Quote:
Originally Posted by sebastian_dangerfield
I'm sorry about your gene pool. But is there any reason to write this here other than to re-emphasize the stereotype that all Trump voters are knuckle dragging troglodytes?
I mean, I get it... It's fun to make fun of the dimwits. Makes you feel like the better person, creates a sense of community (someone here will surely give me an atta boy for writing this!).
But aren't you just feeding similar minded folks empty calories by doing this sort of thing? You aren't changing that bigoted person's mind. A person making that statement is past saving, in many regards. He's interesting and relevant why?
Doesn't it make more sense to focus on the Trump voters who voted for economic reasons? These are people a lot of whom voted for Obama in 2008. These are people many of whom are actually thinking about issues and figured Trump was the better bet. And for a lot of them, he was.
Now, of course, you can write these people off as nihilists of a sort who'll happily deal with an odious, racist leader in exchange for stock market gains or low taxes. But in doing that, you're ignoring your real enemy here.
There are loads of reasons small business owners almost always vote Republican. I needn't list them here. Some of it has to do with GOP defunding of one particular agency small business owners fear and detest. Some of it has to do with the perception that GOP regimes unlock "animal spirits" and create growth. Some of it has to do with people believing GOP control leads to easier lending and better rates. The reasons are myriad. And that's just one sector of the Trump voters - small business owners. The list of reasons other groups of people voted for Trump, and vote for GOP candidates more generally, could go on for volumes.
I don't say this to deflect focus from the bigots. The pure, hardened bigot vote is always there for the GOP. But they're incurable. You can talk, talk, talk, but nothing changes these people. The real discussion of Trumpism, and how it might be countered, requires a focus on the complex reasoning of those who voted for him for economic and policy reasons. These people are thinkers. They are rational actors. What made them pull the lever is far more important than what made a moronic bigot pull the lever.
When you continue focusing exclusively on Trump's most lurid followers, I think you take a form of bait. To have that discussion repeatedly and elevate the bigoted sentiments of that slice of his voters comes at cost of ignoring and letting off the hook those who voted for Trump for self-serving economic reasons. And they're a much bigger piece of the Trump coalition heading into 2020.
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You probably wouldn't call that particular relative Trump's most lurid follower. He's a regional president for a financial institution you would have heard of, with an Ivy League MBA. But he is a Charles Murray style believer that whites have superior IQs, thinks that is just a genetic fact, and objects to being called a racist because in his view he is not being discriminatory just stating facts. He feels broadly disgruntled that his own children have to compete with African Americans for college seats, and is convinced they are at a disadvantage because of it, and resents that he is expected to hire diversely in his own operation. And, sure, he also likes getting tax cuts for him and his buddies.
I also have some of Trump's most lurid followers in my gene pool.
This kind of white conservative victimization thing, with its attendant racism, is core to Trumpism and is often part of the Republican elite's perspective, not just the flannel clad Trump rally attendee you think of as lurid. Here's some good background on its historical roots, in a few short tweets:
https://twitter.com/LarryGlickman/st...10326027976709
