This Saturday September 20th 8-9 PM on It’s A Question Of Balance with Ruth Copland we consider ‘What is the effect of defining ourselves by our political party?’ In the USA, it is common to say ‘I’m a conservative’ or ‘I’m a liberal’; to declare ‘I am a Republican’ or ‘I am a Democrat’. In comparison, in Britain, people say ‘I support Labour’s policies’, ‘the Conservative party represents my views’, ‘I vote for Labour’, or ‘I am voting for the Conservative party.’ This may seem a subtle difference but one mode of talking embodies our views – we are what we believe; the other maintains a distance between us and our beliefs. I became aware of this different way of talking about political leanings a while ago and it made me wonder what effect defining ourselves by our political party in the USA has on us? If we are what we believe then any dissent from our position feels very personal, which may affect how we receive and react to information. We may hold a range of views but if we need to self-identify in one camp or another we may focus on and defend only the views that allow us to stay in that camp. Could embodying our political beliefs be part of the reason the country seems so divided? Does it make us feel more different from each other than we actually are? Or does defining ourselves by our political party facilitate the energy and commitment that is required to drive change? And what about Independents and ‘undecideds’? Are they as wishy-washy as they are sometimes portrayed or are they actually more accurately representing the complexity of political views on different topics? In our Out and About feature I get local opinion on this important topic. Join us on Saturday 8-9 PM! For more info on the show and to hear past shows visit www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
