Where Do You Deviate From The Partisan Line?

While it often seems like many people will tow the ideological and/or political party line, I know there are those of us who try to be independent-thinkers, even if we side with one group more often than we do another. As for me, even though I may side with liberals much of the time, I do hold some views that seem more sympathetic to the political right. To name a few examples, I support the 'individual right' interpretation of the 2nd Amendment, decentralizing government, lowering/removing certain taxes, and recognizing the right of KKK/neo-nazi morons to protest. I am sure there are others, but I'll name them as I think of them.

How about you? Are you a conservative who holds one or two liberal views? Or a liberal who holds some conservative positions? Independents, do you side more often with conservatives/liberals on economic or social issues?

I think I am often seen as right-leaning, and in many ways I am... but not entirely.
I'm okay with progressive taxation, as long as it is reasonable, and support a public "safety net" (though I'd prefer it were much more efficient and focused on helping people become independent as much as possible).

I have some concerns about the accumulated generational control of wealth and capitol by the 0.001%. Unsure what should be done about it; open to suggestions.

In my personal life I am "socially conservative", but typically rather hesitant about codifying my beliefs into law... I want the right to be "socially conservative" protected in most regards, but not forced on anyone. Virtue enforced at bayonet-point is hypocrisy.

I don't think I have much of a partisan line. Some of my views:

I am a staunch 2nd Amendment advocate (I often concealed carry).

I believe in progressive taxation.

I believe a privately owned business should be able to discriminate for any stupid reason it wants in hiring practices and in who they serve.

I believe in universal health care (like described in Bernie's plan).

I believe groups like the KKK should be allowed to hold demonstrations.

I am not only pro-choice, I am pro-abortion. As in I think the world would be better off if there were more abortions.

I want the federal government shrunk and for the power to be relegated to state, and preferably local, governments.

I believe the scientific consensus that vaccines are safe.

I believe the scientific consensus that human are exacerbating climate change.

I believe the scientific consensus that GMOs are safe.

I don't believe Trump personally colluded with Russians to win the election.

I don't believe the Clintons kill off opponents and witnesses.

I don't believe everyone who likes the Confederate flag is a racist.

I don't believe BLM is a racist or terrorist group.

I don't give a damn about Confederate statues one way or the other.

I believe a good economic and governmental system has a healthy mix of socialism and capitalism.

i lean left and am concerned about the national debt.
i oppose regressive carbon taxes / carbon trading schemes and instead would prefer a public / private moonshot to replace fossil fuels.
i support nuclear power, though i'd prefer it to be thorium based.

I'm a Christian who believes in responsible gun ownership...and a left leaning progressive...who used to be conservative. I don't know if that's non-partisan, or schizophrenic, but it's where I landed.

Now, quick, someone call me a hack! lol

Skeptic Bob said:

I don't think I have much of a partisan line. Some of my views:

I am a staunch 2nd Amendment advocate (I often concealed carry).

I believe in progressive taxation.

I believe a privately owned business should be able to discriminate for any stupid reason it wants in hiring practices and in who they serve.
Depends on what you mean by privately owned, if its privately owned but public access then I disagree I want everybody's rights protected

I believe in universal health care (like described in Bernie's plan).

I believe groups like the KKK should be allowed to hold demonstrations.

I am not only pro-choice, I am pro-abortion. As in I think the world would be better off if there were more abortions.
Im only pro-choice

I want the federal government shrunk and for the power to be relegated to state, and preferably local, governments.

I believe the scientific consensus that vaccines are safe.

I believe the scientific consensus that human are exacerbating climate change.

I believe the scientific consensus that GMOs are safe.

I don't believe Trump personally colluded with Russians to win the election.
Agreed but Russia factually did try to interfere and thats a problem

I don't believe the Clintons kill off opponents and witnesses.


On this next ones i wanted to be more clear.
It's a fact that everyone who likes the Confederate flag is NOT racist.
It's a fact BLM is a racist, terrorist group or hate group

I don't give a damn about Confederate statues one way or the other.

I believe a good economic and governmental system has a healthy mix of socialism and capitalism.

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Just going off the things you say this is REALLY close to me, i just edited yours above to reflect me.

OlNate said:

I'm a Christian who believes in responsible gun ownership...and a left leaning progressive...who used to be conservative. I don't know if that's non-partisan, or schizophrenic, but it's where I landed.

