[Discussion] The Politics of the Nations?

[swimmuffin.livejournal.com]

I am well aware that this may cause some tension/conflicts, but am acting under the assumption that the majority of this fandom is mature enough to handle this discussion with poise. My question was sparked by the recent resurgence of the health bill that was passed in Congress. (Honestly, I thought it was dead, so this came as a total surprise to me)

What do you think the nation's stances are on political issues? Of course, since this was sparked by the recent healthcare movement, I'm particularly curious about America. (Though if you want to bring up any other issues feel free too) I have read many fics where America's all like "Oh yea! Healthcare for everyone!" But these have always seemed terribly biased. I assume that the majority of this fandom is rather liberal and does support healthcare, but you must remember; the people that oppose healtcare are still part of America.

Another issue that somewhat confuses me with the nations (again, especially America) is that of gay rights. Personally, I'm totally fine with gay rights. (It would be terribly awkward for me to be in this fandom if I weren't) but the idea that America would just be like "Oh, yea. Gay rights. I'm chill with that" when America is a hella christan nation just seems wrong. I know many of us have crafted Alfred's ideas and beliefs to match out own (I've been guilty of that. But I really try not to) but sometimes, I can't help but wonder. How can a nation as religious as America and that has such a proportion against gay rights just be fine with it?

I know many people have just used the idea that the nation believes whatever the majority of the people does, but in a nation like America, where the minority is still a large proportion of the country, does that really work? We can't just ignore the minority; it's still part of the nation. The people that oppose gay rights are still part of the nation, the people that oppose healthcare are still part of the nation, and honestly, they're a pretty big chunk of America. You really can't just ignore them. So how does Alfred deal with the two conflicting sides? Other issues I'm curious about are (in order from most interested to least): 

Social Security
Allocation of Government funds
Abortion
The environment
International relations
Legalization of Drugs
Poverty

Also, don't give me your personal opinion on this matter. I'm just interested in what you think Alfred thinks. Not what you think. Does that make sense? Thanks for answering this, and remember; I'm assuming you're all mature enough to not act like name-calling five year olds. If you have an idea, support it with a valid argument, not just some random insults. ( I don't care who we're talking about, even if we somehow end up on the topic of Hitler or Pol Pot, or whoever NO NAME-CALLING) And if you have an issue you're interested in, feel free to bring it up. Thank you.

Comments

[alexielthegreat.livejournal.com]

I think since everyone in the nation has their different opinions on each subject, the nations themselves have a unique opportunity, in that they have the option of actually seeing EVERYONE'S side, rather than being biased about one side or the other.

As for what they'd choose, though... I'm not sure. Maybe they support both sides, and just hope for the best for everyone.

[lovelylurker.livejournal.com]

Okay, I just have to post this and only this.

My headcannon! Of the entire thing:

America was banned from congress for the health care debates because he started yelling at and arguing with himself on the senate floor.

[alexielthegreat.livejournal.com]

There we go. <3

[alors-indikaze.livejournal.com]

...And by extension, every country has probably been kicked from their legislative assembly a few times.

*tries to imagine England calling himself a sodding git while Parliament heaves a collective sigh before grabbing the straitjacket*

[swimmuffin.livejournal.com]

i love you. and yes. i have to agree with that.

[alors-indikaze.livejournal.com]

I dunno; if you went purely by historical opinions the nations would be quivering balls of conflicted angst on like 99% of all issues.

And Hetalia is about generalizations, stereotypes, and characterizations of policy (so for instance, even though copyright law is hotly debated, America can still go over to China and take his theme park away)

[hagane-no-mame.livejournal.com]

Agreed. Sometimes we end up trying to make the characters too realistic but we forget they are meant to portray stereotypes for the most part. Sometimes we may even unintentionally force our opinions on a country if we happen to be a citizen of said country, and that is not really what Hetalia is about.

[smrtypantz.livejournal.com]

my own personal headcanon states that the nations as people (ex: not America, but Alfred as a person) will have their own opinions regarding the issues. In Alfred's case, he appears to be a very liberal guy personality-wise.

