I wouldn't even know what the political leanings Republican, Democrat, liberal or conservative even encompass. Liberal sound like freedom, but I get the feeling that this isn't what the party stands for, particularly as we currently have liberals in power in Australia. Besides, any party we choose to represent us is generally just the closest we can find to our ideals and will still implement things we disagree with. It's more a process of eliminating those that align with us even less.
It's interesting that we've come to this point. The current climate has actually highlighted just how diverse we are and pitted way more people against each other than expected. Just because we have a lot in common with a certain group of people we expected them to have the same beliefs in everything and have been surprised that when forced to take certain sides they don't.
Very well put! Though even this is tricky, I find. I mean, I may disagree with some things you believe, but heartily agree with others... Personally, I wasn't too sure what either of those labels meant, either.
Yes! I think this is both a point of discontent, but also ultimately something that could salvage relationships. I've often been surprised to find that people who seemed so intelligent in other areas could be so narrow-minded about the whole pandemic thing (in particular). At the same time, maybe our similarities will drive us both to find common ground, and at least agree to disagree about some controversial topics. They should, at least.
That is what I would certainly strive for, but I've been seing a lot of the opposite, recently. So many saying they have cut friends out of their lives because they think they are being selfish, but those friends haven't changed from the friends they knew before all this disagreement. So were they selfish before and if so why did you befriend them if that's how you feel now? If they weren't selfish before, then they aren't suddenly selfish now, they just have differing opinions and experiences.
That is such an excellent way to view things. It's not the friend who's changed, it's the perspective, I love that. I mean, I'm sure you can be surprised by people you don't know too well, but people you've known for a long time, you should know better than to dismiss their intelligence so easily simply because of a different point of view.