Why does American political discourse rarely rise above the level of throwing childish insults at each other?

Question

It's pathetic! Republicans are nasty, Democrats are childish - is that what it's really like, or do you just reserve your worst behaviour for online sites like this one?

I'm not talking about the policians - I'm talking about the people. That said, your politicians are pretty bad too come to think of it...

Hey Guy Wiley, don't accuse me of angst, you presumptuous little pipsqueak. And people who start sentences with "Firstly" are tedious bores.

Answer 1

You are SO right! And, of course, it's not limited to online. Ever read the letters to the editor in your daily newspaper? Same thing. I wish there weren't political parties so that if a good idea came along, it wouldn't matter which party thought of it, it would be accepted as a good idea and we could make some progress. But the same thing happens with religions and sports teams: everyone thinks his is the best and that everyone else is an idiot.

Answer 2

First off, I'd like to challenge you to name one good politician without going back more than twenty years. Secondly, I don't think you can group every Republican and every Democrat as anything. Just because someone is part of one party or another does not mean they share the same beliefs about anything, besides perhaps the current nomination for that party. Finally, if you are coming to Yahoo! Answers for great political discourse, I think you are quite misguided. They are a great number of sites where people speak candidly about candidates, platforms, and parties at great length. You may want to try then to ease your angst with the level of political discussion here.

Answer 3

Here's an experiment. Get your hands on some serious political discourse, bereft of ad hominem attacks or polemicizing; good sources would be the magazine Foreign Affairs or the Economist or the Nation or National Affairs, or position papers from any of the major thinktanks of any general political persuasion (Brookings, Heritage, Hoover Foundations etc.). Read them slowly and carefully. Understand the issues and the pros and cons of each position. Once you have done that, tell me you don't want to kill yourself out of (a) boredom, (b) frustration that most problems don't really HAVE a solution and (c) depression that the best we can hope for is that our kids inherit a world only twice as befouled and bewildered as the one we live in now. Now, against the background of boredom, frustration and near suicidal depression over the truth of the matter, isn't it comparatively pleasant to engage in some lively entertaining name-calling and slander?

Answer 4

It is because the people that become politicians are still children. They have never really grown up. The people behind the scenes like it this way, because it allows them to control the politicians easier. Also, it makes it easier for them to put whoever they want in office without people having any idea what they are doing.

Answer 5

You rarely rise above the behavior you are ranting on about. In fact, a quick glance at your Q&A's on this site shows you seldom post or comment on anything that does not allow you to sling arrows at Americans. Its seems obvious you are fragile. You dish out insults by the dozens, but you sure belly up when one backfires and hits you in the back crack.

Answer 6

no,
republicans are smarter and more articulate in the blogs, moon-bats are pathetic, childish, and nasty in the blogs.

http://www.freerepublic.com
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

Answer 7

I'd type more but I'm clapping for you furiously. I'm not kidding. Amen to you!