I was a long time lurker on here and I remember back in the 2007-08 era seeing some extreme things being said on here. I remember a user who used "Sanfagsicko" to refer to San Francisco and saying that California would be "reintegrated" back into the union after the civil war.


Why were people so politically rabid and authoritarian in the 2000s?

I don't consider myself a Democrat although things like this did much to drive me away from conservatism.








I now proudly call myself a non religious Will McAvoy Freddie Prinze Jr Republican!

There are several factors influencing why the conservative ideology is gaining support, not only in the US. One factor is the globalization of the economy and the mainstream liberals support the reduction of the national state. The consequence of it is; a lot of jobs are moved toward low income countries. Most people don't like that. There are other reasons for why the conservatives are gaining support.

So you don't believe in absurdities (religion) anymore?

Originally Posted by I3BrigPvSk

There are several factors influencing why the conservative ideology is gaining support, not only in the US. One factor is the globalization of the economy and the mainstream liberals support the reduction of the national state. The consequence of it is; a lot of jobs are moved toward low income countries. Most people don't like that. There are other reasons for why the conservatives are gaining support.

So you don't believe in absurdities (religion) anymore?

I am alienated from organized religion but the belief in an afterlife of some sorts brings me some comfort.

Originally Posted by I3BrigPvSk

There are several factors influencing why the conservative ideology is gaining support, not only in the US. One factor is the globalization of the economy and the mainstream liberals support the reduction of the national state. The consequence of it is; a lot of jobs are moved toward low income countries. Most people don't like that. There are other reasons for why the conservatives are gaining support.

So you don't believe in absurdities (religion) anymore?

I honestly think that is a very minor driving force, I think the rise of extreme politics is being driven by a general disillusionment in politicians and the political system as a whole.
In the 30 years we have seen growing levels of inequality and poverty and this is drawing people to the extreme ends of the political spectrum as they are almost invariably the ones pointing out these issues and claiming to have the solutions.

Personally I think the world politically is in the same spot it was in the early to mid-1930s and for much the same reasons.
After all what is the difference between "Make [insert any country here] Great Again" and [insert country] Uber Alles?

Originally Posted by MontyB

I honestly think that is a very minor driving force, I think the rise of extreme politics is being driven by a general disillusionment in politicians and the political system as a whole.
In the 30 years we have seen growing levels of inequality and poverty and this is drawing people to the extreme ends of the political spectrum as they are almost invariably the ones pointing out these issues and claiming to have the solutions.

Personally I think the world politically is in the same spot it was in the early to mid-1930s and for much the same reasons.
After all what is the difference between "Make [insert any country here] Great Again" and [insert country] Uber Alles?

I think the conservatism gets more support as a reaction to the globalization of the economy. People have lost their jobs because of it and some politicians utilize it to get support to bring the national state back as the main economic actor. The Europeans have grown more skepticism toward the EU and the feeling we get more of a European United States. Our history and traditions speak against it. I don't think people, even those with conservative sympathies view themselves as being supporters of extreme ideas. They want to keep the national state and reduce the amount of refugees. That is one major factor in Europe that increased the support for conservative ideas. The huge amount of refugees from Syria had a huge impact on peoples perceptions. The fear of terrorism play a vital part as well

Liberals have some good ideas, especially their thoughts about freedom of speech, texts, and religion, but they can be viewed as they care too much about others than their own citizens.

Originally Posted by AllianceN7

I am alienated from organized religion but the belief in an afterlife of some sorts brings me some comfort.

So you are more spiritual?

I don't believe in anything written by people from the bronze age.

Originally Posted by I3BrigPvSk

So you are more spiritual?

I don't believe in anything written by people from the bronze age.

I guess you could say that.


I would prefer to think that we live in a more sci fi like universe than spiritual.


I think things like demons and ghosts are childish.

Originally Posted by I3BrigPvSk

I think the conservatism gets more support as a reaction to the globalization of the economy. People have lost their jobs because of it and some politicians utilize it to get support to bring the national state back as the main economic actor. The Europeans have grown more skepticism toward the EU and the feeling we get more of a European United States. Our history and traditions speak against it. I don't think people, even those with conservative sympathies view themselves as being supporters of extreme ideas. They want to keep the national state and reduce the amount of refugees. That is one major factor in Europe that increased the support for conservative ideas. The huge amount of refugees from Syria had a huge impact on peoples perceptions. The fear of terrorism play a vital part as well

Liberals have some good ideas, especially their thoughts about freedom of speech, texts, and religion, but they can be viewed as they care too much about others than their own citizens.

To me nationalism and conservatism are the manifestation of an underlying problem which is a general dissatisfaction with the system as a whole which has polarised politics.
There is no middle ground any more, that died when then the middle class died.

One word I have all but given up on is liberal, it has no real meaning its definition now is less extreme than the person using the word.

Originally Posted by AllianceN7

I guess you could say that.


I would prefer to think that we live in a more sci fi like universe than spiritual.


I think things like demons and ghosts are childish.

I think we live in a scientific universe. I think it was pretty cool when we could the detect the collision of two black holes. I follow the search for exoplanets with a great interest , they have detected water in the atmosphere of one of them. It will be interesting when the James Webb telescope is in orbit, it is supposed to analyse atmospheres better than what Kepler and Tess do. I'm more interested in Earth sciences.

Ghost and demons work on movies, though. I liked the Conjuring movies. I haven't seen the Nun yet

Originally Posted by MontyB

To me nationalism and conservatism are the manifestation of an underlying problem which is a general dissatisfaction with the system as a whole which has polarised politics.
There is no middle ground any more, that died when then the middle class died.

One word I have all but given up on is liberal, it has no real meaning its definition now is less extreme than the person using the word.

The polarization is going to the extreme, but more so among politicians than among people. Politicians have a tendency to be more loyal to their ideology than to the political issues at hand. People see it and that influence how they view politicians. I personally don't have so much respect for politicians. I can amuse myself to be Machiavellian to them and see how they react.