Just a curious question, I'm sure its a version of another thread. But I'm asking what specifically from your parents or whomever raised you shaped your political view. For instance, my parents grew up in the South presegregation, and when I say pre, they were both born in the 30's. So my parents shape almost every debate in terms of race, and I never really realized how much I do it till I started posting here. Which is funny because I've always believed my dad saw racism that wasn't there in a bunch of instances. So what in your home shaped your view. I know some guys like Roxran, what has shaped their view. Being from a country that his family had to leave because of communist rebels has really made him hardcore democratic/capitalism type guy.
My parents never shaped my political view. They don't care much about politics. I got my views based on my experience and understanding of things.
i wish my parents didn't care about politics, then i wouldn't have to walk on eggshells around them or purposely avoid their phone calls.
My parents had no take on my political views since we are all first generation immigrants and my parents and I got naturalized in 96. While they registered earlier than I did to vote for local/state props and official our entire family registered to vote for a president for the first time in 00. I think if anything i helped my mom with her views, my dad has always been liberal while i like to envision myself as a bit left of center.
Well, my parents are first generation immigrants, so they do not know much about US politics and Chinese tend to not trust politicians anyway.
I grew up in a home that had pictures of my relatives shaking hands with Reagan and Bush 1 & 2 hanging on the wall. West Texas land ownership was a tradition with oil and mineral production being a family legacy. So "f*ggy" environmentalists were frowned upon, and global warming was of course a conspiracy of the liberal media. We held guns by the time we could throw a spiral, and anybody who wanted to limit the number or category of guns you could have was trying to do so purely so the government could establish a police state and take all of your money. My relatives snickered at the notion of MLK day, and scorned me for watching "n***er shows" on the tv, as well as playing basketball with my black friends in the school yard. So basically, my stupid, greedy, paranoid, racist family convinced me that the conservative way of life was about as directionally backwards as Doc Brown and Marty McFly in a delorean.
thanks for being honest, I suspect there are alot of people who's family had very backwards views on race that wouldn't admit on here.
My family had an influence but it had more to do with my circumstances. We came to the US after the fall of Saigon and my family had nothing. We were on government assistance including education grants while my brothers and sisters worked and went to college. Now, everyone in my family would be classified as upper middle class and we pay our fair share of taxes. We live the American Dream every day. These events and circumstances shaped my core political beliefs. Everyone deserves a chance to succeed especially children. We have to fight to protect our way of life and others but there are always innocent victims so we have to pick our fights carefully. Regardless of how hard you work, you may not succeed unless the environment is right. It's the responsibility of the government and its citizens ensure the environment is there for the success of the country. I don't mind paying taxes as long as they are used responsibly.
Oswald shot on live TV JFK assassination RFK assassination MLK assassination Civil rights movement Carpetbombing Vietnam Daily body counts from Vietnam 1968 Democratic convention Parochial school Watergate Drugs Rock n Roll The vision of firehoses and police dogs unleashed on demonstrators was pretty riveting for a kid.
My parents are both good Democrats (though one can't vote). And, TV shades liberal, so I grew up a little liberal. I'm also very contrarian, so when Reagan (and my classmates) told me the USSR was the Evil Empire, I started to become particularly interested. Then, I met my future-wife, and she has probably influenced me as much as anything in my childhood. She grew up very conservative and challenged me on a lot of liberal assumptions I had gone along with. So, I've swung back to the right in a lot of subjects. It got a bit worse when I went to business school. And of course, the irresistable persuasive powers of trader-jorge, bigtexxx, et al. My parents are horrified and call me a republican, even though I'm not.
before i came on here i never understood how big of a role that race played for most peoples political views. When I was a kid I thought the democrats were for middle class and poor people and repubs were for the rich. I found out later about "social issues" but not till recently did I find out how much people are so pissed about what other people think about them. I mean just for instance pgabs talks about shaping the politcal views and he starts by talking about his parents which i think is probably the most common answer but then he only discusses his dads view on racism. I just seriously do not get it.
