As Americans, we must ask ourselves: Are we really so different?

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   ptosisposted 7 years ago

   As Americans, we must ask ourselves: Are we really so different?
   
   
   "Must we stereotype those "Do we truly believe that ALL red-state residents are ignorant racist fascist knuckle-dragging NASCAR-obsessed cousin-marrying roadkill-eating tobacco juice-dribbling gun-fondling religious fanatic rednecks; or that ALL blue-state residents are godless unpatriotic pierced-nose Volvo-driving France-loving left-wing communist latte-sucking tofu-chomping holistic-wacko neurotic vegan weenie perverts?" — (Dave Barry)
   
   

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   aaslposted 7 years ago

   Well it actually turns out that after the civil war less than  1% of southern politicians became republican. And it's been shown that the more republican the south became the less racist it became too. I feel like that should be noted. I can provide sources if you'd like.
   
   But to answer your question I don't think we're the same. Most Americans are independent on thought not necessarily subscribing to one ideology or another but whatever seems to make sense to them. However I think we have a habit especially in politics, to group people together based on how they look or what they believe. Which of course is nonsense. But the powers that be need to divide us and we are more divided in this nation than ever. Rich and poor, old and young, black and white. It's a shame.
   
   Hey take a moment to read my latest hub and follow me!

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      bradmasterOCcalposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Christopher
      I sort of agree with you, but it doesn't explain the divisiveness and the lack of independent thinking from the loyal party voters. Just a thought.

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   Ericdierkerposted 7 years ago

   I get to travel the world. Starting in the early seventies to a trip planned for Southeast Asia next month. People are different through out the world. I lived way up in New England for a time and now I live way down on the coastal border with Mexico. People are different throughout the US. But the real difference is not in language or border.
   The absolute unassailable truth is that country folk are way different than city folk. Don't matter blue or red, east or west, south or north. Country folk and city folk are not the same.
   In the big city near here you find country folk that moved to the big city two decades ago. And they still don't get the So. Cal. notion of keeping up with the Jones's. A man that can backpack for 3 days without seeing another is a hell of a lot different than a West LA mom of 3 with two being gang bangers. And hell, neither one probably votes.

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      ptosisposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      I love the rural area where I live right now. Rural yet international at the same time (I near a military installation & National Park)

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   Setank Setunkposted 7 years ago

   Thanks for a serious but fun question.
   Urbanization is problematic. Humans were not designed( this is a generalization), to live in close proximity to each other in such great numbers. This is a universal problem that has existed since the development of large urban centers.
   The consequence of this is a behavioral pathology that is too self-serving, as well as an idealistic philosophy that suits the general urban population. Urban dwellers hide behind political correctness out of fear. A fear that someone might discover their true nature.
   I believe we are all the same when those living in bubbles are required to step out once and a while and view the world at large.

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   tamarawilhiteposted 7 years ago

   The authoritarian left has fully embraced liberal branding that they are smart, tolerant, love, peace and conservatives are evil, hateful, fearful, stupid, racist, war mongering bigots.
   The problem started with the left's branding, which lets the left reflexively brand everyone who disagrees as stupid, ignorant or irrational. But that doesn't make it true. Yet the liberally biased media is so keen on the stereotype of themselves that you get the "of course it is true, because everyone says so" thought bubble.
   End result - conservatives are now physically attacked for expressing conservative views, because the authoritarian left agrees with Islam that criticism of its ideology equates an attack and can be responded to with violence. All while the people actually attacking you say they are acting on behalf of love, peace and tolerance.
   
   Example: a private religious school near us teaches traditional marriage in class and holds daily mass with similar lessons. They don't want to change teachings, don't want to create conflict, refuse non-Christian students and children of homosexuals to prevent said conflict. A lesbian activist tries to enroll kindergartener, gets identified, child refused enrollment, money returned. Mother runs to press, school gets bad press, they are so mean! Press ignores fact that schools that enrolled and kept similar children were sued for not changing teachings and that they are targeted for such enrollments to enforce change, if not bankrupted by the lawsuit.
   School starts to get hate mail. Death threats to teachers and admin. Suspicious packages. Press doesn't cover this. One break in. Then a threat to burn down the school with all the haters' children inside.
   I have trouble understanding the thought bubble where, in the name of love and tolerance, you can't tolerate people in their own cultural enclave and think it is OK to threaten to kill 200 young children because their parents don't agree with you.
   And the press didn't cover it, didn't see it beyond the police blotter. Because it is just another death threat to conservatives, something depressingly common.
   The left isn't tolerant of dissenting ideas, peaceful or loving. It just says it is. You can commit any evil if you wrap yourself in good enough branding, just like Muslim terrorists do. And that makes social justice warriors as bad an ideology and as dogmatic a faith as fundamentalist Islam.

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   wingedcentaurposted 7 years ago

   Hi ptosis! How's it going?
   
   The first thing to say is that it matters, politically, and to this day, that we have a legacy of a "free" North and "slave" South, in the United States of America.
   
   Why does it matter?
   
   Well, do you know why we have "red" states and "blue" states? It is because we have the undemocratic structure of the electoral college. As you know, we do not vote for the President of the United States directly; we actually "vote" for electors.
   
   Well, why do we have the electoral college? This goes back to the three-fifths clause. It was a way for Southern slave states to have disproportionate representation in Congress; three-fifths of the black enslaved population was counted in addition to the white residents of each Southern state.
   
   We also have to deal with the fact that the Confederacy, the South, from Virginia to Texas, fought the Civil War, not only to maintain the status quo -- slavery -- but to expand it.
   
   Here is my point:
   
   1) Let's recognize the problem, the actual disease, not just the symptoms.
   
   2) It is the electoral college political structure itself (a holdover from slavery) which lends itself to the caricature of the residents of states.
   
   3) Get rid of the electoral college, we get rid of the "colors." Get rid of the state "colors," and the caricatures will fall.
   
   4) But this can only happen if we confront our past honestly.

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      ptosisposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Agree 100% - been telling people for years that it is an artifact of slavery

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