The Atlantic: Republicans & Democrats Don't Understand Each Other

[Bucky]

I thought this was informative. We spend a lot of energy demonizing Republicans. It's not really helpful.

But among Democrats, education seems to make the problem much worse. Democrats who have a high-school degree suffer from a greater perception gap than those who don’t. Democrats who went to college harbor greater misunderstandings than those who didn’t. And those with a postgrad degree have a way more skewed view of Republicans than anybody else.

Read the whole article here
[link:https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/06/republicans-and-democrats-dont-understand-each-other/592324/|
Republicans Don’t Understand Democrats—And Democrats Don’t Understand Republicans]

[Bucky]

2. Okay... and what research are you basing this conclusion on?

I mean, around here don't we normally make fun of people who reject science when it conflicts with their identity-based belief systems?

[democratisphere]

3. It has nothing to do with not understanding. It has everything to do

with seriously not liking what we completely understand about drumpf supporting rethuglicons.

[Cosmocat]

5. YEP

nm

[Bucky]

9. That said, it's useful to understand their non-uniformity

I agree that the worst of the worst are horrible. But I would disagree with the idea that they are monolithically horrible. that is, there's a lot of nuance within the millions of people who foolishly vote for Republicans against their own interests.

I'm just saying that going after the bad ideas instead of going after the rank-and-file voters who let themselves be misled is better ethically and better politically. When we reduce the Democratic arguments to ad hominem attacks on conservatives, we cheapen our brand and reinforce the mental shackles that the billionaire elites put on the Republican voters.

Me personally, I don't want to do that

[Freddie]

4. Read the comments in the article

Virtually every one of them says the same thing. Dems DO understand them, and the more we understand them the more we despise them. The article is yet more “both sides do it” bull crap. The Atlantic is publishing way too much of that kind of stuff lately.

[Cosmocat]

6. YEP

nm

[Bucky]

8. It's reporting findings from a research project.

You are literally arguing against facts.

Look, no one is saying that the worst of the Republicans aren't politically and ideologically reprehensible. No one is saying that Trump isn't a hyper corrupt con artist actively undermining our constitution, our economy, and our international interests.

But the objections you're posting here are a textbook demonstration of how tribal politics corrupt the art of conversation that is critical to a democracy. Many Republicans aren't sticking by Trump because they agree with all of his most horrible notions, but because he's on their side of this artificial divide that Fox News has deliberately inculcated.

You assert "Dems DO understand them," when you've just been exposed to research empirically demonstrating a positive correlation between education levels among Democrats and holding inaccurate views of Republican political opinions. Fiercely held convictions do not override scientific findings.

Maybe our efforts are better spent waking up and engaging misinformed Republicans instead of reinforcing their tribal mentality by mimicking it with a liberal tribal mentality.

[Act_of_Reparation]

14. Not really.

Look at the methodology. What's being measured there isn't a lack of understanding where Republican political opinions are concerned, but a lack of understanding where the reported Republican political opinions are concerned.

Are the reported opinions accurate? Are they generalizable to the wider GOP? Are they held by the majority, but disparate from the political opinions most vocally presented on right wing news?


Warrants further investigation, methinks.

[DeminPennswoods]

7. I'm sure if there were fMRI studies done of the way

brains of people who identify as Dems/liberals/progressives and those of people who identify as Rs/conservatives/right wingers work, those studies would show noticeable differences in the areas of the brain that "light up" in response to various scenarios.

[Bucky]

11. You're right. There have been MRI brainwave studies showing that

But I believe in rationality. I don't think the fact that people's hardware is wired a little differently than mine justifies me giving up on appealing to them. It just means that I need to appeal to their votes in a different way. A difference in brain wave patterns certainly doesn't justify holding inaccurate views of the Americans who we stand in political opposition to.

[DeminPennswoods]

18. Just shows how people, given the exact same information,

can come to completely different conclusions. I don't think conservatives can really ever reconcile their understanding of things with anyone outside their comfort zone, though. Liberals have a better chance because they have a better ability to understand others' perspectives, imho.

[librechik]

10. The more educated we get, the more we find things that are unacceptable

skewed view? You mean a non-indoctrinated view with facts and logic instead of dogma?

As a post grad, I apologize. But Republicans are torturing and killing our democracy. I can see it now, and I didn't when I was in public high school.

And Republicans don't understand that a Christian doesn't hate others because of their skin and think abortion is murder. I didn't like it in high school, and now decades later I am furious at THEM and rightly so.

[Bucky]

13. But are you furious enough to try to change things?

I would argue that anger is useful, but not sufficient unto itself.

I'm with you in seeing the long-term damage that the array of right-wing politics is doing to our country and our environment. But that's not what this study was reporting on.

The findings show that the more education someone has, the more likely they are to overestimate how uniform Republicans are in holding the most toxic extreme views within their party.

I'm calling into question the utility of an education that partly blinds one to nuances in any human population

[librechik]

17. If your education makes you blind, you aren't doing it right.

and utility is not really what education is about. IMO.

[Turin_C3PO]

12. Interesting article.

Thanks for posting it.

[rufus dog]

15. So we need to better understand them?

I believe that putting children in cages is wrong.

I believe trickle down economics is a proven failure.

I believe that grabbing women by the pussy is wrong.

I believe that being compromised by Russia is wrong.

I believe facist dictators are bad.

I believe in Global Warming and its devastating future impact on a
Global scale.

I believe in equal opportunity and protection for all.

I could go on and on.

They believe or at a minimum vote for people who believe the exact opposite.

They believe that Obama was born in Kenya.

They believe that Obama was a Muslim AND attended a radical black church.

They believe that Dems orchestrated a govt take over of Healthcare.

They believe that the US already had the best HC in the world.

They believe Iraq was responsible for 911.

I could go on and on. Point being, I understand them very well.

[ismnotwasm]

16. Yup

WHAT questions are asked are as important as actually asking questions sometimes, all the tine in studies like these.

[rufus dog]

19. and another example of people the Atlantic and others say I need to understand

http://www.theamericanmirror.com/mayor-defends-free-speech-after-obama-hillary-locked-up-on-south-dakota-parade-float/


Again, I understand these people, don't ever, FUCKING EVER, suggest that I need to work with them and not demonize them.

Read the fucking comments, these people are demons.