My Leftist Son....! ? !

[Grundy1133]

disown him... ;)

[LDB415]

I'm taking an Ethics course right now as a requirement for a degree because I'm changing careers. I'm struggling to go to it because so far my professor has stated that, "one reason for the birth of philosophy is because of slavery. And that because of slavery, rich white people were allowed to sit around and think." Therefore, Socrates and Plato, etc. only deserve partial credit. Also that she recognizes that she is white and that she has certain privileges that comes with whiteness, but hates that she is white. Every assignment I'm turning in is written as a liberal. I find it very difficult to do for many reasons. The main reason is I think I'm being a bit cowardly. However, I want to pass the class and my professor is so far gone from reality that even if I wrote what I really believe, it would have no impact on influencing her beliefs. That and I do believe that honesty on my part would result in bias and a lower grade. I fear the day my children go to college.

Maybe you can write a second version the sensible way and at the end of the course after grades are posted and done give them all to her.

[OneGun]

I know what worked in our house. When my oldest was in High School, I got the money is not everything speech, doesn't buy happiness, blah, blah, blah. When he graduated A&M, I told him that I closed his Bank of Dad account! He got a job, he's on his own! Guess what happened? He's "thrifty", unless it is something he wants. Money may not be everything, but it sure got him is new truck, his expensive racing bikes, his fancy watches, etc. Need I say anymore. Your son will come around when you cut the financial cord.

[dale blanker]

It sounds like OP's son has been overly affected by the Florida shooting and with some faculty and/or peers. He's been away and gotten bomb blasted with a lot "weirdness" (as the OP calls it). He needs some time to settle down around home and think and talk some more. If I were the OP, I would not be so concerned about his son's apparent misguided politics as with his core values such as morals, ethics, faith, honesty, integrity, and, of course, respect for mom and dad. Talk respectfully to him. If the core values are there the politics will follow.

[s3779m]

For far too many young kids today, the only conservative voice they hear is from their parents. Teachers, news media, peers, friends, co-workers, movies, ect. all tend to be liberal and demanding. Our kids are out there on a conservative island in a sea of liberalism. Give him time, the world is changing and liberalism will be exposed to be the lie that it is, lies are always exposed. In a short time your son will see liberals for what they are. After all, A&M don't graduate dummies.

[The Annoyed Man]

For far too many young kids today, the only conservative voice they hear is from their parents. Teachers, news media, peers, friends, co-workers, movies, ect. all tend to be liberal and demanding. Our kids are out there on a conservative island in a sea of liberalism. Give him time, the world is changing and liberalism will be exposed to be the lie that it is, lies are always exposed. In a short time your son will see liberals for what they are. After all, A&M don't graduate dummies.

You don’t have to wait until “some day”. The liberal lie is continuously being exposed, because it fails every single minute. The problems are that:

(A) most liberals refuse to learn the lessons of history, even recent history (i.e. Venezuela, for instance);

(B) PT Barnum was correct when he allegedly said “there’s a sucker born every minute”, such that even if a liberal gets mugged - either literally, or figuratively mugged by life - and becomes a conservative or libertarian, there’s a new useful idiot born every minute who’ll come along and swallow the liberal lie, hook, line, and sinker; and

(C) there’s two new useful idiots born every minute for every one liberal who gets mugged into conservatism or libertarianism.

Human beings are inherently lazy. Period. They only become industrious and productive if it beats the alternative. When mom and dad’s fountain of industriousness and productiveness is cut off from their children, THEN the children will be about doing their own industriousness and productiveness. Not before. Call this TAM’s First Law of Econodynamics. It explains both the macro of generational dependence on the public dole, and the micro of the fiscal fecklessness of children.

[Middle Age Russ]

Human beings are inherently lazy. Period. They only become industrious and productive if it beats the alternative. When mom and dad’s fountain of industriousness and productiveness is cut off from their children, THEN the children will be about doing their own industriousness and productiveness. Not before. Call this TAM’s First Law of Econodynamics. It explains both the macro of generational dependence on the public dole, and the micro of the fiscal fecklessness of children.

The possible illustrations of human laziness are manifold, and in a world where the reasonableness of self-reliance has given way to the insanity of "you didn't make that" the examples will only become more numerous. We live in interesting times -- oddly dangerous too since all the Left's social re-engineering should have given us utopia by now (IF their ideas really had merit given base human tendencies).

[DocV]

Thank you all for your words, experiences, advice, and stories. It seems I am not alone.

