Roots of Your Political Views

Gina - posted on 07/31/2009

Laura, your views are much like mine, and my husband works 6-7 days a week and is a hard worker. I understand where you're coming from, and I too get frustrated when people think conservatives are cold because we don't agree with social programs to help the less fortunate. I just feel that a great society should work together, and out of the goodness of their hearts be able to choose how much to give to the less fortunate. I just feel that if we implement social programs it takes the humanity out of giving and it doesn't even become a thought. Then the people on those programs never learn how to help themselves out of that situation because they're so used to receiving.

Laura - posted on 07/30/2009

Hi, I'm also new to this group and I'm really enjoying the comments and the discussions. I'm politically frustrated and what I've read so far is helping. I live in Wisconsin, I'm a stay at home mom and my husband is an idependent salesmen in orthopedics. He sells body parts. Haha just kidding. We are 100% resposible for all that we do have and all that we don't have. By that I mean we pay for our own health care, there's definetly no pension but there's no one contributing to our 401k either, we pay outrageous small business taxes, pay double into social security, there's no sick days, no vacation days, his paycheck is a direct result of how hard he worked. If there's a slow month, well there's less to go around the next month. But, we chose this because there is also great potential to do well with hard work and he works hard and is very good at it. This is what really brings out the conservative in me. He works hard for every scrap on our table, every inch of space and everything in it. He travels, he's been called in to work at 8 or 10 at night not returning until 2 am. I know others work just as hard or harder but when every little thing, every little increase or tax effects the future of your family you really don't want anymore than what you've got. Especially when those taxes go to programs that don't work or get abused. There is a daycare fraud program going here where people get subsidies for every welfare child they have in daycare. Well, these people are over their legal limit of children and are running the system like you wouldn't believe. Who suffers, the children in these daycares. Who pays for it? Me (and others). That ticks me off. I'm all for helping people but there has to be tight control over it with expectations and goals met. I come from a family with a long history of helping ones neighbors. We don't do the flashy/splashy big name programs but somehow people in need always seem to find my family, mainly my parents. Church has always been an important part of my family's life. My maternal grandparents were well known and respected in their church. They gave quietly so much of their time, energy and money to their fellow church members. My parents are the same. While there wasn't ever political talk or debate there was alot of conversations about how to help a family member, a friend, a stranger. And it wasn't the should we help talk it was and still is how much can we help, how long, and how are we going to work together to help. There are many ways to make a difference in this world and it takes many different type of people to do it. Our conservative way of doing things is that we come across a person in need and we help. There is no government involvement or debate on who's going to pay, it's taken care of. When you take care of others you will also be taken care of. It's usually local, personal and done quietly and usually goes unrecognized by others. But that doesn't matter because it's a responsibility that isn't meant to be rewarded or even noticed sometimes. My family has a long history of this. So when conservatives or accussed of being cold hearted it strikes a nerve with me because my family and many other conservative families are very generous and very quiet about what they do. We can't all be on the front lines of the big issues, we weren't all made that way. If we were, these individuals that receive quiet personal help might not get it. Liberals, conservatives, neither one is better or worse, smarter or more ignorant, or more important than the other. We are different though. We see problems differently and take care of them differently. I've been raised to see all people equally, it's not a political view it's a Christian view.

Isobel - posted on 07/26/2009

Hi, I'm new to this group but I love it already. My name is Laura and I am a single mom living in Toronto Canada. I was raised by a single mom who worked very hard all of her life and is now enjoying her retirement. My political views have definitely been shaped by the fact that I was raised by a single mom and now am a single mom. I think that living in Canada and seeing the amazing things that social programs can do has also affected who I have become.

Because of these programs, I am now able to go to business school (my gpa is 3.8 :)) to create a better life for me and for my children. This will also provide a good example for them and encourage them to go and the cycle will be broken once and for all. It is interesting to note that when I tell people here in Canada what I am doing, I am always met with respect, people here are proud that their taxes go to such useful programs...never once have I been made to feel guilty for "eating up other peoples' taxes"

I must say that when I signed up for this site, it said political debating moms not American Political Debating Moms...I was a little surprised to hear that distinction made. I find all politics fascinating, and yes being such a close neighbour, your politics affect us more than you know.

Nice to meetcha :)

Maleasha - posted on 07/22/2009

I didn't realize I hadn't said much about myself, except for my views. I apologize, it's late.