As for the people's influence, I think Alfred, despite his own opinions on a matter, will disregard what he truly feels and side with the majority because that's what he's obligated to do as a nation. That's why he was supportive (in my head) of both the Bush and Obama administration despite them being completely opposite

If the people's opinions do matter, than Alfred is probably able to see it from all sides and base his own opinion on that.

Now, about the health care debate, I'm a little iffy only because a lot of people are being fed the wrong information regarding that bill (ex: that the government will start to fund abortions and kill our grandmas ._.), so Alfred might have a different opinion just because he works so closely with the bill's actual contents

Anyway, I think this can relate to other nations as well. As for Germany, he may have felt differently about what was occuring during WWII, but then convinced himself that Nazism was right, which he now disagrees with. I mean, I can't see Germany fully supporting Nazism when another majority of his people were being killed, so I'm assuming he had his own opinion, and only convinced himself to side with the majority of his population

[swimmuffin.livejournal.com]

yea...that's one thing i've really been wondering. i kinda liek to think of alfred as moderate...or i hurt my head thinking about this too hard. ;A;

hmm..that's kinda along the lines of what i was thinking, but then what about the minority? does he just ignore that?

the health care debate has been such a pain. ;A; i can see why alfred would support it; but then, i can also see why he would be somewhat hesitant to do so, even if he did know it's full contents. it's such a problem to deal with.

def. agree with you there. with nations liek germany or japan during that period, i believe that they, liek their population, was just brainwashed. only after everything had happened did they realize what they had done, and felt pretty bad about it.

[musubi7.livejournal.com]

My headcannon dictates that Alfred's personality was defined by who he was raised and where. Which, for the most part, I can't get Virginia out of mind. And the little bit that Arthur was there, he instilled some pretty conservative values in him. And then Alfred met the Founding Fathers (and there was an explosion of awesome). So, conservative childhood means conservative personality. That and like, 70% of Americans consider themselves right or center right.

So, I see Alfred as an optimistic, idealistic conservative libertarian.

pyrrhiccommedy did this "Ask America" thing on her journal (don't know if she still is) and a lot of these issues showed up. Her answers were as close to what I would think the anthropomorphic character of America would be. Which is, again, right of center.

With healthcare passing, I can imagine Alfred being kind of scared. The debates have never been about universal healthcare, or making a system that would lead to single payer. It's been about the span of government's control. Under the stipulations which it passed, and the fact that it expands government's role, or will lead to the expansion of government's power, would freak out the nation which produced the Federalist's Papers. Just. Sayin.

To answer your questions though (I'll try to be as contrite s possible):

-Social Security: Alfred thinks that it's a good idea, a wonderful idea, but the budget needs to be in the black so the nation can keep providing this service.

-Allocation of Government Funds: Oh boy, well, hmm...I tend to think of America as very idealistic. So, he thinks that we can pay for all the services that he provides, but at the same time, as a 19 year old kid (headcannon dictates, that though they may be 200 or so years old, Nations act according to their physical age), he doesn't really pay much attention to it/doesn't understand the trivalties of macroeconomics.

-Abortion: Hmm...well you caught me on a funny one. America believes that while it's legal, he hopes and prays that it is a service that isn't used. Christian Nation and country.

-The environment: who the hell wants to swim in dirty ponds or breath nasty air? No one. So, I think while Alfred is miffed with Al Gore, he wants to be clean. Considering that most of us in the 21st century are germaphobes compared to our grandparents, I would say Al needs things to be clean.

-International relations: this might be some of my personal bias slipping in, but I think Al Jones is still unused to being not only a superpower, but an interventionist superpower. I can just imagine him breaking down every once and a while saying, "what the hell am I doing?"

-Legalization of drugs: On the fence.

-Poverty: Alfred cares for the poor, always has always will. So, he gives often to charity (whatever money he can). Poverty is a problem that should be solved, if it can that would be the cynical economist in me, from the bottom up.

My headcannon dictates that all the Nations struggle between their humanness and their nationhood.

Hope that made sense?

[swimmuffin.livejournal.com]

ahaha~no, it made perfect sense.

no, i can def. see where you're coming from. america, by tradition, is a conservative nation, so i just find it hard to believe it when people write fics for a totally liberal america...i do believe he has become more liberal (most of the world has) but i just find it hard to accept that he's thrown all his conservative views out the window.

and idealistic yes. i think that's one point everyone can agree on.

for healthcare scared as in "shit, i'm not sure but i'm going to do it anyways" or "no, i don't know. mebbe we shouldn't do this" or "I have no idea. leave me alone."?

