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Man Facebook memories is a trip. 10 years ago I was a raving right wing nutjob. Looking at the shit I said about the Federal Election then, I seriously had the urge to block myself... it's interesting to think about how I so drastically changed my world view in that time.
Background: My dad was (and still is) a staunch Liberal. Loved Howard. Despises Labor. Believes the Greens are worse than Stalin and Hitler combined. We grew up in upper class Kenmore, on a 1/4 acre block, Dad a specialist doctor in private practice. Privilege? Plenty.
So I basically absorbed all of that, like many people do, and just parroted his beliefs. Having lived in a privileged area, with similarly privileged friends, nothing ever really challenged that view.
As an adult I of course came across some diversity of views, but not enough to challenge my beliefs, and I took on Dad's debating technique...basically, I'm right, and if you don't agree with me you're a complete idiot. So yeah, I was fun to have discussions with...
A few things began to change in my 30s, but it all cascaded in 2015. It started with my eldest, then 10 years old, who was showing all the signs of significant anxiety. Having exhausted most causes, school was the focus. "But Mr 6 is fine" I thought so it's Mr 10's problem...
Then Mr 6 started having similar anxiety issues.
It dawned on us that maybe the school system is contributing? We looked at alternatives around the world and we're like, maybe this is it? Then we found so many other parents struggling the same way.
It dawned on us that maybe the school system is contributing? We looked at alternatives around the world and we're like, maybe this is it? Then we found so many other parents struggling the same way.
So that challenged my belief that it's up to individuals. If there's a problem it's your fault, not the system. But...maybe it's the system? First domino to fall.
I also believed unemployed people were that way for their own failures. No decent hard working person would ever lose a job. IR law was unfairly biased towards workers and businesses needed less red tape...
Then I got made redundant...circumstances around it were particularly painful, not least that the company was owned and run by Labor folks. So people who believed IR laws were against workers treated workers with disdain... righto... second domino to fall.
And the biggest hit was when my brother died. He'd had a hard life. His mum (who died the day before I lost my job, and which the boss mentioned while telling me I was no longer required, c*nt) and my dad divorced while he was a teenager. He turned to drugs and alcohol.
He made a bad choice, and bad choices led to other bad choices. This was in Joh era QLD. He was persecuted. Police entrapped him, stalked him, bashed him, arrested him. Repeatedly. In and out of jail, and in and out of contact with criminals. An overdose on LSD fried his brain.
A life then spent on disability support and in public housing, with severe mental illness. A life that could have been so different with support instead of being treated like a criminal. Dead at 53 from emphysema. Law and order? Fuck off. It's cruelty and persecution.
So that was the third domino to fall. As a result I started questioning everything. About climate, about economics, about social justice, about Indigenous treatment, about gender equity, about marriage equality. It all changed.
When I see things I said from back then, things I believed, I cringe. I don't hate the person I used to be - it's led to who I am now. But I'm embarrassed about how I treated people during that time, particularly anyone who "thought differently" to me. And I try to be better.
I don't therefore judge people who hold views like I used to hold. But when I engage with them, I think of the people who engaged with me the same way and just think "I'm so sorry" 
Anyway, if you read this far you really care more about my story than I thought anyone would. Kudos to you. For me it's just an interesting way to reflect on what formed my views, but also what formed my dad's .
Dad has always said to me "the biggest evil on earth is greed and selfishness". So now I struggle to understand why he supports an ideology that is all about the individual ahead of the collective. That is, in its nature, greed.
But I remember he was born in 1930. He grew up during World War 2, and his young adult life was the start of the Cold War. His whole adult life was filled with propaganda about capitalism being the saviour against socialism/communism. It's through that lens he raised me.
We are all shaped by our own and our parents' upbringing, and while we can be embarrassed sometimes to look back, it's important to do it and remember the moments and incidents that influenced your life.
/End. Honest.
/End. Honest.