I've summoned him home for the weekend, to "talk about life" 62 days ahead of his graduation and next steps in the world. I even sent him an email outlining the agenda of conversations I want to have. As I shared my plans with a dear friend, my friend replied "you'd be doing him a disservice to not share your feelings....you KNOW your father would have done the same".

I'll come from a position of love, experience, and at this point, at lease partial financial investor in his future.

A prayer or two for wisdom and patience would be appreciated. No names needed, God knows who we are.

Good Luck Pop!

[twomillenium]

It is not uncommon for young folks to have liberal tendencies, when their brain fully develops and the can think logically and for themselves they turn conservative. The more development of their common sense, the more conservative they become. Alas, many folks live their whole lives with underdeveloped brains and very little common sense.

[dale blanker]

Human beings are inherently lazy. Period. They only become industrious and productive if it beats the alternative.

I've seen it mentioned many times about mankind being naturally lazy but still don't believe it. I think the problem is that we are too smart and require some motivation to get going. Once motivated or inspired we're willing to work especially if it's interesting and/or satisfying.

Did you happen to see the recent Olympics?

I'm thinking of everyone I really know and cannot name anyone who I would call a lazy person. In my own case, I do procrastinate if something is boring but if it's interesting I work long and hard, sometimes only solving a problem with little or no reward. We have done a fair amount of volunteering.

Fun for us is seeing the grandkids, sailing, bicycling, or square dancing - all requiring considerable energy.

Inspiration or motivation is needed.

[Syntyr]

My son went from being a conservative to being a libertarian. He’s never known what it is to be a liberal - other than by observation of others.

[/quote]

One of the best days in my life was taking my grandfather to vote in the 1980 election. He was legally blind so I always helped him. It was my first time voting as I had just turned 18 that year. We went and voted and then came home and watched the news broadcasts that day as the results came in. It was awesome to see Ronald Reagan get elected. He was my first vote and I got to do it with my grandpa. Good day.

[Richbirdhunter]

I’d be amazed if this lasted, once he gets a good job, buys a house, starts a family he’ll see the value in what you taught him.

[Dreamer42]

My daughter, now a senior in college at Harding University, was teetering on the brink her senior year in high school. In conversations around the dinner table she'd quote statistics on global warming, and the like. I could almost hear her Environmental Studies teacher as she spoke. Luckily, her conservative college education and several foreign travels have taught her about the real world that the liberal classroom will never accomplish.

[The Annoyed Man]

Human beings are inherently lazy. Period. They only become industrious and productive if it beats the alternative.

I've seen it mentioned many times about mankind being naturally lazy but still don't believe it. I think the problem is that we are too smart and require some motivation to get going. Once motivated or inspired we're willing to work especially if it's interesting and/or satisfying.

Did you happen to see the recent Olympics?

I'm thinking of everyone I really know and cannot name anyone who I would call a lazy person. In my own case, I do procrastinate if something is boring but if it's interesting I work long and hard, sometimes only solving a problem with little or no reward. We have done a fair amount of volunteering.

Fun for us is seeing the grandkids, sailing, bicycling, or square dancing - all requiring considerable energy.

Inspiration or motivation is needed.

Well, my “unless it beats the alternative” is the caveat, isn’t it? The “alternative” can be anything from starvation to boredom. I remember once in an adult psych class being told by the teacher that people work for either of two fundamental reasons: because they (A) are passionate about the work and derive satisfaction from it; or (B) the income earned from the work affords them the opportunity to enjoy the things outside of work they are passionate about and derive satisfaction from doing them. Lucky is the person who both loves his work AND gets paid well enough to also do other things they are passionate about away from work. THAT person isn’t really working, is he? He’s getting WELL paid to have a ball all day long, 7 days a week.

But put that guy in a family with Warren Buffet-type money, where he can have a bottomless trust fund, never HAVE to work a day in his life, and be able to afford anything he wants to do ...... how many like that are going to actually get a regular day job and become productive citizens? I’m more cynical about it than you. I’d bet that 7 out of any 10 such people would pick “leisure” as their career. I’m not saying they wouldn’t do ambitious things - like climb Mt Everest or race Indy cars - but how many would decide to become doctors, or insurance salesmen, or bricklayers, or grave-diggers?

People work when the alternative is starvation. People work when the alternative is total boredom. People work when the alternative is to not be able to do the other things that they love doing. The OP’s son is happy to keep collecting dad’s money so that he can avoid starvation/boredom/etc. If he were naturally industrious, he’d want to have his own income so that he could (A) be independent from dad’s money, and (B) not have to listen to dad’s opinions as the price of getting that money.