Alienated America

[Benton]

(02-28-2019, 11:25 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: Has anyone else heard about this book? http://www.aei.org/spotlight/alienated-america/

I heard the author, Tim Carney, on last week's episode of Left, Right & Center. He argues that the predictor of Trump's support is alienation, specifically a lack of community connection that was most often achieved through church in this country in year's past. He is looking primarily at the primary, not the general election, and seeing a trend that Trump voters we more likely to be non-church goers and it is that lack of connection that led them to him. This lack of connection that results in a loss of the American Dream.

It's an interesting discussion, and one that I have seen versions of occurring for some time. Usually it is a discussion about how the more disconnected someone is from their community the more likely they are to have highly polarized views. The more engaged you are with civic organizations, religious organizations, etc., the less likely you are to be so hyper-partisan. At least that is the theory that I've seen from some people here and there. This doesn't mean that they have more moderate views, but more that they are more likely to take time to understand and listen to opposing viewpoints and engage in civil discussion.

So what are your thoughts on Carney's argument, and then the extension of it that has been going on for a bit?

I think that's where a lot of people are.

The traditional party cores don't reflect large chunks of the population. Even the traditional marriages (corporate greed + Christian prosperity vs organzied labor + minorities) don't really reflect larger population samples much any more.