The Thread of Democrats

[Cunt]

I think it's more difficult for lefties to identify their 'idiot fringe', than it is for righties.

Righties do it regularly, with the KKK for instance. Lefties can't even disavow the violence of ANTIFA often.

[Seabass]

Think Republicans are disconnected from reality? It's even worse among liberals

A new survey found Democrats live with less political diversity despite being more tolerant of it – with startling results

But what’s startling is the further finding that higher education does not improve a person’s perceptions – and sometimes even hurts it. In their survey answers, highly educated Republicans were no more accurate in their ideas about Democratic opinion than poorly educated Republicans. For Democrats, the education effect was even worse: the more educated a Democrat is, according to the study, the less he or she understands the Republican worldview.

“This effect,” the report says, “is so strong that Democrats without a high school diploma are three times more accurate than those with a postgraduate degree.” And the more politically engaged a person is, the greater the distortion.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... urvey-poll

That's a misleading title. Reading the article, it appears that what liberals are actually disconnected from is just how disconnected from reality Republicans are. I mean, if someone supports green energy, why on earth would they vote for Trump? It's absurd on its face.

[JimC]

...the more educated a Democrat is, according to the study, the less he or she understands the Republican worldview.
...

One can know what such views are, without being able to understand what the fuck they are on about. I don't understand why fundamentalists of any religion are such deluded fuckwits, but I don't think that counts as a strike against me...

[Sean Hayden]

[pErvinalia]

I think it's more difficult for lefties to identify their 'idiot fringe', than it is for righties.

Righties do it regularly, with the KKK for instance. Lefties can't even disavow the violence of ANTIFA often.

What violence? The KKK used to lynch people. They aren't equivalent.

[Hermit]

Let's see now. The survey was devised by More in Common. More in Common describes itself as "an international initiative to build societies and communities that are stronger, more united, and more resilient to the increasing threats of polarization and social division." (Link) On its web site it assures us that "Our team is deeply committed to our mission". That is not a promising foundation for dispassionate research.

And the desired conclusion is right there in the title of the 60 page report: The Perception Gap: How False Impressions are Pulling Americans Apart.

How did it arrive at it? Simple. It primes its respondents with a different set of initial questions to get different results. It works like this:



Yes, the More in Common people really did that. From page 11 and 12 of the report:

REPUBLICAN QUESTION SET
–“Properly controlled immigration can be good for America”
–“Racism still exists in America”
–“People are right to be concerned about how climate change might affect us”
–“The government should do more to stop guns getting into the hands of bad people”
–“Donald Trump is a flawed person”
–“Many Muslims are good Americans”
–“Sexism still exists in America”

DEMOCRAT QUESTION SET
–“The US should have completely open borders”
–“The US should abolish ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement)”
–“Most police are bad people”
–“America should be a socialist country”
–“Law abiding citizens should have the right to bear firearms”
–“It is important that men are protected from false accusations pertaining to sexual assault”
–“I am proud to be American though I acknowledge my country’s flaws”

[Sean Hayden]

The main findings of their new study, “The Perception Gap,” are also consistent with over three-decades of research. Here, we will briefly present their core findings and connect them to the existing scholarly literature.

Thus, on the one hand it is not surprising that More in Common’s conclusions have already been criticized. Critique of methodology and statistical analysis is always welcome, they are one of the primary driving forces of scientific investigation. On the other hand, however, the findings reported by More in Common are remarkably similar to each of the studies documented above. Furthermore, the studies documented in Table 1 run the gamut from small unrepresentative samples, to larger unrepresentative samples, to nationally representative probability samples, and finally to cross-sectional analyses of the American National Election Study. That so many different samples yield similar results, lends a good deal of support to the conclusions that More in Common reached.

The political Perception Gap appears to be very real. Ignoring or dismissing this fact is not going to reduce it. In fact, as suggested by Chambers & Melnyk (2006) and Chambers et al. (2006), it may exacerbate it. Thus, a more salient question may be, “what can be done about it?” given that many of the most intuitively obvious correctives — education, the media (including from flagship publications like the New York Times, Washington Post et al.) and political engagement — all seem to make the problem worse.

https://heterodoxacademy.org/social-sci ... ption-gap/

[Hermit]

Having read some more, I have changed my mind. I now agree with this bit from the Grauniad, though on account of this publication by the Pew Research Center rather than the abomination More in Common cobbled together.

Americans know what positions the different political parties typically hold and disagree on (e.g., pro-choice or pro-life; for more government regulation of the economy or for less government regulation of the economy), but they exaggerate the difference between themselves and the constituents of rival parties.

[laklak]

They're all full of shit.

[Cunt]

I think it's more difficult for lefties to identify their 'idiot fringe', than it is for righties.

Righties do it regularly, with the KKK for instance. Lefties can't even disavow the violence of ANTIFA often.

What violence? The KKK used to lynch people. They aren't equivalent.

I gave an example, you are welcome to offer a better one, of the lefts 'idiot fringe'.

Go ahead, I'll wait.

[pErvinalia]

Marxists.

Now, about your false equivalence..

[Cunt]

Oohh - can you give an example, of marxists being ejected by the left as nutty?

I mean, it should involve shouting and hair dyed primary colours! I LOVE brightly dyed hair. Looks so effetie.

[JimC]

Oohh - can you give an example, of marxists being ejected by the left as nutty?

I mean, it should involve shouting and hair dyed primary colours! I LOVE brightly dyed hair. Looks so effetie.

Well, I suppose to you I'm on the left (perhaps Hermit would disagree... ) and I certainly hold doctrinaire Marxists in disdain, for a variety of reasons. That does not mean that there is no value in some aspects of a Marxist analysis of the dynamics of capitalist society, more that their proposed remedies take no notice of some dreadful lessons from 20th century history...

[pErvinalia]

Oohh - can you give an example, of marxists being ejected by the left as nutty?

Yeah, me.

Now, about your false equivalence..

[Animavore]

Will Trump supporters ever understand that whataboutism is a confession, not a defence?