How rare are conservatives in internet fan communities?

[Deathy G1]

I tend to keep quiet about my politics online as most fandoms I am involved with tend to skew very liberal. I also believe everyone has the right to their own opinion and should never be attacked for their beliefs. I think intelligent debate without personal attacks is the only way to actually move forward politically. Honestly, I'm not a fan of how either side has increasingly behaved since the 2000 election.

That being said, I am just wondering how alone I truly am on boards like this. Are there any other conservatives out there, or should I resign myself to the fact that most people who align with me politically are people I would never actually associate with in a friendly setting?

 

[Pale Rider]

I think there are still conservatives here, but they're conservative by pre-Trump standards. The fact that they didn't fall down the fascism rabbit hole over the past decade doesn't mean they surrendered their beliefs.

 

[Anonymous X]

Honestly, I would’ve thought and observed that the American segment of this fandom were predominantly right-wing, until around 15, 16 years ago, when things changed. At least in this neck of the woods (other TF boards, I have no idea).

 

[KidTDragon]

He-Man.org had a P&R forum that was pretty heavily populated with conservatives, at least until January 6th, 2021, when the frequency of their posts suddenly dropped sharply for some reason.

 

[Tuxedo Prime]

I think we largely endeavoured to avoid talking about or getting too intimately involved in local (or at least, Planet US -- which I don't live on) politics after the whole Nixtr mess became known.

 

[Anonymous X]

I think we largely endeavoured to avoid talking about or getting too intimately involved in local (or at least, Planet US -- which I don't live on) politics after the whole Nixtr mess became known.

Wasn’t he the wrongcock nonce who planned to blow up natal care clinics, or what that someone else? I remember the name from the ATT days and that he “went away” for crimes, but the details are hazy several decades on.

 

[Rhinox]

Define 'conservative' for me.
Honestly. Not trying to set you up, but I'd like to know what your view of the term is. Especially in this specific day and age.

 

[Deathy G1]

Define 'conservative' for me.
Honestly. Not trying to set you up, but I'd like to know what your view of the term is. Especially in this specific day and age.

That's a fair statement. I guess I mean Republican as far as United States politics are concerned (though I don't agree with 100% of the party line and would vote Libertarian if 3rd parties were actually worth a damn here). I used the term "conservative" since I know that this board has members from all around the world and I didn't want to limit this topic to just the US.

 

[Rhinox]

That's why I'd like to hear your definition of conservative. I consider myself an Eisenhower conservative, yet in today's climate, I'm considered a liberal.

Frankly, given the stances the GOP has recently taken, I don't know if the term conservative actually fits them.

 

[Ultra Magnus13]

The internet in general leans pretty liberal, and the Spark is no exception.

There are a couple "woke conspiracy Star Wars" type in general discussion, that I imagine are "conservative" .

Here in P&R there are probably about 4 or 5 of us that are not traditionally "liberal", but none of us fit very neatly into "conservative" either from what I've seen.

As long as you do not hold any bigoted beliefs, you will usually still get treated with respect, but some threads will definitely have an echo chamber vibe.

 

[Ungnome]

In most areas I skew left and tend to be moving further that direction as I age, but I don't like blanket 'conservative/liberal' terms. You could be a strong supporter of worker rights but also rather traditionalist on things like religion for instance and I really hate how society tries to force everyone into one of those two binary boxes..... I find such black and white thinking to be quite dangerous to society as a whole.

As far as keeping quiet goes, yea, done that, but IRL(actually still do that IRL). I've mostly lived in conservative leaning areas and being an agnostic closeted trans person with somewhat leftist economic leanings who looks at Star Trek's 24th century Federation as an ideal we should be actively trying to move towards, I've learned to keep quiet to maintain my own stress levels, despite how much I really hate having to sit in a waiting room with Newsmax on the TV. So yea, I can understand, at least to a point, where some conservative leaning posters might be coming from.

 

[TM2-Megatron]

Personally, I consider myself a centrist that leans moderately left on social issues and moderately right on fiscal ones, which I'm starting to think is a more common stance in Canada than I've previously believed. I've never been a member of any political party, and have never donated a dime to any of them. I don't fall neatly into either camp in Canada; especially these days.

I did align far more with the Liberal Party of 20 years ago than the entity Justin Trudeau has turned it into today, and so I think most of those who remain in his corner would happily brand me a Conservative.

 

[Tuxedo Prime]

Wasn’t he the wrongcock nonce who planned to blow up natal care clinics, or what that someone else? I remember the name from the ATT days and that he “went away” for crimes, but the details are hazy several decades on.

I'm going from memory here, as I don't particularly care to go delving back into the records on a morning, but he attempted to post bounties on obstetricians, which attracted the attention of the FBI.

When his computer was seized, they found quite a bit worse.
Much worse.
The fandom was largely stunned, with a few exceptions.

(Yes, a Marvel US Issue 71 reference.)