[FRIAM] capitalism vs. individualism

[Prof David West]

Marcus,

There was no implication that your ego was bruised, nor anyone else's outside of the very small number (500-1000) that I included in my definition of "They."

I hope that when you talk about the "red hat folks," you are also speaking of a small, very small actually, percentage of those supporting Trump. The vast majority of Trump supporters are NOT "People with a backward way of thinking that need constant oversight.   A danger to themselves and others."

One tiny example: I was in the US the month of October and talking with a large number of ranchers. The conversations were about conservation and climate change. These people know far more about conservation and far more about how cattle contribute to green-house gasses than (almost) anyone in the government bureaucracy charged with writing rules and regulations.

The ranchers (and I am excluding the large corporate ranches, but there are fewer of them than there are of corporate farms) are constantly seeking and applying knowledge to enhance conservation and to ameliorate adverse affects on climate. They justifiably take umbrage at the imposition of uninformed/misinformed regulations that frequently make things worse.

They dismiss ideas, like solving the cow flatulence problem by banning meat and making everyone a vegetarian/vegan, as nonsense, not because they deny the climate effect, but because they are working on a better way to address the problem - and they know it is better because they have the data and a forward way of thinking about that data.

And most of them are wearing red hats (actually the favored re-election hat is black with a flag motif on half the brim).

davew


On Sat, Nov 9, 2019, at 7:56 PM, Marcus Daniels wrote:
> Dave writes:
> 
>    "And, in the case of Trump, motivated by deeply bruised egos."
> 
> It is just not so.   Sure, I was disappointed when George W was 
> elected.   I was disappointed by what I saw was a preference too many 
> people had for a good 'old boy rather than a person with ideas for 
> governance.   When 9/11 happened, I was supportive of the use of 
> violence.  I remember his State of the Union address and being amazed I 
> supported this guy -- the loyal opposition.   But this is what had to 
> be done. That carried over to Obama with the drone strikes too.   Ugly 
> measures are sometimes needed for the greater good, or at least our 
> good. 
> 
> I see the red hat folks in much the same way I see militant Islamists.  
>  People with a backward way of thinking that need constant oversight.  
> A danger to themselves and others.   They are cultural regressions 
> waiting to happen, and both of them did.  It really doesn't have 
> anything to do with Hillary and Donald.
> 
> Marcus
> 
>  
> 
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