Question For Parents

I don't even know what my own political beliefs are anymore. Well, not so much my beliefs but in a state of astonishment with those who I thought shared my political beliefs and the overall culture of my party.

One thing that find troubling and even offensive is the requirement to parrot the political views of a handful of people who get to do the thinking for everybody else. Disagree with them and you get labeled. I'm all for letting my kids enjoy the freedom of political thought.

SouthernDemocrat said:

As a parent how important to you is whether or not your kids when they grow up (or if they are already), sharing the same or very similar political and ideological beliefs that you have?

Click to expand...

Once Son #1 reached the age of reason, we began to reason together.

When possible, if he asked a "why" question, instead of simply giving him an answer, I explained the background, the how-it-came-to-be-like-that, the relevant surrounding issues and consequences, and discussed it with him. He would express his ideas on the matter, and I would tell him if such an idea had been tried and how it had (or hadn't) worked out. If there were flaws in his reasoning or gaps in his knowledge, I pointed them out or filled him in.

Other than that, I left the drawing of conclusions as an "exercise for the student", for the most part.

As his interest in politics grew, we've discussed both main parties and their strengths and weaknesses, their STATED positions vs what they actually DO, and so on.


I'll not claim my mentoring was free from bias; I believe true objectivity is about as rare as unicorns. But I didn't really indoctrinate him in one specific ideology (for one thing, *I myself* do not adhere exclusively to a singular political ideology either), so much as I wanted him to be able to think about politics rationally and critically and for whatever positions he embraced to be arrived at via reason and knowledge.


Presently he is 18 and I'd characterize his political views as chiefly libertarian, but not uniformly so. He is registered to vote and says he intends to do so in the next election.

Smeagol said:

One thing that find troubling and even offensive is the requirement to parrot the political views of a handful of people who get to do the thinking for everybody else. Disagree with them and you get labeled.

Click to expand...

That's why I'm a Libertarian. Because f*ck unity in political parties. We're virtually incapable of walking in lock-step. Hell, we can't even make up our minds about what a true Libertarian is, since there's so many different shades of yellow to choose from!

Only one liberal and libertarian who want their kids to share their political views? I've seen how damn partisan you people can be, and that's a bullsh*t set of results. There is no way even half of you answered that poll honestly. At least the conservatives weren't lying.

Jesse Booth said:

That's why I'm a Libertarian. Because f*ck unity in political parties. We're virtually incapable of walking in lock-step. Hell, we can't even make up our minds about what a true Libertarian is, since there's so many different shades of yellow to choose from!

Click to expand...

I'm a socially conservative, fiscal moderate who's accepting of the American ethnic melting pot. I'm willing to test market the fair tax in a few states to see if it works. I think getting behind alternative energy especially electric cars is a vital investment in national security just as important as fighter jets, drones and aircraft a carriers in order to deprive those who are working feverishly to destroy us of funding. I don't think libertarians or democrats are the enemies of America. I want to see all of our elected representative work together and put the country ahead of their party. I thought I was a republican but I think most in my party would consider me a RINO.

I read the question wrongly. I thought this was about teaching your kids what their politics should be vs. letting them formulate their own opinions. I want my daughter to formulate her own opinions but I hope that her politics end up very similar to mine. When I vote, I want my candidate to win. I hope that other people vote like me. I want my candidate's politics to be more like mine than they already are. IOW, I want everyone's politics to be like mine.

I want my kids to arrive at their own beliefs. And it would be nice for the sake of conversation if those beliefs happened to have something in common with my own, but I understand that it's developmentally normal for young adults, in coming to terms with distancing themselves from their parents, to formulate a worldview divergent from their parents.