Poll: For DUers 50 and Older.

[RagAss]

Who Taught you more about Politics ?

[kimmerspixelated]

1. I'd vote for "other"

That is, if I could.

[petersjo02]

2. None of the above.

[Demeter]

10. Ditto--and It Wasn't the Media, Either.

[Winterblues]

28. Actually for me it was the Media that got me involved.

My first political thought came about when Mario Salvio held the first Sit In at Berkely in 1965. Up until then I was not active at all and didn't really concern myself with those sorts of things. It was sort of the beginning of my Hippie outlook and I was also approaching draft age.

[Journeyman]

3. I am self-taught. . .

(as are we all) . . .

[Tempest]

4. My folks

They were conservative and my dad was Archie Bunker (I swear to Dog).

Out of 10 kids, eight of us turned out to be liberal, thanks in large part to my father's bigotry, narrow mindedness and intolerance.

[CTyankee]

5. Initially, my mother and father but as I progressed it was Current Events.

Witnessing MLK was an educational eye opener for me in segregated Texas.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

6. None of the above, unfortunately...

My parents, while I was growing up, were Republicans...:P

[EFerrari]

7. My mom was a rebel. n/t

[bullimiami]

8. Laugh In and then SNL

[mike_c]

9. none of the above....

Richard Nixon.

[dixiegrrrrl]

42. Ditto. Him and Kissinger.

And the Smothers Bros. later, George Carlin, Daniel Ellsberg, and mostly, G.B. Trudeau!

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

11. Dad. (Edit: I'm not yet 50, but what the hell.)

With a very short and precise explanation on why Brazil wasn't a democracy (US-backed military dictatorship like most of Latin America at the time). I went on to check other sources and come to the conclusion he was right, to my horror.

I was 11 or 12.

[SeattleGirl]

12. High school social studies teacher

He had us for a Senate and House of Representatives, run campaigns, etc. It was quite a lot of fun, and I learned a lot from that class.

[RagAss]

13. Andy....he taught me that 70% of Americans will believe anything.

[End Of The Road]

14. Vietnam, Watergate, Iran-Contra... to name a few n/t

[madmax]

22. Oh hell yeah.

However, my education began at Mom's knee. Mom came here from Portugal at the age of 13 and began to work in factories. The New Deal, FDR, Unionizing was first hand knowledge my Mom experienced and talked about.

Thanks, Mom. I think of you everyday.

[Overseas]

36. True for me too. And living overseas for almost half my life. //nt

[DailyGrind51]

15. Watching the '68 Presidential Campaign and the Watergate Hearings.

[H2O Man]

16. Tie

My parents often discussed politics, and I learned a great deal from them. And I had some very talented high school teachers, and learned a lot from them, as well. From your three choices, I'd put those two at the top. I'm not really familiar with the other choice, or am too feeble-minded to recall.

Still, the majority of my learning in those days was the result of conversations with my two older brothers, and the large amount of reading that I did.

[damntexdem]

17. None of the above.

The movements of the 60s.

[mnhtnbb]

18. None of the above. My parents were Rockefeller Republicans

who revered Ronald Reagan and my mother actually had hung a photo of him on the kitchen wall.

I learned about politics from life and following my heart.

[Mac1949]

19. My father was an old-line Democrat and Union member

in New York State. I remember going with him when I was little to Union meetings and the occasional civil rights demonstration (when he was sure it would be safe). I learned critical thinking from him and his friends as well as how to spot shady deals from shadier people. That's why I am as I am. :dem:

[H2O Man]

24. Interesting.

Though my father was born in NJ, his family moved to NY when he was little. The extended family were all railroaders, and union activists as well. Dad and the others were all FDR Democrats, and thought the world of Leland Olds. Your post reminded me that I should have included that in my earlier post.

My father always reminded me to be aware of what the establishment did to Olds.

[liberaltrucker]

20. High School civics teacher

Yes, they taught civics in rural Alabama in the late 1960's.
:wow:

[peacefreak]

21. Uncle Walter.

CBS News brought VietNam into our home at dinner time. He was also the person who announced JFK's death. My politics were formed by watching kids my age get beaten in Chicago. They were formed by MLK's death. The news really was THE NEWS, not some soft ball propaganda that passes for news today.

