If your parents are Tory, did that make you a socialist?

[espadrille]

Following on from the Ageing lefties in denial thread, I got to think about what influenced me to be a LIb Dem. Both my parents were socialist and I always remember being told what newspapers I should and shouldn't read when I got older. I didn't like the idea of being told that so I rebelled and bought the Daily Mail!!

 

I grew up in the 80s and was influenced by Conservatism in those days having a good job I had a chance to buy my own house.This was alien to my parents who never considered the idea that anyone in our family would have a house, a car , holidays abroad and read the Daily Mail!!!

 

As I got older I got to know much more about politics but still consider myself to be right of centre but identify with most of what The Lib Dems stand for.

So if you were brought up in a Tory household, how did that influence you. Or did you disengage with politics altogether?

[Wildcat]

One parent was a Tory the other Labour.

 

Thatcher taught both of them to never trust the Tories again, when my Dad's job was sold off to SERCO for a fraction of what it was worth.

[Stoatwobbler]

My parents were staunch Enoch Powell supporters.

 

Needless to say I have rejected that worldview. Getting some life experience is all you need to discover that sort of right wingery is a load of old rubbish.

[pininsho]

One a working class tory, the other a union man who had no idea why he was part of a union, he just was because all his co workers were and it seemed to be the right thing to do. They both believed in home ownership and absolutely never rent anything or borrow anything except for the money for the mortgage on their house.

They were both firm believers in personal responsibility and not relying on anybody else, especially not the state, for looking after them unless absolutely necessary.

[espadrille]

Interesting that , having one parent with one set of views and the other parent with another.

I always felt that although my Mum was and is a socialist voter a lot of her views about work and responsibility are conservative.

[Ms Macbeth]

My father was a conservative from a professional background, but politics were never really discussed at home. He died when I was 17 so I didn't get the chance to talk to him as an adult. My mother's father and three of her brothers worked in printing, and were in trade unions, and at one time, one brother was in the communist party.

 

Like pininsho's parents: 'mine were both firm believers in personal responsibility and not relying on anybody else, especially not the state, for looking after them unless absolutely necessary.' They didn't do debt - but that included a mortgage unfortunately - they rented privately all their lives.

 

I've never been allied to any political party, as I've never found one whose tenets I fully agree with. I'm more open minded than my parents, but I think that's a generational thing as I've been made much more aware of the world due to constantly expanding media, life experiences etc.

[pininsho]

Interesting that , having one parent with one set of views and the other parent with another.

I always felt that although my Mum was and is a socialist voter a lot of her views about work and responsibility are conservative.

 

What views about work are conservative and what are socialist?

[espadrille]

I was perhaps generalising a bit there but my Mum is always getting annoyed ( aged 85) when she hears about some people getting benefits and hand outs for nothing and as they both had the work ethic it was about taking personal responsibility and asking for nothing unless you were very desperate.

She does think that we should crack down on red-tape and beurocracy and that always seemed to me to be something that socialists seem to believe in.

She agreed with national service and believed in the power of the family to stick together and bring up their children without relying on the state.She never had any child benefit as in those days she could not claim it.

[pininsho]

I was perhaps generalising a bit there but my Mum is always getting annoyed ( aged 85) when she hears about some people getting benefits and hand outs for nothing and as they both had the work ethic it was about taking personal responsibility and asking for nothing unless you were very desperate.

She does think that we should crack down on red-tape and beurocracy and that always seemed to me to be something that socialists seem to believe in.

She agreed with national service and believed in the power of the family to stick together and bring up their children without relying on the state.She never had any child benefit as in those days she could not claim it.

 

So with that understanding, how does conservatism differ from socialism regarding people's attitude towards work?

[Mecky]

I've heard of parents taking their kids (18+) along to the polling station and making them vote Tory otherwise they'd be written out of the will.