My dad is a right wing a-hole

The rhetoric is a problem, but some of these things are important, some may prove extremely destructive.

For example, if you're truly convinced that AGW is a massive threat, and you're not just using it as a way to curb capitalism, I don't think it's weird that you think inaction is a huge problem. Ditto for abortion, or the welfare state, etc.

I think those that advocate for more government are "destroying the world" and they I believe there are truly detrimental to society.

What's wrong with that?

Whenever a party puts their agenda before the country, then yes - that is correct.

Why is it that nobody believes in an absolute right and an absolute wrong anymore? Everybody wants to be a spineless moderate who wants the whims of the populace to determine what the "right" thing to do is.

The populace has proven to be moronic. Have principles, and stand on them. Leaders harness the winds of change, no measure them to determine where they can be blown.

Why don't we swerve this thread into parent/child political relationships amongst our posters? I'm curious to see how many people here diverged from their parents' and/or grandparent's views.

I'll start:

Past Generation:
Mom and Dad were blue collar and registered Democrats since the early 1940s. But they were never liberal. They really weren't interested in national politics. In New Iberia all politics was local. Politician Hebert running for city council would knock on our front door which had a mosquito screen. He was never invited inside. But mom and dad would invite him to sit down on the old wooden front porch based on the brick pillars of our bungalow.

He would explain why he is for fixing roads and making the schools better. The pitch would usually last 15 minutes. He would always leave a card.

Next generation: My son and daughter (in their late 30s now) are conservative Republicans. They don't understand Libertarianism because it involves too much reading. They don't like to read political philosophy.

Watcha got?

My grandmother is a lifelong democrat living in Mississippi. I stayed with her for a few weeks over the summer and took the opportunity to study her political philosophy. What it basically boils down to is, she's a democrat because my grandfather, her husband, was a train conductor and belonged to a union. They were duped by typical Union thugs into believing that the big mean Republicans would have taken away all his conductor and military retirement pay which she has been living off of for the past 30 years.

That's literally the only reason she's a democrat.

When I dug deeper I found her views actually line up more with big gov Republican types, especially the Evangelical wing, but she refused to even entertain the idea.

It's sad watching her try to validate her party affiliation- she ignores the fact that everything the Democrats stand for directly conflicts with the principles she lives her life on, all because the party convinced her they gave her a cookie.

She can't accept that the government wasn't what gave her and my grandfather comfort in retirement, that it was actually the decades of hard work my grandfather put in and earned himself. Hard-working, principled democrats are fooled by their own party into believing they have the government to thank for what they have, they allow their party to diminish their own accomplishments which were achieved through hard-work, determination, unwavering faith, blood, sweat, and tears.

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The rhetoric is a problem, but some of these things are important, some may prove extremely destructive.

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as evidenced by recent elections, actions have consequences.

kum-bay-ya is not a policy that does anything in the real world.

quote:

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as evidenced by recent elections, actions have consequences.

kum-bay-ya is not a policy that does anything in the real world.

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Being so contentious that you make yourself unpleasant to be around, especially to family members, is carrying it way too far. By the 12th time you bring it up in conversation, I know where you stand, and you've either convinced me, or you haven't, and won't. If you insist on talking about that to the exclusion of everything else, you'll find yourself wondering why I don't come around as much any more.

A follow-up story from the Village Voice itself:

LINK