why do we argue the most w/the parents that are most like us personally?

Question

my dad and i seem to butt heads on politics all the time(i'm a very liberal libretarian, he's a very conservative republican). he told me just today that he saw a bumper sticker that he liked that said "don't vote for Osama Obama or Chelsea's Momma". i told him that those were my two personal front runners in who i was going to vote for. he went into how Obama was a Muslim,and i corrected him, that Obama was a Christian(he then pulled out the lie told on Fox News that Obama had went to a Madrassa(sp?) for 3yrs). i told him it wasn't true, and set the record straight w/him. and i said "well, the republicans certianly have done one *heck* of a job cleaning things up since 9/11(sarcastically said, obviously). he then rapidly changed the subject. my mom says we disagree bc our temperments are so similar,and, according to her, we both have a dire need to get the last word in. why do i fight w/him so much if we're supposedly so much alike?

Answer 1

Maybe the part of you that is most like your dad is the desire to get the last word in an argument, or a strong belief that your views are correct. The thing about politics is that there is no right answer ... no party is perfect, no politician is all good or all bad. By its very nature, politics requires politicians to compromise their beliefs sometimes "for the greater good." It's great to debate and discuss, but if you're finding yourself getting angry and frustrated then maybe stay away from that topic. Sometimes dads dig their heels in when their own children challenge their beliefs just because they want their children to share their values. And sometimes grown up children argue with their parents because it proves somehow that we're not little kids anymore, we have opinions of our own, and we are mature enough to express them. Neither side seems very mature or respectful. (When I was a teenager, my mom looooooved to debate things. I hated it. One day she brought up a subject that we had argued about the previous day, and I purposely said the opposite of what I had said the day before thinking she might just drop it. She argued anyway. It drove me nuts.)

Answer 2

It's like me and my dad, I am a die hard Longhorn fan, and he is forever more an Aggie. We point out the stupidest things in the world like I point out when someone has a little Longhorn car window sticker and when the Aggies beat the Longhorns, he will still be bringing that one game up the next year when I say that the Horns are better. But we are very much the same. We have both wasted half of our lives with just a brown ball to care about, he excelled in school and I am in the 8th grade and last year, I realized that I am heading the same direction, ( except the Aggie part ). It's just that when your looking at that one politics subject, you see nothing but difference in your life, but when you did deeper into the facts, you realize how very alike you really are. Just try to accept that you are probably headed the same direction as your father. Hook Em!

Answer 3

because you both feel so pationately that you are right you want to prove the other wrong.

You are both very intelligent people and once you get over the need to "convert" each other you will likely have incredible debates and discussions.

Answer 4

People fight to win. Politics, among other subjects, is something that people will always debate.

Answer 5

She means because you both think you are right and you are both stubborn.

I think it shows you love each other that you can have different opinions and still express them.