The Liberal Mind

[alexamenos]

Originally Posted by purplefrog

The bottom line is that if we use lables or stereotypes we tend to look for evidence that supports our expectation.

certainly, we all do this in all walks of life.

my point, tho, is that an attempt to lay the blame for political divides at the feet of labeling is to gloss over the very real basis for political divisions...namely, much of politics is a zero-sum game, no matter how much we might like to imagine that we're all in it together. For some to win, others lose and vice versa.

When Democrats get more power, Republicans get less...when the fed gets more power, states get less....when group "a" pays taxes for the benefit of group "b", group "b" has more stuff and group "a" has less. this is the basis for the political division.

As Clauswitz said, war is politics by other means....we might likewise say that politics is war by other means.

cheers