Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?
This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.
Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.
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Notes -
What are blue tribe normies like?
I have a pretty good vision in my head of red tribers. Into music that plays on the country station, whether or not it’s country, he drives a truck if he can afford it(and sometimes if he can’t), might tell black jokes but isn’t particularly racist, big believer in the benefits of sports even if not actually a participant therein, thinks the anti-trump law fare is trumped up BS, she thinks she should be into gardening and babies even if she’s not, everyone believes Christianity is true even if not really practicing or a strict literalist, etc.
What are normie blue tribers like? Like I’m pretty sure resistance twitterati are not very representative.
Lives in the suburbs of a city, has a white collar job, drives a RAV-4 or similar car, watches sports on TV, enjoys Netflix, watches Marvel movies, spends a lot of money (but not time) on vacations.
Biggest concern is making more money. Wants kids but not enough to sacrifice financially. Thinks the United States is mostly great but is worried about Nazis.
Like the red tribe, votes mostly based on vibes.
What are his metaphysical/spiritual beliefs? I know astrology seems like a blue tribe thing and, stereotypically, he’s not very committed to Christianity. But most of these people don’t seem like pure atheist materialists either.
What does he do for in person socializing? Like you mentioned work, and a comment downthread mentioned social media use. You mentioned vacations too. These people seem unlikely to be churchgoers, and bars have been declining for years. Is it just the gym? Are they just generally lonely? Is the more money mostly to pay for vacations?
What’s his definition of Nazi? Surely he’s not literally worried about Adolf Hitler.
In the context of the UK, these would be my answers:
Males are mostly purely atheist. Spirituality/astrology appeals more to females but mostly to older Boomer/Gen-X women (new-age types). Millennial blue-tribe women IME don't have much interest in this, preferring to get their spiritual fulfilment by being involved in or signaling support for fashionable progressive causes.
Work was a big one before the pandemic and remote work. For older people it will largely be family, for younger people social life will often revolve around friends from university, people met while house-sharing etc. And a lot of these people are pretty lonely and won't have made many friends since graduating.
Nazi/Fascist rhetoric is a bit less prevalent in the UK, with blue tribers mostly just calling those they don't like racists/bigots IME. To the extent they do use stronger language it's mostly in the context of talking about US republicans, who a lot of them are convinced are almost as bad as literal 1930/40s German Nazis.
As an aside, writing the above has made me reflect on the extent to which the blue/red tribe distinction works in the UK context. It's definitely at least somewhat useful for analysing cultural and political fault-lines but I think it misses other distinctions (like those between European and non-European migration) that are probably more salient in the UK than the US. Might be worth a top level CW post at some point.
The short answer is that there is no "red tribe" in the UK (except for Northern Irish Unionists, who are mostly irrelevant to UK-wide politics) - the "red tribe" is anchored by the long-standing distinctive culture of the white South, which has no equivalent in the mainland UK. The UK culture war is generational, not tribal - see for example the age split in the Brexit referendum exit poll which is bigger than the racial gap and far bigger than the equivalent generation gap in the US.
This is also on my list of "things I would like to do an effortpost on if I didn't have a demanding job and two SEN kids"
I look forward to reading that effortpost if/when you get around to it!
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