fett on 24/2/2006 at 19:41
DEATH PENALTY FOR CRAZY ANAL ABORTIONS.
That's right. If you're playing here, you need to BRING IT.
Tony on 24/2/2006 at 20:45
No, really ... if that abortion thread had popped up in my Pacific Fighters or Operation Flashpoint forum, it probably would have been something like half for and half against. And threads there related to things like gun control definitely display a majority on the conservative side (Paz, in the case of gun control, being on the conservative side means you like guns and being on the liberal side means you hate guns).
Here, on the other hand, you have something like a one to five conservative to liberal ratio on such issues. Moreover, I think that a lot more people here would describe themselves as liberal than conservative. Of course, from past polls on such matter, I know for a fact that a lot of the folks here like to say that they're neither, but nearly everyone who does that takes the "liberal" side on most issues, like gun control, abortion, and welfare.
Gingerbread Man on 24/2/2006 at 20:56
Maybe we just tend to be older and more educated than the Operation Flashpoint or Pacific Fighters people? I don't mean that in a derogatory or condescending way, but it stands to reason that people with a longer and broader (even if vicariously so) experience of the realities of the world tend to see how dangerous and naive and unrealistic hard-and-fast ideologies are.
I doubt very much if most people around here think it's sensible in a realistic framework to adopt a right or a left stance across the board of hot-button issues. I think you are working from a small sample size in your memory and are overgeneralising.
For instance, I can't tell you the number of times someone has made a very specific and extreme statement about their opinion on Hot-Button Issue X which has made me say "ohoho I gots you NOW you faghat! Weren't you the guy who also said Y? I can cunningly prove discordance in your so-called coherent philosophy!" only to find that they, in fact, stated a different position on the same basic subject when it was in a different context and situational frame. And, frustratingly, it usually turns out that they were plenty cogent both times, even if I did think their opinion was bollocks.
Garboshnik on 24/2/2006 at 20:58
The Daily show had a neat take on the "Bichromatic rainbow that is American political thought." Support gun control? Obviously you're pro-life, etc...
BEAR on 24/2/2006 at 21:34
You know, I hear people think that its both ways. Conservitives say its liberal, liberals say its conservitive. Its actually just stupid. The US news is just so fucking lame it defies imagination, they spend 24 hours a day on the stupid fucking Cheney shooting, stupid bitches getting whats comming to them, pandas. Jesus, you cant even really get any real news on TV(except the daily show and colbert report of course). Except Fox, they are some strait shooters over there.
fett on 24/2/2006 at 21:40
Quote:
Except Fox, they are some strait shooters over there.
I WAS WITH YOU TILL JUST THEN.
Gestalt on 24/2/2006 at 21:47
Quote Posted by Tony
Pacific Fighters or Operation Flashpoint forum... threads there related to things like gun control definitely display a majority on the conservative side (Paz, in the case of gun control, being on the conservative side means you like guns and being on the liberal side means you hate guns).
You might want to consider the possibility that people drawn to forums focusing on tactical war games are more likely to be gun owners than those drawn to other genres. Even a devoted Marxist is going to complain loudly if you try to take away his bitchin' gun collection. Not everything divides left/right the way you seem to want things to.
Rug Burn Junky on 24/2/2006 at 21:50
Quote Posted by BEAR
(except the daily show and colbert report of course).
Stephen Colbert hates you.
Carini on 24/2/2006 at 22:14
Are the bears "Dead to me" or just "On Notice"?
Paz on 24/2/2006 at 22:22
Quote Posted by Tony
(Paz, in the case of gun control, being on the conservative side means you like guns and being on the liberal side means you hate guns).
What the hell, are we in toytown? Is it binary week? WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON.
The issue of 'guns' encompasses a whole host of stuff like limits of ownership, extent of state control, crime, property, culture, social traditions ... probably a lot more I haven't thought of here. It's not clear cut in the slightest and though you could dilute this down to camp A mostly falling one side of the issue and camp B mostly falling the other, that would be TO MISS THE POINT ENTIRELY.
You should be engaging these issues with a philosophical thought process - hopefully consistent with your other views and beliefs, but that isn't always easy - and then making some kind of a judgement (possibly supported or altered by further thoughts or evidence you may have come into contact with since the last time you thought about it). It's not a cue for you to check the inside of your pants and remind yourself what you should be thinking about the issue based on whether the tag says 'conservative' or 'liberal'.
Why are you trapped inside some kind of horrific "Two Tribes" nightmare? Relax. Don't do it. When you want to go to it.
