this is not dumb, this is misinformed. maybe it's deliberately misinformed, or negligently misinformed, but without good accessible education, information, and news systems, it's not a democracy, because voters aren't deciding, they're being manipulated by those in control of those systems.
I listened to an interview with a focus group where a woman from Pennsylvania said she was voting for Trump because Biden got rid of Roe v. Wade. Most voters are incredibly dumb.
I will keep drawing this distinction, because "the voters are dumb" is a fundamentally anti-democratic belief that points to meritocratic systems and those have never, ever gone well.
I, very pro-democracy, am open to imagining better systems, but a) that's not it & b) let's try democracy first
I am pro democracy (in the John Dewey democracy-as-way-of-living sense, not just elections) and one of the things that democratic advocates need to reckon with is the number of people who - often for good reasons - do not want to exert time or energy to understand or get involved with politics.
See, I want to debug this: how did this woman get into that state?
Unfortunately, even if I knew someone with those beliefs, I wouldn't know how to interrogate those beliefs to figure out where they came from without having the person shut down and/or leave.
Yeah I’d really like people to have more empathy. If these people are who you want to get to vote you cannot be dismissive of their experiences or fears. She could have easily been convinced if someone just explained things to her. Calling her dumb is cruel and alienates more people from blue MAGA
I (in PA) have gotten two political flyers in the mail in the past week pointing out that Trump was responsible for overturning Roe, and I thought it was weird they'd feel the need to advertise that, but maybe it was in reaction to this very focus group!
So many people are saying this person is obviously dumb but to me it feels like she’s trolling, trying to get a reaction that’ll reach outside the focus group.
This is especially important to note when misleading generative AI propaganda can be mass produced for not a ton of cash and there’s just not really any law against it AFAIK
Unlikely to be actual stupidity. Much more likely to be priors bias, which is worse both morally and practically.
People will believe what is most comfortable for them to believe and you can’t stop them.
Someone of good faith could argue that Biden is responsible for Dobbs, not because Biden established the majority on SCOTUS (he didn’t) or that he controls SCOTUS (he doesn't)
They may simply think that Biden was President when Roe v Wade was overturned and the Buck Stops Here. Unfair, I know.
I spoke to someone recently who won’t vote Labour because of Corbyn (who they think is still Labour leader). Shows how well the Tory/Reform narrative is working, doesn’t it?
Democrats keep over performing in elections, particularly in red states. 40% registered Republicans refuse to vote for Trump. Florida is in play and is flipping blue. Sure there are dumb people. There are also smart people too. lol @chrislhayes.bsky.social@jaketapper.bsky.social
Keep them dumb and stuck in Plato's cave forever. That's been the Consevative strategy in the US for years. It's why you can't reason them into funding education. It stand in direct opposition to their means of control.
