Member of the Month

KilaTsunami
October, 2024

Online

Welcome to the Newschoolers forums! You may read the forums as a guest, however you must be a registered member to post. Register to become a member today!

Surprised by Majority of NS Political Views.

profile picture
PANDA_SWAGGA
Posts: 490 - Karma: 16
Ok, first off, I just want to say I respect everyone's opinion. But it does surprise me to how many conservatives there are on this site. I think the conservatives out-weigh the liberals. Initially I assumed that being a freeskiing website, there would be more liberal, progressive thinkers, than those who are in favor of a conservative, traditional view on the world. So NS, why do you view politics the way you do? Is it your parents or your own views? and Why are they that way?
Aug 21 2012 11:25PM
0 0
profile picture
little1337
Posts: 8241 - Karma: 47,862
solid
Aug 23 2012 3:10PM
0 0
profile picture
TijmenDal
Posts: 4849 - Karma: 1,295
How can it be a surprise if you agree with the views?

Aug 23 2012 3:14PM
0 0
profile picture
applejuice.
Posts: 5506 - Karma: 1,512
Hahah no I meant that my political views are no surprise to lots of people on NS.
Aug 23 2012 3:19PM
0 0
profile picture
volvotom
Posts: 2045 - Karma: 712
Trying to get things back on topic...... what shaped your political views?

Aug 23 2012 10:14PM
0 0
profile picture
TijmenDal
Posts: 4849 - Karma: 1,295
Ethics.

Aug 23 2012 10:51PM
0 0
profile picture
B.Aussie
Posts: 5852 - Karma: 4,531
We do not. When we go into the election we can vote for whomever, either for an entire party and their set politicians in order or you can vote for the party then your particular representatives.
Aug 23 2012 11:15PM
0 0
profile picture
Knitting
Posts: 50 - Karma: 11
good luck with that.
Aug 23 2012 11:20PM
0 0
profile picture
PANDA_SWAGGA
Posts: 490 - Karma: 16
im guessing this quesiton is directed towards me...considering I have parents and step parents on both sides of the politcall spectrum, I think I just found out that I am wired in a more liberal way of things. I just do not line up in the conservative sense. Im surrounded by a bunch of conservatives but I just cant help myself be that way
Aug 24 2012 12:29AM
0 0
profile picture
theabortionator
Posts: 51644 - Karma: 162,252
A few years where I was obsessed with questioning everything I had known and trying to find out the truth. Not believing anything simply because It had been forced into me.


Probably a lot of hallucinogens, meditation, reflection, caring about what happens.
Aug 24 2012 2:30AM
0 0
profile picture
Lord.Quasimoto
Posts: 958 - Karma: 33

In order from most important to least:

Reading, life experience, intelligent professors, family, friends.

Aug 24 2012 10:59AM
0 0
profile picture
XtRemE11
Posts: 5680 - Karma: 246
I tried the liberal thing in highschool and first year of college, never really understood it, just tried to cause i wanted to fit in. i think being surrounded by liberals and liberal professors really started annoying me, mostly the hardcore ones bitching about cars, guns, meat, everything fun, being super PC, and mostly the whole "I accept everyone and dont judge unless you have a differing opinion" you would be amazed at how many college kids during the 08 election said they were voting for Obama because he was black or because "Obamas gonna give us money!" drove me fucking crazy.

