The Rising Middle Finger | 39 comments (39 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: Sigh... (4.00 / 2)

I'm aware of all that. See this fine example of effluent Trumpism. But I'm still not so sure where it all comes from. Could it just be privileged boomer narcissism combined with nostalgia? (going head to head against millenial narcissism - feel the Bern).

_{Schengen is toast!}

by epochepoque on Mon Jul 11th, 2016 at 10:47:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Sigh... (4.00 / 2)

Gut feelings here, but ...

The racist sentiment has always been there, but it's been bubbling to the surface lately. Racist political speech has encouraged people to channel latent racism into political thought and action.

I don't know about Europe and can't speak to the situation there. Europe and the US are very different. But in the US, it's straight up racism, and too many in the political class are desperate to pretend otherwise because they have made their careers on racist dogwhistling, and Trump has not only stolen their thunder, but is threatening to get them un-invited from the best cocktail parties.

by Zwackus on Mon Jul 11th, 2016 at 11:50:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Sigh... (4.00 / 2)

I wasn't shouting at you, just for the record. It's the press treatment.

It's a frustration thing, I think. Lots of scared, old white folks seeing a lot of black and brown folks moving into the neighborhoods. Black president. Woman looking to win the presidency. Possible Latino VP. Getting older, and having younger people calling them out for bigoted opinions ("anti-PC" and all that).

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.

by Drew J Jones (pedobear@pennstatefootball.com) on Tue Jul 12th, 2016 at 12:02:40 AM EST
[ Parent ]

It seems to be culture war (none / 0)

The One Weird Trait That Predicts Whether You're a Trump Supporter And it's not gender, age, income, race or religion. - Politico

Indeed, 49 percent of likely Republican primary voters I surveyed score in the top quarter of the authoritarian scale--more than twice as many as Democratic voters.
Political pollsters have missed this key component of Trump's support because they simply don't include questions about authoritarianism in their polls.

_{Schengen is toast!}

by epochepoque on Thu Jul 14th, 2016 at 06:05:36 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: It seems to be culture war (none / 1)

One of the best inoculations against future authoritarians may well be the increased emphasis on preventing child abuse. So much of what was once considered acceptable, or even manditory, child rearing practices can now get one a visit from the police and social services. If we only had less dysfuncional child protective and foster care programs...

"It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Sun Jul 17th, 2016 at 01:18:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: It seems to be culture war (none / 1)

I have a friend who just did several years in social services in the UK.
He had to quit because it was so heartbreaking he saw a nervous breakdown not far ahead.

'The history of public debt is full of irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice.' Thomas Piketty

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Sun Jul 17th, 2016 at 08:35:04 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: It seems to be culture war (4.00 / 2)

Sweden is quite extreme in international measurements of values and I think one part is disdain with which physical punishment of children is viewed. Physcal punishment in schools was abolished in 1958. The right to hit your own child was abolished in 1966 and a outright ban was instituted in 1979. I believe that was an international first, and now we have several generations where hitting kids is seen as abuse, no matter the relation between adult and child.

So when a couple of years ago a visiting Italian MP struck his kid in the middle of Stockholm, he was promptly hauled into court, creating much interest from Swedish and Italian media alike.

by fjallstrom on Sun Jul 17th, 2016 at 09:08:06 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: It seems to be culture war (none / 0)

Is there any polling/other evidence that the portion of those with 'authoritarian attitudes' has decreased as many whould expect?

"It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Mon Jul 18th, 2016 at 12:38:16 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: It seems to be culture war (none / 1)

Good question.

Unfortunately, the study of authoritarianism in Sweden appears to be a small field, and I can't find any long time studies.

by fjallstrom on Tue Jul 19th, 2016 at 07:32:12 AM EST
[ Parent ]