Just listened to today’s All Things Considered where a Reno, Nevada couple who supports Trump was interviewed.
www.npr.org/…
I was not surprised at the issues (real or imagined) they raised:
- couldn’t say anything about other people’s skin color because of “taboos” (and how Trump was able to empower them)
- being able to enjoy each other’s “multicultures—like Mexican food” but feel that people coming from Mexico “stealing” jobs and disability benefits from us
- not feeling safe for the last 8 years [and presumably felt safe from 2001 around September until 1/1/2009]
- sons living at home without jobs and having difficulty paying for college [well at least they recognize that college education will give you a better chance at a good job, but in the meantime, what about all those jobs being “stolen” by Mexicans?]
- Trump coming along was like the only bright thing that came along after the woman’s cancer
Then NPR had a segment on how the Trump brand is suffering due to his campaign:
The Reputation Institute, which gauges how consumers view companies, politicians and even countries, gives Republican nominee Trump what it calls an overall "pulse score" of 31.7. Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton rates a bit better, at 38.7.
Any score less than 40 qualifies as having a "poor reputation," the firm says.
It struck me that what’s at stake during this election is the electorate’s ability to distinguish between 2 vastly different solutions to our problems:
- snake oil: a “miraculous,” too-good-to-be-believed drug that will cure everything, regardless of how bad it tastes, looks and smells. Poor repute from inefficacy has no bearing on those who believe that it works, but people who are discerning see what snake oil is--a scam.
- chemotherapy: very specific in its action, with lots of side effects (detailed in package inserts that come in tiny print with charts and tables), and isn’t always efficacious. People absolutely hate getting chemo. But you can statistically count on what and how it will function when used. And when it works, it is truly miraculous, and we understand how the miracle came to be.
That is the difference between relying on emotion vs. intellect, ability vs. inability to deal with uncertainty, reactive vs. proactive. Education can help, but can’t fundamentally shift somebody’s brain patterns.
election.procon.org/...