MAGA equates to dumb AF: New research on Trump voters: They're not the sharpest tools in the box

[Celerity]

Now there's proof: Trump's voters lack "cognitive sophistication," often believe Bible is literal word of God

https://www.salon.com/2022/03/23/new-research-on-voters-theyre-not-the-sharpest-tools-in-the-box/



The United States is experiencing an existential democracy crisis, with leading Republicans and millions of their voters and supporters either tacitly or explicitly embracing authoritarianism or fascism. Democrats, for the most part, have not responded with the urgency required to save America's democracy from the rising neofascist tide.

American society was founded on white settler colonialism, genocide and slavery. This unresolved birth defect at the foundation of the American democratic experiment meant that the country was racially exclusionary by design, from the founding well into the 20th century. At present, American politics is contoured by asymmetrical political polarization, in which Republicans have moved so far to the right that the party's most "moderate" members are far more extreme than the most "conservative" Democrats. This makes substantive compromise and bipartisanship in the interests of the common good and the American people almost impossible.

Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives, Trump supporters and Trump-loathers, increasingly do not live in the same neighborhoods or communities. In all, they largely do not socialize with each other, or have other forms of meaningful interpersonal relationships in day-to-day life.

To the degree that "race" is a proxy for political values and beliefs, the color line functions as a practical dividing line of partisan identity and voting. Religion is also a societal space that is divided by politics. For example, public opinion research shows that white right-wing evangelical Christians have increasingly embraced authoritarian views, conspiracy theories and other anti-democratic and antisocial values. As the new Faith in America survey by Deseret News & Marist College highlights, the basic understanding of the role of religion in a secular democracy has become so polarized that 70% of Republicans believe that religion should influence a person's political values, where as only 28% of Democrats and 45% of independents share that view.

snip

[uponit7771]

1. K&R, Call winger evangelicals "political Christians" ... they HATE that

[gulliver]

2. It's wrong to look down on dumb

Notice I didn't say, "It's dumb to look down on dumb." That's like the Cretans paradox. A lot of our problems on both sides are caused by failing to break out of the spiral of that paradox, IMO. Tolerance, counting to ten, etc., can break the cycle.

[Celerity]

5. I never will have any tolerance of some RW fundie white nationalist xian who would (as soon as they

could get away with it) hang me from a lamppost because I am a lesbian, or chattel enslave me because I am part black, or utterly subjugate me because I am woman. THAT all IS their endgame.

I brook no truck with those fuckers.

[gulliver]

11. True, there's a time for an end to tolerance too.

People who are wise know when to tolerate (and engage) and when to fight (and engage), and they do both effectively. To look down on people merely for "being dumb," isn't wise. I could even go so far as to say that it's a core impulse of misanthropy and the lack of self-acceptance (self-dislike). I honestly think the extreme category of behavior you're describing is extremely rare and is trending even more rare as time goes by, not less.

[Celerity]

12. It seems to be on the rise with the American RW. They are becoming more and more

extreme as time flows by.

[Tommymac]

15. Yup. I have no truck, understanding, patience, or empathy for Christo-Fascists.

I don't give a fuck that they are dumb, stupid, wrong, gullible, whatever.

They are abhorrent ReTHUGlicans. No excuses.

I grew up among them in North Carolina in the 1970's. They were mean nasty ignorant racist misogynistic people then, and they are 1000 times worse today.

[paleotn]

27. Low cognitive intelligence does not equal dumb in the traditional sense.

Bit of a click bait title. The research isn't really stating what the title suggests. Some of the skills that raise one's cognitive intelligence can be learned, such as critical thinking, etc. Unfortunately, many of those skills aren't taught in public schools anymore, even on the post secondary level. Among a significant segment of our population, particularly the fundigelicals, those skills are frowned upon. Better to fool people if they've not been taught how to think.

