Can Someone Explain Blind Loyalty to a Political Party?

[Wartrace]

Originally Posted by burdell

Search blind loyalty to cults, as good a place as any to start,

I think you are correct. The "political parties" are as close to cults as you can get.

[JimChi2PG]

Originally Posted by Clarallel

However, defending one's political party, despite ordinary disappointments, is perfectly reasonable. The two parties, despite whatever Ralph Nader may think - have some very different ideas, and it's not rational to think that any group is going to completely make you happy.

It fails to pass the reasonable test when loyalty to party trumps self interest. I heard a comedian ask, "Why are there poor Republicans?" If you look at the recent history of who Republicans benefit most, it's the wealthy. And who they benefit the least is probably the poor. Yet some of the poorest people are staunch Republicans. In my book, that is completely unreasonable.

Yes, the two parties say they have ideas that are very different but both typically fail to deliver to the masses. Both parties are now caught up in financing their campaigns and that means sucking up to wealthy donors, not working for the people.

Originally Posted by skepticratic

I think a more interesting question to ask is why blind hatred for a specific party.

I think it starts with programming. If growing up all you heard is one party is bad, you are more likely to adopt that attitude and see that is normal. But parties change. Democrats used to be loved in the south and most southern stated had Democrat governors.

I can understand why party leaders love blindly loyal voters. They benefit greatly from their loyalty but usually fail to return the favor. But these same voters fail to ask why they keep voting for people who refuse to work for them.

Originally Posted by Corerius

It strikes me as utterly necessary.

Without it, the largest human groups would be related groups, probably very small tribes.

With it, you get the beginning of large scale agriculture, armies to protect them (or grab more), specialization in jobs. Attachment to symbols, even if the symbol is a person, is completely necessary for civilization.

I understand where you're coming from but again, why does this blind loyalty fly in the face of self interest? Survival, as you pointed out, should be our primary focus. We are voting for people who fail to support our own survival. Why do we keep voting for them? It makes no sense.

[PedroMartinez]

I'm waiting for some more of the blind loyalists to show up and subtly claim they aren't blind loyalists.