ottomans at a third rate furniture store, than about elections. The sad part is that she still held an opinion about McCain and Obama. She had no idea which stood for which, nor did she have any idea what a republican or democrat was. Yet, she voted for McCain, claiming that "people are afraid of Obama" and claiming to sympathize with McCain because he was a POW.
 
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