XD poor alfred. he doesn't understand econ...mebbe he should go back to college, no? ahaha~that would make for a great fic.

yea..with IR, many americans have taken on that mindset lately, so i can def. see it with alfred.

the nations are nations, but they're also ppl to. so they def. struggle with that a lot (ex. hiroshima and nagasaki) it really would create a world of grief, no?

[hagane-no-mame.livejournal.com]

Seeing as how Hetalia stereotypes countries, it wouldn't be unfair to say the countries would think/act like how they are most widely stereotyped by the rest of the world.

I'm north of the border and I don't think I can speak for all Canadians, but there is a lot of stuff in our media and public opinion that think of Americans as your average Republican. For example, we like to make comments that criticize health care and gun issues in America. A fair amount of people believe even our most right leaning political parties seem like left leaning compared to Republicans in America.

That said Alfred, representing a stereotypical American, would probably be hating on the health care bill that was just passed. Maybe not so much as a Tea Party activist but he definitely doesn't like it and will argue against it, citing the nations founding values and such to back his case. There have been fanarts where he is portrayed as pretty chill with Obama but I think he actually is one of the ones watching Obama very carefully for any future slip-ups. Alfred likely doesn't mind gay rights too much, but he definitely doesn't support it especially on marriage issues. If a gay friend outed himself to him he might even try to do good by "converting" that gay friend thinking that being gay is just a deviant behaviour. Canon already portrays his love for guns so I think he must be pretty big on gun rights, and keeps a hand gun at home and sometimes one concealed when going out.

Again I hope I don't offend anyone, I know not all Americans are like how I described Alfred but that is what my version of a stereotypical American would be like.

[swimmuffin.livejournal.com]

XD i live right on the canadian american border (literally 20 mins away from vancouver)!

ok...that being said...

no, i don't think you offended anyone. it's good to have the view of someone outside, no? health care has been such a pain in the ass lately. one minute, you think it's dead, and then bam! it's back. -3-

it's kinda funny when you say that actually, b/c the majority of americans associate themselves with the democratic party, and the majority support this new healthcare thing. the ones that are loud however, do not, and b/c of that, america has that stereotype.

ahaha~yea...about obama. he was horribly popular when first elected, but since he really hasn't done shit so far, i can def. see america's interest in him starting to wane. and that's a interesting take on gay rights.

well...we do spend hella money on the military. and yea. america def. has an obsession with guns. i'm not even going to deny that. (second amendment...)

again, don't worry about offending ppl. everyone has stereotypes (even of canadians...) so you should be fine.

[dilemina.livejournal.com]

Italy Veneziano's banned because he tries to fix things with pasta. :I
Italy Romano's banned because he has a foul mouth for everything. Also the mafia.


Uh..As for seriousness, I think America keeps trying to satisfy EVERYONE, which is obviously not possible...and especially with the healthcare reform.

Another issue is the crisis in terms of employment. 1.2 million americans are currently unemployed and the number keeps growing. I feel that America is rather disheartened that so many of his people are suffering, and wishes he could fix it right away, even if it's not possible. Especially now that there will be no Extended Unemployment Benefits after the 28th.

as for America and gay marriage.

LOVE IS LOVE~~~

[swimmuffin.livejournal.com]

XD poor italies....

but comparatively, america's unemployment rate is traditionally very low...yea...america def. feels bad about his ppl tho. ;A;

ahaha~i wish...i've just met too many americans who are liek "EWWW GAYS NEED TO DIE" and i'm liek "NOOOO!!!! WHAT ABOUT MY OTP!!!! ;A;"

...so...yea.

[diala.livejournal.com]

Interesting question, I must admit. It is hard for me to exactly explain how I feel, as I am not too certain myself. However, here is what I am thinking at the moment:

I feel the Nations try to hold as little opinions on current hot-topic issues as possible. They try their best not to get involved in their people's debates, as such would be interfering. It is hard to stay neutral when such issues do have a direct effect on them, however.

