How come almost every time a person criticizes conservatives in here, they are accused of being a Democrat?

Question

That just wack. Liberal (the american sense of the word- not in the european economic sense of the word) and conservative are ideologies. Democrat and Republican are the parties that make up our two party system. A Democrat can be conservative (Dixiecrats) and a Republican can be liberal. And I in no way am a Democrat. I am not registered as one and do not plan to. I have no connection to the two corporate parties and their paymasters. I am a socialist and vote in that manner in almost all elections. And I also occasionally vote Libertarian. So any reply like, "Clinton was a draft dodger or a aldulterer, etc." has nothing to do with an argument concerning political philosophy and does not concern me. I am concerned with the issue at large and not the horserace between the two parties. I am not concerned with their consultants, their public relations campaigns, their focus groups, their sound bites, etc. Ideas are of my concern.

me- an old political science graduate

Answer 1

well good because we're close to being on the same page because when someone starts bashing conservatives the first thing i think is communist but i just try to be polite and call them democrat.

i would like to point out that this works both ways.

Answer 2

It's polarization -- us against them.

It doesn't really matter anymore who the "them" are. As an earlier poster said, "if you're not with us, you're against us". The old yarn that "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" is no longer even considered. Instead its, the "anyone who disagrees with me is my enemy; and must be the friend of my other enemy". So, when Democrats object to constitutional violations, they are accused of trying to help terrorists.

The other half of the problem is generalization. One person will do or say something, and then people find out they are a member of a particular group, and suddenly that entire group must think that way. And since we're already polarized, if someone disagrees with you, then not only are they obviously not part of your group (not "with you") then anyone else they associate must also automatically disagree with you (and thus are "against you").

Because of generalization, when one elected idiot goes out and breaks the laws, suddenly it's the fault of an entire political party. And because of polarization, either you are a supporter of that idiot because he's part of your party, or you are are traitor to that party if you don't support him. And of course, anyone who dares challenge him is also an enemy, because they must be of a different party.

It's insane. And I'm using the technical definition of the term meaning "without any rational connection to reality".

People are responsible for their choices and actions. Not political parties. Not ideologies. Individual people. I think political parties are the worst idea this country has had since its founding. Imagine what elections would be like if every candidate had to stand up and say what s/he stood for, directly and without being able to point to a political party.

Imagine if voters actually took the time to look at a candidate's individual record, and compare that to their campaign promises. Imagine if votes actually voted for the candidates, rather than just for their party's representative.

Answer 3

Hey, don't knock it. I'm not a democrat either and I've been called a anti-American terrorist, demrat, communist-the list goes on and on. The simple fact is that people don't understand that you can have a different opinion than they do without being insane. Which apparently, being a liberal is now a mental disorder according to some on this site.

Answer 4

It reflects the NEOCON mantra of; "you're either with us or against us", thank you for your honest assessment.

Answer 5

It's mental . Think about it >