Political Affiliations?

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Autistic people, in my experience, are much more likely to be extremists in politics. This seems to be because of their mistaken conviction that human affairs can be infallibly analysed in strict, logical terms, so that their conclusions MUST be right. I'm autistic myself, but recovering from this problem.

Personally, I'm a committed social conservative à la Edmund Burke, also influenced by Tennyson, TS Eliot, GK Chesterton and, more recently, the contemporary British conservative philosopher Sir Roger Scruton, the journalist and writer Peter Hitchens (brother of the late Christopher and with diametrically opposed views on almost every issue) and British writer and psychiatrist Theodore Dalrymple. I don't see how anyone can look at the post 1960s world of social "liberalism" and claim that it has worked. We're living on the accumulated social capital of generations long passed and on that imported from countries like China and India that still have traditional (ie real) values.

The west will collapse within a generation because it has internalised the pernicious lie that everybody can have everything they want all the time without having to earn it or improve their moral qualities to the point where they're capable of doing so. The only hope for the west is if it succeeds in exporting its cultural and moral nihilism to China, the way it's beginning to do in India. The Chinese have more sense than to accept it from us, and I hope the Indians do too.

That said, I'm much further to the left on economic issues. I'm totally in favour of nationalisation of vast portions of industry. In particular, public transport should be wholly in the hands of the government. This is something so obvious, I still can't understand why people regurgitate the free-market mantras here. Please don't accuse conservatives of being free-marketers. This might be partially true in America, but only because they've betrayed their conservatism.

You're wrong here. "Liberal" politics, particularly the extreme brand that wants to wipe out straight white Christian males over forty, is almost entirely a wealthy, middle-class, white hobby. These people are in love with an idea of the poor, rather than with the poor themselves, whom they despise for their patriotism, their frugality and desire to improve themselves.

Suburban middle-class liberals, in their attitude to the poor, are rather like Marie Antoinette, who fantasised about being a shepherdess, but whose conception of that role was entirely romanticised; she wouldn't have lasted an hour, in the event.

May I suggest instead of saying the other person is wrong, which creates confrontation, you say instead: "I beg to differ"?
Or something of that ilk?

BTW, I am not wrong.
You simply believe I am wrong.

To me, it seems you have mistaken the context of my comment.
I was specifically talking about those autistic individuals who are embracing left-wing politics in this forum, not left-winger in general who would be overwhelmingly neurotypical.

BTW, autism goes beyond politics.
Our political affinity is usually influenced by our inherent autistic characteristics under "normal" situations.
"Normal" in this context means no undue influences such as poverty.

While I agree that everyone should vote predominantly for a political party which caters to their personal needs, our autistic nature is the dog and not the tail under "normal" circumstances.

And furthering my assertion that autistics would/should(?) gravitate to the more rational conservative political position and be less inclined to embrace the more emotionalistic political philosophies of the left, please consider the following:

Hans Asperger labelled us "little professors" for a reason.
He was referring to our intellectual and rational bent.
We tend to be less influenced by emotional considerations distorting our decision-making process.
This is a well-known characteristic of mildly autistic individuals in general.

In terms of general political philosophy: I'm a political moralist, welfarist, and communitarian. In terms of party affiliation: I'm a member of the Prohibition Party.

I beg to differ.
All things being equal (which they aren't), I strongly believe most autistics would be more inclined to be conservative in nature rather than liberal, beyond the consideration of Trump and Clinton.
While voting for a party which favours one's financial needs is indeed a rational decision, it is not necessarily indicative of the actual mindset of the person involved.

The same applies to the question of atheism or theism.
Based on polls on this website, from memory, there are considerably fewer theists than atheists/agnostic, which is in keeping with the more rationalistic nature of those on the autistic spectrum.

Your comment about the permutations of political proclivity lack substance, imo.
Of course, there is going to be a spectrum of political beliefs, but I believe that if you make it a binary choice, it simplifies and clarifies.
You are adding complexity which is foofoo rather than necessary, is it not?

Once again, the issue/question of political leaning seems to be largely contingent on the financial situation of the individual...errr. individual.
The unfortunate reality is that many on the spectrum have various and disproportionate difficulties when it comes to employment.
Unfortunately, some conservatively governed countries embrace a harder line in terms of welfare.
Most here seem to be denizens of America.
Hence, the greater left-wing influence in this forum as a result, or so it seems to me.

Yes, yes.
I know.
It is a long bow to draw.

N.B.
I am from Australia.
Our political/economic/medical situation seems to be much friendlier than that of America.
Hence, the re-erection of the conservative party here in Oz.
Well, that would be part of it.

i will never forgive the Greedy Oligarchic Pachyderms for opposing affordable health care for the working class for over a century now. i will never forgive them their opposing ALL of the societal progress we've made in the same period of time. i will never sign onto the ableism/social darwinism/outright cruelty which marks the amuuurican right wing. for those reasons, by that yardstick, i must be about as left-wing as it is practicable here in amuuurica.

Strange ... I always thought The Brain was male ...

I actually was thinking of The Brain when I posted my comment but was too lazy to look for a picture.

I’ve heard that the husband is the Head and the wife is the Heart of the family.

It’s not fair! We should be raising our daughters to believe that they can be dictators, too!

You would LOVE the Tyrells! They were women with backbone and ambition!

A Dem for 20 yrs, active in campaigns and even ran a prez primary campaign for 10 counties in one state. Became an Inde after the party voted for the Iraq war. Drifted left, then center, then left. I guess now, it depends on the issue. Social liberal, fiscal conservative. Disgusted by the fascism and utter and willing obtuseness of the Repubs, as well as by the PC social engineering identity politics of the Dems.

Yes, I overstated without evidence "no predictive power." Comprehensive study of autistic politics would have to be studied, but in my personal experience autistics politics seem to be predicted by the same things that allistic politics are predicted by.

I disagree that this forum has an overall left lean. Without naming names (as that could be considered a personal attack) by my count of semi-regular PPR posters:

Hard Right: 2
Right: 2
Center-Right: 2
Center-Center: 1
Center-left: 2
Left: 2
Hard Left: 3

By my count 6 with some sort of right-lean. 5 with a centrist bent, and 7 with some sort of left lean.

One of my favourite TV shows.

I consider myself left of center.

I have opinions that would get me in trouble with either side.

Generally center to center-right. Despite being a Lutheran myself, I am a staunch political secularist, and fiercely oppose many of the social stances of Trump and his supporters.

I despise both the elephant and the jackass.

In the legal sense, your "Political Affiliation" defines your membership in an established political party, or your lack of any affiliation at all -- it is analogous with "Religious Affiliation" or Religion.

And just as Faith and Religion are two different things -- Faith is what you believe in, and Religion is how you express that faith -- so too are Politics and Political Affiliation two different things.

Politics: left, right, centrist, liberal, conservative, moderate, et cetera.

Political Affiliation: Democrat, Republican (GOP), American Independent, Green, Libertarian, American Socialist, None or No Political Affiliation (NPA), et cetera.

My politics are "centrist", while my political affiliation is "None" or "No Political Affiliation (NPA)".