So, I'm feeling slightly reminiscent, I'll spare you guys the reasons why.

Anyway the purpose of this thread is to share the first historic/political event in your life that you remember and how (if at all) it affected your subsequent life. It's not so much the idea to critisize each other but more to think about how (international) politics influences daily life and our own experiences of this connection.

I guess it's not an easy question for some of you, but for me there is one that sticks out.

I remember the fall of the Berlin Wall. I was almost 8 years old at the time, child of a Yugoslavian father and Belgian mother living in Antwerp. I remember my parents talking excitedly in front of the television. I didn't understand much of it, except that it sort of seemed to signify that we could go visit my grandparents in Yugoslavia more often.

On the contrary though, with the destabilization of the region in the subsequent years, it meant I never saw my grandparents again.
1989 was the last year that I went to former Yugoslavia. Because I didn't go back for such a long time and my father stopped speaking Yugoslavian (Croatian now) to us, I lost my connection to my fatherland.
Only in recent years, I've been back there to enjoy the culture, the language, the people, it's nature. It's a wonderful feeling, being home in two different countries, one where you didn't even grew up in. (edit: even though I believe all the nasty shit that happened could have been much mitigated, or even avoided.)



tl;dr version: you guys remember a political event that changed the way of your life? and if so, care to share?

This post was edited by hATemOnkEy on Nov 16 2014 08:22pm

The First Gulf War because that's when my dad was deployed for a few months.

How long was he there? How old were you at the time? How do you feel it affected the person you are now?




*

Guys, I realize this might be a touchy subject for some of you. Share only as much as you feel comfortable with. I hope the rest of us can respect each other's feelings on these issues.

...the assassination of JFK . I was in the 3rd grade and the announcement came over the P.A. system , the nuns were crying and we all sat glued to the old black&white TV for the next couple of days . I think it made me realize at a very young age that really bad shit happens outside of the shelter of my normal life .

He was there for 6 months which was the standard deployment at the time. I was about 3 and a half years old. I don't know if it affected me too much other than the fact that I know what it's like to be black.

bombing of pearl harbor

Start of the war in Iraq was when I lost faith in democracy and my government. In 2003 I must have only been 14.

2,000,000 of us marched in London, many more all around the country... The British people didn't want to go to war. But our gov didn't listen. Sad times.

That was the first event that you remember? It's pretty crazy that your memory is that poor.

It's a crazy feeling, right.



This is totally believable. Do tell me more.



Hah, I was in my first political march as well at 14. Was in 1996 at the dismissal of a judge over some bullshit in the Dutroux investigations/trail.




Not all families are invested in political events. It's perfectly feasible that you remember your first politcal event from puberty.

When they gave out the ancient mew cards for the first pokemon movie.