Are you an idealist, or a pragmatist?

[Feanorcurufinwe]

Poll question: Are you an idealist, or a pragmatist?

[booley]

1. the answer is yes

so i cannot vote since I would have to vote twice

[Feanorcurufinwe]

2. That's a different poll.

[GreenArrow]

3. don't see them as mutually exclusive

.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

6. Of course not.

But, would you walk through the door labeled 'Pragmatists' or the one labeled 'Idealists'?

[GreenArrow]

8. it would depend on how one defined

them I suppose. Many of the things that pass for "pragmatic" are anything but, having more to do with issues of expediency. I guess in DU terms, I'm a incorrigible idealist.

[mzmolly]

4. Both.

That's why I'm a Democrat. ;)

[Magrittes Pipe]

5. Idealist in my heart, pragmatist in my mind.

Voted for Kucinich in the primary, will vote for Kerry in the general. ;)

[Radical Activist]

7. Can't you be both? Try reading this...

http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=7-0679721134-6

[Feanorcurufinwe]

10. Of course you can, but in this poll, you have to choose one or the other

[Radical Activist]

16. I guess I won't vote in this poll

[ulysses]

9. yes.

I teach. :)

[JohnKleeb]

11. pragmatic idealist

in between btw. Like my views are idealistic to the max but I am very pragmatic when it comes down to it, I'll support pretty much any democrat, I dont hate compromise, so I dont know really.

[HamHocks4Kerry]

12. A mixture of both

[Debs]

13. No Quibbling

I am an idealist

[kodi]

14. they are in incompatible. one's a long term view, the other a short term

a pragmatist is just trying to make efficient the here and now to get to his/her idealized goal.

i think gandhi was both and used his knowledge of his foes to maximize his short term affect for a long term goal.

[SarahB]

15. I am at heart a major idealist.

I tried to fight it for a long time. I am emotional and often illogical. Everything I feel, I feel deeply. -
The taste of chocolate. A glass of wine. The feelings I have for those I love. The way I make love. The passions of my strongly held convictions. The pain at the hands of other people at times in my past. I remember being a little girl and just running for no reason because I felt like it. Sometimes, as of late, I find myself doing that again. Much of the time, I'm just pretty mellow though.

Yeah, we all have to be pragmatic to an extent and take care of life's responsibilities, but for me, when I ignore that side of me that deeply feels things, when I try to pretend to be the person I'm not to make everyone else happy, to please the world's artificial expectations, to just "blend" into the crowd, I do a terrible job and feel miserable within myself.

Maybe I need to watch the liberal kid's guide to the 70's again: