Originally Posted by contracycle

Yes, becuase they are a fundamental fissure in class-divided society.

I really don't think that's what Ben meant. I cannot find it on Google but I think some people have parodied "Every baby weaned, I wist, Is an Aristotelian or a Platonist" with "every baby born is a conservative or a liberal"

This article explains the conservative/liberal divide in terms of demographic evolution, etc. I am not C&Ping it because the graphs wouldn't appear and they are the data representation i.e. they're crucial to the argument...

The Democrats Are Doomed, or How A ‘Big Tent’ Can Be Too Big OkTrends

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That may not have been what Ben meant, but I'm disputing the implication that there is same innate "temperament" which fixedly determines allegiance to one or other side, or that there should be an almost random courrence of ideas. Rather, I think the sides are the practical expressions of unresoloved contradictions in our society, and that dealing with any issue leads you to taking a stance on others; it also exposes you to arguments for an against other issues.

As for those graphs, interesting as they are, I think their political plane is basically broken, and the conclusions they draw might be valid within their methodology but what they say about reality is open to some doubt.