ADDENDUM TO YESTERDAY'S BLOG

As an addendum to yesterday’s blog I would add the following comments:

Mr Vintray’s article mentions the research of James Lindgren in the United States in which he claims that “the more racist, embittered, solitary or ungenerous one is, the more one is in favor of the redistribution of wealth and anti-capitalism” and “socialists and anti-capitalists declare much less than the opponents of social redistribution policies to have an altruistic behavior or give regularly to the homeless. In summary, stingy, racist and intolerant socialists and anti-capitalists, according to this academic study!”

I wonder if he has polled the Trump supporters and the various white supremacist organizations currently free to disseminate their hate all over the United States. I noted, during and since the 2020 election, the attitude of many of the 70 million supporters who insult and vilify “democrats” as evil incarnate as well as claiming that all democrats have a socialist agenda. They use the word ‘socialist’ as a slur and automatically assume that whoever is listening thinks the same as they do.

If that is an exhibition of tolerance on the political right, it is a strange sort of tolerance. Lauren Boebert has openly insulted and accused a fellow congress person of being  a terrorist because of the clothes she wears. Marjorie Taylor Greene likewise is not above name calling and insult. Neither of these elected official shows any sort of tolerance. They exhibit open racist ideology, and are far from supporting a redistribution of wealth, more a redistribution of guns.

Indeed, the majority of those 70 million people feel and react in much the same way, which is why they probably supported Boebert, Greene, Trump, Gaetz, Cruz, et al, who are far from tolerant and probably would prefer there were no central government at all, except it would deprive them of a platform.

Given the visual and auditory evidence freely available on YouTube of these people’s behaviour and rhetoric I wonder just on what evidence Messrs Lindgren, Brooks, and Vintray based their conclusions.

Intolerance and generosity clearly have nothing whatever to do with political persuasion. I would suggest they think again about their “conclusions”.