politics are weird

[schmerica]

My friends list reaction to the DNC is freaking me a little. I mean, not you people yourself, more -- apparently there are still kneejerk reactions I didn't even know I had, which disturbs me.

The thing is, you know, I grew up in a household that spoke about Democrats the same ways my flist speaks about Republicans. (Like, seriously. There are some posts I've read that I could copy and paste into early childhood memories of my dad. Which gets into completely seperate issues I have about personal-and-non-personal stuff and what it means to be a decent person, but that's a whole nother issue.)

Anyway, last election I was a sophomore in high school, so I was still living at home, and even though my politics were *already* way different than my family's (I identified as a feminist, for god's sakes! That alone could brand me a crazy radical, let alone some of the stuff I think now), there was still, I guess, that atmosphere.

I mean. I didn't know people *liked* Bill Clinton! (My parents both voted against him -- not necessarily for anybody else, but *against him*, the way so many people are going to do for W in the fall.)

None of this should be a surprise to me -- I've spent most of time, online and real life, among left-leaning people since I went off to college -- but it still just hits me anew sometimes and I have to go back and sort through my deprogramming.

I'm not sure if this entry entirely makes sense outside my head, but ah well.

Comments

[hobbledehoy.livejournal.com]

i was always so shocked in elementary school about your republicanism. . . just.didn't.understand.

had no overall understanding of politics at that time either. but didn't.understand.

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

Hee. Little elementary school me didn't understand why *everybody* wasn't Republican!

[hobbledehoy.livejournal.com]

(grin) oh, wee erica. why were we debating abortion in fifth grade? i still remember my complete bafflement over that conversation.

at my family's easter celebration, cubbie and i overheard them discussing why parent-permissed beating in schools was a good thing - because the school full of children whose parents had allowed the beatings would be full of the "good kids" who wouldn't need to be beaten anyway. and. . . what the fuck? i spoke up that i wouldn't allow my parents to sign that permission slip (because i always made sure to know what was going on permissionwise) and they just brushed me off. but the conversation stopped there.

that falls under the wtf?!^^ category.

[dsudis.livejournal.com]

In my (Catholic) elementary school, we held a mock vote in 1988, for the Bush-Dukakis election, and Bush won 12-1. We all promptly figured out that the lone Dem in the class was the girl who lived across the street from me - her dad was in a union of some sort, and she said her parents were Democrats and therefore so was she. We all thought this was bizarre and that she was possibly in need of saving.

Oh, how times change.

[hobbledehoy.livejournal.com]

(smile) i remember sitting in music class and being informed that clinton had won his first election and being sooo happy. but again, not understanding why.