It's a political theory that people in the same family share the same political beliefs. Parents who exhibit strong political beliefs are more likely to subliminally push their ideals onto their children, while it's a free for all for children whose parents don't really share their beliefs. How close the child is to their parent also plays a large role. The sense of belonging is a human need and we try our best to fit in with others by mirroring the beliefs of the people around us.
I see this theory come into play in the lives of my friends and even my own.
My friend's parents are Republican, but not to the extent where they talk about politics every day. We'll call this friend Julie. Julie is very close to her parents since she's an only child and they have similar hobbies and opinions. Unsurprisingly, she also is a Republican. That didn't really come as a shock to me since Julie has no siblings to influence her to believe in a different party. Then I thought about how siblings play a role.
My other friend (we'll call him Richie) is one of seven siblings and his family is all over the political spectrum. His parents are also Republicans and so is he. His sister is a strong Democrat, which confused me for a moment. Then he said that his sister spends more time with her friends than she does at home which made everything come together. She's more likely to align herself with the people she spends the most times with.
Parents aren't the end-all, be-all when it comes to political alignment.
Personally, my parents don't really talk about politics. They don't really keep up with all the news and are more involved with the politics in our home country (which is also a mess) than American politics. They're Republicans and I didn't know that until the 2016 elections. Ever since then, I tried my best not to talk about politics with them since I know it'll just end up in a huge argument, but with all the abortion reforms in the news talking about it was inevitable. I wasn't surprised when they said they were pro-life. The Philippines is an extremely religious country and being a Republican just pushed them more towards the pro-life side. Since my parents didn't really share their political beliefs, it was a coin toss to which party I would side with. I personally see myself as a Democrat and pro-choice. Talking about the abortion laws passed in Alabama was an eye-opener for me. It took a lot for me to try to understand their side on the laws passed, but I just couldn't. It made me realize that we don't always have to come to a compromise in relation to arguments.
Although it would be nice to be able to agree, politics just doesn't work that way.
Personally, I was extremely disappointed with what was happening in Alabama. I felt that gun control should've been the issue that the government should be focused on and not abortion. Making abortion illegal just forces the women to go to other states or do it unsafely which is just a detriment in general. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and it's fine to disagree, but understanding the other side makes your argument better. If you want to help Planned Parenthood, here's a link that will show you how.