Their National nature and their personal nature do blend into each other, albeit the National nature more than personal. Take America, for instance. I find him to be a very laissez-faire individual (hence why I think many people seem to interpret him as liberal), and I find it suits a lot to the nature of America as a whole. He is for the freedom of choice in most issues, and so I tend to think of him as mostly libertarian. He does hold some conservative sides though, such as his love of guns. (The right to bear arms is in the Constitution, after all, and I doubt it is going anywhere soon.)

As far as issues go, here is my broad approximation. Note that I did grow up in a liberal setting and what some would consider a liberal state, so...

Health Care: I think he's basically split right down the middle when it comes to this one. The recent passing of the bill must be driving him nuts, mostly because he doesn't know whether to be happy or to be upset over it. I do believe he does want all of his people to be able to get health care in some form or another, though.

Gay Marriage: I think most of his laid-back nature falls into this. Judging by his personality, I don't think he'd care and would support it. However, Nation-wise, he has some wariness of it and gay rights that he can't quite explain.

Abortion: All he really knows is that he wants to lessen the need for it. Whether it is right or wrong is something he cannot decide, even as his human self.

The Environment: He certainly doesn't want to pollute the world, obviously. Who does? He holds natural suspicion towards radical environmentalists, however. Speaking of this, I always found it odd that in the first episode of Hetalia, he seems more than accepting of global warming. I would think that he'd still be doubting it, and perhaps even telling the fellow Nations to chill about it.

I am sorry to cut the list so short, but mostly, I still am having a touch trouble thinking thoroughly (mostly due to the time of night). Perhaps I'll come back and touch on the other subjects later. Either way, it is hard to pin something as serious as politics on something as silly as Hetalia. It is an interesting mental exercise, to say the least.

[swimmuffin.livejournal.com]

but doesn't libertarian more closely associate with the core values of the republican party? generally speaking, democrats seem to support more government control, republicans less. so then alfred would be rather conservative...?

and yea. i think we can all agree that america loves guns. XD

it is tho, isn't it? and i kinda needed this for a fic i'm writing.

[randomtf.livejournal.com]

As someone who is outside of the U.S. and in a military base, all I can say is that I'm a bit too used to seeing guns everywhere. At any time the buses might pull in for school and you'll see a bunch of guys with guns and camouflage walking down the street.

I've had old people who recognize me as American walk up to me and thank me and the rest of America for helping them, and I've had younger people lining up outside of the base waving signs that says American's are nasty and should go home, I've also heard a lot about people who have brought their protests against American's by setting themselves on fire- and some people I know were watching from outside of their homes.

So I can say that a lot of people think of American's as lazy people who don't do anything- goodness knows I haven't been to America in several years, so all I can do is take the media.

But I think that America shows itself as liberal- because the newspapers are liberal. America himself is probably rather conservative because it's hard for *anyone* to change for the times, and as a whole, America has been lagging behind Europe and some parts of Asia in both schooling and internet access/connection.

But I do think America is becoming more and more aware about the environment, because American's are beginning to take steps to be more environmental friendly- every year acres of land are set aside.

But quite honestly, I believe America himself cannot make any decisions- the conflict between the two different sides would probably make his head hurt. It certainly would kind of make for comedy, seeing America begin to argue with himself.

Now, for *Alfred* I believe firmly that Alfred leans more towards the liberal side just a little, but I do think he quite firmly has at least one foot planted in conservative.

As for the rest of the issues I don't know enough to really say anythingPr

[swimmuffin.livejournal.com]

Damn...you've traveled far, haven't you? Are your parents in the base, or are you serving in the base?

Hmm....some ppl say he's conservative, some liberal...how much do you think he supports government involvement?

[jinsai.livejournal.com]

I don't know about the others, and perhaps I'm speaking from my own head canon, but I believe America's own political views were outlined very clearly in the Declaration of Independence.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

[musubi7.livejournal.com]

*claps*

[yaoi-queen.livejournal.com]

I tend to veer away from these kinds of discussions because we'd all be going from our own headcanons. No one really knows where the nations stand, except Hidekaz. Whatever he says, goes.

