dagblog - Comments for "Opinion: Trump didn't create "Us vs. Them" — it created him"

Just about all the surveys I

AmericanDreamer — Tue, 24 Apr 2018 22:58:58 +0000

In reply to In polls I am often asked (in

Just about all the surveys I am invited to respond to that I look at include multiple questions where my answer is none of the above. They often contain false dichotomies. They strike me as mainly fundraising approaches where you are supposed to be honored to respond to questions developed by apparently anyone at all.

In polls I am often asked (in

CVille Dem — Tue, 24 Apr 2018 22:43:34 +0000

In reply to Good catch. It's not just the

In polls I am often asked (in this way) which things I want the government to work on:

Choose 3 —

Health care

The environment

Voting rights

Education

Infrastructure

International efforts towards peace

Food and sustenance for all people

OK. It sounds like what you are saying is that once I pick 3, the pollsters might be comfortable saying I didn’t care about the others. Thanks for pointing this out.

"flies his own flag when he

jollyroger — Tue, 24 Apr 2018 20:53:48 +0000

In reply to Many of the Democrats who

"flies his own flag when he is in the building" you say that like it's a bad thing....wait, what? not flagpole, flag? Right, then, carry on.

Thanks for bringing it up.

artappraiser — Tue, 24 Apr 2018 18:52:31 +0000

In reply to I am having trouble squaring

Thanks for bringing it up. (It bothered me too, didn't seem right, like an unnecessary hyperbolic addition.) Look what we got in reply that you did!

Stupidest, most deceitful and

NCD — Tue, 24 Apr 2018 18:14:29 +0000

In reply to I am having trouble squaring

Stupidest, most deceitful and longest running Gallup poll. Example poll bs.

Government, business and what is left of unions are presented as being discrete entities, independent of one another.

And "big money" as the BIGGEST threat, used to control big government, is obscured like the wizard behind the curtain in Oz.

Good catch. It's not just the

Michael Wolraich — Tue, 24 Apr 2018 17:16:00 +0000

In reply to I am having trouble squaring

Good catch. It's not just the "one in three" error; the whole analysis of the study is BS. Here's the source:

At first glance, you might wonder why this study goes from "1930s" to "1980s." If you read the fine print, you might also wonder how a 2005-2014 study surveyed public opinions of young people the 1930s during .

Well they didn't. They surveyed people in the 21st century and broke down the responses by decade of birth. This study says nothing about what young people valued in the 1930s. Rather, it tells us that old people today think democracy is more important than young people today. Moreover, those youngsters aren't saying that democracy is not important. They rated the importance of democracy on a scale from 1 to 10. 57% rated it from 8 to 10. 39% rated it from 4 to 7. The number of people who believe democracy is not important (1 to 3) is very small no matter how old you are. There is a trend here, but it's been totally misrepresented.

PS More info:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/12/08/yes-millennials-r...

https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/sites/default/files/Foa%26Mounk-27-3.pdf

I am having trouble squaring

AmericanDreamer — Tue, 24 Apr 2018 16:09:17 +0000

In reply to Opinion: Trump didn't create "Us vs. Them" — it created him

I am having trouble squaring these two study findings reported in the article:

According to a study published in The Journal of Democracy, the share of young Americans who say it's important to live in a democratic country has dropped from 91 percent in the 1930s to 57 percent today. Fewer than one in three young Americans say that it's important to live in a democracy.

Interesting piece.

Yep, you've mentioned your

Michael Wolraich — Tue, 24 Apr 2018 13:31:45 +0000

In reply to Yes. Especially 1848! For

Yep, you've mentioned your 1848 theory before, and I'm persuaded. Also, the New Yorker had an interesting piece about fake news in the 17th century.

Yes. Especially 1848! For

artappraiser — Tue, 24 Apr 2018 05:17:22 +0000

In reply to I have a theory that people

Yes. Especially 1848! For which I've always believed the main culprit was the Industrial Revolution. Whole class structures changing. (Hobsbawn did the two classic histories, The Age of Revolution, 1789-1848 and The Age of Capital 1848-1875, the titles sum things up neatly, a bit too neatly, like with a bow.)

I have a theory that people

Michael Wolraich — Mon, 23 Apr 2018 20:00:55 +0000

In reply to I should add that I also like

I have a theory that people gravitate toward autocrats during periods of chaos and transition. They yearn, perhaps unconsciously, for someone to reassert the authority that has eroded. Just as the printing press undermined the authority of the Church, the information revolution has undermined the authorities of 20th century liberalism--journalists, scientists, doctors, politicians, generals, and religious leaders. The authoritarian promises to restore political and moral clarity in an era of uncertainty. That doesn't mean democracy is doomed but rather that democratic nations are vulnerable during this transition period before new authorities become established.

We saw a similar pattern during the decline of aristocracy from the late 18th century to the early 20th when some nations turned to post-aristocratic authoritarian nationalism--first France, then Russia, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Spain. Most of these reemerged as liberal democracies, but it was rough going, to put it gently. Hopefully, the changes of the early 21st century won't be so destabilizing.