I refer to the "right-leaning silo" that I grew up in. That's a bit harsh. Maybe let me clarify. My parents are good people, with fairly moderate conservative values. So that's what I grew up with. And I genuinely believed the message, that the path to success is hard work.
This wasn't insidious. They really believed that. And it was true for them. So it was true to me. There was no ill intent to this. The people struggling just had to figure it out. They always pointed it at personal responsibility. That person had to go get help. Get a job.
Because that's what they were taught, and what they personally experienced. They were well meaning. They assigned their own experience to those people. Many of us have been trying, hard, to look at people as they are, rather than through our own lenses.
I benefitted from a ton of good teachers (incidentally why I became one) and, weirdly enough, wholesome tv. Mister Rogers was my hero. I was exposed to diverse opinions and I changed my mind. My school was excellent for the time, but residential schools were still open.
So we didn't learn about them. We didn't learn about indigenous people as vibrant, modern people. Expanding your world from ignorance to understanding is hard work, and it's ongoing. So bear with me.
Ironically they never actually told me who they supported. It was like they thought if they told me, then it wouldn't come true.
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