Who'da thunk it? A TV reality show gives the lowdown on why the extreme Right and Left will never agree, and are at each other's throats.
Surgeon General's warning: I am of the Conservative persuasion, but not way out on the fringe (though I'm sure I'll get disagreement on this).
I watched ABC's Wife Swap tonight and my eyes must have been as round as saucers during parts of the episode... Here's the rundown:
From Arkansas we have a family of three: Mom, dad, and daughter. They are self-proclaimed liberals and environmentalists, and although the wife has a large extended family nearby, she is ostracized as a "wacko tree-hugger" by them.
In this household the elementary school aged daughter gets up and prepares her own breakfast, and her dad takes her to school in the morning. The mom rolls out of bed at 10AM (she said at times her daughter tells her to "act more like a mom") every day, and does not work. Now by "not work" I mean she lays around and writes poetry (apparently not for publication) and watches TV. The house is a pig sty which she admits at one point that she "cleans once a year". Discipline is an alien concept to the daughter who is being raised to be as lazy as her mother.
From South Carolina we have a family of four: Mom, dad, two kids. They are conservative, the dad is an avid hunter, flies a confederate flag in front of the house, and the mom thinks kids should speak only when spoken to.
In this house the mom gets up at 6:30AM every day to get the kids ready for school, and then goes to work her two day jobs while also keeping the house clean with the help of the kids. She is fairly unemotional and militaristic, and has not shared the bed with her husband in over 10 years, ostensibly due to his snoring. The husband is no prize here... pretty much a redneck (see confederate flag comment above), spends as much free time as possible hunting and fishing instead of with the kids, and there doesn't seem to be much to the marriage.
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Article comments
1 - Distorted Angel
It seems unrealistic to generalize about large, diverse groups of people based on a sample of two families who deviate from the norm to start with by being willing to participate in this most asinine of television shows. I'd suggest that the folks who take part in reality shows in general don't represent whatever segment of society they come from very accurately, and I'm sure that the producers look for the extremes in order to have a more interesting show. These two families, as you've described them, both sound very unattractive and dysfunctional (in different ways) and it probably has little to do with their political leanings. For the record, I'm a liberal, and a mother who has worked full-time her entire adult life, and I see absolutely no resemblance between myself and the woman you describe. Besides, I clean my house at least twice a year.
2 - Vic
LOL! Yeah, I realize of course that these were extremes and I tried to make that clear. Moderation does not make for good TV. ;-)
I tried to use them more as a metaphor for what's going on these days.
Vic