“…prosperous enclaves on the two coasts.”
Strange… Trump seems to be least popular in the “flyover country” of Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.
What’s interesting to me is that @doctorow posted something that exited the echo chamber then most comments end up being a 20 foot plate reverb turned up to eleven.
I don’t know about prozac, but naturally occurring trace lithium in the water (orders of magnitude below ther a peptic doses) does correlate with much lower suicide rates, even in neighboring counties with similar economic conditions.
I still maintain that’s because we fought racists instead of fighting racism. Instead of saying “you can hate anyone you want to, but you’re not allowed to let it affect your job or public policy”, we made it socially unacceptable to think about, and subsequently ignored actual institutionalized racism on the basis that since we wouldn’t let a racist run the system, that system must be fair.
If we’d done it the other way around, the pressure would be on people to show unbiased positions in the way they hire and govern and provide services, rather than in their personal lives. The obligation would be on people to demonstrate fair and unbiased systems, rather than just being made to feel bad every time they laughed at an off-color joke.
And honestly, I think it would have worked a shit-ton better for actually ending the personal racism- Because it’s much easier to look at what you assume is an unbiased system and deduce there must be something wrong with those people who can’t get ahead, than it is to live in an equal society and still find a reason to stereotype an ethnic group.
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Why is that “interesting” to you? That sounds like criticism. If so, how about trying to improve things here?
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Don’t be silly. This…gem…of animation I’ve seen probably 100 times.
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Yes yes, everyone who doesn’t agree with you is part of groupthink. We sheeple need to wake up.
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Has nothing to do with how I think at all. I dont claim to have a single theory about the appeal of Trump. I dont live int he US and have no contact with those who support him. Personally I find him a bit repugnant but do find the phenomenon of his rise and seemingly wide spread appeal interesting. I also find it interesting how many people keep insisting Trump’s appeal is only about racism. That doesnt seem very likely to me and also I’m not so much in favor of demonizing others for their politics. But that is just me. I dont find any of the candidates on offer appealing and am not looking forward to voting in November but I wouldnt insult someone for stumping for any of the candidates either.
I have an extra alarm clock, you want it? Its pretty loud but not quite loud enough for me, I’m a heavy sleeper.
If you read these comments and that’s what you got from them then I find it extremely hard to believe that you had any intention of getting anything else from them. I think the consensus, if there is one, is that
- it is probably true that only a small number of people are attracted to Trump specifically because they appreciate his pro-racism stance;
- a lot of people voting for Trump have legitimate problems and grievances that understandably make them want to support a candidate who is saying he will take on the system;
- despite those legitimate grievances we don’t agree that Trump is a solution since there is nothing in his past that would lead us to think he’ll do a good job;
- because of Trump’s big ticket racist policies, supporting Trump is acting in a racist manner, whatever the intention;
I see these points being made by different people, eliciting disagreement, discussion and understanding. And, in fact, the idea that Trump supporters are motivated by racism spawned this exchange:
So no, there’s no echo chamber about Trump’s supporters being nothing but a bunch of racists. The discussion was far more nuanced, contained disagreement, and essentially agreed with the article that, as you said, “exited the echo chamber” while pointing out flaws with the point (fear and bigotry are hardly either-or, but rather often go hand in hand).
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You raise reasonable points. My perception was up to the point where I commented that the majority of posts read to me as if people wanted to go with “just racists”. I tried to qualify my comment with the words “most comments”. I could have been clearer.
Was just thinking that Drumpf would be perfect casting for the judge if there is ever a Broadway production of The Wall.
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[quote=“Israel_B, post:92, topic:74798”]
I also find it interesting how many people keep insisting Trump’s appeal is only about racism. That doesnt seem very likely to me […][/quote]
It seems that much of his support comes from white working and lower middle class people who want to reclaim what they consider their rightful place both in American society and the world.
I do not doubt that those people have legitimate grievances, but when I look at how Trump supporters frame those issues, then I can’t help thinking that many of them mostly want someone to look down on again. And that way bigotry lies. (Whether strictly speaking all of their targets are races is another matter.)
[quote][…] and also I’m not so much in favor of demonizing others for their politics.
[/quote]People’s political choices are as close to deliberate purely moral decisions as you are likely to see from most people. “Demonizing” may be a loaded word, but there are worse things by which to judge people than their politics. However I realize that in real life politics always involves some degree of compromise, doubly so in a two-party system.
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How do you manage you gif library in such a way that you can have the right one at hand so quickly?
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My animated gif folder is very organized, by specific groups… this one can be found in the one called “random political”. But if I don’t have something, I usually just turn to google image search or I go out and make it on anyone of the various online gif makers.
Yes. In the words of Dorothy Gambrell, I am indeed, wasting my life! 
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The difference between racists and racism, is that because people hate it when they think they’re being judged, they’d much rather attack (or defend) an institutionalized mental illness, than cop to those tendencies themselves as individuals. It takes a certain calm, a certain relaxed nature, to admit to racial bigotry when it’s exposed, and be willing to turn that over and look at it. The rest of us are still just trying to look good, and pretending it’s not that big a problem. (Let’s kick the can down to the next generation, maybe they’ll have more moral courage than we do)
Lindy West wrote something yesterday for the NY Times about Trump and that.
It’s a wild grab for plausible deniability — how can I be a white supremacist when I’m just your nice grandpa? — an artifact of a culture in which some people believe that it’s worse to be called racist than to be racist.Trump fans are flattering themselves if they think that, say, declining to shout slurs at black people or sexually harass female co-workers is some form of noble restraint.
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Well the hometown is making some Trump waves
ETA OMFG
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Ha, he finally found an outspoken woman he agrees with!
Oh wait, I wonder when Ann Coulter will appear on stage with him. Gaah, who am I kidding, I’m sure she already has.
The protectionist policies espoused by both Sanders and Trump are going to benefit the largely white American population at the expense of the non-white populations of other countries.
Is it only racism if one’s target is non-white people who live in America? I assume non-whites outside are fair game, at least if their economic interest threatens the economic interests of the largely white population in America.
Now of course, Sanders isn’t going after those foreigners because they aren’t white. But disparate impact is disparate impact and racist outcomes are racist outcomes.
If we’re going to fight to maintain global inequality and keep our position as the world’s 1%-ers, then I think it behooves us to recognize and own the implicit racism that goes along with that.
Doesn’t mean its wrong. I’m not in a hurry to lose my 1% status ($48K household income), but I think intellectual honesty demands I acknowledge that I am putting the maintenance of my status over the significant improvements in the well-being of non-whites in the developing world.
