I have been mulling this over for quite some time,IU
Sure, there are some beliefs that we can describe as "conservative":
But I have come to suspect that the larger source of political divisions comes down to folks believing things that simply are not true,
That divide is partially owing to this conviction that every opinion is as good as any other opinion, regardless of knowledge,
And it is largely owing to the fact that the current POTUS is (quite literally) the worst liar to hold any position in American public life, It is unclear to me how much his lying is really just evidence that he is pretty deranged, and how much is because he is intentionally manipulating his loyal followers. He is convinced that those folks will believe anything.
And, of course, we know that the folks in the right wing media AND the folks who are dependent on the POTUS are committed to lying to back him up,
It seems to me that setting aside the core ideological divisions, there remain a host of issues/topcs that come down to MAGA people just not understanding things. That is, if we could magically make these people understand the facts I think that many of our core problems would be solved, Here are just some examples:
Sure, there are some beliefs that we can describe as "conservative":
- Resistance to taxation and excessive spending
- Resistance to excessive regulation
- Resistance to Affirmative Action (which they mistakenly call "DEI.")
- Hostility to elites
- Hostility to "so called experts"
- A preference for one's own "opinions" as opposed to faith in expertise
But I have come to suspect that the larger source of political divisions comes down to folks believing things that simply are not true,
That divide is partially owing to this conviction that every opinion is as good as any other opinion, regardless of knowledge,
And it is largely owing to the fact that the current POTUS is (quite literally) the worst liar to hold any position in American public life, It is unclear to me how much his lying is really just evidence that he is pretty deranged, and how much is because he is intentionally manipulating his loyal followers. He is convinced that those folks will believe anything.
And, of course, we know that the folks in the right wing media AND the folks who are dependent on the POTUS are committed to lying to back him up,
It seems to me that setting aside the core ideological divisions, there remain a host of issues/topcs that come down to MAGA people just not understanding things. That is, if we could magically make these people understand the facts I think that many of our core problems would be solved, Here are just some examples:
- Issues surrounding undocumented immigrants: (a) What is their history before they became "illegal"? (b) How does their crime rate compare with Native born Americans? (c) Do they pay taxes? (d) Are they, collectively, more dangerous than other Americans? MAGA folks believe things about immigrants that are untrue, and DJT feeds that with lies
- The Economy: (a) How do tariffs actually work? (b) what does the current data actually say? (c) what is the relationship between our current trade policy and our historic diplomatic goals? (d) What percentage of folks with elite training in economic issues believe that POTUS is doing a good job? [Then of course there are so many lies from him.]
- Science and Public Policy: Here we have an assortment of topics. In each case, folks who have devoted their lives to studying the science disagree with DJT and Kennedy and MAGA. Including: (a) The facts on Climate Change (b) The facts surrounding pregnancy and medically dangerous csses; (c) Vaccinations and Infectious Disease (d) The causes of autism and what the data actually says, (e) Everything surrounding Gender and Transsexuals. All topics involving serious expertise as well as folks who just prefer their own opinions.
- History, Literature, and Race. A massive set of topics. The simple version is that POTUS knows that his followers resent POC, so he does all he can to almost literally Whitewash our history, including (a) His idiodic attack on the Smithsonian, (b) His perpetual demeaning of black leaders, and especially black womeh, (c) This bizarre claim that American history (as studied by professionals and reflected in texts etc) has too much bad news. MAGA folks whine about "playing the race card." I think the truth is that these people know almost nothing about the history of race in America. and yet DJT wants to reduce what the Smithsonian shows.
- Crime and Cities. Here, again, MAGA folks believe things that are untrue, presumably because DJT lies pretty constantly. But in addition to made up numbers, we have a classic interpretive problem (among many): If a city elects a Democrat as mayor, why should that mayor be blamed for the crime rate? There are lots of variables involved here. The punchillne is that some moron wearing a red cap in Montana has no idea what is true, but he/she will believe whatever Trump says