Now, quick, someone call me a hack! lol

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Hack!

I'm all over the place. Plus, my views change as my understanding of the world changes.

Jesse Booth said:

Hack!

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*whew*....thank you.....

Geoist said:

While it often seems like many people will tow the ideological and/or political party line, I know there are those of us who try to be independent-thinkers, even if we side with one group more often than we do another. As for me, even though I may side with liberals much of the time, I do hold some views that seem more sympathetic to the political right. To name a few examples, I support the 'individual right' interpretation of the 2nd Amendment, decentralizing government, lowering/removing certain taxes, and recognizing the right of KKK/neo-nazi morons to protest. I am sure there are others, but I'll name them as I think of them.

How about you? Are you a conservative who holds one or two liberal views? Or a liberal who holds some conservative positions? Independents, do you side more often with conservatives/liberals on economic or social issues?

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Um, I think for me it's obvious

Skeptic Bob said:

I don't think I have much of a partisan line. Some of my views:

I am a staunch 2nd Amendment advocate (I often concealed carry).

I believe in progressive taxation.

I believe a privately owned business should be able to discriminate for any stupid reason it wants in hiring practices and in who they serve.

I believe in universal health care (like described in Bernie's plan).

I believe groups like the KKK should be allowed to hold demonstrations.

I am not only pro-choice, I am pro-abortion. As in I think the world would be better off if there were more abortions.

I want the federal government shrunk and for the power to be relegated to state, and preferably local, governments.

I believe the scientific consensus that vaccines are safe.

I believe the scientific consensus that human are exacerbating climate change.

I believe the scientific consensus that GMOs are safe.

I don't believe Trump personally colluded with Russians to win the election.

I don't believe the Clintons kill off opponents and witnesses.

I don't believe everyone who likes the Confederate flag is a racist.

I don't believe BLM is a racist or terrorist group.

I don't give a damn about Confederate statues one way or the other.

I believe a good economic and governmental system has a healthy mix of socialism and capitalism.

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Jeez Bob we must be brothers. Were you adopted? Or maybe my parents lied and I was adopted.

We don't quite line up on Confederate statutes - I view most of the Confederate officer corps as traitors and traitors shouldn't get statutes, though as someone here pointed out to me there's actually a statute of George Washington in London so maybe I need to rethink that a little.

Since federal income taxation seems to be a common area of separation from either major party line I will address that.

Income taxation should be somewhat progressive in effect, have a single flat rate and a truly standard deduction. That is it - an income tax law with two numbers in it.

No differentiation based on the source(s) of income (the 16A grants the power to tax income from all sources) and no concern with how, or upon who, that income was later spent (as per the 14A - equal protection of the law). That keeps congress critters from giving favors to specal interst lobbyists (in exchange for campign cash?).

The two numbers may need some tweaking (to become revenue neutral initailly) but for simplification of this discussion I will use $30K as the standard deduction amount and 20% as the income tax rate applied to any and all income above that amount.

How about that for a simple federal income tax law?

Examples:

Person A earned $30K so they owe no income tax. Effective tax rate of 0%

Person B earned $50K so they owe $4K in income tax. Effective tax rate of 8%

Person C earned $100K so they owe $14K in income tax. Effective tax rate of 14%

Person D earned $500K so they owe $94K in income tax. Effective tax rate of 18,8%

Person E earned $1M so they owe $199,994 in income tax. Effective tax rate of 19.99% .

I'm your pretty standard liberal traditionalist progressive conservative socialist fascist nazi communist.

Geoist said:

While it often seems like many people will tow the ideological and/or political party line, I know there are those of us who try to be independent-thinkers, even if we side with one group more often than we do another. As for me, even though I may side with liberals much of the time, I do hold some views that seem more sympathetic to the political right. To name a few examples, I support the 'individual right' interpretation of the 2nd Amendment, decentralizing government, lowering/removing certain taxes, and recognizing the right of KKK/neo-nazi morons to protest. I am sure there are others, but I'll name them as I think of them.

How about you? Are you a conservative who holds one or two liberal views? Or a liberal who holds some conservative positions? Independents, do you side more often with conservatives/liberals on economic or social issues?

