Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I wasn't raised with any political ideology, yet I tended to be Left-leaning, until I got out in the World to see how things really worked, then I became Conservative.
That happens a lot. When people see how much $$$ is taken out of their paycheck and given to others, they frequently see the light.
I (my family) have always belonged to the working class.
Prior to the 1970s, belonging to the working class meant that you voted for Democrats.
Over many years, Democrats became less and less concerned with the working class and more concerned with the recipient class, the aggrieved class and the donor class.
Working white males, unwelcome in the anti-white, anti-male Democrat Party, could find a home in the Republican Party, even if they didn't really represent the working class.
Today, I am engaged in an all-out effort to eliminate the Democratic Party and to take over the Republican Party.
Originally Posted by Steve McDonald
It is notable how much irritating noise the hard-rightists make here, considering their sparse numbers and lack of any substance to back their claims
I find it hilarious how the left in here call out the right for exactly the same thing the right feel about the left. You self-proclaim yourself to be a progressive liberal, which by most measures means extreme liberal.
You know what's truly irritating in a meaningful and substantive way? How all the extremism is tearing this country apart. It's like people have become allergic to holding even the most basic of moderate views.
One could post a completely viable and reasonable point in here, and get hammered by both sides for it.
It's a sad thing.
I agree with you about extremism tearing this country apart and it is a sad thing. But I believe people paint a false picture when they say or imply that both parties are equally to blame, in reality it's mostly coming from one side.
I'm very liberal, but I don't think the Dems have all the answers. I would love to hear an idea from the Republicans that doesn't involve gutting our health, safety, environmental and banking regs, tax cuts for the rich or starting a war. But I'd be willing to compromise even on these things if we could find a willing partner to move things forward. But a Republican who's willing to compromise gets no respect from their base and is labeled a 'Rino'. The Democrats have no equivalent word.
I believe it started with the tea party movement, the Dems may have moved left in response, but there's no equivalent to the tea party on the Democratic side. Look at Congress, the Dems have been asking the Republicans for 8 years to work with them on fixing the ACA, but the Republicans will have none of it. Now they're keeping the Dems out, not letting them debate or make amendments to what the all male committee is supposedly coming up with.
Unless you only believe the alt-right news sources, this data of Pew’s study of political polarization sheds some light on my point. It's 3 years old, but I think we would agree that the divide has only become worst since then;
I was not raised on politics. Mom amd Dad would watch the news but we would never discuss the presidential debates or the Republican and Democratic party type things. I can remember having a voting day in a private school and would never know what was going on. They even had a mock debate and I found it boring.
When I became an adult, I would vote Democrat on national elections and eventually went Republican on a local. It was never an issue with my family. When I moved to North Carolina at 22 thats when I started paying attention to the Jesse Helms mess and started taking sides and having conversations with my Dad about politics.
Fast forward to today, I am really disgusted by the Republican Democratic divide. Politicians are all liars and we the people need to clean house, take out the trash and prosecute those who are criminals. Many times I believe the divide is created to mask the fact that we are all screwed financially once we stop spending money.
You didn't include independent or moderate, which is where I find myself these days. Both sides have things I don't agree with and things I agree with. I need a 3rd party option that doesn't exist right now .
My parents are very Republican and Christian. I still consider myself a Christian, although I am not as Evangelical as I once was. I think extreme sides have found their way into the church as well. That has really upset me. I am looking for a less evangelical church that isn't super conservative and isn't really liberal. They are simply not out there.
Politics AND the church seem to think that abortion and gay rights are the only issues out there. They aren't.
My parents voted for the best candidate not party. The country was not divided by party as it is today. The candidate who was elected was accepted and the country was stronger for it
Today my parents would be ashamed of the haters and dividers. The morality of this country is in the garbage. The news media did not put in opinion,just the facts and people came to their own common sense conclusion. If someone did put in an opinion the people knew what was opinion from fact.
As my father put it, propaganda was added to try to get you to think a certain way. They use persuasion with words to think a certain way even though it really isn't so. One must just take the facts and think for themselves and come to their own conclusion. It is staying objective it is also looking at actions ,not just words to come to that conclusion. Which candidate is best for the whole well being of the country. I have no party affiliation.
My mom was a Democrat. My dad voted Republican. I was liberal Dem until I graduated from college in the middle of Carter's recession when unemployment was 10% and mortgage interest rates were 14%. After landing my first full-time job, my hard earned paycheck was greatly diminished by taxes. I switched my political alliance. I've voted mostly Republican since then. My support for socialism and Democrats in my younger years was understandable and easy because my parents were paying all my bills.
I was raised right winged conservative. To the opposite of many folks here I became more moderate as I've become more religious. I find it hard to believe Jesus would be right-winged.
Growing up, my family was staunch Republican and very fundamentalist Christian. I believed the Democrats hated America and were inviting God's judgment on the country by allowing abortion and gay rights. Through high school and college, every time there was an election, I voted straight Republican no matter what. As I became older and started questioning things, my loyalty to the GOP weakened. It started with the Iraq War. Something seemed off about it from the beginning and I could not support a war with a country that had nothing to do with 9/11. The WMD case made for invading Iraq seemed a little weak to me.
I still voted Republican through 2012 because I was an evangelical Christian and felt that I had no choice. I wanted Obama to win in 2008 and 2012 however. After leaving church in 2015 I changed my registration to Democrat. For me, it's primarily because I don't agree with the narrow-minded social agenda of the GOP and I also disagree with trickle-down economics. I don't like that today's GOP has become very "anti-intellectual."
Do you still hold the political ideology you were raised with? Why or why not?
This fascinates me. I don't think I ever realized kids were raised being taught beliefs like this. I never knew what Party my mom and dad affiliated themselves with, not as a child or even an adult. I was taught to vote for someone who most shares MY values, not my parents. As I got older I realized my dad and I shared the same political values and ideals but up until the age of 25 or so, I imagined he was more conservative than he was. I'm grateful my parents never told me how to think, but to vote based on what I believed was right, wrong. For the record, was liberal as a kid, and remain that way as I approach my senior years.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.