Gallup Poll Finds Democrats More Compassionate; Republicans More Psychopathic

[okaawhatever]

Gallup headlined on 28 January 2014, "Democrats and Republicans Differ on Top Priorities," and reported that the biggest difference between supporters of the two Parties concerned "The environment," where 71% of Democrats said it's important to them, versus only 32% of Republicans who did: a whopping difference of 39%, between the two Parties, considered that issue to be important. The second-biggest difference was on "The distribution of income and wealth": 72% of Democrats, versus only 38% of Republicans - a 34% difference. Third came "Poverty and homelessness": 82% of Democrats, versus 53% of Republicans - a 29% difference. Fourth came "Education": 91% of Democrats, versus 70% of Republicans - a 21% difference.

Here were the four issues on the conservative end, the four issues where Republicans scored the largest amount higher (more concerned) than Democrats: First, "The military and national defense": 76% of Republicans, versus 61% of Democrats - a 15% difference - considered that issue to be important. Second, "Taxes": 69% of Republicans, versus 56% of Democrats - a 13% difference. Third, "Terrorism": 77% of Republicans, versus 68% of Democrats - a 9% difference. Fourth, "Government surveillance of U.S. citizens": 45% of Republicans, versus 37% of Democrats - an 8% difference (but if the President had been a Republican, Democrats might have been more concerned about that issue than Republicans would have been).

Clearly, selfish fears swept concerns on the Republican side, whereas concerns for others (and especially the weak) swept concerns on the Democratic side.

One can therefore reasonably infer from this survey that the main difference between Democrats and Republicans is the difference between compassion versus psychopathy.

Warning: Headline Hyperbole but I wanted to post to give the stats.
Continued at Link":
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-zuesse/gallup-poll-finds-democra_b_4683688.html?utm_hp_ref=politics

[NRaleighLiberal]

1. surprise, surprise...fear, greed, fear, fear drive the GOP big 4.....

what miserable lives they must lead.

[freshwest]

2. Enjoyed it. n/t

[okaawhatever]

3. I'll bet this poll was the motivation for the gop to denounce nsa spying. Crickets for years, and

suddenly out of the blue there's a statement denouncing it. Could it be that this poll showed them 45% of Republicans were concerned so they flip flopped?

[JDPriestly]

11. Yes. And that is the problem with the spying. Inevitably, the targets of the spying will be

chosen according to the political and ideological values and fears of the individuals in power and in charge of the surveillance.

Now we have Obama, and I trust him. But not that long ago, we had GWB, and I do not and did not trust him or his appointees at all.

If the surveillance is OK, it should be OK no matter who is in the White House. But that is impossible. We could get a lot worse than GWB.

So the concept of government surveillance is very dangerous.

[JEFF9K]

4. 99% of Republicans let Roger Ailes, Rush Limbaugh, and Glenn Beck tell them what to think. ...

... versus 0% of Democrats.

[1000words]

5. Yah ... that headline is not helping

The inference is Mr. Zuesse's. The poll is simply data.

[kimbutgar]

6. Yet the media is saying the rethugs are going to win the house and senate in November

Either the polls are wrong or the media is lying.

[YOHABLO]

9. Perhaps that is the political strategy ... let the media tell us who will win because >

if someone tells us again and again and again that they are winning .. then perhaps people will believe it. How really stupid of them. We have to take the country back from these radicals.

[YOHABLO]

7. Yes this brand of Republican in the House and Senate, really are a diseased, sick bunch of people.

[Gravitycollapse]

8. Stupid headline. Stupid argument. Psychopathy is not the opposite of compassion.

We don't have to call Republicans psychopaths just to make ourselves feel better.

[YOHABLO]

10. The definition of psychopath

A person with an antisocial personality disorder, manifested in aggressive, perverted, criminal, or amoral behavior without empathy or remorse.

''without empathy" is not the opposite of ''compassion''?

[Gravitycollapse]

12. The difference between being an asshole and a psychopath is a vast gulf.

Psychopathy is not simply a lack of empathy.

[1000words]

13. Agree

Well said.

[AverageJoe90]

14. "The difference between being an asshole and a psychopath is a vast gulf." I'm not quite so sure....

TBH, they often go hand in hand......just sayin'.

[Gravitycollapse]

17. No, actually they don't. Genuine assholes are not psychopathic.

Assholes often exhibit antipathy to those outside of their social group. They lack empathy only for those they do not really understand. In this state, being an asshole is a case of being ignorant, regardless of whether or not it is willful, of the plight of others.

Being a psychopath involves a distinct inability to show genuine empathy regardless of how well one knows the plight of others. It is a pathological dysfunction of the personality. Those suffering from such a dysfunction are incapable of feeling or expressing empathy, not just unwilling.

That's the difference.

[TM99]

19. Yes, exactly!

Thank you.

Sadly, there are no doubt psychopathic individuals in all political parties.

[AgingAmerican]

16. We should be calling them sociopaths

nt

[Gravitycollapse]

18. They're neither.

Not that Republicans can't also be psychopathic. But the words are not interchangeable.

[AgingAmerican]

15. Their ideology is psychopathy enshrined

So naturally they are psychopaths, or as they say now, 'sociopaths'.