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I'm "centrist" for a reason. I hold views that agree with both sides of the aisle, and I also dislike some things on both sides of the aisle. If I had to pick one side or the other in totality, I'd choose not to vote.

I don't believe that organic foods are in any way, shape or form healthier than GMOs. It doesn't bother me one bit to eat food that happens to be GMO, and I don't need scare labels telling me as such.

I think the drive to single-payer or Medicare-for-all is a political Hail Mary. Shore up Obamacare and try out single-payer on a couple blue states before trying to take it nationwide.

I'm in favor of shifting US-led missions abroad to UN-led missions but not complete withdrawal, at least not right away. Power abhors a vacuum.

Get back to me on the 2nd Amendment. Short answer: At least in this political climate, Democrats should probably punt on gun control.

Geoist said:

While it often seems like many people will tow the ideological and/or political party line, I know there are those of us who try to be independent-thinkers, even if we side with one group more often than we do another. As for me, even though I may side with liberals much of the time, I do hold some views that seem more sympathetic to the political right. To name a few examples, I support the 'individual right' interpretation of the 2nd Amendment, decentralizing government, lowering/removing certain taxes, and recognizing the right of KKK/neo-nazi morons to protest. I am sure there are others, but I'll name them as I think of them.

How about you? Are you a conservative who holds one or two liberal views? Or a liberal who holds some conservative positions? Independents, do you side more often with conservatives/liberals on economic or social issues?

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I'm not really sure. I don't consider myself part of the American Democrat/Republican partisan line (However, moving away from partisan issues and into ideological issues, I am certainly a "Leftist"). I call out Republicans and Democrats for hackery, and I really feel no strong sympathies to either major political party. Some people call me "incredibly liberal" but I really hate that term and I do not like the modern Democratic party, and those people tend to balk as soon as I start talking about what's wrong with the DNC or why specific elements of identity politics are problematic. It is true however that my political activism tends to exist within or alongside the Democratic party, given that the Republican party has moved towards the extreme Right-wing groups (Religious Right, Alt-Right, and Koch/Corporatist/neoliberal conservatives.)

Along partisan lines, I guess like you I don't care very much about guns. I think there should be a universal background check, but that's about it. Again, I'm very critical of Democratic politicians for being cozy with corporate interests (Mind you, Republicans are far worse, but with the exception of Trump, they don't really pretend to be for the average American), I'm critical of their third-way/neoliberal worldview, and I'm critical of their authoritarian structures (All major positions, from presidential nominee to DNC chairperson to congressional leadership to state party chairs) are anti-democratic --institutionally designed to keep everyday Americans hands off of the till.

There's also lots of hippie woo-woo crap that I don't go in for, like New Agers, alternative medicine, anti-vaxxers, etc. All of those are just Left-wing "alternative facts" (although not all hippies are Left-wingers, some are Right-libertarians). I haven't read much saying GMO's are bad, although I believe that food should be more rigorously tested and more often as genetics change. So while it's not an a priori invalid concern, I don't think the panic over GMO's and GMO labeling makes much sense when weighed against the available scientific evidence.

Phys251 said:

I don't believe that organic foods are in any way, shape or form healthier than GMOs. It doesn't bother me one bit to eat food that happens to be GMO, and I don't need scare labels telling me as such.

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I agree with this, but I still have to read labels due to being allergic to certain preservatives.

NeverTrumpGOP said:

I agree with this, but I still have to read labels due to being allergic to certain preservatives.

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Specific allergy concerns are reasonable. "Organic will save us all" is not. That's the difference.

Phys251 said:

Specific allergy concerns are reasonable. "Organic will save us all" is not. That's the difference.

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I've found that whenever I described my specific allergy and how I figured out what is was, people always look uncomfortable. Especially the vegetarians or the No GMO/Gluten Free/Lactose Intolerant hipsters. I think most people take the take out all gluten and lactose products out of your diet to heart and never look back. Not realizing the other part of the equation was put those foods back into your diet one by one and you will finally figure out what is causing your allergy.

There can't be this many people allergic to wheat/gluten/diary. So I think it just comes down to laziness, but me I love to research and experiment.

Skeptic Bob said:

I don't think I have much of a partisan line. Some of my views:

I am a staunch 2nd Amendment advocate (I often concealed carry).

I believe in progressive taxation.

