Comments on: The Democrats Are Doomed, or How A ‘Big Tent’ Can Be Too Big http://blog.okcupid.com/index.php/the-democrats-are-doomed-or-how-a-big-tent-can-be-too-big/ The Official Blog of OkCupid.com Wed, 24 Sep 2014 13:49:54 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.7 By: ben http://blog.okcupid.com/index.php/the-democrats-are-doomed-or-how-a-big-tent-can-be-too-big/comment-page-4/#comment-33350 Wed, 20 Apr 2011 02:30:25 +0000 http://blog.okcupid.com/?p=2713#comment-33350 I too question whether peoples’ political leanings change so much with age: how do you know that the average young person of the ’50s wasn’t more conservative than now? Indeed, this is the almost inevitable trend. While the USA has done an admirable job of resisting social and economic progress, the fact is that most histories are those of gradually increasing acceptance of liberal ideas. Every generation is a little bit more liberal than the last, and the Internet, with its amazing ability to facilitate dialogue and bring international news and science to those who seek it, is accelerating this progress. We are almost certain to become more liberal as our knowledge increases.

ALMOST certain. The greatest counterexample I can think of–perhaps the greatest ever Republican victory–is that due to Al Ghazali. He was a Persian Muslim scholar in the 11th century. In The Incoherence Of The Philosophers he laid down the modern American Republican attitude to science and knowledge–all things happen due not to interactions and causes, but to the direct intention of God, and therefore to claim scientific knowledge or even to question how the universe works is sacrilige. This was perhaps pivotal in bringing to an end the Golden Age of Muslim culture and plunging the adherents of that religion into a dark age out of which they are just barely beginning to crawl. So I won’t claim that science and education and enlightenment and progress will ALWAYS triumph over religious indoctrination and bigotry and suppression, but I’ll claim that that’s USUALLY what happens. Hopefully the Republicans can’t do to Western civilisation what Al Ghazali did to the Middle East, but they’re sure as hell trying their best.

I might be forced to admit that Reagan may have had some of Al Ghazali’s genius for setting conservative ideals in motion, only whereas the latter used the fear of God, the former used fear of being overtaken by foreign devils. His economic policies, and those of the Bushes, were a brilliant move that were almost guaranteed to cause the kind of economic collapse that we’ve been seeing for years now. Why brilliant? Since Americans have such short memories, economic collapse was almost guaranteed to help the Republicans no matter the cause–the more afraid people are, the easier they are to strip of equality and rights, and the less likely they are to want to contribute positively to society. What a beautiful vicious circle this caused! Republicans promise protection if we give them money, they strip us of civil liberties and of education and of health care and tell us to be more afraid, so we desire their protection even more. The Democrats offer us a sustainable society of equals (or did before Obama took power), but when you’re afraid, you don’t want to be surrounded by equals: you want to live under a strong authority. I think this speaks to the same desire that made Al Ghazali’s words so powerful: we must not seek to understand and learn and be curious about nature and science and humanity and beauty, but to obey. Only obedience will bring us safety.

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By: Dems vs Repubs http://blog.okcupid.com/index.php/the-democrats-are-doomed-or-how-a-big-tent-can-be-too-big/comment-page-4/#comment-27175 Fri, 04 Feb 2011 05:28:09 +0000 http://blog.okcupid.com/?p=2713#comment-27175 There are more registered Dems in the US than there are Repubs. It’s always been this way. This chart proves this. The Repubs are more organized and in agreement with each other- this is why they win what they win. Its difficult for Repubs to believe that the minority of the US thinks the way they do- but Ive heard this for years and years, that most people register as Dems. This is not new data, it just clarifies things for us. The smaller army is the more well-organized army, but not the bigger army. I realize that Repubs reading this may find it offensive, and I dont mean to be.. but reality is and always has been- most people dont think like you.