So in light of that, all nations bow down and worship Himaruya Hideka's existence. They bend to his will and political notions. All hail the almighty Hidekaz!

[xp-tan.livejournal.com]

For some reason I think Alfred is Republican. Not like, Tea Partying, Bible Thumping Republican, but SUV Driving, Refusing to Acknowledge That Stupid Game Isn't Actually Football Republican XD;;

I also have this theory that Confederate-tan somehow survived the Civil War and now serves as a secret leader for the ultra conservatives. Except he was seriously mangled beyond belief from losing the war, so he's got some kind of like Darth Vader deal going on. And Alfred is freaked out by him because he was fairly certain Confederate-tan was dead and as such isn't entirely convinced that he isn't a ghost. This has thus far prevented him from defeating him once and for all, but he keeps trying, as Alfred is at his core a good person, while Confedvader is the embodiment of racism, sexism, homophobia, and a majority of the other social ills.

And I must note I'm not Republican in any way, because if people for some reason thought I was I'd probably cry.

[musubi7.livejournal.com]

I'm honestly curious, I'm not trying to start a fight, but why would you put all those stipulations on Confederate-tan? Racism, I can see, but the rest of them is a huge stretch. The Confederates broke away because they felt their rights as Americans were impeded upon. I mean, that's like saying a California-tan is the embodiment of communism.

And, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but your comment about Tea Party-ers being Republican is a huge misnomer. They are Constitutional-ists for the most part.

[clowderheart.livejournal.com]

Everyone's talking about America. I'd like to see some opinions on Poland.

[k3llyb3an.livejournal.com]

We forgot Poland!

[historyblitz.livejournal.com]

Given that I go to a private college and these rich girls here have been fed Republican-Catholic values since birth and they hate Obama, gay rights and any kind of health care reform, I'll have to put up with their complaining all day today.


So I'm not going to get involved with this discussion. But it is very, very tempting. Because there's a lot I could say.

Like how people who are quick to pin this as "socialist" are still living in the Cold War mentality and while Alfred might have some of that I don't think he'd be against so much as he'd be uncertain.

This is a changing moment for those of us who are poor or have no insurance (like me) so careful optimism is the name of the game.

[swimmuffin.livejournal.com]

*hates obama and the current health care reform*

ahahaha~i support gay rights tho! :D and i'm not gonna deny that our healthcare needs some help...the prices are ridiculous, but i don't think public opition is the way to go.

it's the opposited for me here. i have to put up with liberals calling me "racist" for opposing obama, and just responding to all my opinons with "Oh, she's from texas. ignore her." so we're kinda the same but on opposite spectrums! :D

[kerimaxwell.livejournal.com]

I'm gonna skip the whole part about what I think Alfred's views on various issues are since I know my own views will sneak in.

The one thing I do want to comment on is why I think Alfred is always portrayed more liberal than most of America may be. I think that it's because he's young, and that almost everywhere in the world (I think...) the younger generations tend to be more liberal. Stuff that was taboo for their parents or grandparents just isn't anymore. And I think you definitely see that in the states, so I think it would hold true for Alfred as well. (Then again, all the nations are rather young (<30), so...) But then that's just social sorts of issues, fiscal issues and role of government stuff probably runs the gamut no matter what age group.

Also, in canon, America will apparently do anything "for justice" so I took that to mean he's rather idealistic, but being Alfred and kind of spacey, doesn't often concern himself with the details of how to make something work.

Ah, I wanted to contribute to the convo, but I think all I ended up with is a giant shrug.

[swimmuffin.livejournal.com]

no, it was interesting...and i def. can see where you're coming from. yea, america's always been rather conservative, but alfred is young and idealistic...but then again, you can be conservative and be hella idealistic. i kno i am.

[zumie-ashlen.livejournal.com]

I always sort of thought that Alfred would be kind of wishy-washy when it came to politics, but tends to align himself with the government's opinion--when Dems are in charge, he's more liberal, when Reps are in charge, he's more conservative.

But the idea of him arguing with himself ala Colbert's Formidable Opponent is extremely funny.

I don't know too much about social security, so I'll leave that up to the experts to debate. ^o^ As for the others...

