There's a really interesting article that I read (a bit long) titled "I Can Tolerate Anything but the Outgroup." What are your thoughts on and reactions to the ideas and notions the author proposes as well as the examples he uses?
Source: http://slatestarcodex.com/2014/09/30/i-can-tolerate-anything-except-the-outgroup/
Here's one of the sections that stood out to me from the reading:
"The Red Tribe is most classically typified by conservative political beliefs, strong evangelical religious beliefs, creationism, opposing gay marriage, owning guns, eating steak, drinking Coca-Cola, driving SUVs, watching lots of TV, enjoying American football, getting conspicuously upset about terrorists and commies, marrying early, divorcing early, shouting “USA IS NUMBER ONE!!!”, and listening to country music.
The Blue Tribe is most classically typified by liberal political beliefs, vague agnosticism, supporting gay rights, thinking guns are barbaric, eating arugula, drinking fancy bottled water, driving Priuses, reading lots of books, being highly educated, mocking American football, feeling vaguely like they should like soccer but never really being able to get into it, getting conspicuously upset about sexists and bigots, marrying later, constantly pointing out how much more civilized European countries are than America, and listening to “everything except country”."
Do you find these tribes in America and in your community?
I can confirm that in the Bay Area, the Blue Tribe labels are more or less true to some degree. I cannot comment on the validity of the Red Tribe description, but generally, this how we think of people in the middle of the U.S.
Also interesting is the author's comments on partyism and Pew's research on the "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" scenario
(http://www.people-press.org/2014/06/12/section-3-political-polarization-and-personal-life/)