Hi, all.
As should be news to no one, polarization and animosity between conservatives and liberals is at one of its all-time highs in America right now. There’s even talk of a second civil war looming. Obviously, there are strong passions and convictions on both sides, and people on both sides have claimed that the other is a grave threat to the integrity of the nation itself. I’m familiar with the views and concerns of my own side: we view Donald Trump’s (and his allies’ and supporters’) statements and actions as being an attack on the democratic process that defines our nation, and are worried that the strategies and tactics he and they are employing will make future elections farcical, paving the way for an authoritarian state (a dictatorship). I am less familiar with why conservatives feel Democrats and liberals are a threat to the nation and its integrity in similar fashion. My best guess is that conservatives buy Trump’s assertions that the 2020 presidential election was rigged, and thus might have similar fears as liberals do, but I also get the sense conservatives have deeper, older concerns than this, and that Trump was/is viewed as a solution to them.
Can you please try to articulate here what those fears are? And, to any liberals reading this, please refrain from answering in conservatives’ stead. I’m interested in their opinions, not your opinions of their opinions.
I always thought conservative were scared: they’re scared that their lifestyle is in danger, because they think that the other side will do like them. This means they are scared that Muslim will force them to do Ramadan or excision. They’re scared that lgbt will force them into lgbt. They’re scared that they will be poor if the current poor aren’t anymore. They’re scared that they will have to work if their children aren’t working enough.
Fear is what drives them IMO. And violence and coercion is the only solution they know, which fuel their fear, because they fear the other side is as bad as they are.
Media will do whatever they can to fuel these fears too. Honestly, I would execute or exile the people leading the far right media. They are traitors who manipulate and lie on a large scale, they are the largest threat to western countries today.
This explains their obsession with guns and personal property, they feel so out of control on big issues, they get hyper vigilant on whatever they can control.