A survey finds Americans on the right and the left overwhelmingly agree on several core values but only a minority of each group believes the other side shares them. About nine in 10 Democrats and Republicans agree about the importance of values like compassion, personal responsibility and fairness. Only about a third of either party sees those values reflected on the other side. The findings reveal the depth of U.S. political polarization but also serve as a reminder of the country's shared priorities. The poll was conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago and the nonprofit organization Starts With Us, which focuses on ways to bridge America's political divide.

It doesn’t really surprise me to hear this. A solid majority of Republicans favor government-funded health care. Surprised? You shouldn’t be. Republicans need help just like the rest of us. They’re just more concerned about who gets it. So even though we have more in common than not, it shouldn’t surprise us that we all assume the other side doesn’t know that.

  • Bob@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    As a gay Texan… no. They’ve always been like this. The only difference is that now they’re saying the quiet part out loud.

    I’m 42. I grew up around Republicans, I went to school with them, I now work with them. I say this as someone who has Republican friends and family. They have absolutely always been this way, they just used to sugarcoat it a lot, hide it behind religion, claim it was about being fiscally responsible, whatever. What’s happening right now is they’ve been shown that they don’t have to pretend anymore, because someone who said the quiet part out loud literally became president of the United States.

    They don’t want what Democrats offer. Or rather, they want what Democrats offer, but only for themselves. That’s the core difference between the average Democrat and the average Republican; Democrats want everyone to have the same rights, Republicans want all Republicans to have the same rights. There’s always some group of people that they want to exclude. Women, LGBTQ, black people, immigrants, Muslims, disabled people, poor people, whatever.

    We can’t “save” them. There’s nothing to save them from. This is who they are. They’ve been showing us who they are for decades. Believe them.

    • spaceghoti@lemmy.oneOPEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      They don’t want what Democrats offer. Or rather, they want what Democrats offer, but only for themselves.

      Yeah, that’s the point I’ve been trying to make. They’re not against the services being offered. They’re against people they don’t like getting them too. They demand a tiered system of benefits in which they get what they need and anyone who isn’t part of their tribe doesn’t.