Parents!!! - a political brick wall

[bemalech]

I was watching the news with my parents after school and there was an article about some new conflict in Israel. The repporter said something like "will there never be and end to the bloodshed." My father replied (not literally) "not with all the Facist communist dictators over there." Dictated Communist middle eastern countrys?...I don't think so.

It wasn't worth correcting him, he will still think he is right even though he doens't know what he is talking about.

[Subcomandante Marcos]

you cant expect to change his mind, he is too darn old, all you can do is learn from his mistakes. This only show how people are uninformed and how they believe anything they see on the TV. Then we wonder how is it that demagoguery gets people.

"There is no such thing as mistakes...there are the thing we do and the ones we stop doing"

[The Muckraker]

Ha! Yes, there are some people who will never listen, and you're going to keep finding them as you get older.

You've learned an important lesson already: it's often not worth it to argue with them. Far better is to talk to the people who are receptive to what you have to say and try to persuade them.

Unless, of course, you can really humiliate some right-wing diehard in front of a bunch of people. :-)

[redstar2000]

A suggestion...

Don't watch the dummyvision set.

:cool:

[Droes lee]

my dad has respect for che.
he knows what he stands for but he does not know anything about Marx .....

[Kapitan Andrey]

My father isn't respect Che...he always said that he is just a bandit and exporter of revolution!!!
I'm always closing eyes on his opinion!!!

[Soul Rebel]

my parents are cool with politics- how do you think i got to be how i am. the only thing we disagree on is cuba and castro. im a castro supporter and they are not. however they totally understand why i feel the way i do and they helped me pay for my trip to cuba, which was nice.

[Beccie]

My parents claim to be leftist yet my mum supported America's invasion of Iraq because she thought that as Australian allies America must be right.

I use to argue with them, I don't bother anymore.


(Edited by Commie01 at 10:17 am on May 11, 2003)


(Edited by Commie01 at 10:18 am on May 11, 2003)

[MarxIsGod]

Quote: from Commie01 on 4:16 am on May 11, 2003
My parents claim to be leftist yet my mum supported America's invasion of Iraq because she thought that as Australian allies America must be right.

I use to argue with them, I don't bother anymore.


Given the reasoning your mom used I have to say she seems very Capitalist/pro-American (not that the two go hand-in-hand but one frequently implies the other). However, supporting a regime change in Iraq is fine. The sad part is simply that the U.S. and U.K. -- carriers of the democratic torch to the "Third World" -- led the invasion and that it was not an international collaberative effort which it might have been if the campaign was focused more on Saddam's mistreatment of Iraqis than the lies about weapons of mass destruction.
My mom has some political views but the most political thing she does is vote in the elections. She rarely voices any political opinion.
My dad is a Republican (though not a conservative) and we joke around about his "Republican propaganda" and my "Marxist bullshit" but we realize that it is all in fun. However, we do occasionally have heated political debates and that's when being able to quote unconstitutional sections from the USA PATRIOT Act and citing numerous examples of U.S. imperialism can be most remarding. :biggrin:
When talking politics with ones parents (especially as a teenager), it is important to realize that they may be old enough to remember Iranians holding hostages at the U.S. embassy but too young to remember Vietnam and so all this stuff that has happened in recent years is, for them a "new" kind of America and while that doesn't mean you (I realize this may not apply to those living outside the U.S.) should back off, realize that they may not immediately, if at all, understand what you are saying because they were born and raised in a time where everything was, at least from what they could see, all good. I still argue with my dad simply because not doing so would indicate that I agree with him or that I cannot refute what he is saying. However, I don't expect to turn him into a Leftist. :)

[Zombie]

Another lesson is to never argue with your parents. It's not worth it, they don't give a crap what you think, as long as you're growing up the way they want you to, all is fine for them.

[Beccie]

MarxIsGod,

My Mum is pro-USA, she feels that because she votes for the labor party she can call herself a leftist but she doesn't really understand anything about politics.

She becomes upset when I talk about Capitalism, inequality, the plight of the refugees etc. She feels that I only see the “bad” things in the world and she would prefer to think about the good. I get extremely pissed of with this. I become really emotional, she worries about my mental health.

That is why I don't bother arguing with her anymore.