When the US first went into Iraq, I made the mistake of disagreeing with somebody about the ‘reasons’ behind it.
Oh.My.God….I seriously think the guy I was talking to would have shot me if he’d been able to. As it was, our co-workers had to seperate us…well him from me, anyway. I won’t go into the names and epithets he threw at me, except to say that my way of thinking was very ‘unpatriotic and unamerican’…
That was my first introduction to poltical ‘discussions’ over here. Now I normally keep my mouth shut – which is difficult for me.
Growing up in England, you’d quite often have an ‘argument’ – ie a discussion with another person who did not share your own views – that would be interesting and exhilhirating – views would be exchanged, hopefully each side would learn a little bit about the other’s, and after agreeing to disagree it would be time to get another round in 😉
Over here, I often find that my viewpoint is left of Stalin’s. My own fault for living in ‘socialist’ Great Britian, i guess. Consequently, due to my leftist leanings, and the lack of debating skills of many people here (present company on Pigginton’s excluded) I try not to open my mouth when things get ‘hot’. Being a card-carrying agnostic, I find the religiosity in the States both baffling and a little bit scary, as most of the UK has no religious leanings at all.
As for third/fourth/fifith political parties…you win some, you lose some.
On the other side of the spectrum, you get the kind of mess that plagues Italy and Israel – new parliaments almost every year. Proprotional Represtational politics is even more bloody than a two-party state, as you need to woo other parties to your ‘side’ in order to have enough representation to govern.
The UK almost makes it with three parties – Labour, Conservative and Liberal. however, Liberals have not had a good run of it in the last 50 years or so, so for all intents and purposes the main choice is either Labour or Tory (Conservative).
I wish that the parties over here would actually make a stand for what they think. So much time on both sides seems to be taken up with trying to cuddle up to the middle ground. Republicans and Democrats are now so similar in ideology that its hard to decide which party to vote for. Democrats seem to want the same electorate as the Republicans, and will throw away any signs of ‘leftist/socialst/liberal’ leanings, in order to be exactly like thier Republican counterparts.
