(27 May 2014, 8:03 pm)aureolin wrote The only political conversations I really had as a youngster were that you had to vote Labour, and that you're never to cross a picket line.
Didn't even get that.
Despite family members being out in 84, it was never discussed in front of us - phone calls or chats, only ever happened when we were encouraged to play outside or go and play in our rooms. Only recently have a couple of older cousins brought it up - probably to do with anniversary's.
Despite my Dad harbouring middle class ambitions (Bob and Thelma = my folks), they left anything such as religion or political beliefs entirely up to us.
Both parents were brought up as religious -
but they never forced anything like that on us at all.
(27 May 2014, 8:03 pm)marxistafozzski wrote Durham Big Meeting always turns into a mighty big piss up whenever I go, plus I am not the kind of person who listens to the speeches, I am sure the speakers are excellen, but I find I get bored too easy and struggle to concentrate on what is being said
old great granny once made me laugh...her opinion on Thatcher was 'I don't condone terrorism, but the IRA should have done a better job in blowing the horrible bitch to Kingdom come', but that women was very bigoted according to my granddad who told me she hated catholics, showed support for people like Enoch Powell was against immigration and thought nothing of using words like n****r or p**i.
My introduction to politics is pretty simple it has been drilled into me that my roots are with the Labour Movement, my ancestors voted Labour, so I naturally ended up following in the footsteps of my ancestors, also when I was 16 I met Arthur Scargill and that man put me off politics for years, he tried to get me to join the Young Socialists and pretty much talked down to me when I told I was not interested in politics at that time
Whether they are like that by intention or not, I found a lot of older people have opinions of someone who is different - regardless of their underlying religious or political views.
I find it quite funny when my 94yr old Grandma comes out with something about a foreigner.
My eldest was shocked beyond belief when he heard her come out with something over Christmas, probably with him being from a much younger, more politically correct generation. He often corrects my Dad, if something un-pc slips out.
I would go as far as saying several of us on the forum are probably of the generation that saw changes in words and language (what may have been acceptable when we were younger, isn't now), whilst my eldest and some of the younger ones on the forum, are of a generation that doesn't use those words or language.