Over at Free As Trees there is an interesting discussion about Kara’s relationship with her Grandparents and how the political chasm between her and them is growing. She concludes that for a variety of reasons - largely personal experience - you will just never see eye to eye with some people (don’t mean to overly simplify things here - I realise I haven’t done you justice Kara).
It got me thinking about my relationship with my Grandparents. I’ve always been particularly close to them. They used to take me up to Torquay every weekend until my brother an sister were born at which point we started alternating. There getting on now - both 86 - but they are also both still pretty sharp. The thought of them going kills me.
But I digress. As I’ve grown up I’ve become increasingly political. My Grandparents have always voted Liberal and are mostly very socially conservative. They used to just dismiss my opinions as an echo chamber of my parents (big call coming from the man who used to stand over my mother’s shoulder to make sure she voted Liberal).
What I find now is that if you discuss issues that are in the news then there is a knee jerk reaction and we are at polar opposites. But if you delve a little deeper your not. These people were brought up in an era of big government and Kyensian economics. My grandfather loaths privately owned utilities and thinks education should be free. My point is that you have to get a little deeper because the current political discourse is so shallow and so divisive.
Moreover, if you actually break an issue down and related it to personal experience then it is possible to reach people that should be at such polar opposites. It’s not always easy and not always possible. I suspect that because I have such a rich relationship with my grandparents (hell my blind Grandma insisted on me taking her for a ride on my motorbike) that this is possible. Unfortunately they both still vote liberal, but come to think of it my grandfather did consider voting against Kennet in the election Kennet lost.
