When I was very young, I did not question my parent’s political views. I really had no interest in politics, as I had no idea how they impacted our lives. But once I started learning about the process of governments and politics in junior high school, I realized that I had a lot of empathy for the people who were living in poverty through no fault of their own. Sure, I realized that there were a lot of people who abused the system, and a lot of people who chose to live in poverty because they did not want to work, but there are a lot of people who are living in poverty through no fault of their own.

What dismayed me about my parent’s political views was that they truly believed that all of the people that live in poverty are living in poverty because that is how they WANT to live. There is nothing I can say or do to convince them otherwise. And even though they have been running their own business for the past fifteen years, and have always complained that business is terrible and losing money, they have suddenly decided that it has only been since the last Presidential election that their business went sour. And somehow they have become convinced that if President Obama is re-elected that they will lose their business and their house, almost immediately upon the announcement of the election results.  They are already planning to claim bankruptcy if he is re-elected! If I ask them for details on how that works, they do not answer.

Politics and families can be so frustrating!