Why did I, a cis straight white GenX man raised in the suburbs, not turn into a huge MAGAt? I'll try to break it down somewhat succinctly and if I appear to "virtue signal," well, too fucking bad I guess.
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1. I was raised by boomers who, though they had their generational and personal faults, were basically nice and respectful people. And what's more, even if they failed to live up to them, they believed in the ideas of the civil rights movement. I'm not going to say "my parents weren't racist!" -
- FOH with that. Almost everyone is racist and sexist, they just don't admit or look deeply enough at their own behavior - but my folks knew those things were wrong and false and mostly passed it on to me.
2. My family was politically very tuned in, and we talked about politics a LOT.
So even around the family dinner table, you were expected to know and have an opinion on the issues of the day. Radio, TV, newspapers, all were still reliable enough then that you had SOME understanding of WTF was going on and how it could affect you.
Holocaust survivors placed a high survival priority on current events and information. My dad and mom were college students and/or graduates, and through osmosis alone I learned how critical information was.
3. Growing up in a mixed neighborhood and/or school system. Kids of many colors and faiths.
4. Amazing history and civics teachers. We learned many of the ways America fell short of its promise. How we nearly destroyed ourselves several times. How it was no coincidence that almost all POTUS were WASPs with short last names and tall statures. "Liberal indoctrination" - i.e. TRUTH.
5. Progressive Judaism. Truthfully, my father was the one who taught this more than any Hebrew school or synagogue. That Jews needed to care about social justice because almost no one was there for us and because the tradition demanded it, even with its mixed or confusing messages in places.
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2. My family was politically very tuned in, and we talked about politics a LOT.
3. Growing up in a mixed neighborhood and/or school system. Kids of many colors and faiths.