I'm currently working in a nursing facility and love my job. I start college again in a couple of weeks and I'll be working on my RN. I hope to either become a surgical nurse or work in a NICU. I understand I don't get to see my kids a whole lot, but I'm looking at the long term goal of completely school and getting put into a higher pay bracket so I can work a little less, and spend more time with my kids.

Maleasha - posted on 07/22/2009

Hi everyone, I'm going to start by stating I'm a moderate conservative. I'm new to the group, so I'll introduce myself. I'm 24, am married to a wonderful man and have 2 amazing children. I currently live in Utah and am working on getting my RN.



I'll start with my parents. My mom lived in poverty because of her parents and the fact that they did drugs and drank. She homed schooled herself and only made it to the 10th grade, she later got her high school diploma and got an associates degree. She considers herself Republican, but I didn't get any of my views from her.



My dad was born into a very religious family, mormons, that's all I'm saying about that. I do not consider myself to be mormon, at all. His family was not wealthy, but they did ok for themselves. He graduated high school and went to a vo-tech to learn autobody repair. He worked for different companies and realized he needed to be his own boss. So, he started his own business. It took a couple of years, but he eventualy became pretty well known.



I consider myself a christian. I believe that abortion should only be allowed in special circumstances, i.e. pregnancy is life-threatening to the mom; rape and incest resulting in a pregnancy. I DO NOT believe in gay marriage. If they want to be gay, so be it, but I do not want to see or hear about it. I whole heartedly believe in the right to bear arms. I myself own 5 guns. All of my views come from my fathers family and my husband, who made me sit down and read the constitution. I've read many books on the founding fathers and what they believed in and stood for. I believe that we control our own destiny and futures.



I just joined the group and am excited to read and debate more.

Traci - posted on 07/22/2009

What we have now sure isn't working...

Jenny - posted on 07/22/2009

I think political parties should be done away with completely. We need to move away from labelling everything and seperating people. We should vote on ideas and individuals to carry them through and do away with the petty politics of it all. Imagine how much better people could get along if there were NO polarizing Republicans or Democrats?

ME - posted on 07/22/2009

I am all for three parties (or more) in our system...Libertarians, Greens, Independents...invite them all to the debates...more ideas, the better, if you ask me!

Traci - posted on 07/21/2009

Yes, Mary, I do know Libertarianism. At heart, that's where I am. The whole prostitution and drugs thing I have a problem with, but I'd be willing to concede that for some REAL free markets and a strictly Constitutional, fiscally responsible gov't. I would feel better on that end of the spectrum than the end we are currently on. I do think that we should get away from policing the world, if for no other reason than we just can't afford it anymore. No welfare, no corporate welfare, no foreign aid. Abortion, however, I don't see eye to eye with Libertarians on because I don't see it as the woman's body only, but also a baby's body. (no need to respond to that anyone...we've been down that road before! LOL :) On schools, I'm not really sure. What we have now obviously isn't working, so I'd be willing to go another route with that, too, I suppose....

I'm somewhere between conservative and libertarian, I guess. :)

Jenny - posted on 07/21/2009

I'm not really sure how I came to my conclusions. I can't think think of anyone growing up that thinks the same as I do. I spent alot of time alone growing up or taking care of my brother. My dad, a mechanic, passed away in a car accident when I was 6. We were raised by a single mom who worked seasonally and lived on EI benefits over the winter, $400 every two weeks. We shared a 2 bdrm. apartment with my mom sleeping on a hide-a-bed couch in our lviing room. This went for 8 years until I moved out at age 16. I dropped out of highschool to move away as I could not stand to live with my mom anywhere. We still only talk once or twice a year, she lives an hour away.





I was a straight A student and always interested in current events. I've always been an avid reader and will read whatever I can get my hands on. I job shadowed at newspapers in high school and wanted to be a journalist. I did drop out of highschool but met the standards by challening the exam later on.





I took one year of Business Admin at college before dropping out to work as an Office Manager/Bookkeepr where I still reside. We made too much to get student loans and not enough to pay for it ourselves so I did not continue with my courses. Now I'm getting the itch to maybe go back into journalism once my kids are a bit older. Crunching numbers is not doing it for me anymore. I need mental stimulation.

ME - posted on 07/21/2009

Yeah...Yeah..CU sucks...I get it...but I went there for Grad School...I was pretty busy writing four 25 page papers each semester and reading 10-15 text books each sememster to pay much attention to football rivalries...lol...In all seriousness tho...I appreciate what you had to say...I deffinately understand better where you are coming from, so thanks for sharing!



