Republic v democrats
In the U.K. it’s portrayed as a massive divide between americas for their political views, so much so family members will be disowned by having the opposite view or vote.
Is this true, and if so, why? In the U.K. the major political parties are Labour and Conservatives, but it most aspects politics doesn’t define that person and people aren’t bothered if views don’t aline with friends, spouses, family etc.
32 comments
Fault Lines: A History of the United States Since 1974 – Kruze, Zelizer
Read this and find out:
https://www.amazon.com/Fault-Lines-History-United-States/dp/0393088669
> In the U.K. it’s portrayed as a massive divide between americas for their political views, so much so family members will be disowned by having the opposite view or vote.
This does not reflect reality.
> In the U.K. the major political parties are Labour and Conservatives, but it most aspects politics doesn’t define that person and people aren’t bothered if views don’t aline with friends, spouses, family etc.
It’s pretty much the same here. I used to teach US culture in the UK, most aspects of life and culture here are deeply exaggerated by and for UK audiences.
Normal people with differing views minding their business, working and living peacefully together, and generally caring for their families doesn’t make good news.
You’re hearing the exceptions, they’re news because it isn’t common. You’re getting the Facebook comments section of news reporting.
Things are significantly less polarized in the real America than they are in the America that social media and the news media live in.
I don’t know a single person who’s disowned a family member or ended a friendship over politics. It happens, but I can’t see anyone viewing that or the kind of people who do that as normal aside from other people like them.
>family members will be disowned by having the opposite view or vote.
Lol no, this isn’t really a thing for 99 percent of American families. Sure, everyone has that one uncle or aunt who has a few too many and goes on an unhinged political rant about how Trump will put the gays in internment camps or how Obama has designs for turning the US into a communist dictatorship, but the actual divides aren’t that bad.
Source: Red dude in a blue state.
I’ve got some pretty radicalized right-wing nut jobs on my moms side of the family. You bet your ass I’ve cut all contact with them. It’s one thing to have your opinions, but when it becomes your entire personality and you can’t go more than 20 minutes without bringing it up, you simply become someone that isn’t fun to spend time with. I feel no remorse for cutting them out of my life whatsoever
We’re a nation of 330,000,000 so if the question is “does X happen” or “do people really believe in Y”, even if something is an incredibly rare or niche thing, there are probably hundreds of not thousands of people who have had X happen to them or believe in Y.
That said if someone’s politics keeps them from believing I and those I care about should be disenfranchised, well, I’m not going to be inviting them out for drinks any time soon.
But if someone just has a different idea on tax policy, that doesn’t impact my personal relationship to them.
It depends on the issue really.
I’ll gladly be friends with people who differ on tax policy, foreign policy, how we should handle crime, etc most Americans would probably agree.
The real division comes in when we start debating culture war issues. Personally, I have ended friendships and relationships with family over homophobia and other questionable opinions.
There are divides, but it depends on the people. There are Republicans and Democrats on my dad’s sidof the family and we all get along great. My brother-in-law’s family is far left and crazy and he has had to limit his contact with them. It’s not about disagreeing, it’s about politics always getting brought up and him being condemned every time he sees them.
There is some truth to it. You do see a little day to day, but most of the time it is just business as usual. I tend to think a big part of it is due to social media, and the ease of moving information around – both truth, and lies. People have been a lot more apt to spread information online, that they wouldn’t necessarily say to someone else’s face.
Worth a watch: https://www.ted.com/talks/jonathan_haidt_the_moral_roots_of_liberals_and_conservatives?language=en
I think the main reasons why there are such strong political divides in the US is because of the two party system, the media wanting to make money by drumming up controversy, and the amount of polling and political strategists that are constantly trying to find wedge issues to divide us even further while pushing people to one extreme or another.
But even so, the average American doesn’t really care that much. Most people are going about their daily lives and don’t spend all their time watching pundits on cable news. I don’t personally know of anyone who shut anyone out of their life for their political views. I’m a lot farther left than all my family in South Dakota, but we still get along fine and can have a healthy political discussion without it ruining our relationship.
At the same time though, I do think it’s more likely to be friends with someone who shares your values. Often I meet someone new and connect with them before we even discuss politics, but when politics comes up about 90% of the people I connect with tend to be somewhere on the left, including anarchists, communists, and socialists. I’m not selecting my friends based on their politics. It’s just that politics has become so much about emotions and outlook on society that it’s more likely that like-minded people will group together.
People here treat social issues as political. The political positions that keep me from interacting with certain family members involve ideas such as “gay people are disgusting” and “black people are inherently self-destructive in nature.” My family members that consider themselves “Trump Supporters” think of these positions as being part of their political identity and support Trump because they believe his political positions support these beliefs and that he will enact laws based on them.
The MSM is pretty much fueling the divide, it gets them ratings, ratings + money.
I dunno that whole brexit thing seemed to be a pretty big political divide
It’s less about politics per se, than about values and the perception of reality. I haven’t disowned or been disowned by anyone, or had major overt arguments. I have definitely drifted away from friendships because the firehose of nonsense was just not worth the effort required.
At the end of the day, republicans and democrats agree on 99% of all issues and 99% of Americans dont hate others for disagreeing with them.
However, there is a very vocal minority in the media that try to portray the other side as these “evil anti-freedom/racist/communist/etc. bastards that want to destroy our country!”
In the US it’s mostly because people want *everyone* to live by their standards, even if they can’t, or if their standards would actually be detrimental for others because of different circumstances.