I believe a privately owned business should be able to discriminate for any stupid reason it wants in hiring practices and in who they serve.

I believe in universal health care (like described in Bernie's plan).

I believe groups like the KKK should be allowed to hold demonstrations.

I am not only pro-choice, I am pro-abortion. As in I think the world would be better off if there were more abortions.

I want the federal government shrunk and for the power to be relegated to state, and preferably local, governments.

I believe the scientific consensus that vaccines are safe.

I believe the scientific consensus that human are exacerbating climate change.

I believe the scientific consensus that GMOs are safe.

I don't believe Trump personally colluded with Russians to win the election.

I don't believe the Clintons kill off opponents and witnesses.

I don't believe everyone who likes the Confederate flag is a racist.

I don't believe BLM is a racist or terrorist group.

I don't give a damn about Confederate statues one way or the other.

I believe a good economic and governmental system has a healthy mix of socialism and capitalism.

Click to expand...

Now that is a pretty eclectic set of views, someone I'd like to spend an evening talking with. But can't deal with your endorsement of discrimination by private bidness. Once the govt decides to protect you from theft, you have no right to refuse to serve someone cause of their race. Otherwise, why not let black cops ignore you when people steal from you?

I'm essentially a liberal, whom leftists are my ideological enemy.

I believe in the second amendment and a strong impenetrable bill of rights

I believe the ultimate goal is to achieve a "colorblind" society, a society that champions the individual instead of a associated collective, though it may be functionally/practically impossible to erase racism, it should be the policy of the state.

I'm a individualist, I want to be treated as an individual and i treat others as individuals. And I am able to easily distinguish between discussion about general/statistical groups and individuals... and that those discussions are entirely separate.

I believe politics between the right and the left is simply a story. And they each both tells only half the story. Compassion and personal responsibility. The left only emphasizes compassion, the right only emphasizes personal responsibility.... and you need both. In my opinion... I lean on the side that our society is a little more lacking in personal responsibly than in compassion(and there were times in our past where it was entirely the opposite).

And I also find what needs to be heard on a group level is personal responsibly... it is a value that is so important for people to lead happy and productive lives and would be able to fix so many societal problems on it's own
What needs to be less heard but needs to be more acted on at an individual level is more compassion. There is a lot of talk, but compassion is at it's most effective when we all participate as fellow human beings to help one another and spread the compassion to strangers every single day. This is something a lot of conservatives have right, it is a traditional christian value that needs help continuing in a increasing secular world. Places like China have lost this almost completely(though i'm not sure if they even cultural had this)... and there is a youth movement to try to change it.

I believe that we should always at least try to find free market solutions first. And that does not mean try and pretend it works(but it fails), but by default i think we should all try to find a free market solution to problems before anything else. And I believe we can be more creative. It is because the free market has the advantage of being self regulatory in according to human nature....
You always need to figure out what you are incentivizing when you are coming up with a solution.


I could go on and on... but i think i should stop xD

Geoist said:

While it often seems like many people will tow the ideological and/or political party line, I know there are those of us who try to be independent-thinkers, even if we side with one group more often than we do another. As for me, even though I may side with liberals much of the time, I do hold some views that seem more sympathetic to the political right. To name a few examples, I support the 'individual right' interpretation of the 2nd Amendment, decentralizing government, lowering/removing certain taxes, and recognizing the right of KKK/neo-nazi morons to protest. I am sure there are others, but I'll name them as I think of them.

How about you? Are you a conservative who holds one or two liberal views? Or a liberal who holds some conservative positions? Independents, do you side more often with conservatives/liberals on economic or social issues?

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Are foreigners allowed to play?

I'm a right winger that prizes liberty and therefore detests fascism , socialism and right now particularly islamism. I am an atheist. Pro choice - of course. I am a republican which in Europe means I want monarchies abolished and replaced by - yes - republics . I value tax-payer funded health care for all.

If I was American I would be pro-gun control, strict gun control. And, in spite of his faults, I like your President.

Geoist said:

While it often seems like many people will tow the ideological and/or political party line, I know there are those of us who try to be independent-thinkers, even if we side with one group more often than we do another. As for me, even though I may side with liberals much of the time, I do hold some views that seem more sympathetic to the political right. To name a few examples, I support the 'individual right' interpretation of the 2nd Amendment, decentralizing government, lowering/removing certain taxes, and recognizing the right of KKK/neo-nazi morons to protest. I am sure there are others, but I'll name them as I think of them.