[Torchlight]

46. I was taught that though it's not a sin to be ignorant

But that the sin arises in the false pride and defense of that ignorance; a feature I see all too often in GOP leadership as well as their voter base.

(sin in the wholly secular sense)

[JudyM]

3. Good synthesis of info. It pretty much all comes down to education and messaging

both of which we need to start powerfully excelling at.

[DFW]

4. This reminds me of a quote I read in a novel over 40 years ago.

A Japanese master of an intricate board game, dying of stomach cancer, calls each of his pupils in for one last individual lecture. He has a warning for one of his most brilliant students, explaining to him that his brilliance will not always serve him as an asset if he doesn't acknowledge the vast majority of people out there who cannot match his intellect:

"Your scorn for mediocrity blinds you to its vast primitive power. You stand in the glare of your own brilliance, unable to see into the dim corners of the room, to dilate your eyes and see the potential dangers of the mass, the wad of humanity. Even as I tell you this, dear student, you cannot quite believe that lesser men, in whatever numbers, can really defeat you. But we are in the age of the mediocre man. He is dull, colorless, boring — but inevitably victorious. The amoeba outlives the tiger because it divides and continues in its immortal monotony. The masses are the final tyrants. See how, in the arts, Kabuki wanes and withers while popular novels of violence and mindless action swamp the mind of the mass reader. And even in that timid genre, no author dares to produce a genuinely superior man as his hero, for in his rage of shame the mass man will send his yojimbo, the critic, to defend him. The roar of the plodders is inarticulate, but deafening. They have no brain, but they have a thousand arms to grasp and clutch at you, drag you down.”

This was written ten years or less after Nixon tried to put the unqualified G. Harrold Carswell onto the Supreme Court. When Carswell's mediocre record was cited as a negative, a Republican Senator defended the nomination, saying specifically that the mediocre people of America deserved representation on the Court. He said that all nine justices couldn't all be brilliant jurists--and then went on to cite three distinguished Jewish justices, as if he hadn't already made his point! I'm sure this was still fresh in the author's mind.

[Buckeyeblue]

20. Great quote. What's it from?

[DFW]

38. A novel called "Shibumi"

A fascinating yarn, though it must be taken in the context of 1978-1979. A bunch of really deep, fascinating characters, and more memorable quotes than any other novel I have ever read.

[paleotn]

31. That's certainly apropos to today's world.

Trump's 4 years were the Age of the Moron and I don't think we've quite left it yet.

[DFW]

39. Worse yet--many were inspired by it and seek to prolong it

Far from having left it, we are locked in mortal struggle against its attempt to dominate us.

[Blue Owl]

6. They need to be dull for bludgeoning

[keep_left]

7. There was a book written about this phenomenon a few years ago.

"Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives, Trump supporters and Trump-loathers, increasingly do not live in the same neighborhoods or communities. In all, they largely do not socialize with each other, or have other forms of meaningful interpersonal relationships in day-to-day life."

The Big Sort by Bill Bishop: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-big-sort-bill-bishop/1117740377

The book is not exactly new (2009), but much of what is written is still valid, perhaps even more so given the increasing polarization of the country.

[Historic NY]

32. The leg on the kitchen table is smarter.

it pretty hard to get along with people that don't have the same values.

[underpants]

8. Interesting about low participation. 2016 was a fluke win

due mostly to very low voter turnout overall. The media told everyone it was over a month out.

The Trump’s and Republicans did turn out but the low total made them more powerful. Remember this too, Trump didn’t receive a majority of votes in either their primaries or the general election. No one has taken the POTUS office doing that before.