For example a lot of people who are all over electric and hydrogen cars.
Personally I think that’s fine, but the problem is they’re still expensive, and electric power stations aren’t nearly as common as gas stations, so if you happen to live in an area that doesn’t have any, you’re just out of luck if you happen to forget to charge it at home one day, and break down because you don’t have enough charge to make it back home.
Hope you can afford a tow truck.
Even if the cars were cheaper, not everyone can afford to *just go buy a new car*, not even because of the cost of the car itself, but because of the taxes and fees associated with it. Insurance, tags, etc…
Personally I’ve got a 2010 vehicle with expired tags, and I’m hoping and praying I don’t get pulled over for it, because I can’t afford the renewal fees the county charges. Now I hear people demanding I go and buy a whole new car for the environment? Bitch pay for it, and the taxes and I’ll drive that thing all day.
In my experience, social media and news outlets push ‘America is divided! The other side is your enemy!’ a lot, but in practice if you actually talk to another person face to face about political beliefs, more often then not its peaceable. Even when one is frustrated or displeased with the other person, it’s usually way more respectful than a lot of people expect.
The rise of cable and the internet has sensationalized everything. There is big money in getting people angry about American politics.
two reasons:
1. The 24 hour news networks don’t have 24 hours of real news material to talk about.
2. Idiots. In a country of 329+ million people, there’s a lot of idiots.
If we are kept divided and arguing amongst each other we won’t actually be bothered to find how badly the rich and powerful are screwing us.
Idk about everyone else, but I have friends of various political beliefs. My brother is a libertarian, dads a democrat, moms a democrat, Im independent and we all get along. As long as people don’t mix their political views with bigotry, I couldn’t care less about their beliefs. I only have one friend who completely disassociates from people based on their political beliefs and she’s a self proclaimed communist. I don’t typically see the divide the media outlets talk about
The real divide is urban vs rural, and it makes perfect sense when you think about it. If you live in a big city, everyone’s choices affect everyone else around them. Rural folks just want to be left alone, and continue living the way they see fit. City dwelling progressives then pass laws that make sense for living in such a populated area, while there’s really no need for the same type of regulation out in the country. Country folks are then seen as backward by the city dwellers, and rural folks tend to view liberals as authoritarian. Gun laws are a good example, a rancher in Wyoming will likely have a loaded rifle in the gun rack of his pickup in case he needs to shoot a coyote chasing his livestock, while in NYC you could never just have an openly displayed rifle in your truck. This is why state governments are so important. Different strokes for different folks
80% of Americans are only into politics when it comes time to vote…then you have 10% that are right wingers and 10% that are left wingers and they talk about politics 24/7/365.
I feel like social media has made the problem worse because dudes aren’t out growing their extremist values. Also I think people overestimate how much politics has to do with their lives day to day.
It’s all marketing that people have bought into. We all want effectively the same things- freedom and a good way of life for everyone- but we disagree with how to achieve that goal- do we lean more on the capable or make it easier to produce? Is that better attained through a tried and tested social code, or should everyone go their own way? Should we trust the government more, or our employer?
Somehow, someone has taken these comparisons and turned it into “everyone on the other side ACTUALLY wants to oppress you/is a pedophile”. It kind of sucks.
There have always been huge political differences, but now it’s part of people’s brand. Didn’t use to be that way.
I am pretty moderate.
I actually find it bizarre that people would end relationships over politics, but I suspect with those people there’s probably some deeper tensions. And politics is an easier thing to squabble over than having an honest conversation with each other.
I see Almost all political posts on Facebook as a passive-aggressive jab at somebody that person knows.
And I think the party strategists and pundits, like to stoke manufactured outrage for views, votes and clicks.
And lastly, I think some people make illogical assumptions of why others vote the way they do, take it personally and vilify them as these bad people.
I think the ‘source’, at least for this modern time period, starts in the mid-1980’s.
At that time, the first ‘scientific political science’ researchers and think tanks began to become popular among political party leaders. The research showed the best way to get voters to actually burn an evening, go to a polling center, and cast a vote, rather than just sit at home and watch TV.
The best way to get people to vote (and therefore, to vote for ‘your candidate’) was to make them furiously angry, or frighten them to their core. They were literally looking for the same “fight or flight” response that you get when someone is attacking you, or when you narrowly miss getting injured in an accident.
This is why the language is always dire: I’ve heard “This is the most important election of our lifetime” since Obama in 2008, and it probably was used before that. Political campaigns have been increasingly dirty at least back to Bush the Elder in 1988, with it’s focus on a single decision by the opposing candidate (Governor Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts) which resulted in a furloughed prisoner assaulting and raping a woman.
And at this time, its being fed by the primary media outlets being partisan, rather than reporting news. As much as Trump policies and actions were terrible, and likely criminal, journalists should not have “Remove Trump” as a mission – they aren’t supposed to be decision makers. That has been enough of a problem that most people don’t even get exposed to relevant information that *doesn’t explicitly support their already chosen view.*
I think it’s mostly extreme cases you’re hearing about. Imo, most people in either political party aren’t all that different. When you get to extremes though, it’s like trying to argue with a person that the sky is blue when they say it’s yellow. They’re just operating in such a different reality it’s hard to find a middle ground.
> but it most aspects politics doesn’t define that person and people aren’t bothered if views don’t aline with friends, spouses, family etc
bullshit. the amount of people who had “no Tories” on their dating profile here in Scotland is wild.
People will vehemently talk about others who have a different political affiliation.
I’m guessing you’re English.