Richard Jernigan -> RE: A church is burning (Apr. 24 2019 23:47:28)
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I was careful to make it clear I was summarizing the conclusions of the authors of the book I cited. Trained as a physicist and mathematician, and having had a long career in these fields and in engineering, I see political science as a "soft science." I don't mean to devalue its utility. Given the importance of politics, quantitative political analysis is a useful pursuit. I just don't see its conclusions as sharp edged nor as reliable as those of physics, for example. The political scientists whose views I summarized analyzed the results of opinion surveys and drew conclusions. Of course the results of surveys are known to depend upon the formulation of questions, etc. The authors compound the issue by using shorthand descriptions such as "racism" for a composite of responses to various surveys. These aren't the only criticisms of basing conclusions on the results of surveys. After all, the most comprehensive and technically sophisticated surveys ascribed a slim advantage to Clinton for the election. Having said all that, the authors' conclusions resonate with me because they parallel my impressions of the majority of my friends and acquaintances who supported, and continue to strongly support Trump. I emphasize the word "friends." These people are intelligent hard working individuals who have earned various demanding technical credentials, and as a result enjoy comfortable, stable incomes and good job prospects. They have at various times expressed racist views, neither strongly nor persistently in person, though they do post an occasional meme on Facebook. A number of my extended family also voted for Trump, but are now at least muted in his support, if not disappointed by his performance in office. These people are highly educated, notably prosperous, economically conservative, and devoutly religious. I interpret their votes as resulting from wedge issues like abortion, same sex marriage, and the like, as well as long running adherence to the Republican party's economic policies--at least the policies professed in the past. During a good sized family dinner on Easter Sunday, politics didn't come up much. The youngest adult generation are not Trump supporters, nor are they particularly religious. I resisted the temptation to ask about the ballooning deficit, out of respect for the feelings of a thoughtful, loving and generous family. RNJ
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