How about you? Are you a conservative who holds one or two liberal views? Or a liberal who holds some conservative positions? Independents, do you side more often with conservatives/liberals on economic or social issues?

Click to expand...

I am often typecast as liberal for having a strong social justice bent, but I agree with liberals on almost nothing except that inequality exists. I am also by no means conservative, although I am increasingly mistaken for one as my ideas of government control have fleshed out. It's not new -- you can go all the way back to 2011 to see me sharing my reservations about the socialistic model of progressivism. But it took many years for me to reach a level of self-education and understanding of alternative progressive models that I felt comfortable rejecting it outright (in many cases, anyway), because I'd rather pursue progressive goals with flawed tools than not pursue it at all. It just took a while for me to find a tool I liked better. I was only 21 back then, after all.

I believe in states' rights with increasing strength.

I'm very against UBI and support a strong labor movement instead, and I am still searching for a better, more stable solution to healthcare than single-payer (however, I maintain that America's current solution is completely inadequate to the point of being almost wicked).

I'm pro-gun rights.

I'm very pro-choice -- no limits.

I'm dedicated to open-source and the expansion of the concept into other areas of technology and education.

I'm for a total overhaul of the justice system and the idea of prisons. I regard our current model as downright slavery, and intentional institutionalization. People literally work for nothing in extremely high risk jobs, but then are shut out of using those skills for actual pay once they're out.

I'm also for an overhaul of education, which is being used more to bring districts money and ribbons than actually serving students for real-world survival and pursuit of their own desired goals.

I'm for the actively dismantling of all kyriarchrical power systems, from sex to ability to the influence we allow people to purchase with money (I don't care if you're rich, I care that you can buy other people's lives with it).

I'm an ecoconservationist, but at this point I think there is no choice but for humanity to fix the issues by redoubling their efforts for cleaner technology -- including eliminating the need for land destruction in agriculture.

I'm a critical feminist who rejects the real-life manifestation of sex positivity (which has been used, in actuality, to excuse some really sexist mistreatment rather than being used to educate and empower uncoerced choice).

So basically... I have no one to vote for, and no one likes me anymore. :lol:

Geoist said:

While it often seems like many people will tow the ideological and/or political party line, I know there are those of us who try to be independent-thinkers, even if we side with one group more often than we do another. As for me, even though I may side with liberals much of the time, I do hold some views that seem more sympathetic to the political right. To name a few examples, I support the 'individual right' interpretation of the 2nd Amendment, decentralizing government, lowering/removing certain taxes, and recognizing the right of KKK/neo-nazi morons to protest. I am sure there are others, but I'll name them as I think of them.

How about you? Are you a conservative who holds one or two liberal views? Or a liberal who holds some conservative positions? Independents, do you side more often with conservatives/liberals on economic or social issues?

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I am left leaning on many social issues, but I am a staunch 2nd amendment supporter and don't believe that banning guns will make people safer. I'm ok with some gun registration laws, but think the assault weapon ban is absurd. Nor do I agree with city wide gun bans. Federal and state buildings are ok, but I think colleges and other places should have the right to determine what weapons they allow on their property.

Geoist said:

While it often seems like many people will tow the ideological and/or political party line, I know there are those of us who try to be independent-thinkers, even if we side with one group more often than we do another. As for me, even though I may side with liberals much of the time, I do hold some views that seem more sympathetic to the political right. To name a few examples, I support the 'individual right' interpretation of the 2nd Amendment, decentralizing government, lowering/removing certain taxes, and recognizing the right of KKK/neo-nazi morons to protest. I am sure there are others, but I'll name them as I think of them.

How about you? Are you a conservative who holds one or two liberal views? Or a liberal who holds some conservative positions? Independents, do you side more often with conservatives/liberals on economic or social issues?

Click to expand...

I think you could consider me a liberal on most issues. But I am very pro-2nd Amendment, and I usually tend to side with the conservatives on the issue of gun control. I also support the KKK and Neo-Nazi's right to free speech, though I despise their message. And when it comes to issues like 3rd-Wave Feminism, reparations, etc., I find myself siding with the conservatives more than I do with liberals.