Reply #104: I don't think there is a groupthink here [View All]

I suppose there are a few issues where I tend to get into arguments, but it's not with 'groupthink', but with particular viewpoints:

(1) I am a strong supporter of vaccinations and the basic human right to modern medicine; and sometimes feel that some DU-ers equate the medicine itself with the for-profit American healthcare system - whereas in fact single-payer healthcare systems use the same medical treatments!

(2) I am critical of both the Israeli and Palestinian leadership and think both sides share blame in the conflict (same goes for quite a few other conflicts, but this is the one that tends to come up on DU)

(3) I am an atheist who has no problem with religion(s) as such, but has a LOT of trouble with political anti-secularism. Thus, I disagree with those who think that religion is invariably harmful or linked to the Right; but I disagree even more strongly with anyone who thinks that secularism harms society, or who supports the political 'pro-life' movement especially when this extends to supporting the defeat of pro-choice political candidates.

(4) I think that all right-wing viewpoints need to be strongly opposed; and that goes for paleoconservativism as well as neoconservativism. On a related note, I don't think that social and economic leftism/liberalism are truly divisible. Both are needed. The'fiscal conservative but social liberal' is really only socially liberal for those who can afford it; severe poverty or even the threat of it is just as oppressive as the police state, and discrimination against poor people is no better then discrimination against any other minority group. By the same token, sacrificing social liberalism to economic causes generally means that only *some* people - generally males who belong to racial and social majority groups - will benefit from the economic changes.

And more where all the comes from - but I wouldn't use the term 'groupthink' for DU.