I am young. This is a fact, I am only 19 years old. Another fact is that I am opinionated. Not in the sense that I try to force my opinion on others, or make them believe mine is the only opinion that is right, just in the sense that if you ask me a question I will have an opinion on it. If you ask me a question about a political issue that is prominent in our society, I am likely to have a strong opinion that is going to be difficult for you to change. I love to argue, I don't like when people get too heated over things and start screaming, but I like civilized, educated arguments between intelligent people that know their stuff.

That being said, if you are like me, there are some people out there, and if you haven't come across them you will, that will disregard your opinions because of how you were raised. I expect this reaction from people that are older than me, because there are some opinions I have that an older generation will disagree with, and that's not going to change anytime soon. However, in my case I come across this particular argument more from people that are my own age.

People my age tend to stray far away from their parents beliefs and political opinions, which is fine and a natural thing to do when you grow up and start to think for yourself. We as a society tend to embrace the young people that defy how they were raised, and disagree with the way they were taught growing up, we encourage them to speak their opinions that are so different from their parents and grandparents.

I'm all for everyone thinking on their own, and if you have a different political view than your parents great. That doesn't mean you can discredit those that agree with their parents though. It doesn't mean they are to be ignored and overlooked because they "can't think for themselves" or "only say that because their parents tell them to feel that way". You get to have your opinions and I get to have mine, and so do all the other young adults that stick with their gut feelings even if that means (please silence your horrified gasps) AGREEING with their parents.

Maybe you're right, and I only feel the way I do because I was raised this way, but maybe you only feel the way you do because you have a need to disagree with everything you were taught in some kind of eternal act of defiance. Or, maybe we can both agree that we are free thinking adult human beings that have done our fair share of research and have formed different opinions. I don't think your opinion comes from anywhere other than your personal morals and beliefs and you shouldn't think mine does either. Even if I do have the same opinions as the people that raised me.