Allocation of Government funds - I think he would start out trying to be extremely responsible and stingy, but as all the issues piled up and the needs and suggestions kept coming in, he would start throwing around money a bit to keep the peace. I don't think he's entirely sensible when it comes to money (and this isn't a "haha, Alfred's dumb" moment, it's more that he realizes money keeps the peace, and it's just easier to throw money at something rather than fix it).

Abortion - I think he would be okay with the idea--he'd probably file it under 'mortal issue--they decide what they need to do.' He's probably still a bit prejudiced against it, but doesn't dispute its legality.

The environment - Alfred is totes on the side of green! ...in theory. When it comes to actually doing doing stuff, he really talks the talk more than actually, you know, walking. His love of heavy machinery does not help.

International relations - He thinks everyone loves him, but doesn't get why they're not so eager to do whatever he says. The fact that China's becoming a bigger superpower now is a big ego blow.

Legalization of Drugs - I see him as being very 'WAR ON DRUGS YAY!' Except he smokes all the pot that they confiscate. To prevent other people from using it, you see.

(He invites Matt over when he does)

Poverty - He really wants to do more about poverty, both the prevention and getting rid of it now. Unfortunately, he lacks the funds because of all the previous issues.

[kerimaxwell.livejournal.com]

Legalization of Drugs - I see him as being very 'WAR ON DRUGS YAY!' Except he smokes all the pot that they confiscate. To prevent other people from using it, you see.

(He invites Matt over when he does)

I would read NOVELS about this. :3

[creation48.livejournal.com]

In my head-canon, the nations-tan can have their personal opinion on what their bosses decided and happen in their country but they can do nothing about it.
For example, I don't think that Germany agreed with Hitler or was fine with what happened then but there was nothing he could do about it.

As for gay rights, I think that nations-tan do not have opinions on such morality issues, because they are not really human and, thus, are not concerned by them.

[mecchayumyum.livejournal.com]

My head canon for America is so freaking weird. I just feel like he's the total opposite of my politically, America just comes off as being like a total republican type of a person like he believes everything thing he hears on Fox and news and conservative talk radio without a thought, this is mostly because I feel America is still a fairly conservative nation, mostly beause it just makes him more amusing to me.

I would think that Ammerican would really object to the healthcare bill beause "That's commie shit." I ean I know that if you follow news other than what Fox says (yeah I hate Fox) then you'd know that the country was almost evenly balanced on Health Care reform, and that the nubers were still within the margin of error, but I still think America would totally be against it. I can totally see him being in Obama's office like "You've got to veto this! Like for real." then Obama would be all like "No I'm signing this." and than Alfred would be mopping again and muttering about how uncool Obama is but he's still got a total an-crush on the guy still... yeah I know this is getting weird.

When it comes to gay rights I am reminded of my shool's senior skip day, which wasn't realya senior skip day, instead it was a day where you could go listen to a political debate or sit in class. There was a question about gay rights that came up and and the repulician guy gave his answer (in the most douche-bag tone ever) about how he was for gay rights because his brother was guy, but he was still not willing to agree with marraige, and then he went on to talk in circles where he basically said he was against gay rights after all (it was all really weird) while the demoratic was striaght forward with and answer that was basically "I'm all for same sex couplkes to have the same rights as heterosexual couples."

Okay now moving on to the majority vs the minority. With America I see him as someone who will always lean more conservative, but with others I see them following the majority for the most part. I ean I love the idea of Obama have a man-crush on Obama but he doesn't agree with what the man's policies are, beause he's way too liberal. But I'd like to think that his reaction to the inaguration speech was like Stephen Colbert's was on the show afterwards, onle less ridiculous.

Okay now I really only know about America's stances on these things so yeah this is gonna be more America.

-Social Security: he doesn't like it. But believes that it needs to be there still, so he believes in extreme reform of it.

-Abortion: Against it in most cases. He's fine with it as long as it's in cases where it's to save the mother, and rape, other than that, nope not gonna happen.

- International Relations: "Kill them Jihadist bastards!"

Legalization of Drugs: Okay this is so my biased, beause I firmly believe that like 65% of americans are smoking pot, so like he says he's not okay with it, but god does he want to be able to light up in a publi place blasting some Reggae (I know this goes against everything else in this post).