so i started to research and learn about the other side. growing up with pretty hardcore conservative parents, i kinda tried to rebel against them, and got to see the stupidity of that side, then being surrounded by hardcore liberal students and professors just made me realize that anyone who is completely devoted to one side is just plain stupid when it comes to politics. and its insane how similar the most hardcore liberals and conservatives are. there are some extremely liberal ideas that conservatives somehow convince themselves is a conservative idea. and vise versa. they really are the same, just want control, power, money, and to get re-elected, just use different approaches to get it. and their blind followers dont see it.
Aug 24 2012 11:17AM
0 0
profile picture
SpookyCat
Posts: 1232 - Karma: -2,617
We can vote for whoever we want as well. The problem is that the people here are generally too stupid to realize this.
Aug 24 2012 12:36PM
0 0
profile picture
BravoWhiskey5280
Posts: 4020 - Karma: 520
I am about as liberal as one can get. I think most of NS knows this by now though.
Aug 24 2012 1:53PM
0 0
profile picture
EmperorKuzco
Posts: 6660 - Karma: 254
Yea we all know how much of a shithead you are
Aug 24 2012 2:15PM
0 0
profile picture
casual
Posts: 6712 - Karma: 6,748
You don't have to vote for the party that you're registered with. Registering with a party allows you to vote in primaries, or for which candidate (within a given party) will go onto the general election. In the general election that follows, you can vote for whomever, and people vote against their parties regularly, if not exactly often, if and when a candidate from another party sways them. And, as I said, the parties themselves represent fundamentally different ideologies and different ideas about what government should be and how it should work. So, it makes perfect sense that an individual would align with a particular party over another as they're different. Over a long enough period of time, party's stances on different issues change (for example, republicans and democrats have, simply put, changed places going back over the last hundred years or so), and sometimes profoundly, but in a given election cycle, the crux of the ideas of each party remain relatively static. That said, it makes total sense that an individual would vote along party lines. A quick google would explain the general stances each party takes on a number of central issues, and they're significant.

 Also, regardless of the back pedal now, you were condescending made worse by your relative ignorance about the process. And, no it doesn't appear that you know that what's best is subjective, because your original post was built on the premise that Aussies vote for the best candidate (and whatever party they represent), and Americans simply vote for their party, and blindly. I'm explaining to you that when people vote for a particular party it's (theoretically) because they see that party as most closely reflecting their beliefs about government and its role, and for the most part, each party sees crucial issues in entirely different, and often, mutually exclusive ways. So, it wouldn't make sense for a social conservative to vote for a candidate that is pro-life (for example). Or in other words, Americans vote for the exact same reason you, or anyone else would vote for one candidate above any other (this is of course ignoring all of the more subtle, subconscious and "nurture" reasons that people vote one way or another.)

Aligning with a particular party is, at its core, a declaration about an individual's ideas about  government.

And, my titties are perfectly cool, I just thought your post was sloppy and pointed it out. You got defensive, and pretty much fessed up to knowing very little about which you're speaking which makes it all the more curious as to why you posted in the first place. Nothing personal at all, just how you came across, and frankly it gets pretty old when people from other countries make presumptions based on gotcha headlines and next to no actual information. American politics are flawed, but I dare say all nations are, there's yet to be a perfect political system to exist in reality.
Aug 24 2012 3:47PM
0 0
profile picture
PhaedeD
Posts: 11498 - Karma: 327
I could barely decipher what you were trying to say through the bullshit you were spewing.
Aug 24 2012 10:13PM
0 0
profile picture
B.Aussie
Posts: 5852 - Karma: 4,531
You were and are reading too deeply into my words, I wasn't being condescending I was merely pointing out the difference. . We don't declare allegiance to a party and our parties don't stick to fundamental principles anymore. The flip back and forth with whatever they believe the majority want ie. no Carbon Tax. As I said I was working on the news that I get, as i have no other way to judge it from outside America. Shockingly it is how most of the worlds sees America's political system. How else am I supposed to gain knowledge other than newspapers and online articles without being in your country.
Aug 25 2012 2:18AM
0 0
profile picture
cobra_commander
Posts: 16909 - Karma: 4,686
read:
The Economist
Wall Street Journal
Christian Science Monitor
shit show known as The New York Times.

Aug 25 2012 2:28AM
0 0
profile picture
KyleTShreddin
Posts: 60 - Karma: 15

I have an Uncle who is about as much of a "traditional conservative" you can find (Meaning non tea party) and he is registered to vote as a democrat because he likes to vote against the canidates that he likes the least (Being from MA, the Democrat usually wins).

Aug 25 2012 8:41PM
0 0
profile picture
.MASSHOLE.
Posts: 7481 - Karma: 11,497
Except Scott Brown ;-). On a tangent here, if he is reelected, I see him running for president in the next election. IMO I think he has potential to be a very strong candidate
Aug 25 2012 8:47PM
0 0
profile picture
casual
Posts: 6712 - Karma: 6,748
There's been movements to register voters for the "other" party in order to in essence sabotage primaries over the last few election cycles, i.e. vote for a candidate in a primary in the opposing party less likely to win swing/independent votes in a general election to improve the chances of the other party's candidate to win.
Aug 25 2012 8:54PM
0 0
profile picture
uosdwiSrjewoH
Posts: 4220 - Karma: 122
i'm always late to political threads, so i'll just put in my two cents.

