I think my child is a socialist?

[brokenheartedbattleostrich]

My son has just turned 15, and recently he has been coming home from school telling me how he has been learning lots about socialism. Since this started happening, we have been arguing nonstop. He doesn't seem to let anything go. Whenever I try to talk about work at the dinner table (in fairness, I am a banker), he can't go 5 minutes without getting angry at me and disrupting the meal. I understand what he is going through, he's not the only one to have a lefty phase - I had mine at university! That being said, I'm worried that he's going down a bad path, and that his behaviour is going to become a real problem. God forbid I take him into waitrose! If anyone has any advice, do share.

Try to encourage reasonable debate, or ban politics from the dinner table.

Maybe get him to read The Righteous Mind, Why Good People Disagree About Politics. I found it most enlightening. Hopefully it will help him out of the tribalism, whereby people think: Left= Good, Right = Bad, or vice versa.

My son helps run the Labour Club at his school and helps local councillors at events and so on.

If you ask him what he wants to do in future, he will tell you he wishes to become an investment banker.

I have no idea what is going on there but I fear he has a conflict in his soul

He’ll grow out of it when he has responsibilities

Very true ...

I thought communism sounded like a good way to run a society at 15 I wouldn’t worry we grow up

Well most of us do

You should be thankful he is just a socialist and not a born again Christian like i was in my teens.

I spent a lot of time and effort exhorting people to see the light and accept Jesus into their heart lest they spend their life in eternal damnation.

I grew out of that one eventually and then became a social worker. There is no hope for me!

A 'lefty phase'?? Dear God. Are you for real OP?? Good on your DS for caring about people!

Oh hebe mumsnet, it was a brief occasion for smiling in a day of gloom. Nevertheless better to move on before fisticuffs break out I suppose.

Capitalism is the only system that works - it’s lifted millions of people out of poverty through hard work and gumption. Socialism has brought us the killing fields in of the Khmer Rouge, (whose leadership ironically benefited from an education in capitalist Paris) the current shit show in venezuela among other “achievements”.

So glad this was a troll! My blood pressure can now return to normal.

Er... good for him?!

Christ alive of all the things... he could be out off his face on drugs, hiding in his room playing computer games all the time, etc etc

But you're worried that hes too engaged with politics...

Wow.

You know he sounds like hes got the type of passion that could lead him to do great things with his life. I only hope my son gives as much of a shit about society as yours does when he gets older.

Oooh it's a troll! I'm very glad lol... I felt very sorry for this (imaginary) boy

My "lefty phase" has lasted 50 years, I must be retarded.

if you are not a conservative by 40 you have no head

Fuck that shit. Capitalism kills millions of people a year, it's just that most of them are poor and brown so we don't care about them.

My 16 year old appears to be quite lefty leaning too. Not sure why it's a bad thing?

Cuba works, it's poor because USA try to break it with sanctions, but still has good life expectancy, health care, low disease, infant mortality rate. Reasonable education, social cohesion, sufficient housing if a bit shabby.
Capitalism is failing, look around you. Kids should question, listen and enquire, don't judge and suppress them.

TaMereAPoilDevantPrisu I don't doubt many people suffer within a capitalist society, however this is dwarfed by the suffering within every communist experiment in history. The people that were deliberately murdered and starved to death in soviet Russia and Mao's China dwarfs the evil perpetrated by the Nazi regime. I personally feel that a left wing bias within the teaching profession accounts for the lack of education of Stalin's atrocities and Mao's cultural revolution. These are just simply not taught. If they were perhaps people would realise how dangerous extreme leftist ideologies are; at least as dangerous, if not more so than those on the right.

The counter that these examples don't represent true communism are invalid. I subscribe to Jordan Peterson's dismantling of this argument in that it is very egotistical. It suggests that individuals know what is true, and how they wouldn't let power go to their heads in the same way other rulers have.

Encourage your son to read up on the dangers of far left ideologies, and how the far left are far from liberal, or libertarian. It's good to be care about others, but living in an echo chamber where you only respect the views of people with similar opinions is very dangerous.

Eight million people die a year from a lack of access to clean water, seven and a half million starve to death, three million die for lack of vaccines, another half a million from malaria. These are all preventable but not profitable. By that reckoning, it could take capitalism five years to rack up communism's total for the 20th century.

Don't forget the Khmer Rouge (we had a conversation about this at the weekend).

Is it a troll?

I think it’s only a good thing when kids begin to learn about other political ideologies, chances are they won’t feel the same way about anything in a few years but it’s good to be exposed to other ways of thinking. It allows them to ask questions, see the good and the bad parts, and then make an informed decision about how they see the world, rather than just parrot what their parents believe.

Most teenagers are far left leaning and draw closer to the centre even if still to the left, as they get older and realism hits some of their ideals. Could be a lot worse, imagine if he was a far right incel!!!!

cuba works, it's poor because USA try to break it with sanctions, but still has good life expectancy, health care, low disease, infant mortality rate. Reasonable education, social cohesion, sufficient housing if a bit shabby.
Capitalism is failing, look around you. Kids should question, listen and enquire, don't judge and suppress them.

The Cuban government has been blaming the US for its ineptitude for decades, if they were that confident why don’t they allow the formation of an opposition party followed by free elections? It’s worth noting as well medics are moonlighting as cabbies and a career in hospitality Is more financially rewarding then medicine or teaching, so I’m not sure it’s working that well actually.

People not having access to clean water - don't forget that religion can often cause sectarianism and wars that feed into this. Pollution and industrial disasters (Chernobyl - Ukraine was part of the USSR until 1992 or 3) poison water. Unsustainable agricultural practices. Unmotivated/hungry/untrained/conscripted workforce.

Extremes cause suffering because the individual is reduced to a cog in the wheel, and corruption is inevitable - because human nature is greedy.

The USA has plenty of teachers, nurses etc working second jobs too.

Albania - terrible regime.

I often wonder if some of the social and economics teachers, with very left wing views, are not actually grooming pupils politically. Is there such a thing as political grooming?