Your parents must have been wise....my dad was great...owned his own business and hated unions and Democrats and hippies. (It had an effect—when I matured) I was also packed off to Catholic schools, which helped.
That is the only reason I returned to logic (my Latin and Socratic bkgrd). I just found Michael Savage on the radio and VOILA....I started to read and actually think for myself, and, of course, with the internet, I could sift through the white noise.
I think we, as a nation, are going to come back big in 2013.