[asdjrocky]

23. Howard Zinn. nt

[edbermac]

25. Pat Paulsen

A man years ahead of his time.



"All the problems we face in the United States today can be traced to an unenlightened immigration policy on the part of the American Indian."

On the Miranda warning: "Why should we tell kidnappers, murderers, and embezzlers their rights? If they don't know their rights, they shouldn't be in the business."

"A good many people feel that our present draft laws are unjust. These people are called soldiers."

Presidential campaign slogan: "I've upped my standards. Now, up yours."

Presidential campaign slogan: "If elected, I will win."

"Marijuana should be licensed and kept out of the hands of teenagers. It's too good for them."

When asked if he believed in the right to bear arms: "No, I believe in the right to arm bears."

On network censorship: "I feel proud to be living in a country where people are not afraid to laugh at themselves and where political satire is tolerated by the government, if not the television network."

On network censorship: "Censorship does not interfere with the constitutional rights of every American to sit alone in a dark room in the nude and cuss. There are realistic taboos, especially regarding political comments. Our leaders were not elected to be tittered at. For example, we're allowed to say Ronald Reagan is a lousy actor, but we're not allowed to say he's a lousy governor—which is ridiculous. We know he's a good actor. And we're not allowed to make fun of President 'Johnson'. But if we praise him, who would believe it?"

On his political affiliation: "I belong to the Straight Talking American Government Party, or STAG Party for short."

[defendandprotect]

26. Probably Richard Carlin . . . c-span, my library --

[DevonRex]

27. None of the above. I learned from experience to believe the exact opposite of my parents

and social studies teacher.

[county worker]

29. In 1963 our social studies text book was titled "The Common Good"

I learned a lot that year. Most important was the death of John Kenedy but also I learned about the invisible poor. I have never forgotten those two things.

[IDemo]

30. Other - Art Buchwald

[Fire1]

31. Life. n/t

[Davis_X_Machina]

32. Two union members...each the child of two union members.

Mom was blacklisted out of a job at State in the '50's. Dad, a veteran, spent his life in urban schools. The Jesuits did the rest.

Wasn't much to learn after that. Not too many fights about the 'what' -- just arguments about the 'how'.

[Fire1]

33. Dupe. sorry.

[DFLforever]

34. Other:

first, my maternal uncle,

than my father.

But I grew up in at the time when politics were discussed daily in the American home.

[TheKentuckian]

35. Why do you have to be fifty to have gotten value from Kaufman?

[nevergiveup]

37. My dad was an Eisenhower Republican

and my mother was a Roosevelt Democrat and there was little political discussion at the dinner table. My favorite social studies teacher took several of us in 1960 to see John Kennedy (Springfield, Ill. Armory) and Richard Nixon (cornfield near Quincy, Ill.) but I don't recall the teacher's politics. The trip to see Kennedy was exciting beyond words and certainly peaked my interest in politics. I remember details even though it was 50 years ago.

[Bluenorthwest]

38. this is interesting to me because all three choices

have given me cookies and milk. Life is a mystery.

[PDJane]

39. Self-taught here too.

my father was an equal-opportunity bigot. He hated everyone equally, regardless of race, creed or colour. He wasn't fond of his children nor his wife, either.

However, in my late teens I went to work for what was then lands and forests, and a report came across my desk about Bloody Run Creek and the Love Canal....and the probability of leakage. That started me on my merry way.

[Donnachaidh]

40. my college social studies professor was pretty damned good too

He was a cross between Groucho Marx, George Carlin and a meth addict when he got fired up. He had a passion that made him literally bang on the chalkboards and dance around the room - especially when he got the rest of us fired up. And he was a liberal with a capital "L". What energy!

[HarveyDarkey]

41. Where's "none of the above"?

Being teargassed in Chicago in 1968 as a page at the Democratic Party convention radicalized my world view forever.

[Historic NY]

43. my uncle an elected Democrat 42yrs. in a Republican town.

[Kaleva]

44. other-self taught

[MineralMan]

45. Other: Reading dozens and dozens of books.