I learned to stop working off that strict either-or dichotomy when I met my first girlfriend. She was the crunchy blissed out (read: permanently stoned) type who was all about PLUR, good vibes, and hemp jewlery. At least until you brought up abortion, immigration, or any other conservative boogeyman. Then she was Pat Buchanan with a redheaded wig and a copy of Billy Breathes.
I think that’s a result of the US two-party system. It’s spilling over to Europe too, via the media, but I think it originates with the US political system.
It’s so tribal and “bi-partisan”.
In my country, there’s 6 major parties, which are all a different mix on what they are for and what they are against. That means, there’s a much larger set of “buckets” a person can fit in. Due to the fact that there are often multiple parties that one person would be OK with voting for them, there’s a lot more voter mobility, and thus it’s much more common that someone doesn’t actually fully agree with a single party at all, but switches which party to vote for depending on what’s going on.
If stereotypes aren’t enforced that much, people tend to be quite much more complex and self-contradictory than what appears at first glance if you just look for stereotypes.
I learned to stop working off that strict either-or dichotomy when I met my first girlfriend. She was the crunchy blissed out (read: permanently stoned) type who was all about PLUR, good vibes, and hemp jewlery. At least until you brought up abortion, immigration, or any other conservative boogeyman. Then she was Pat Buchanan with a redheaded wig and a copy of Billy Breathes.
Many people like that.
I think that’s a result of the US two-party system. It’s spilling over to Europe too, via the media, but I think it originates with the US political system.
It’s so tribal and “bi-partisan”.
In my country, there’s 6 major parties, which are all a different mix on what they are for and what they are against. That means, there’s a much larger set of “buckets” a person can fit in. Due to the fact that there are often multiple parties that one person would be OK with voting for them, there’s a lot more voter mobility, and thus it’s much more common that someone doesn’t actually fully agree with a single party at all, but switches which party to vote for depending on what’s going on.
If stereotypes aren’t enforced that much, people tend to be quite much more complex and self-contradictory than what appears at first glance if you just look for stereotypes.