Political Stereotyping

[PerpetualImperfexion]

It has come to my attention that some people assume that all members of one political group believe one thing and the political group on the other side believes the exact opposite thing. In reality though, it is nearly impossible for someone to agree with EVERY belief that a certain party holds. Unless of course someone close to you is a hardcore *insert political party here*, in which case it is likely you have been brainwashed and should review your beliefs asking if they are logical. Here are a few examples of political stereotyping I saw recently on VT (no plans to give links as that could be humiliating to the poster)


Another insipid, reactionary stupidity by hardcore conservatives.



Also, I'm surprised by the amount of people who are Pro choice here.


A member replied


Well, it's a help site designed probably by liberals, and most kids on here are liberal, and believe in liberal stuff. Idea, maybe not.


The republicans are homophobic twats from what I've heard and I don't want all the work that has gone into trying to get equality wasted.

Seriously though, ask yourself what political group do you identify as? Do some research on every belief that group holds. Do you agree with all of their beliefs? Odds are you don't, so to assume every Republican hates gays and every Democrat loves to murder babies, is simply wrong.

I'm not going to lie, I used to simply say I disliked Obama without being able to give any real reasons, mostly because my father does not like him. Since then I have learned my lesson and now have perfectly reasonable claims for not liking him. But I also started to associate every democrat and liberal with his ideals. This was wrong and I now realize both sides have something viable to add to the table.

I personally do not identify as anything except moderate. I like to pick and choose beliefs from both sides. For the most part though, I hold conservative values, at least as far as the economy goes. I do not, on the other hand agree with the conservative beliefs based solely on religion; politics and religion should not mix, it results on forcing your beliefs on others. So I have no problem with LGBT and I am very pro-choice. I believe that rather than using the military to occupy other countries, we should be using them to protect our borders. I believe food stamps and disability are perfectly ok, but I don't understand how welfare, simply giving someone money away, is supposed to be helpful.

What do you think of this whole thing? I would like you to post what political group you identify with and what beliefs this group holds, that you do not necessarily agree with.

[TheBigUnit]

Jon stewart and colbert usually groups them but they're comedians jokingly tho they're actually right sometimes,

Tht being said I mean republicans are all conservative well bc they all are to a degree tht y theyare in a party in the first place and vice versa, tht being said the stereotypes occur mostly well bc the parties function off It, well maybe not like the stupid ones

At the end of the day tho political parties are just big curropt instituions that craves power and wealth

[Sugaree]

The problem here is that VT is a good example of politically correct liberals. They wanna make sure no one gets offended and act like social issues make up the entire spectrum of problems. It's all well and good to be worried about social issues, but VT, like many other PC liberals, cares about nothing more.

Hell, Pat Buchanan (Fox News commentator) got called a racist today by The Young Turks because he called President Obama a "drug dealer of welfare". I don't agree with Buchanan's statement, but I have no doubt VT would have no problem agreeing with TYT because this site is PC liberals. This is just one example, but VT has no problem calling aces as spades, and that makes me ashamed to call myself a social liberal. VT is incredibly hypocritical in its beliefs and the stereotypes are lived up to here.

But my problem isn't just with VT's political views. This goes for the entire liberal left.

[CourtingErmine]

I'm a conservative republican, as you can probably tell. Thank you Dakota for helping me explain that this site is mainly to the left. Anyway, I don't believe in everything conservative, just LGBT, but I am pro-life(maybe it was the catholic education) but it is wrong to kill unborn babies. But that's besides the point. Yes, the parties are corrupt. Welfare should be started on another thread.

[Syvelocin]

I understand where you're coming from, but I don't understand why people align themselves with a party when they don't support all their views. I could never do that! I say I'm far left but never do I say I'm a Lib Dem. Sometimes I describe myself as liberal, but never definitive. I have a friend who is all for gay marriage and she's very firmly republican. I just don't understand it! If I was conservative except for stuff like gay marriage, I wouldn't be able to say that with a straight face. I can't imagine associating myself with an archetype that is 70% me but then is traditionally against something I believe in. It's completely against my morals. People will always assume you are a picture-perfect conservative, stereotyping isn't going anywhere anytime soon. And it's the same as saying you associate yourself with a specific religious group (say, Southern Baptist) that has very distinct and recognizable beliefs. Oh, but you don't believe in half of what the church says! Even Christians in general! Believe in God and Jesus, sure, but you don't have to call yourself a Christian! People think you have this limited choice of labels and you have to pick the one that sounds the best but you simply don't have to.

[Mortal Coil]

I understand where you're coming from, but I don't understand why people align themselves with a party when they don't support all their views. I could never do that!

Because there isn't a name for every single subtly different political party. I know Muslims who own dogs and drink, and I know Christian mothers who - *gasp* - didn't "bring a lamb ... for a burnt offering, and... a young pigeon, or dove, for a sin offering" to purify themselves after giving birth (Leviticus 12:6.) The fact is, each political belief has a cor value and the other, minor beliefs such as being pro-choice or pro-life are merely accessories. Which brings me back to the original topic which is, these accessories are unfortunately held by so many members of a political party that people do tend to stereotype them. It isn't ideal, but stereotyping isn't new and it isn't going away.