-Poverty: this one makes me feel the worst but it's a diret quote form my mother "It's their own fault that they're poor why should I care." *sigh*

Yeah I know this is all really very general but I don't know...

[swimmuffin.livejournal.com]

hmm...that was interesting!

ahaha~ i was not entirely sure if america was more conservative himself or not. i can see where you're coming from; traditionally, america has been really conservative, but lately, america's becoming more liberal.

As for Fox news...XD personally, i think america gets his news from the daily show or the colbert report...but even if he didn't, fox is the only non-liberal news media station out there. the majority of the news is liberally biased.

yea..that's the thing. traditionally, and sterotypically, america's always been conservative. and i suppose since hetalia's based on stereotypes, it would make more sense for him to be more conservative? idk...-3-

[sara-rojo.livejournal.com]

Wow, what an interesting topic! I have somewhat conflicting headcanons regarding this.

For the most part, I think nations side with the majority of their citizens and as such, usually follow the socially acceptable views of any given time (which would make them as far from rebells and reformers as they can possibly beXD). I like this because I like the potential for political incorrection as we go back in time; things like dear sweet Alfred during his Revolution days owning slaves, England massacring the Native America population but at the same time doting on beautiful white, blond, aryan little America, or Spain cheerfully killing muslims in the Middle Ages (not to mention the much more common nazi!Germany portrayals in fandom).
Following this, there's another thing to consider: nations side with their boss/ruling class views. Which would make for interesting situations, like France scoffing at poor starving children stealing from the nobles, Russia happily taking away what little his farmers have as taxes, almost everyone persecuting Jews and many of them brainwahsing the plebe with how bad homosexuality and sexually liberated women are while them (and their nobles) partaking in such things.

I, myself, prefer to think that the nations change as their country changes; if a country leaves a lot of power in the hands of one figure, that figure's views will take precedence in the nation's mind. This is the case for most of the Old European powers, who followed the traditional views of their times (even if severe outcry or misery among their poor would make them more practical than their monarchs).
America used to follow this view (being under British rule) but started to change very quickly -by nation standards- as his country gained freedom and his citizens where the ones to elect the boss; in little more than a century, he started to rid himself of prejudice of race and gender.

This would make most nations nowadays follow the mainstream views in their respective countries: America being more conservative that most of Europe in social policies but having more revolutionary ideas in the scientific field.

But I also like to think that nations have a personality of their own (mainly because it's impossible for me to consider Poland a conservative, as is the RL country and bosses); so while they follow what the majority of their citizens think, there are times when their superior knowledge and wisdom will make them follow a personal view that they just know will be better for their citizens in the long run, even if they themselves not know it.

Regarding homosexuality, I think the nations have always considered themselves 'above humans' in this matter; since they are not humans, what is good for humans doesn't have to apply to nations. They believed for most history that humans should never engage in such acts (except for Rome, who did as he thought his humans should), or just tolerated them if the ones conducting them were productive to the country in some important way/turned a blind eye on it for the good of the country; all while they themselves had all sorts of physical relations with other male nations. All very hypocritical and historical xD
Nowadays, some nations like America still follow this view; they don't fully approve of it, and would frown or feel sad whenever one of their citizens revealed himself as such, but they do have homosexual relations between other nations (also, in America's case it's my personal headcanon that he changes a lot depending on which state he's in. So while he'd be all manly conservative American good man in Texas, he could also turn into a total gay diva in San Francisco xD). Nations like Canada, Netherlands, northern Europe and Spain are extremely open-minded and gay-friendly ^^

[sara-rojo.livejournal.com]

As for the themes of your particular interest...

Social Security: I believe, in this case, America is mostly approving. One of those "better in the long run for everybody" things. Other countries, like France, don't consider anybody really civilized if they don't have this.

Allocation of Government funds: oddly enough, I think Alfred doesn't really bother studying this in-depth and usually adopts his boss' position on this matter. He's 19, after all, and doesn't seem to be very interested in some areas of his work.
Europeans would debate this endlessly, though; with their bosses, in their parliaments (actively and often getting extremely frustrated, as they agree, in some way, with the two major parties that usually don't agree on anythingXD) and even between themselves.

