Group-think & Leftist Reasoning

Arnold King, a hired-geek for Corante, rips Lessig and other Left-bent techies for their "elitist group-think" and uses their Bush-hatred and "Jeffersonian" distrust of the motives for the Iraq war to denounce their ability to lead the nation.

King's rant reminds me of one of the comments made during my recent "wank session" on LGF.

For the vast majority of people the vast majority of the time, the definition of "right" and "wrong' is driven primarily by clan membership and nothing else.

Overwhelmingly, people choose up sides and then they pick their arguments to rationalize their choices.

It is -- in general -- useless to try to convince people of a position in radical departure from their stated positions. The positions themselves are not at issue.

The positions that most people state are simply battle flags they fly to tell themselves and each other who they side with.

Read the arguments like flags to know what side folks are on, but not as ends in themselves.

So, here's my question—do you find that you side with the Left and support Leftist issues because it's popular to support these issues in your circles (and because these causes are championed by your personal heroes), or do you do so because you've thoroughly researched these issues and have decided, based on your own studies, that the positions taken by the Left appeal more strongly to your personal convictions?

How often do you thoroughly read the arguments presented by the non-antagonistic Right, and really ponder them, rather than glancing at them and immediately dismissing them because they take a Right-wing position? If and when you do read the Right, do you ever feel as though the points they raise are fair? Do you become agitated because these thoughts lead you to question your previously held convictions and therefore dismiss them, as say a fundamentalist Christian might do when shown the evidence of evolution?

To tell you the truth, sometimes I feel like my friends make me feel bad for taking a stance that they disagree with, and that they exert a fair amount of peer pressure which at times I may be susceptible to cave into. Am I alone, or does anyone else feel the pressure of this so-called "group-think"?