Are political leanings all in the genes?

[Swimmy]

I don't know, she's a little too conservative for me.

[Swimmy]

I have a tough time believing that i'm conservative merely because my genes programmed me to be. When mankind first walked the earth, there was no such thing as political party idealism.

I remember discussing the dilemma about whether a criminal can truly be responsible for his crimes. Either he's pre-programmed to commit them, or the environment he grew up in taught him to be a criminal. If it's genetics, the criminal cannot be held responsible because he is pre-programmed to behave that way and has no ability to control that programming. This was the consensus of my philosophy of law class. I'd feel more comfortable believing that I am who I am as a result of my environment because it gives me more control over my life and my destiny.

[thelma]

swimmy said:

So then you would agree that political leanings are not based on your genetic predisposition?

Exactly!

My upbringing of the values I was taught took priority over the deceit and back stabbing associated with politics.

[thelma]

swimmy said:

I thought it was 40 yrs, not 30.

Nope - it was 30 years ago (when Hanna was Mayor).

Most of the people, plus my EXfinancee, have all passed away or just given up on politics like I did.

[Swimmy]

No, I mean I thought the rule was that 40 years needed to pass before the "behind the scenes" story would be revealed.

[frankcor]

That's just the suggested guideline, swimmy. The actual rule is 30 years.

::snarf::

Ignore swimmy, Thelma. Just once, I'm begging you, don't shut up! DISH SOME DIRT!

[Swimmy]

Hey, I'm all up for her dishing dirt. I just thought it was 40, not 30. I stand corrected.

[frankcor]

Sheesh, you're making me feel guilty now. I made that up! LOL

[Swimmy]

See what happens when you make things up? lol. And I thought you were serious. hahahahaha. Don't feel guilty.

[rrogers40]

concerned said:

rrogers40 said:

As a strict functionalist (what ever that means) my answer is always environment over genetics. Take Japanese children who are raised by Americans, in America. They tend to be taller than their counterparts over in Japan.

Kind of like the theory on how the giraff got such a long neck...Lamarck

Yep- close enough. And the only way you can get closer is to say that genetics plays a role (which I'm not saying )

[kim]

frankcor said:

On my 18th birthday, as I was rushing out the door to register for the draft and for voting, I asked my mom "Should I register Republican or Democrat?"

She said "If you want a county job, you have to be a Republican."

Hey! My mother said that same thing! She registered as a Republican, although she tends to vote Democrat, because she had a county job. My question is, why would the county know? Aren't these things supposed to be private?

I'm registered as an Independent. Never saw a point in registering for a specific party as I'm always going to vote for the person I think will do the best job.

[Swimmy]

Your voter registration is not private. In fact, I could go to the Board of Elections and request to look up voter registrations.

How you vote is private.

[kim]

You know, I knew that. LOL! It's too early and I must have lost my mind when I posted the above.

[Swimmy]

It happens. It's a monday, and if you didn't already have that going against you, it's the Monday after the Super Bowl. To make matters worse for people today, the Giants made an amazing underdog victory that stunned the patriots. You're entitled to have your brain focusing on "other" things right now. lol.

:-)

[kim]

Or it might have been the beer, wings and cheesesticks from last night! ;-)