NiftyNiblick (05-14-2022), ThatOwlWoman (05-13-2022), Walt (05-13-2022)
One interesting phenomenon that has taken place in the last couple decades is that various communities within the US have been realigning politically based on education level.
There used to be low-education areas that voted Democrat consistently, and high-education areas that voted Republican. West Virginia went for the Democrat in eight out of ten presidential elections between 1960 and 1996. Virginia, meanwhile, went Republican in all but one presidential election between 1952 and 2004. But, lately, there's almost perfect sorting of the states by education into red and blue camps, as formerly Democratic low-education areas pulled right and started falling to the Republicans (including WV), while formerly Republican high-education areas went blue (including VA).
You can see that here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...nal_attainment
If you list those by the percent of residents with a Bachelor's degree, the top 15 ALL went for Clinton and Biden, in the last two presidential elections. Meanwhile, of the 29 lowest-education places, only two went Democrat twice in the last two presidential elections: Nevada and New Mexico (though PR also would have, if they got a vote).
You see similar patterns if you list by advanced degrees. In 2020, Trump lost all of the top twenty places with the highest percentage of residents who have advanced degrees. The patterns also tend to hold within states. For example, in New York State, downstate New York tends to be highly educated, and usually goes overwhelmingly Democratic, while upstate has less education, and often goes Republican. New York County (Manhattan), where 87% of voters went for Biden, is New York's most educated county, with 61.3% of those 25 and over with a Bachelor's degree or better. Tioga County, where 59% went for Trump, is New York's least educated county, where only 26% of those 25 and older have a degree.
This isn't unique to the US, either. Although there isn't perfect sorting my education level internationally, generally speaking highly liberal areas like the countries of Scandinavia and other parts of northern and western Europe tend to have high educational levels (e.g. 44% of Dutch people age 25-34 having a four-year degree or better), while more conservative areas have low education (eg., 19% for Chile, or 11% for Indonesia).
I think this helps to explain the hostility so many on the right feel towards higher education.... why, for example, there's such a push for sending fewer people to college and guiding more to trade school. An educated community amounts to home-field advantage for liberal politicians.
Last edited by Mina; 05-13-2022 at 01:40 PM.
NiftyNiblick (05-14-2022), ThatOwlWoman (05-13-2022), Walt (05-13-2022)
^Pooblicans toopid, Dems smart ones now.
Such gaslighting crapola.
Last edited by Matt Dillon; 05-13-2022 at 08:41 AM.
That's because "higher" education has changed. Today, many go to college only to get thoroughly stupid studying under radical Leftist, crazy, whack-a-doodle professors. They attain a level of stupidity not found in nature by the time they graduate. So, nothing really has changed. Idiots are still voting Democrat.
Very accurate. There is a racial and gender disparity too, but uneducated white males vote Republican, and extremely educated white males vote Democratic. White men who expected to get through life based solely on their whiteness and maleness, are overwhelmingly trump supporters.
The other slight disagreement is your statement about trade schools. The Northern European countries have high levels of higher education, AND high levels of trade education. America has amazingly little formal trade education compared to many foreign countries, and the Republicans are hard core against adding more. Trade education allows young people without social contacts to learn a trade, which the Republicans hate. They want jobs to be based on whiteness and maleness.
Daniel Patrick Moynihan said it best, "You are entitled to your opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts."
Paul Begala, "Politics is show business for ugly people."
Stephen Colbert, "Reality has a well known liberal bias."
trump is a child rapist. We all know it.
Cypress (05-13-2022)
Elon Musk went to another Ivy League school, and would probably know how to spell Harvard. He has made very clear he never said that.
The real Elon MuskI never said this!
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/...-in-seconds%2F
Daniel Patrick Moynihan said it best, "You are entitled to your opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts."
Paul Begala, "Politics is show business for ugly people."
Stephen Colbert, "Reality has a well known liberal bias."
trump is a child rapist. We all know it.
Mina (05-13-2022)
Is that why Trump “loves the uneducated?”
Less education also makes one more vulnerable to demagoguery, and with the rise of talk radio plus cable infotainment, the right seems to excell at employing such for political gain
While it is possible to be self educated, it is difficult. As much as you can claim to be "really, really intelligent", without some sort of education, you are pretty much useless in any tech business like Musk's. He is hiring well educated people, not high school dropouts who keep going on and on about how intelligent they supposedly are.
Daniel Patrick Moynihan said it best, "You are entitled to your opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts."
Paul Begala, "Politics is show business for ugly people."
Stephen Colbert, "Reality has a well known liberal bias."
trump is a child rapist. We all know it.
Whythink (05-15-2022)
If you take a step back isn't the politics of all this so crazy? For how long have we heard the Republicans love the rich and the Democrats are for the little guy/underdog. Now all of a sudden a Republican comes along and lists off all the people he loves, and includes less educated people, and now Democrats have totally turned against them. Kind of wild, no?
leaningright (05-14-2022)
Democrats haven’t “turned away” from less educated, as I noted, they just can’t compete, nor want to, with the demagoguery of the right, there is a reason the vast majority of talk radio since it’s inception has leaned right, easy solutions to difficult issues, and we all know Trump’s schtick is demagoguery.
And it is actually the party labels that are the misnomer here, the more educated are drawn toward idealism, and the Democrats since FDR have been the party of idealism
Mina (05-13-2022)
I agree 100% with that bolded bit. We desperately need to remove the stigma of trade schools and fund them fully, and encourage people who have no interest in academics to consider a trade instead. Just look at the lack of quality daycare providers to see that this is a needed investment in our future.
"Conservatism is the blind and fear-filled worship of dead radicals." -- Mark Twain
Walt (05-13-2022)
Democrats walked away from the working class. That was a poor decision.
And Mina, VA tipped blue due to the massive increases in the federal govt. If youre sucking on the govt teat you vote your pocketbook. But note that VA replaced its dem statewide office holders and general assembly blue to red. Pendulums can swing both ways.
"Those who vote decide nothing. Those who count the vote decide everything." Joseph Stalin
The USA has lost WWIV to China with no other weapons but China Virus and some cash to buy democrats.
Daniel Patrick Moynihan said it best, "You are entitled to your opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts."
Paul Begala, "Politics is show business for ugly people."
Stephen Colbert, "Reality has a well known liberal bias."
trump is a child rapist. We all know it.
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