(no subject)

[badlydrawnjeff.livejournal.com]

Comments

[spamwarrior.livejournal.com]

Good.

[chron-job.livejournal.com]

Interesting!

I'd like to see a similar one based on congressional polarization, running beside it and synced, so we can track lags and responsiveness to public opinion in congress.

[unnamed525.livejournal.com]

This.

[telemann.livejournal.com]

Voteview.org (http://voteview.com/political_polarization.asp)

[i.livejournal.com]

excellent link!

[wight1984.livejournal.com]

Any thoughts about how this trend could be averted?

[unnamed525.livejournal.com]

By conservatives realizing that their "rugged individualism" isn't actually a possible way for humans to live; we are social creatures by nature. Randian ethics, which is the cult of the American right wing, makes the mistake of failing to universalize respect for personhood, ignorantly thinking that you can truly respect yourself if you don't respect others.

[badlydrawnjeff.livejournal.com]

I don't know if I want the trend to be averted.

[madam-shapo.livejournal.com]

Averted? Why? Right direction.

[the-rukh.livejournal.com]

What's the data source?

[badlydrawnjeff.livejournal.com]

It's credited on the bottom.

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

http://www.people-press.org/2014/06/12/political-polarization-in-the-american-public/

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

All issues are either left or right?

[peristaltor.livejournal.com]

Sure, like all beers are Bud and Bud Lite. The corporatists have a party and insist all participate.

Or else.

[peristaltor.livejournal.com]

Sadly, leave it to Pew to distort the polls. About the only metric they list is self-selected; independents who see through the sham of partisanship for what it is—a well-funded corporate attempt to distract voters away from actually important topics—are far from represented in the polls.

Here's the thing about independents before about 1980 and today: most of them before held some news sources in common with both sides of the political power divide. Today, very, very few true independents get their news at all from corporatist sources. As a result, asking an independent where they fall in the more mainstream political dichotomy is like asking which is tastier, beef or pork, and polling vegetarians and vegans.

Seriously, one might ask people who can't stand football which is the more awesome team. If they all suck, and if the poll doesn't include "NONE, because I have a life" as an answer, the poll is pretty meaningless.

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

I was seriously questioning what questions were asked and how they were plotted. I don't mind an approach, but it may not be as illustrative of the population after examination.

[blackdwarv.livejournal.com]

...and here I thought Independents were Republicans who were creeped out by the Tea Baggers... *shrug*

[madam-shapo.livejournal.com]

The life without complications is not possible, even theoretically, because eventually everybody dies, which is humongous complication. Seriously?

[the-rukh.livejournal.com]

I don't know, dying seems like the simplest thing in the world. Anybody can do it.

[angelcerv25.livejournal.com]

I don't see how death is a complication. It's the only guarantee you get in life, might as well just enjoy it.

[deborahkla.livejournal.com]

you think it started 40 years ago.
No, I said I'd lived with it for over 40 years. I'm 56 years old and I've been politically aware since Nixon was elected in 1968. My late father was victimized by the right wing during the McCarthy years, which goes back 60 years, so I'm aware that the polarization has been around for some time.

As long as we are a two-party country, there are only two camps, and as a woman I know which one is on my side. Sorry, but everyone I know who doesn't recognize the difference between them doesn't vote at all, which is hardly productive.

You can say whatever you like--you haven't lived what I've lived through, and you're not going to get me to be all hearts and roses towards the other side in the hope that we can find common ground. As far as they're concerned, unless you love Jesus, don't believe in global warming or evolution, you're not worth listening to. So fuck them.

[angelcerv25.livejournal.com]

here here!

[madscience.livejournal.com]

Need context. Exactly how was this polarization quantified?

[geezer-also.livejournal.com]

Ah, makes sense then.Thanks for the clarification :D

[geezer-also.livejournal.com]

Please disregard, was supposed to have been posted above somewhere to YJ