Traci...have you ever studied libertarianism...they are fiscal conservatives who don't believe that the government should have so much power, or be so involved in peoples private lives? Their ideas about education are a little off for me, but they have some interesting things to say...

Traci - posted on 07/20/2009

Okay, well.....I grew up in Chicago and the south 'burbs. I never saw my parents talk about politics, much less vote. I don't remember anyone in my family ever voting, to be honest. I would consider them old school democrats, I guess. Blue collar types. The only thing I remember about politics growing up was the whole Clinton scandal and I remember thinking "what an idiot! How do you have the gall to embarass the whole country over something like that!" But I still held pretty liberal views on things such as abortion and guns.



Then came college. I went to a school with a 50% gay population, a big theatre school. That was quite entertaining...you never knew if the guy at the coffee house serving you would be a male that day or a female...As a freshman, we had to take a couple of classes...one was poverty in America. I remember reading all the sob stories about the people in the projects and stuff and I remember my professor trying to make us feel guilty for what we had and how it wasn't their fault they lived where they lived, etc. I knew better though. My dad works in the projects, he deals with it everyday. So I knew the real story and so I didn't fall for all the brainwashing. My parents owned a couple of rental properties in town and one of them was a section 8 property. Well, I knew the kid who lived there from school. And let me tell ya, they were not having a problem with money...he always came to school with gold chains on and all his designer clothes, meanwhile the taxpayers were paying a portion of his rent every month. And you should have seen what they did to the place!!! I can't imagine dogs feeling comfortable there, it was so disgusting!!! At school I saw most of the kids getting their free or reduced lunch and throwing half of it away....another waste of money!



Then I got married and my husband and I lived in Okinawa Japan for a few years. That was great. At that point I still didn't really have a political identity, so to speak, but still held fairly liberal views. I remember during the 2000 election not thinking there was a real difference between GWB and Gore. My friend told me that if you're in the military, you gotta be a Republican, they are better for us. But I remember arguing about issues with others over there....Then 9-11 happened. It was night time over there for us, and I was scared silly! My husband and I were just laying down to bed and we got the call. He, of course, got called into work and to top it off, it was the middle of a typhoon! After that I became a little more interested in world events.



I've all told you the stories of what my husband has seen as a cop. The joke that is welfare and gov't programs....how towns can change in just a few short years....etc. All of my experiences have shown me that programs do nothing but enable. They enable fathers to leave their families, people to do drugs, people to game the system, etc. It's not the exception, it's the norm. I've seen it happen too many times with my own eyes...just last week I was at the grocery store and the people in front of me bought their groceries with their Hoosier card and then they paid cash for their beer. I see it all the time!!! I betcha they smoke, too.



Once I had my daughter I really started to delve into which party stands for what. Once I did, I realized that I was more conservative, a Republican. Now I'm pretty much sure that both parties are up to no good. They each may have a couple that are fair and their hearts are in the right place, but I've grown way more cynical over the past couple of years. That's why I consider my self to be conservative, but not necessarily Republican. The parties are an illusion, for the most part. Of course, elections have consequences, but if one party gets too much control, things go to hell in a handbasket, and when the pendulum swings back the other way, the same happens.

As much as I disagree with liberal ideas, I think it's best when there isn't one party rule, nothing good ever comes from it.

Politicians forget they work for us. All of us. Not black people. Not white people. Not religious people. Not environmentalists. Not men. Not women. The American people. What they've done is they put us into focus groups and they'll tell one group of people one thing and get them all riled up about how the other group is screwing them. They do the same to the other group. It's all very Orwellian. 'Keep people fighting amongst themselves while we (the politicians) sit back and laugh about it all and make ourselves and our friends rich'



The more I hear Ron Paul and his ideas, the more I like him! Too bad he's an anti Semite.... If we got back to the Constitution and what our founders envisioned, we'd be a lot better off, in my opinion...no welfare, be it corporate or otherwise...no withholdings from our checks (that was pretty sneaky wasn't it? You think taxes would be so high if everyone had to fork over a check every year? Hell no they wouldn't be! These fools think they're getting a refund at the end of the year!) The closer we adhere to the Constitution, the better!





I think we've got an interesting little group here with which to talk about things and I think it's a shame that things get so ugly from time to time. I don't have any preconceptions that I'm going to change someone's mind...just know that my mind isn't going to be easily changed either...no matter what kinds of names get tossed out there! LOL