<p>That stereotype is something I fight against - I am a conservative that rails against acceptance of mediocrity by conservatives.</p>
<p>Well that is the typical conservative: seemingly less intelligent and afraid of change.</p>
<p>"My feeling is that the people that are Conservative or Liberal try to conform to the accepted perception of them by the main population."</p>
<p>tommeister, I feel neverborn and I are on the same page with this one. (Which is a rare occasion.) Conservative and liberal beliefs are different from their stereotyped lifestyles. I think it's more typical of younger liberals to perhaps be vegan LUGs who refrain from shaving their armpits and enjoy the occasional fair-trade soy latte; or younger conservatives to watch Nascar and buy those American flag stickers to show their patriotism. (Voting, I hear, is another good way of doing so.) But I know plenty of conservatives who enjoy fine wine, and just as many liberals who drink cheap beer. </p>
<p>One's ideology shouldn't represent one's socio-economic status, but rather what one believes. With that, I'm making myself a hamburger and washing it down with a Pabst.</p>
<p>Political parties suck. You dont have to identify with one. Just think it out for yourself. Screw what everyone else thinks.</p>
<p>it doesnt matter what you are as long as you are open-minded enough to see both sides... im pretty liberal but have tons of conservative friends and we can have good, heated but polite conversations and end up seeing eachother's points of view in the end even if we dont agree
so i think having both sides is really important
it becomes bad when one completely closes off to the idea that the other side has anything worthwhile to say</p>
<p>ps-- islamofascist? terrorists arent fascists, they are jihadists... they are not terrorists for political power but becuase of their religious beliefs and the fact that they feel angred by the immense power American politics and culture have over the world... i think that the term islamofascist discriminates agaisnt an entire religious population that is for the most part peace loving and has nothing to do with fascism despite the fact that they are not hold the same ideological beliefs as the majority of Americans...
i think that by giving it this name we invoke fear... what a good way to justify a new war: "o we have to go into Iran, there is a large population of IslamoFASCISTS"... its not fair to give a completely different problem the name of a past one that invokes fear in the hearts of all who hear it. Osma isnt Hitler and i think that we make a grave mistake when we assume that all evil is inherently the same
sorry if that made no sense</p>
<p>I recognize that the stereotypes are often false, but the stereotypes may limit how other people see you. They may only see the behaviors that conform to the stereotypes and ignore them in themselves and thus you become the stereotype and the stereotype becomes you.</p>
<p>theatreworm: They are fascists - they wish to establish a new caliphate, a totalitarian anti-freedom state. That is fascist in every sense of the word.</p>
<p>tommeister, I'm seeing a small discrepancy in your posts. Who's doing the conforming? And what's more important in this instance: perception or reality? </p>
<p>Post #120: "....people that are Conservative or Liberal try to conform to the accepted perception of them by the main population."</p>
<p>Post #128: "I recognize that the stereotypes are often false, but the stereotypes may limit how other people see you."</p>
<hr>
<p>neverborn, I look forward to reading your commentary in the National Review in a few years.</p>
<p>Pip-pip! You're alive! You should IM me or something! <em>shock!!!</em></p>
<p>oh how i love these posts</p>
<p>pip-pip: to some degree, everybody conforms, and as to the matter of perception versus reality, it basically becomes what you want it to. Does it matter to you how you are perceived? Of course, unless you are very unique.</p>
<p>Also, my two posts that you quoted aren't necessarily contradictory. People can try to conform to their stereotypes without becoming them, and anyway, my opinions are still being formed in this young, capricious brain of mine, and in having to articulate them, my thoughts could become a little mixed up.</p>
<p>its ok, he’s just young and capricious</p>
<p>^^eyup. .</p>
<p>People should just rename the Republican Party the Party of Corruption. Look at all the stuff in the news; if the dems don’t win the house and senate it will be astonishing</p>
<p>All politics are corrupt, in fact, anyone with power is probably corrupt to some degree.</p>
<p>Angljc1: You're right. There's no corruption in the Democratic Party. I would know, I live in Chicago. /eyeroll</p>
<p>Angljc1, I am as liberal as they come. But regurgitating the talking points of Mr. Dean and Ms. Pelosi is not always the wisest thing one can do. What sounds good in a press conference or on the Sunday morning shows can sound a little silly on a forum. (Especially when the "Party of Corruption" soundbite has bounced around the echo chamber for months now.) My point is this: any given political party or ideological group is strongest when its members can generate their own, creative policies and ideas.</p>
<p>dean and pelosi speak the truth, in sound bite or not. The republicans are crooked at many levels, not to say that that the dems don’t have their fair shake at problems. However, the republicans are overwhelming dishonest compared to the Democrats (it kinda make we sad when you have to compare your leader on how corrupt they are)</p>
<p>Angljc1: Let's compare. Head of State versus head of state. George Bush vs. Mayor Daley.</p>
<p>Each party will always think they are better than the other. Republicans will always believe the Democrats are corrupt, and Democrats will always believe Republicans are corrupt. In truth, well, who knows?</p>
<p>No wonder Jefferson didn't want political parties in the United States. Look at us now.</p>
<p>.-_-.</p>