Why do Republicans and Democrats seem to hate each other so much?

Question

Aren't we all in this together?

Answer 1

Yes, it's true, but Dems and Repubs stand on opposite sides of the field for many ideas and, of course, can't decide on one. That's where the fighting comes in.

Answer 2

I think it's because, for a lot of people, politics is tied to survival issues. How you defend the country, how you protect the environment, how you take care of children, etc. Because survival issues are involved, emotions run high and thinking isn't used quite as much. There's a primitive part of the brain which identifies the other person as a threat ... much the way that racism works, where you identify something different about the other person, and assume (regardless of whether it's true or not) that that person means you harm.

The media accelerates this perception of there being two "tribes", "teams" etc. with its mindless labeling of people into two groups ... liberal versus conservative, left wing versus right wing, democrat versus republican, etc. People aren't encouraged to analyze the issues which affect all Americans; they're encouraged to identify with one Side versus the other.

Hopefully they'll eventually be some powerful, charismatic personality that will come along and get people to think about what we have in common instead of the ways we're supposedly different. Politicians seem to be increasingly joining in with the Two Teams mentality, I think mostly because they (rightly) perceive that that's the way the public is thinking, and they just want to get elected.

Answer 3

They stand for very different approaches to running the country. They don't 'hate' each other, but they strongly disagree with each other. This is the foundation of our country - it's a representative democracy built around parties. The parties differentiate into representative views of the population. True, we would be better served if there were more parties with overlapping viewpoints, since we would have a better chance of finding a representative that closely mirrored our own thoughts, but right now we are stuck with just two parties. The result is that most people have to chose one party over the other, while not agreeing with everything that party stands for. The "lesser of two evils".

Answer 4

Here's the REAL TRUTH. Democrat and Republican people do not like each other, however, Democrat and Republican Politicians may disagree on certain views, but they pretty much agree on one principal - MONEY. I say that because Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, agree not to raise minimum wage for people to survive, but gave themselves a nice fat raise. The real difference between a Democrat and a Republican? "A Republican sucks, and a Democrat blows."

Answer 5

Under democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule--and both commonly succeed, and are right.
Henry Louis Mencken (1880-1956)
Government is a trust, and the officers of the government are trustees; and both the trust and the trustees are created for the benefit of the people.
Henry Clay 1777-1852
The government is merely a servant — merely a temporary servant; it cannot be its prerogative to determine what is right and what is wrong, and decide who is a patriot and who isn't. Its function is to obey orders, not originate them.
Mark Twain
Loyalty to the country always. Loyalty to the government when it deserves it.
Mark Twain
This country will not be a good place for any of us to live in unless we make it a good place for all of us to live in.
Theodore Roosevelt
What we need are critical lovers of America - patriots who express their faith in their country by working to improve it
Hubert H. Humphrey
Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.
George Washington
Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.
George Orwell
To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.
Thomas Jefferson
Freedom is nothing but a chance to be better.
Albert Camus
If a politician found he had cannibals among his constituents, he would promise them missionaries for dinner.
Henry Louis Mencken (1880-1956)
CAPITAL, n. The seat of misgovernment. That which provides the fire, the pot, the dinner, the table and the knife and fork for the anarchist; the part of the repast that himself supplies is the disgrace before meat.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914)
A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.
Edward Abbey
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
Edmund Burke 1729-1797

If our politicians would heed the words of the great people from the past, maybe things wouldn't be so FUBAR!

Answer 6

In my experience, Republicans and Democrats do not hate each other, they simply have differing political opinions. Opinions are like bellybuttons; everybody has one. Politics is a subject that can set off fiery tempers, but in the end, hate is not the word to use.

Answer 7

They feel politically obligated to oppose each other, but I don't think that most of them actually hate eachother.
Remember, each wants to be in power, but the other guy is in the way.

Answer 8

Both sides see a lot of hypocrisy in the other. I think everybody hates a hypocrite.

Answer 9

Because neither side is willing to admit (or realise) the other side is just as Arermcan as they are. And neither side understands the other side has any good points.

And you are right. We are all in this together.

Answer 10

Human nature.

You disagree with those who don't share the same beliefs as you do. And when that happens, you tend to try to convince each other that you're right.

Inevietably, it leads to conflict and "hatred".