13
Charts Show Startling Differences Between Liberals And Conservatives
We are perhaps more politically polarized
today than we’ve ever been before. And that polarization is now showing up in
more than just our political debate. It is actually now evident in the way we
live our lives. A recent Pew Poll shows
some very interesting new data on this very thing.
It seems that this partisan battling has done
more than just make us polarized about our politics, it has also greatly
increased the animosity felt for the opposing party, “bordering on a sense of
alarm.” More than one third of Republicans and about a quarter of all Democrats
now see the other party as a direct threat to our nation. This poll also shows
that the more a person is politically involved, the more they are likely to be
polarized and the more they believe in the threat of the opposing side.
One of the very interesting things reveled in
this poll is how our political views influence how we live our lives.
Apparently there are distinct cultural and geographical preference differences
between Conservatives and Liberals. The study says,
“If people living in ‘deep red’ or ‘deep blue’ America feel like they inhabit distinctly different worlds, it is in part because they seek out different types of communities, both geographic and social.”
The majority of Liberals prefer to live where
the houses are somewhat smaller, but where many things are within walking
distance. The more Liberal a person is, the more they choose to live in a city
or suburb. While the majority of Conservatives prefer to live in larger houses
further away from shops, restaurants, and schools. The more Conservative a
person is, the more they prefer to live in a small town or rural area.
For Liberals, about three-quarters of them say
that ethnic and cultural diversity is extremely important to where they want to
live. but among Conservatives, only one if five values this.
Most Conservatives instead say that it is far
more important to them to live around people who share their religious beliefs.
While only one in five Liberals say that this is an important factor in
choosing where to live.
The pollsters also asked people was how they felt about cable news. They asked both sides how they felt about both Fox and MSNBC in particular.
Another thing that is very different between
Libs and Cons is how they view compromise. Somewhere along the way, compromise
has become a dirty word for the right. But it seems that the left feels quite
the opposite.
