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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
I am not going to say their political views did not have an influence, but what influence they did have were not what was intended I am sure.

If anything I influenced their views which were religiously instilled ultra right. I never did see eye to eye with their politics at the time of my formative years, and was not shy about sharing this with them. Over time they both tempered their views, both religiously and politically. My father is still religious, although he has moved towards center, while my mother has moved solidly to the left in her political views.
 
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.

I can certainly relate to that. My mother, who was never openly racist, certainly did have some of it buried deep inside that came out during the time I had a half-Chinese girlfriend, but by that time, my own views were obviously well-formed and disagreed entirely with hers. But she grew up in a time and in a place where racism was not only accepted but somewhat expected so I chalk it up to cultural indoctrination. From what I can tell, she's long since shed those beliefs.
 
Anyone who says their parents had no influence on their political viewpoints is incorrect.

Of course they had an influence.

The thread is about whether or not your parent's political beliefs influenced yours, not whether or not their parents had any influence on one's political views.

I came from a household that never discussed politics or religion, ever. I was completely unaware of their political beliefs up until recently. Thus I grew up with no predisposition to any political philosophy and gave no thought to the subject until perhaps late in high school when 9/11 happened.

So please explain to me how you know that my parents had any influence in my political viewpoints, rather than the literature that I've read, the history/economics I learned and the elections that I've participated in?

Tell me how I am "incorrect." My parents, childhood, background, race or socioeconomic status had about as much to do with my political beliefs as the flutter of a butterfly in New Guinea last Tuesday.
 
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The thread is about whether or not your parent's political beliefs influenced yours, not whether or not their parents had any influence on one's political views.

In that case my father has greatly influenced the way I think and the way I act.
 
I can certainly relate to that. My mother, who was never openly racist, certainly did have some of it buried deep inside that came out during the time I had a half-Chinese girlfriend, but by that time, my own views were obviously well-formed and disagreed entirely with hers. But she grew up in a time and in a place where racism was not only accepted but somewhat expected so I chalk it up to cultural indoctrination. From what I can tell, she's long since shed those beliefs.

Exactly. I think it's more a sort of Palovian response than hatred at this point in time.
 
Anyone who says their parents had no influence on their political viewpoints is incorrect.

Of course they had an influence.

Not true.

My parents are literally cool-aid drinking Democrats (God bless em') and they had no influence on my politics. Ronald Regan, Jimmy Charter and Thomas Jefferson shaped my views on politics more than anything or anyone in my life.
 
My parents were personally conservative, but not grafted to one political party. They were not remotely as "political" as I am.

My baseline personal values largely came from them, with some modification over the years, but not really all that much of my political beliefs.

Some of those "baseline values" do spill over into politics: self-reliance as a virtue, the work ethic, moral restraint rather than self-indulgence.

My Dad hunted and I was raised around guns, taught to shoot from an early age, etc. I took the right to bear arms so much for granted that I was in my teens before I actually realized there were real people (as opposed to mere politicians) who disagreed with that right. :shock:
 
Not true.

My parents are literally cool-aid drinking Democrats (God bless em') and they had no influence on my politics. Ronald Regan, Jimmy Charter and Thomas Jefferson shaped my views on politics more than anything or anyone in my life.

Ronald Regan? Really? Why are conservatives so big on Regan, the guy simply spent money until our opponents went broke.
 
Ronald Regan? Really? Why are conservatives so big on Regan, the guy simply spent money until our opponents went broke.

Ronald Regan gave me hope and made me feel proud to be an American again. I watched his policy's bring prosperity in the 90's and Bill Clinton get all the credit.

You forget I grew up during Vietnam, The Iran Hostages etc. I watched Watergate on the news when I was little. I was a black kid growing up in inner city Chicago. I had nothing to be happy or proud about as an American.

Under Charter I remember asking my parents what did the Democrats do for us Americans? They could not tell me anytrhing. That said a mouthfull.

Ronald Regan is the reason when I graduated high school went right into the US Army. I felt good serving under him, unlike Clinton who personally I liked, but politically despised.

He was a real hero and I remember him and the Regan years foundly.
 
Ronald Regan? Really? Why are conservatives so big on Regan, the guy simply spent money until our opponents went broke.

Unfortunately, Reagan spelled the beginning of the downfall of actual conservatism in the Republican party. He's the one that threw fiscal responsibility out the window and got them into bed with the evangelicals. While I did vote for him, I still recognize that he was the point at which the Republican party stopped really representing me and most conservatives.
 
Since I have no problem with minorities or gays, I have departed greatly from fathers ignorance. But I am still conservative, just blindly like my parents and brother
 
My parents are political idiots and the way they have influenced me, has been showing me the great contradictory views that many people hold.

For instance, they are die hard Republicans, anti drug and anti government health care (even protested it),yet they are addicted to prescription pain killers and are on medicare.

My mom doesn't know **** about politics and only votes for who my dad tells her to.
I really don't talk to them anymore.
 
i think m y dad and morfar influence there beliefs.
 
I inherited nothing except a general cynicism for electoral politics, I'd say. When I was young, I asked my mother what a politician was, and her response was literally something along the lines of "someone who's paid to lie to the public." One's a Democrat and the other's a Republican, but they're both center-right, I'd say. Socially and fiscally moderate, but right-leaning.

EDIT: Yeah, I just called and asked because this got me interested, and they were both planning to vote for McCain, but my mother switched to Obama because she didn't like the selection of Sarah Palin. As it were, she's a fiscal rightist (anti-welfare), but inexplicably, likes Fidel Castro...
 
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To what extent did your parent's political beliefs influence your own?

A great deal.
 
Since I have no problem with minorities or gays, I have departed greatly from fathers ignorance. But I am still conservative, just not blindly like my parents and brother
thats better:3oops:
 
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