[Botany]

23. Low turn outs helped Trump no doubt but he also needed Russian help to put him over the top.

And Manafort did just that in giving a Russian agent, Konstantin Kilimnik, not just polling data but
data analytics that the Russians used to micro target just where and by how much they had to rat
fuck the elections so as to use the electoral college and install Trump into the White House.


https://www.huffpost.com/entry/paul-manafort-donald-trump-russian-spy-polling-kilimnik_n_60ac457fe4b0a24c4f7fb62e


https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/03/trump-russian-asset-election-intelligence-community-report.html

[paleotn]

33. And 2020 was a fluke Republican turnout as well...

Luckily, Trump outrage gave Biden the edge. A lot of the Trump voters I've run into rarely if ever vote. Nearly all under the age of 60 anyway, so it's not just anecdotal. Another reason to be upbeat about 2022. Donnie the Dumbass isn't on the ballot anywhere, so the rubes won't turn out in huge numbers again. Maybe that's why Republicans are so concerned about their internal polling.

[DENVERPOPS]

35. I am wondering:

The "fix" is in. Gerrymandering, voter rolls purged, etc etc etc.

The Republicans may not even need voters this time around, or definitely by 2024......

[underpants]

37. Good point.

Turnout in 2020 was surely aided by ease of voting. The irony of the right trying to shut down easy voting is right there but they operate in their own echo chamber.

[Doc Sportello]

9. One part that really stands out

Is the point the author makes about the home schooled and evangelical schools that are forming their worldview is "not an insignificant number". There is no way to deal with them in a rational way and their numbers are growing, especially in red states.

[plimsoll]

25. Some of those kids are....well scary.

I've dealt with them as a Scouter for the BSA. They follow the rules, they're polite (if that's the right word for it, more like silent) but you never really feel like they can be trusted. It made me wonder about the origins of the Black Eyed Kids urban myths.

[Doc Sportello]

29. Ha! I had to look that one up

I grew up around some of these type people but they didn't get involved in politics til Falwell, Robertson and the rest of these creeps. The whole creation theory BS was a pillar too of this as they came up with the brilliant idea that "evolution is just a theory" and therefore equal. So these people who I think used to know they were too ignorant to contribute to the body politic started thinking they were just as qualified as anyone else to hold office and now, as the article points out, they run school boards and sit in the halls of Congress.

I said I know of no way to deal with them rationally when it comes to our democracy because they at heart don't believe in it. Black eyed kids is as good a way as any to describe them, because there is no critical thinking skills or openness to learning in them.

[plimsoll]

34. The Creation "theory" and Intelligent design stuff just makes me shake my head usually.

I had one young earth creationist explain to me that "C14 dates older that 4004 BC(I'd use BCE) were contaminated. When I explained that contamination would make the dates more recent not older they said "See," as if being wrong proved their point.

There was an Isaac Asimov story from the I Robot line that had two Robotechicians dealing with a robot that had decided that it's religious duty was to keep the energy beam tightly focused on earth because that was what the creator wanted. No evidence to the contrary would shake that belief. A closed epistemological universe can be made consistent, if baffling to outsiders, provided you censor all contradictory evidence.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

10. Very good article. . . . nt

[DENVERPOPS]

36. Absolutely Brilliant

There is one line, and it is THE line I will remember from this article, mostly because it has been my belief for a long time, and especially these past few years................

"Democrats, for the most part, have not responded with the urgency required to save America's democracy from the rising neofascist tide."

No.Frikkin.Kidding..........And worded very eloquently.............


THE perfect title for a book covering these past years would be: WHILE THE NATION SLEPT

And actually, for the last 40+ years!!!!!!!!!!!

WASF Katie Bar The Door Bend over America

[lame54]

13. I exploit the poorly educated

[GB_RN]

14. This Is The tRump-Kruger Effect In Action.

It's very similar to the Dunning-Kruger Effect, but worse. While Dunning-Kruger basically says that stupid people are too stupid to know they're stupid. Those suffering from tRump-Kruger are too stupid to know they're stupid, but even dumber than that.

[IronLionZion]

17. Gullible, hateful, and paranoid is no way to go through life

[murielm99]

18. Their leadership is not dumb.

Often, they are well-educated in fields where it is a high achievement to excel. That being said, they know how to manipulate their dumb AF followers.

