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Are American voters stupid? (The answer may be "yes".)

 
 
 
braces_for_impact

braces_for_impact

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https://goo.gl/LiSRfD

Here's a short and admittedly biased article. Nevertheless, there's truth within I think. Are US voters stupid? Are we seeing human nature played out, regardless of country of origin? How does current US culture influence the constituency?

I'd be interested in hearing responses.
 
Yes. They are stupid.

No. They are not going to learn anything or get better.
 
Well, in 2016 many people said they voted for FFvC cuz they were so damn angry at DC and wanted to shake it up; then they proceeded to re-elect their congressional critters who control the purse strings far more than any President. That looks like a stupid, squawks like a stupid, and walks like a stupid to me...
 
They drank the kool-aid and believe all the lies that Faux news and talk radio tells them. So they believe the lies 45 tells them. When they hear the truth they think it's fake news, because they don't want to hear the truth.
 
I don't know if that is exactly it. For the most part, they support Trump's personality, not his proposals. On AM Radio programs, the "intelligent" hosts (Pragers, Medveds) couldn't get Trump supporters to explain why they supported him, other than the vague, 'he represents change we need'. The worst part is that they would say 'sure, not everything he says is right, but...'

Cult of Personality, that simple, cue up Living Colour.
funinspace said:
Well, in 2016 many people said they voted for FFvC cuz they were so damn angry at DC and wanted to shake it up; then they proceeded to re-elect their congressional critters who control the purse strings far more than any President. That looks like a stupid, squawks like a stupid, and walks like a stupid to me...
Click to expand...
That seemed to be the craziest part. We are sending a message to DC! We're really stupid!

On NPR, they were interviewing Trump supporters and one indicated that Trump's lack of action was because of Congress (that she and her ilk pretty just reelected as-is). They don't seem to understand that.
 
Jimmy Higgins said:
We are sending a message to DC! We're really stupid!
Click to expand...

Yup, and they got the message loud and clear. Plus the subtext: "We don't care if the Russians help you fuck us in the ass as long as Democrats aren't the ones doing it."
 
braces_for_impact said:
https://goo.gl/LiSRfD

Here's a short and admittedly biased article. Nevertheless, there's truth within I think. Are US voters stupid? Are we seeing human nature played out, regardless of country of origin? How does current US culture influence the constituency?

I'd be interested in hearing responses.
Click to expand...

Yes, the American polity is exceptionally stupid compared to similar countries. There are a lot of factors in this.

First, America has simply has always been much more provincial than comparable European powers. Prior to industrialization, the US was more-or-less a backwater.

Second, there is a strong separation of Church and state which leads to strong Churches. This is ironic from the POV of the secular citizen: a secular state with strong First amendment liberties actually helps increase religiosity: when the religion is bound to the state, people become cynical about religion. Religiosity becomes diluted. See the UK with the Church of England.

Furthermore, American religion is largely of the Protestant Christian variety, which is inherently anti-intellectual, and even worse, the virulently anti-intellectual Protestant strains are particularly successful in America.

Lastly, there is historical baggage from the political climate of the second-half of the 20th century, i.e. the Cold War, that made intellectuals suspect in society at large.

Finally, the idea of the individual as the focus of society encourages the character of the nation to be one that is distrustful of "experts." People tend to value their own "common sense" over that of some ivory-tower intellectual.

Of course, America is huge, and there are localities were this is not the case, and indeed, it can be reversed to the extreme. But I think this is a fair generalization nonetheless.
 
Jimmy Higgins said:
I don't know if that is exactly it. For the most part, they support Trump's personality, not his proposals. On AM Radio programs, the "intelligent" hosts (Pragers, Medveds) couldn't get Trump supporters to explain why they supported him, other than the vague, 'he represents change we need'. The worst part is that they would say 'sure, not everything he says is right, but...'

Cult of Personality, that simple, cue up Living Colour.
funinspace said:
Well, in 2016 many people said they voted for FFvC cuz they were so damn angry at DC and wanted to shake it up; then they proceeded to re-elect their congressional critters who control the purse strings far more than any President. That looks like a stupid, squawks like a stupid, and walks like a stupid to me...
Click to expand...
That seemed to be the craziest part. We are sending a message to DC! We're really stupid!

On NPR, they were interviewing Trump supporters and one indicated that Trump's lack of action was because of Congress (that she and her ilk pretty just reelected as-is). They don't seem to understand that.
Click to expand...
Yup. Another antidote was the 2008 Michigan Repug primary. I remembered Romney promising the moon to voters, promising getting back those "good jobs". McCain did the more honest thing, and promised to work towards getting new jobs, not those old "good jobs". Michigan voted for pixie dust or the Easy Button if one wants to call it that.

Much of our ME policies are stuck with Americans wanting the Easy Button solution (aka pixie dust). They don't want America to loose. They don't want Americans killed. They want the bad guys killed. They don't want to waist money in the ME. Just fix the damn thing. STUPID! So most of the politico's give us the song and dance we want to hear...
 
J842P said:
braces_for_impact said:
https://goo.gl/LiSRfD

Here's a short and admittedly biased article. Nevertheless, there's truth within I think. Are US voters stupid? Are we seeing human nature played out, regardless of country of origin? How does current US culture influence the constituency?

I'd be interested in hearing responses.
Click to expand...

Yes, the American polity is exceptionally stupid compared to similar countries.
Click to expand...
The UK voted for Brexit, of which they won't get any of the alleged benefits they were sold on, and should have known better.

First, America has simply has always been much more provincial than comparable European powers. Prior to industrialization, the US was more-or-less a backwater.
Click to expand...
Prior to industrialization, all nations were backwater.

Finally, the idea of the individual as the focus of society encourages the character of the nation to be one that is distrustful of "experts." People tend to value their own "common sense" over that of some ivory-tower intellectual.
Click to expand...
No, that'd be hundreds of millions spent on AM Radio and Cable "news" channel that helped that.
 
J842P said:
First, America has simply has always been much more provincial than comparable European powers. Prior to industrialization, the US was more-or-less a backwater.
Click to expand...

A lot of that has to do with geography. In Europe, hop in your car or on board a train, travel 500 miles and you've likely crossed one or more borders. In America, you can travel a thousand or two thousand miles (or more) and still be in America. Cross the border to the north (Quebec excepted) and you'll find people who speak the same language and treat you as friendly neighbors. You have to head south to find a place where the language and customs are significantly different from yours. Most Americans never leave their own country.
 
braces_for_impact said:
https://goo.gl/LiSRfD

Here's a short and admittedly biased article. Nevertheless, there's truth within I think. Are US voters stupid? Are we seeing human nature played out, regardless of country of origin? How does current US culture influence the constituency?

I'd be interested in hearing responses.
Click to expand...

The problem here is the word "US".

Voters tend to be stupid, period.
 
braces_for_impact said:
https://goo.gl/LiSRfD

Here's a short and admittedly biased article. Nevertheless, there's truth within I think. Are US voters stupid? Are we seeing human nature played out, regardless of country of origin? How does current US culture influence the constituency?

I'd be interested in hearing responses.
Click to expand...

Human nature is that humans adapt to their environments exceptionally well.

Present day conditions are controlled by corporate power, not governments. Governments are what corporations use to eliminate their risk.
 
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