Does Social Issues matter when deciding your political affiliation?

[TaraJo]

Social issues matter almost entirely to me, as there are those in our Society who would like to see me and others like me publicly executed.

I can agree with that; I just wish we treated economic issues like social issues.  After all, there are a lot of straight, cis, Christian men who are in much worse living situations than Caitlyn Jenner, Ben Carson or Milo Yiannopoulos.  Money matters and a minority with a lot of money is going to be in a better position than a non-minority who's broke.

[The Grand Nudger]

Depends, how nice is his car? Any cops tailing it? Is he the kind of guy who's so wealthy, he might get lippy or snippy with Officer Friendly when asked who he stole that sweet ride from?

Gotta say, I've never had the profound realization that my ford could get me arrested, assaulted, or murdered. I think alot of social issues are economic issues, but there are some that jump the borders between economic division. Especially when it comes to minorities and outgroups - not just here, anywhere.

[brewer]

One of our gov candidates got outed in a 'me too' moment. Of course he denied it but there are 8 women coming forward.

We have so many Trumpettes it's become a choice of the least despicable.

[Losty]

Discuss.

I love that you added “Discuss” at the end as if there were anything else that we would or even could do here

Social issues matter almost entirely to me, as there are those in our Society who would like to see me and others like me publicly executed.

I can agree with that; I just wish we treated economic issues like social issues.  After all, there are a lot of straight, cis, Christian men who are in much worse living situations than Caitlyn Jenner, Ben Carson or Milo Yiannopoulos.  Money matters and a minority with a lot of money is going to be in a better position than a non-minority who's broke.

But isn’t poverty also a social issue?

[The Grand Nudger]

Insomuch as we might intentionally create underclasses for the purpose of economic exploitation, right? Labor, prostitution, money laundering... you know..the usual.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Social concerns inform my votes. So do fiduciary concerns. I value people over money, so social issues tend to drag me further in that favor., not to say financial analysis doesn't inform my choice, but I prefer social freedom to unchecked business.

[The Grand Nudger]

Money only means something if there are people who can hold money.

[TaraJo]

I can agree with that; I just wish we treated economic issues like social issues.  After all, there are a lot of straight, cis, Christian men who are in much worse living situations than Caitlyn Jenner, Ben Carson or Milo Yiannopoulos.  Money matters and a minority with a lot of money is going to be in a better position than a non-minority who's broke.

But isn’t poverty also a social issue?

That's what I'm saying.  But we endlessly talk about how difficult it is for black people.  Or gay people.  Or trans people.  Or women.  And while I agree that society is unfair to all those groups, I don't seem the same attention paid to poverty.  Truth be told, the most difficult thing for me to do hasn't been to transition, it's been to get out of homelessness (admittedly, being trans made that even more difficult).  So much of society, so many of our laws, so much just makes things difficult for poor people, especially homeless people, that it's a hole that's really hard to overcome.

Here's a fact: I can't rely on mass transit in my city.  If you're going to get a job here, you either need a car or you need to be able to walk to and from work and most of the jobs that allow you to overcome poverty aren't anywhere close to inexpensive living situations.  Which means if you don't have a reliable car, you can't get a job that will get you out of poverty.  It's worse if you're homeless where shelters have so many rules and regulations that it can be difficult, if not impossible, to get and hold a job while in a shelter.  If you can't stay in a shelter, well, good luck because that's the group cities hate the most.  It can be difficult to keep any kind of personal possession if you have to live in a tent city.  And how are you going to apply for a job if you don't have an address, clean clothes in good condition, a phone or access to the internet?  

And while all that is going on, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and David Koch are all making good money off governmental policies that benefit them and tax policies that they can take advantage of.  But elected officials never attempt to change this.  And it's a problem.

[The Grand Nudger]

That's the worm at the center of the apple. The engine for the hate machine. Ultimately, it's more difficult to fix that situation than it is to exploit it to whatever end a person has in mind. Reich wing politicians literally can't fix poverty...but they can do something about getting fired from their cushy grifts - by working up the race obsessed and playing to their ludicrous anxieties.