[LW1977]

19. Not that surprising?

[Buckeyeblue]

21. But mostly they are white racist

They claim to be Christians but it's in name only so they can claim religious freedom whenever they are challenged. And they do. How in the world can someone have a religious objection to a vaccine?

[Duncan Grant]

40. Followers love a strong leader/authoritarian.

I suspect many who suffer from unsophisticated cognition simply parrot some authority figure in their lives, like; pastors, bosses and fathers (men, always men). They don’t care about seeking out sources, analyzing evidence, tracking policy through time, etc.

Couple this with unsophisticated religious comprehension and well, it’s hell on earth.

(I know your question was rhetorical. I just needed to get that out of my system.)

[Thunderbeast]

22. B.F.O.

Blinding Flash of the Obvious

[albacore]

24. I don't think anything can be done to help those people....

From the article..."Beginning with Adorno's classic study of the authoritarian personality, empirical works have linked low levels of cognitive sophistication with right-wing orientations...."

There is a great deal of discussion about whether higher-level thinking skills, such as critical thinking, are a function of brain development. I tend to believe they are a function of brain development.
I don't believe you can "teach critical thinking" to someone who lacks development in certain areas of the pre-frontal cortex.
They can't help being who they are. Much as that damages the country and the rest of us.

[lindysalsagal]

45. I agree that even if critical thinking is learned, the choice to

Use it and read and understand complex political issues is avoided. It's mental laziness, and the gqp and church excuse them and reinforce gullibility.

[MyMission]

26. What does AF stand for in dumb AF?

Air force?
American fascists?
Asshole f**kers?

I'm missing something. Those obviously work, but I'm asking...

[Doc Sportello]

30. as fuck n/t

[MyMission]

44. Aha! Thanks.

While I've been known to use the F word often, that's not an expression I use.
Dumb as shit is my go to, but I learned something new today!
DU is a great place for information, whether it's news, politics, or language arts.

Thanks again!

[SMC22307]

28. And Trump and the GOP have figured out how to tap into it with great success.

The Democratic Party better figure out something ASAP. Right-wingers are gunnin' for Social Security and Medicare and their brainwashed followers are just ripe enough to be picked off. Third rail no more.

[keep_left]

41. Yes, it has been pointed out that the far-right will vote against their own interests...

...so that they can take away any goodies from "those people". I remember Tim Wise (author and activist) speaking about this years ago.

[SMC22307]

47. They're not even hiding it anymore. Rubio and Scott of Floriduh...

and Cawthorn of NC are OUT AND PROUD as far as getting rid of those programs.

[Initech]

42. I'm shocked, SHOCKED! Well... not that shocked.

[lindysalsagal]

43. Best explanation for trumpism. We need to end home "schooling"

I know that's not universally agreed on du, but I stand by it. Democracy requires an educated electorate. If home schooled kids could pass school exams, I'd compromise. The vast majority cannot.

[Celerity]

48. The US so needs to adopt the Swedish stance on homeschooling.

Legal Status

Homeschooling has no tradition in Sweden, and is almost non-existent. The new school law explicitly states that it is not allowed except in extraordinary circumstances.

Since education in the Swedish schools must always be comprehensive and objective, and be organized in a way that everybody can participate regardless of his or her religious belief or philosophical persuasion, the legislature has drawn the conclusion that there is no need for any regulation that entitles parents to provide homeschooling for their children.

But the Education Act recognizes that exceptional circumstances might occur which would be a reason to allow a child to fulfill the duty to participate in compulsory education in another way than by attendance at school.

The conditions for such an arrangement are very restrictive; it can only be permitted for one year at a time, and there must be an extraordinary reason. Parents must apply to the municipal board of education, with an opportunity to appeal to the Administrative court if approval is denied.

[lindysalsagal]

49. Great information. Thankyou. +1000.

[Initech]

50. There's a reason why I have been calling them idiots for the last 5 years!