Political parties. Gangs.

I was thinking about how many threads on here I don't go near because of the insulting verbage based on whether you're a conservative or liberal and wondering when, why and how we as a nation became gang members. Seriously. We have the Reds and the Blues and you have to pick a side and practically die defending it.
But really, we are all still one large gang, you know? And the division is killing us.

And what about people who cross the line? Like me, God forbid, I actually choose how I vote based on what I think might help the larger cause and sometiems vote Red and sometimes vote Blue. It's like rooting for the Broncos and the Raiders at the same game! Which gang do I belong to? Red? Blue?
Why the division, what does it accomplish?

Personallly, reading the way people talk to each other on here, I predict a civil uprising if not an all-out war in this country; and all because we somehow became a gang-based divided country.

LopingAlong wrote: I was thinking about how many threads on here I don't go near because of the insulting verbage based on whether you're a conservative or liberal and wondering when, why and how we as a nation became gang members. Seriously. We have the Reds and the Blues and you have to pick a side and practically die defending it.
But really, we are all still one large gang, you know? And the division is killing us.

And what about people who cross the line? Like me, God forbid, I actually choose how I vote based on what I think might help the larger cause and sometiems vote Red and sometimes vote Blue. It's like rooting for the Broncos and the Raiders at the same game! Which gang do I belong to? Red? Blue?
Why the division, what does it accomplish?

Personallly, reading the way people talk to each other on here, I predict a civil uprising if not an all-out war in this country; and all because we somehow became a gang-based divided country.

Extremely well said. Problem is it has spilled even outside the political arena.

Both parties are the enemies of the liberals, moderates, independents, and conservatives.

There are a few things that needed to be added to your theory LA. First of all, there are people who take a strong interest in politics and there are those who don't. In my experience, there are not many in between; people who are bored by politics don't seem to understand why others feel so strongly about who should be in office.

IMO, liberals and conservatives are a lot like men and women, both have all the same wants and needs but there are opposite ways to achieve them. While there are those in between (ex. social liberal /fiscal conservative) people who try to be engaged in political discussions are more likely to be strongly liberal or conservative. As a conservative myself (was liberal when in my 20s), I believe in promoting a strong more self reliant population with a smaller government that encourages individual achievement and does not remove incentives for success. I believe the liberal mindset (my opinion) is to have more of a 'it takes a village' approach to be successful and the government is there to help make things 'fair' and to be a safety net for those who don't succeed.

Since one ideology is the opposite of the other, people on these forums get frustrated trying to pound 'sense' into the heads of those whom they disagree. That frustration turns to anger, the anger then leads to name calling, accusations, and a big waste of time.

The good news is that most of the people on these forums would never talk to each other in person the way they do on the internet. The internet has enabled anyone no matter what size, strength, sex, to be a bully, an asshole, a bitch, or just a crazy nutcase without fearing for personal safety. While there are the extremes on both sides that are willing to take their fight to the streets (protest rallies), I think the majority of us just want a place to vent our frustrations with the current or past administrations.

I have to admit, this really is just a huge waste of time since it is very rare that a forum poster is converted to the other side (I've never seen it on any forum). But the fact is, we are living in some pretty scary times and both sides have great concerns for themselves and their family's futures. The people we vote into office have direct control of our futures and you can either go on with your life ignoring or not engaging in politics, or you can try to make some sense of it by talking to each other.

We all have (or should have) friends or family with an opposite point of view when it comes to politics and anyone who wants to keep those good relationships knows how to do it....you just don't talk about it. So I don't think this country will get into a civil war because we have the internet to vent and fight....just think of it as a political cold war.