i think my dad (who votes conservative) put it best. he said (not in as many words)that disregarding all the fluff issues and getting down to the nitty gritty of politics, there are economic times when liberal strategies work best, and there are economic times when conservative strategies work best, and the two party system can't recognize that, and that's why the government sucks about 50% of the time.
Aug 25 2012 9:15PM
0 0
profile picture
SlugInfinite
Posts: 666 - Karma: 192
Yea, that's cause you're not very bright.
Aug 25 2012 10:37PM
0 0
profile picture
DizzyG
Posts: 698 - Karma: 296
Probably pretty close to you, not that ill say much about it on ns though
Aug 25 2012 10:41PM
0 0
profile picture
henry_the_eighth
Posts: 153 - Karma: 73
I am aware all the following has been stated in this thread already,

Skiing is an incredibly expensive sport, and most of the traffic on NS comes from the under 18 crowd, I imagine, and more often than not the average kid on NS is a white, middle-upper class, that descends from a fortunate family. A lot of the persons in this bracket are incredibly uninformed, and have their parents, that may happen to be conservative, shove their politic-dicks down their throat, just like their religion-dicks.
l have a liberal view on most issues, (Abortion, Drugs, Healthcare, Gay Marriage, Equal Rights) but I am also quite informed and do actually know what the fuck I am talking about.
OP, I am also in disagreement that you seem to think NS is vastly conservative, I would argue the opposite, and that the only reason it may seem that way, is because conservatives are more rigid in their controversial views, such as abortion, drugs, and gay marriage, and with that said, they are more likely to respond to a polar opposite view. The OP of such a thread assumes that all of his party agree with him, and they probably do, that is why there are only 2. All of the people with a different opinion on the matter will probably disagree, showing their stance and this creates the sight that a majority leans a different way.
Going back to the majority of NS population being young, and well, young people are inherently stupid as fuck; (Go read Facebook for 5 minutes and tell me there are more statuses about Curiosity landing than how much people love One Direction and if they think Snooki will make for a good mother) these young people, being dumb, do not see things rationally, and with their parental impact, they would clearly lean in a direction that may not be how they actually will see things later on after they experience life in a capacity. Young people will always evolve and become different after time, that is how life works. I do believe that the majority of NS, if they actually think and look at both sides of an argument, compare and contrast, they would lean to the liberal side. After all, NS isn't a huge community, so this doesn't prove for a huge sample size, but also NS is comprised of one basic type of individual, and after all, one basic type of individual leads to one basic view.
Aug 25 2012 11:13PM
0 0
profile picture
Jack_P
Posts: 75 - Karma: 11
This thread rapidly turned into a conservative-bashing fiesta.



Honestly you can argue all you want, but people need to understand that obviously everyone thinks THEIR OWN opinion is the right one and everyone else has their head in the sand. Conservatives can call liberals lazy, and liberals can call conservatives ignorant, but your a moron if you don't think both sides have issues.

Right wing btw
Aug 26 2012 1:51AM
0 0
profile picture
theabortionator
Posts: 51644 - Karma: 162,252
WUT. That's to everything btw. Just felt like quoting a piece to save space.
Aug 26 2012 1:53PM
0 0
profile picture
Ac31stuff
Posts: 557 - Karma: 10
most people on this site still live with their parernts and they ski. there parents probobly ski too and skiing takes money people with money are usually conservitive
Aug 26 2012 8:17PM
0 0
profile picture
XtRemE11
Posts: 5680 - Karma: 246
and people who want to make money/ not mooch off others.
Aug 26 2012 8:40PM
0 0
profile picture
theabortionator
Posts: 51644 - Karma: 162,252
Self quote in response to another 2 pages of "Everybody that skis is super duper rich..."
Aug 26 2012 10:21PM
0 0
profile picture
PhaedeD
Posts: 11498 - Karma: 327
Yea? Cause?
Aug 27 2012 12:33AM
0 0
profile picture
Broseph_Stalin
Posts: 3745 - Karma: 178
30:33


Aug 27 2012 12:55AM
0 0
profile picture
applejuice.
Posts: 5506 - Karma: 1,512
HAHAHAHAHA :)
Aug 27 2012 6:44AM
0 0
profile picture
shreddenator
Posts: 329 - Karma: 28
I would have to say the Economist is the only good source on that list. I read the Economist and although they often pander to big business and free-market ideals that are suffocating the North American economy, I have to admit that they are often able to see the light and promote green businesses and on occasion left leaning policies, hell they liked Obama....so a grudging kudos to them, it doesn't make me puke and often I can consider myself informed after reading it....kinda centralist reading, but by it's very nature a freemarket capitalist leaning....

