We're Just Different People

[Saltheart]

Lastly, respondents were asked to indicate which of two values is most important to teach your children, a) "to work hard and be self-reliant" or b) "to learn to share with others."

Why are these two mutually exclusive? That's the trouble with these kinds of polls. The choices they give put words in your mouth!

[justplugit]

Originally Posted by Saltheart

Lastly, respondents were asked to indicate which of two values is most important to teach your children, a) "to work hard and be self-reliant" or b) "to learn to share with others."

Why are these two mutually exclusive? That's the trouble with these kinds of polls. The choices they give put words in your mouth!

Your right SH, good parenting includes both and and one
shouldn't be more important then the other.

There should be no problem in being a hard worker and having a giving spirit.

[Sweetwater]

Originally Posted by Saltheart

Lastly, respondents were asked to indicate which of two values is most important to teach your children, a) "to work hard and be self-reliant" or b) "to learn to share with others."

Why are these two mutually exclusive? That's the trouble with these kinds of polls. The choices they give put words in your mouth!

They're not mutually exclusive in practice, but the question was asked in this way to determine which value people hold most strongly...sharing over self-reliance, or self-reliance over sharing.

So, given a trade-off, liberals are more likely to choose "sharing."

[spence]

Originally Posted by Sweetwater

They're not mutually exclusive in practice, but the question was asked in this way to determine which value people hold most strongly...sharing over self-reliance, or self-reliance over sharing.

So, given a trade-off, liberals are more likely to choose "sharing."

Liberals and conservatives don't have all the same beliefs???

STOP THE PRESSES!!!


Let's look at the actual poll instead of snippets...

Reason-Rupe Surveys : Reason Magazine

What it seems to indicate is that the majority of Americans don't fit into either of the two categories presented above.

What it also seems to indicate is that when broken down by party, people who would identify as democrats and independents scored pretty close to each other.

Another element is that the category questions separate "libertarian" from "conservative" while in the real world these are often combined. The net effect if this is to concentrate the "conservative" numbers. This is reflected when you look at the difference between the two tables.

If anything this poll confirms what we already knew, that our nation is made up of a diverse set of viewpoints, but that we share more in common than some would like you to believe.

-spence

[Sweetwater]

Originally Posted by spence

Liberals and conservatives don't have all the same beliefs???

STOP THE PRESSES!!!


Let's look at the actual poll instead of snippets...

Reason-Rupe Surveys : Reason Magazine

What it seems to indicate is that the majority of Americans don't fit into either of the two categories presented above.

What it also seems to indicate is that when broken down by party, people who would identify as democrats and independents scored pretty close to each other.

Another element is that the category questions separate "libertarian" from "conservative" while in the real world these are often combined. The net effect if this is to concentrate the "conservative" numbers. This is reflected when you look at the difference between the two tables.

If anything this poll confirms what we already knew, that our nation is made up of a diverse set of viewpoints, but that we share more in common than some would like you to believe.

-spence

Right, the terms "liberal" and "conservative" do not represent everyone. But that's not the point. The point was to take the two ends of the political extreme (thus leaving out libertarians and commutarians or not comparing democrats to republicans which are more politically ambiguous designations) to best illustrate the differences. These differences are important because they show that people don't value the same things and just pursue them in different ways (as some often think is the case), rather, they value completely different things and have sometimes incompatible world views.

[The Dad Fisherman]

Originally Posted by Sweetwater

These differences are important because they show that people don't value the same things and just pursue them in different ways (as some often think is the case), rather, they value completely different things and have sometimes incompatible world views.

The poll doesn't say that if you value one you don't value the other....it just makes you pick the one you value more.....you can still value Both of them...

[spence]

Originally Posted by The Dad Fisherman

The poll doesn't say that if you value one you don't value the other....it just makes you pick the one you value more.....you can still value Both of them...

Additionally, if I remember correctly in all cases a minority of those classified as liberals or democrats were on the left end of the spectrum.

I'd wager that if you asked other loaded questions you'd get the Right end of the question responding in an equally off center manner.

-spence

[justplugit]

Originally Posted by Sweetwater

So, given a trade-off, liberals are more likely to choose "sharing."

Ya, "sharing" other people's hard earned money.