The libertarian Marxist (!) sociologist and commentary Frank Furedi takes a look at the US political scene from England, and is most struck by the American elite's sneering attitude toward the "bitter" people of the working classes and the red states. Though he doesn't examine how the sneered-at red-staters sneer back in return, there's universal value in his observation here that politics in America has become a matter of lifestyle identification, as distinct from intellectual propositions. And that makes for a politics that is, well, bitter:
Of course, once an individual's identity and political outlook become entwined, then debate becomes highly charged - and highly personal. Arguments come to represent a statement about the self. When public issues are taken so personally, political dialogue becomes deeply confusing. It is always difficult to respond in a cool and detached manner to what we perceive to be an insult. When people endow their lifestyles with moral meaning, even relatively minor differences with others can acquire monumental significance. Often, people use statements such as 'they are not like us' to affirm their own identity. Criticising other people's consumption of junk food or adherence to religious values is a way of making a statement about the self; those who advocate different kinds of behaviour and different values come to be seen as a threat to one's own identity.So it is not political polarisation but disputes about different 'ways of life' that fuel the blue/red divide. Some even believe that the identities of the blues and the reds are frozen and unchangeable. A report titled The Separate Realities of Bush and Kerry Supporters, produced by a group of researchers at the University of Maryland, argued that Bush supporters live in a make-believe world while their opponents inhabit the real world. Increasingly, people's political attitudes are reduced to the level of personality. An individual's upbringing, psychology and character are discussed as key factors in forming their political worldview. Politics becomes psychologised.
Are politics really all that different in other countries? I'm asking seriously, not rhetorically.
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In Canada, politics has a significant and seemingly inflexible rural/urban divide. In past elections, it has also had a noticeable regional divide (although the last election produced a minority Conservative government, resulting from a small Conservative breakthrough in Ontario and Quebec).
I have heard a lot of bitterness from the right and the left toward the other side over the years. Mostly it is condescension from the left, who are more numerous and who are self-defined as more "enlightened", and resentment from the right, who think little of liberal social engineering but who are too outnumbered to do much about it.
So yeah, Rod, not much different north of the border.
Oh good grief! I'm not fond of identity politics, but what I'm really sick of is everybody being so bloody quick to take offense when anybody else disagrees with them! If A says B's opinion on proportional representation or the Patriot Act is wrong, that must mean A despises
B and thinks B is stupid. Therefore A is an arrogant snob. And contrariwise, if B thinks A is an arrogant snob, then B must consider Bself morally superior to A. For pete's sake, can't we all just get along?
Jeff Sullivan: It's because we down here corrupted you. It all started when Tim Horton came here and learned about coffee. You gave up tea and it's been downhill ever since. You need to spend more time listening to "Corner Gas" and less time listening to U.S. news.:)
My serious question (albeit a naive one) is: Why are there so many more liberals than conservatives every where in the world, with the possible exception of the Middle East? I mean are they right? It is better to give your money to the government and let them redistribute it? Is it better to kill a baby than inconvenience the father? Notice I said "father" not mother. I have a deeply held belief that behind a great many abortions are men saying caring words such as "It's not mine." Does personal ease trump sacrificial motivation? Is liberalism simply easier? "Let the govenment handle that."
Note also that I am not dividing it into a Democrat/Republican thing because I agree completly with Lord Karth, there is absolutely no difference between the two ruling parties. They are both equally liberal. And the MSM contributes to this by telling everyone that they are stupid for trying to vote for anyone in a third party with even the slightest hint of a different perspective.
Who Knew at 1:21 PM writes:
"My serious question (albeit a naive one) is: Why are there so many more liberals than conservatives every where in the world, with the possible exception of the Middle East?"
That's simple enough. It's the Human will to believe, especially the will to believe that there's an out, an escape hatch, a dodge for each and every inconvenient happening in life. Modern technology presents the illusion that transcendence---or perhaps avoidance-of-consequences is a better term--is possible, that Humanity can somehow find a way to live "happily ever after".
It's all a complete lie, of course. True maturity and Reality-awareness begins with this realization: Everybody Dies. Nobody Here Gets Out Alive. (This Means YOU). Realize that truth, and all else follows.
" I mean are they right? It is better to give your money to the government and let them redistribute it? Is it better to kill a baby than inconvenience the father? Notice I said "father" not mother. I have a deeply held belief that behind a great many abortions are men saying caring words such as "It's not mine." Does personal ease trump sacrificial motivation? Is liberalism simply easier? "Let the govenment handle that."
As I said, it's the desire for a cost-free "out". Governments are good at promising things like that, and the overwhelming majority of Humans are stupid and ignorant enough to buy those promises. The funny part--the real roll-on-the-ground-with-your-sides-splitting part--is that even though the promises are proven to be lies time and time again, there are always new suckers, er, "citizens" who are all too willing to buy into those promises.
That, my friend, is the dark comedy that we call "Human nature". Or, as we used to say, Theatre of the Absurd. I call it Solid Entertainment Value At Its Very Best !
Your servant,
Lord Karth
Lord Karth: I guess I already knew the answer when I wrote the question. I just wanted it solidified into actusl, well thought out text. Thank you for putting much better than I could.
Now, my next question is "What can be done about it?" Please don't tell me "Vote". The solution is simply not in the voting booth. At least not this time around.
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