I mean if your want a conservative perspective simply turn on Fox news... but if you want the other side you have to go grassroots, like the Dominion. Anyone interested in far left ideas should check it out.
Just sayin'

dominionpaper.ca

They did this cool documentary called "Walltown".....


Aug 27 2012 12:22PM
0 0
profile picture
EmperorKuzco
Posts: 6660 - Karma: 254
Meanwhile at the national republican convention, Obama a cant be president because he's never ran a lemonade stand
Aug 28 2012 8:24PM
0 0
profile picture
sir_drums_a_lot
Posts: 335 - Karma: 14
I'm a more liberal thinker but associate with, and like, conservatives more. I've had one too many hypocritical, strong headed liberals piss me the fuck off.
Aug 28 2012 8:29PM
0 0
profile picture
Nathn
Posts: 2408 - Karma: 63
Because they get everything handed to them by their conservative parents and don't realize that that is everything conservatives are against
Aug 28 2012 8:59PM
0 0
profile picture
northeast
Posts: 2119 - Karma: 254
I'm more conservative, but to be honest I don't like to talk politics too much. I think that if as a nation we're worried about who's getting an abortion or smoking weed rather than our own safety and economy, then we need to get our priorities straight.
Aug 28 2012 9:34PM
0 0
profile picture
applejuice.
Posts: 5506 - Karma: 1,512
SHUT THE FUCK UP AND STOP MAKING GENERALIZATIONS! Holy shit, I'm so
Aug 29 2012 12:59AM
0 0
profile picture
applejuice.
Posts: 5506 - Karma: 1,512
Sick and tired of people hating on each others political views. SO WE DISAGREE...WHO GIVES A FUCK? Just because I'm a conservative and you're a liberal doesn't make you any more right. God, let people have their own fucking opinions and stop attacking each other. (NOT JUST DIRECTED AT YOU.) Ugh, fuck elections. /rant
Aug 29 2012 1:01AM
0 0
profile picture
Aidan-G
Posts: 9415 - Karma: 10,861
Definitely this
Aug 29 2012 1:11AM
0 0
profile picture
Kazabazua
Posts: 3529 - Karma: 1,128
I'm extremely Liberal, but fuck it, all politicians are the same. They all lie, cheat, and suck dick to get to the top. When you vote, your always voting for a turd sandwich or an even bigger turd sandwich.
Aug 29 2012 1:13AM
0 0
profile picture
applejuice.
Posts: 5506 - Karma: 1,512
Go fuck yourself.
Aug 29 2012 1:22AM
0 0
profile picture
applejuice.
Posts: 5506 - Karma: 1,512
Meh
Aug 29 2012 4:40AM
0 0
profile picture
JIB_WALRUS
Posts: 671 - Karma: 130
its actually always between a turd sandwich and a giant douche
Aug 29 2012 4:50AM
0 0
profile picture
Mike-O
Posts: 14593 - Karma: 1,089
Just did my first rep-dem quiz and the results don't surprise me.

Click for larger image.
Aug 29 2012 5:03AM
0 0
profile picture
PhaedeD
Posts: 11498 - Karma: 327
even though you state youre joking im still going to point something out.

Ohio is now the 4th strongest state in the country going from a lousy 48th. You know how they got up there? WIth a conservative Governor and by using conservative fiscal policies in their state. In fact all states with conservative Governors/using conservative fiscal policies are doing better than well the opposite.

just some food for thought.
Aug 29 2012 6:24PM
0 0
profile picture
EmperorKuzco
Posts: 6660 - Karma: 254
that's exactly where I am.
Aug 29 2012 7:38PM
0 0
profile picture
theabortionator
Posts: 51644 - Karma: 162,252
Are you serious?
Aug 29 2012 7:45PM
0 0
profile picture
cobra_commander
Posts: 16909 - Karma: 4,686
link?
Aug 29 2012 8:17PM
0 0
All times are Eastern (-5)