Abortion: oh, boy. America understands it in some cases, but not most. It makes him uncomfortable and sad, and is one of those issues he NEVER wants to discuss. It makes most other nations uncomfortable too, but some have decided on something and strongly defend it (Russia, France and Canada strongly support it, for example).

The environment: Um. Well, as beffiting a teen, Alfred is not very concerned for the far future, so he thinks people are exagerating about this. Recently, he's become more worried, but still doesn't take it very seriously, and his ideas are more grandiose and silly than practical. Europeans are more concerned.

International relations: I think America is extremely sensitive to having bad international relations, but being so young, sometimes he goes about correcting them the wrong way and makes it even worse, which in turn makes him even more anxious to rectify it and take immediate -and not thought out- actions again. He's also a bit overwhelming, and wants to be very close very quickly, which doesn't always agree with more reserved nations. He's also overbearing and wants to impose his opinion in a very sulky teen way, which doesn't always ingrate him with others.
Europeans are extremely...weird about their relations. Quickly to argue about any little thing, still tentative about common issues, they usually immediately ally when confronted with the outside, but they all keep and treasure their own bonds and ties with other nations with zeal. They care about their political image, but prefer not to take action sometimes in case it could be tainted. So they are conservative in taking risks regarding their political image, whereas America takes too much risks and is too impulsive.

Legalization of Drugs: I think America and some other nations like England, France and Germany are very hypocritical regarding this issue, criticising it but consumming it in their private lives. Others like Netherlands, Spain and Canada, are fairly open about their enthusiasm regarding thisXD

Poverty: Europeans are far more practical about this, with more social policies to prevent it. I think this makes America sad but he doesn't know how to approach this without losing his main economic ideals (also, he may be acting stubborn just to prove his way is right and the Europeans wrongXD)

wow, I didn't know I had so much headcanon xDDDDDDD

[drcalvin.livejournal.com]

For America? I see all his suggestions to his government (and he is convinced that whatever government he has right now is the best, at least until people so dislike it that a revolution may start brewing) are as utterly silly as the whole "let's build a giant robot against global warming!"-thing. So nobody in charge listens to Alfred

Russia now, he probably has a slightly more antagonistic but also influential relationship to his government. I mean, Hetalia canon is sparse with such details, but he seems to take a more serious view of a lot of things, in his own twisted way.

Germany is probably very self-conscious about his government and his people and has big angsty, "oh god, are we doing the right thing? who should I listen to? should I personally take a stance? or is that tyranny? ohshitohshit"-moments. But only when he's alone

[marishkanobel.livejournal.com]

I like to think that Alfred would be so clueless about the situations presented that any opinion he would have would be completely silly and on the same level as a hyperactive child. But that's just my headcanon.

[aetheling.livejournal.com]

Disclaimer: Alfred's views expressed within are not necessarily the views of the author!

Personally I see Alfred as generally just right of center, but also I see his political views as leaning left or right depending on the general political climate of his people at the time. For example, I imagine that Alfred's vote, though he doesn't think about it that way, is always for the winning candidate.
I think that during the recent presidential campaigns Alfred was probably crazy about Obama, because he would have felt that some change was necessary, but now is leaning more towards caution and doubt, and I imagine that he's feeling a bit leery of the health care bill passing. He probably feels that it's been passed too fast/a bad piece of legislation/it'll raise the national debt enormously.
So, he would have been more liberal in the late 60s through the 70s, but would have got right again in the 80s, that sort of thing. Similarly, I think when there are powerful political movements sweeping the nation, he's going to be involved in them. So, I think he would have been all environmentally-conscious in the 70s, maybe even grew a avocado pit in a jar in his kitchen window, but then when that faded away, gone back to letting his car warm up for 15 minutes in the morning or whatever.
For example, I think that Alfred supported George W. Bush in principle, as with all his presidents, because he was his president, and he feels that he should respect them, but as W's disapproval ratings climbed higher and higher, Alfred would feel more uncomfortable being around him, and find it more difficult to agree with his policies.
Though I think he would be involved in political activities if they involved enough of the nation (like the protests against the Vietnam War) I also think he has an essentially conservative personality, and so would be generally averse to change.
Or . . maybe all of this is just over-analysis, and he just goes with the flow as his history!