buffer-overrun

Why Partyism is Wrong David Brooks

A recent Pew study found a big increase in “ideological consistency” in self-identified Republicans and Democrats in the last 20 years (presumably the people with less ideologically consistent views are becoming unaffiliated). So a Republican today is much more likely to believe, for instance, both “Poor people today have it easy because they can get government benefits without doing anything in return” and “Homosexuality should be discouraged by society."  [Find the complete list here.]

I do not want to spend my precious social time being told that I am both gullible (to believe that a social safety net is both more humane and better for society in the long run) and evil (as a queer former drug user).  And it seems that party identification is actually a pretty good short-hand for whether I want to have a conversation with a person. (Though I admit I have a hard time separating myself from people’s criticism, and am prone to taking things personally even if the person would presumably say "present company excluded.”)