what don't you understand, my dad grew up, literally till he was thirty in an oppressive system towards him. why is it surprising that it is a major issue for him. segregation was as much a part of his life as capitalism and democracy in america, i don't think you "don't" get it given some of your posts as much as you "refuse" to get it
My parents were both from fairly poor families from West Texas. They both grew up with Protestant backgrounds and instilled those same values in me when I was growing up. My Dad's Dad passed away and he had to assume a lot of the responsibility for his family at a young age, he basically had to work his way through college AND help with the bills at home for his mother and two younger brothers. My Mom's family had a divorce when she was young and had to grow up in a single parent household with a working mother that did not get any kind of chile or spousal support and had to work extra to provide for her three children. They both grew up and met in El Paso, and I guess had the fortune to grow up in a niche in the country that did not really have the overt racism that existed in many parts of the South. My Dad actually attended UTEP (Texas Western) during their historic National Championship run. My parents have had a lot of financial ups and downs in their lives, yet have been able to build a very successful small business and be fairly prosperous in their last few years. Because of that and their backgrounds they are fairly conservative in most of their leanings, although not too far and would probably be considered pretty moderate. They both gave me a very large feeling of charity and giving is a very important part of our lives. My general views are that I'd rather give to what causes I feel important rather than the govermnent decide for me, but I'm also moderate enough to recognize that there has to be taxes and civil respobsibility to build roads, provide for defense, have clean water, etc. Their goal was go provide better for me than they were able to be provided for growing up and taught me that I should strive for the same. Their single best gift for me other than being great parents was they paid for my education and gave me a good jumpstart on life whereas my Dad had to work his own way through college and pay for it himself.
what i don't get is how that shapes your political views. How do you connect the two? I don't see the link. If anything I would think that experience would lend to a Libertarian viewpoint.
Until I was six, there was a black kid named Willie who lived down the road (literally in a shack) near my family's farm outside of Livingston. Every time we went there, Willie and I would run around and have fun. When I turned 6, Willie didn't come around anymore. I later figured out that my family thought it was OK to pal around with black kids until age 6 and then you need to start separating, so they didn't allow Willie to come around. I was floored when I found it out during my teens. Later, I was driving around with my dad when something about the aftermath of the Kent State shootings hit the news on the car radio. I remember him saying something like "everybody's talking about those damn hippies but nobody says anything about those football players that died in the plane crash (Marshall)." I knew the two were not similar, but I didn't really understand it... I did know my dad was wrong on some level. Throughout my early years, many people, particularly the men in the community, would lapse into language that freely used the N-word when around other white guys and then would be entirely different in mixed company. Even at an early age, I thought this was wrong and there was a meanness evident that was unappealing. I was in one of the first classes to go from 1st through 12th in an integrated school system. This was not considered a good thing in some parts of the community. I saw how the economic divisions enhanced the racial divisions, with blacks and white living in different areas of town. I loved history and couldn't square some of the stuff I read about my country with what I was seeing. I was also lucky to pick good, smart friends who influenced me in incalculable ways. By high school, we didn't care what the prevailing opinions were... we would hang out in the projects listening to Parliament or everyone would meet at the pool hall and listen to Johnny Paycheck. So, the Civil Rights Act, the changes it engendered, the responses to those changes, and my sensitivity to fairness and distrust of BS were instrumental in shaping my views.
your not making sense, all I'm saying is that I think people react differently to certain situations when different races are involved. its not a difficult concept edit: so my dad grew up in an oppressive racist society so that should make him a libertarian, talk about disconnect
What does that have to do with how peoples politcal viewpoints came to be? Can you just explain how you link your viewpoint on how people of certain races were treated 60 years ago to issues of today? I don't understand the jabs, I have not taken any jabs at you this entire thread.
yes 100% like i said in my first post. This is where i get my political viewpoints. My family was middle class and my dad was in a union and refused all non-union jobs. what i don not understand is how the race comes into play. For instance so far this whole thread is about race so far. It seems everyone here gets their viewpoint because of race.
