Are we now defined by our political views?

[Rival Max]

In the US we have a two party system that has been slowly causing our nation to start pull two directions. We us to have just political differences. Now our parties are making us have fundamental differences. What us to be annoyance with how taxs are spent is becoming fights about boarder security, transgnder rights and the xenophobic reaction to weather or not any muslim is a terrorist.

These issues have hit a cord and they are now starting to force some people to say if you are okat with this. I can not be connected or friends with you. Its kind of scary and its only getting worse.

[Suicune's Fire]

...Are you referring specifically to Americans? xD I swear our politics are much less intense than yours. Most people don't care, haha.

[Elbub]

I agree with @Suicune's Fire; politics in the US seems so much more polarising than my country. Don't get me wrong, our political parties do have individuals in the public who are vocal and active about their support for them, but they are part of a minority.

A bigger example of what you're talking about, however, can be found in the build-up and the present aftermath of the EU Referendum in the UK. If you weren't aware, the divide was incredibly close. A 51.9/48.1 split in favour of leaving, with a 72.2% turnout. And that did have some fallout and I have seen some pretty volatile arguments and disagreements. I won't get down into the exact demographics, but there were large splits amongst age groups, levels of education, and, yes, those who favour left-of-centre politics and those who favour right-of-centre politics.

I think the proliferation of the internet massively skews everything to do with this though. Not only does it allow people with similar views to more easily connect and develop their views, but it allows everyone to be exposed to all the crap that is in the world very very quickly. I don't think anything is any worse than before. In fact, one of your examples regarding resistance to LGBT rights is encouraging because it shows progress is being made; the fact that it's out there as public discussion, and it seems to be that the establishments are more and more on the side of equality, shows huge progress to even only twenty, thirty years ago.

[Blaquaza]

To an extent, our political views definitely define who we are, if only because our political outlooks can go on to impact our sense of humour, and so on. Personally, I think that there's also a growing divide - certainly in England, anyway - between those who side with the left, and those who are on the right. I haven't seen many people in recent times commit to being in the centre, although that could just be because of who I know and what I've been observing.

I know for a fact that I can be a bit snooty towards people if we disagree on key political issues, unintentionally, but it still happens. Fortunately, I don't have any friends that I have these disagreements with. The fact that I subconsciously dismiss people I don't agree with politically is another example of political views defining who I am. I don't really have much of a passion for politics though, I just have a passion for what I believe is social justice. It's just a shame not much of that seems to be happening in our currently shambolic world.

[Neo Emolga]

I think we're witnessing the fallout of what happens when people in power use that power to make deals with their friends so they can get into power. As a result, the most educated and qualified people never even get close to the top to put their great skills and mindsets into action, and instead it's the people with connections that get into power even though they don't know what they're doing.

I also see a lot of escalation of commitment going on. People will keep pursuing a losing cause on the basis that they can't be faced with the truth that their initial investment will go to waste or don't want to admit they made a mistake.

To me, I value truth, communication, honesty, and transparency in politics. I don't mind mistakes as long as someone explains themselves and proves there were good intentions behind them, but then at least takes the necessary corrective action to get a better solution going. But the constant lying, ridiculing, and overall nonsense just pushes me to not even want to get involved with the system at all. There's so much dishonorable and unethical behavior that I feel totally wrong associating myself with any of these political parties. And it feels like no matter who wins, I'm not taking them seriously, nor believing anything they say at face value. If they want respect, they need to earn it, and boy do they have quite the debt to start paying off.

[Noblejanobii]

If my past two weeks in International Politics class has taught me anything, its that yes in many ways your political views do define who you are, but not without a just reason. In my readings of Hobbes and Machiavelli, as well as a few others, they all seem to have a common theme of human nature. We as humans can create societies to escape human nature, but we are never without it, hence why there is still crime. This leads to the ever prevalent question of what exactly justice is. And that question of justice, defines who you are. What you believe justice is, the death penalty vs life in prison, long or short terms for drug abusers, and more, define what your sense of justice is. And your sense of justice is a personification of your own personal beliefs and core values. It defines you. Now, whether or not you support same sex marriage, transgender rights, gun laws, and more can define who you are, but in reality those beliefs are merely a support system for your sense of justice, so individually they can't give a true sense of you since alone they aren't justice.

[Rival Max]

If my past two weeks in International Politics class has taught me anything, its that yes in many ways your political views do define who you are, but not without a just reason. In my readings of Hobbes and Machiavelli, as well as a few others, they all seem to have a common theme of human nature. We as humans can create societies to escape human nature, but we are never without it, hence why there is still crime. This leads to the ever prevalent question of what exactly justice is. And that question of justice, defines who you are. What you believe justice is, the death penalty vs life in prison, long or short terms for drug abusers, and more, define what your sense of justice is. And your sense of justice is a personification of your own personal beliefs and core values. It defines you. Now, whether or not you support same sex marriage, transgender rights, gun laws, and more can define who you are, but in reality those beliefs are merely a support system for your sense of justice, so individually they can't give a true sense of you since alone they aren't justice.

I agree with you on this. Personally I support the death penalty. I am not ashamed to say it. But I also support reforming the prison system altogether so that we create a system that gets people more chances to stay out of jail. We have the largest percentage of prisoners to population of any of the super power countries. I think our core beliefs help give us a different perspective which ideally should help us come up with new ways to change and grow.

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

Yeah I agree that we are defined by political views to some extent. Australia's two major parties are really really similar though so there isn't too much issue here. But if you know a friend supports views that you find outrageous, then I don't think you can really help it changing your opinion of them.

I guess there's a reason why they say that politics and religion are bad topics to discuss if you want to stay friends. :P

[Noblejanobii]

One thing I would like to add is that in the United States right now, it is difficult to be on the side that is not viewed as progressive, especially when you are attending a college like my own. My views are very unpopular here, and unless I am prompted, I will not discuss my own political views because even though they may not be the whole definition of myself, they shape other people's perspectives of me, they shape my definition to others. That can be very dangerous, and is probably one of the main reasons why there is so much tension both in the United States and on my campus lately. When you are on the side that is not appreciated, it can be hard to have people put that aside because in many ways, your views define who you are in their eyes.

[Rival Max]

One thing I would like to add is that in the United States right now, it is difficult to be on the side that is not viewed as progressive, especially when you are attending a college like my own. My views are very unpopular here, and unless I am prompted, I will not discuss my own political views because even though they may not be the whole definition of myself, they shape other people's perspectives of me, they shape my definition to others. That can be very dangerous, and is probably one of the main reasons why there is so much tension both in the United States and on my campus lately. When you are on the side that is not appreciated, it can be hard to have people put that aside because in many ways, your views define who you are in their eyes.

Certain issues have made it this way. In the past it was just some issues that we learned to just deal with. Now because of the actions of a few the parties are more extreme. I find it best now more than ever to leave the politics out of it. I recently stopped talking to my aunt because I found her views to be racist and extreme. It should have never come to that point. So we should put a leave the politics out of pokemon sign right on the website..lol