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By: Gerry Dunne http://blog.okcupid.com/index.php/the-democrats-are-doomed-or-how-a-big-tent-can-be-too-big/comment-page-4/#comment-26398 Sat, 15 Jan 2011 07:48:11 +0000 http://blog.okcupid.com/?p=2713#comment-26398 It seems that with younger people they tend to think they can change the world and are more optimistic about certain things but as you get older reality sets in and thats when economic issues hit you. So it looks as if our younger generation consists mostly of Democrats who convert to Republicans as time goes on.

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By: Digger http://blog.okcupid.com/index.php/the-democrats-are-doomed-or-how-a-big-tent-can-be-too-big/comment-page-4/#comment-26393 Sat, 15 Jan 2011 04:22:10 +0000 http://blog.okcupid.com/?p=2713#comment-26393 The Dems have the emasculating feminists under their tent. It’s a big contributor to why marriages in the Democratic camp have more strain & disagreement.

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By: cokids http://blog.okcupid.com/index.php/the-democrats-are-doomed-or-how-a-big-tent-can-be-too-big/comment-page-4/#comment-24056 Tue, 26 Oct 2010 14:13:00 +0000 http://blog.okcupid.com/?p=2713#comment-24056 “It seems to me that if one doesn’t think deeply about politics, then one can drift across quadrants more easily.” Interesting observation. i was wondering how I managed to hold onto my progressive views despite being 63 years old! Could this explanation be IT?

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By: Neil Kandalgaonkar http://blog.okcupid.com/index.php/the-democrats-are-doomed-or-how-a-big-tent-can-be-too-big/comment-page-4/#comment-23616 Sun, 17 Oct 2010 06:51:19 +0000 http://blog.okcupid.com/?p=2713#comment-23616 Are you doing any more political analyses, perhaps for the election?

I’d be interested to know what correlations can be made between education or intelligence and stability of political perspective. It seems to me that if one doesn’t think deeply about politics, then one can drift across quadrants more easily.

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By: Richard Robertson http://blog.okcupid.com/index.php/the-democrats-are-doomed-or-how-a-big-tent-can-be-too-big/comment-page-4/#comment-20522 Sat, 18 Sep 2010 20:38:48 +0000 http://blog.okcupid.com/?p=2713#comment-20522 Some factors this essay leaves out are the relative sizes of each age group versus the total population, and the percentage of each age group that tends to vote. The tendencies of a given age group have no meaning with considering their political effectiveness.

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By: XYZZY http://blog.okcupid.com/index.php/the-democrats-are-doomed-or-how-a-big-tent-can-be-too-big/comment-page-4/#comment-17049 Sat, 28 Aug 2010 09:05:31 +0000 http://blog.okcupid.com/?p=2713#comment-17049 Didn’t the OKCupid research substitute
a current snapshot of various ages
in a way that might be mistaken for the
natural progression through life
of an individual?

That would fall apart based on the
life experiences of older people
that younger people may never have.

And experiences that todays younger
people have that todays elders will
never have.

My grandma like vast numbers of others
survived the 1930’s Great Depression and
World War II shortages.

Her conservatism was forever changed.

I have never experienced those things, yet.

I fully expect to experience even worse
in the next few years.

Her life curve would reflect that when she was 30.
Mine will reflect the coming storm in my 50’s.

My point, however is that it’s just a snap shot of
positions at different ages NOW and could
easily be mistaken for a natural progression
through some individual’s life, which it is not.

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By: Dean http://blog.okcupid.com/index.php/the-democrats-are-doomed-or-how-a-big-tent-can-be-too-big/comment-page-4/#comment-16671 Thu, 26 Aug 2010 01:47:11 +0000 http://blog.okcupid.com/?p=2713#comment-16671 The great humorist Will Rogers said it 75 years ago in 1935: “I belong to no organized political party – I’m a Democrat”. Nothing has changed…

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By: Dana http://blog.okcupid.com/index.php/the-democrats-are-doomed-or-how-a-big-tent-can-be-too-big/comment-page-4/#comment-16545 Wed, 25 Aug 2010 06:59:26 +0000 http://blog.okcupid.com/?p=2713#comment-16545 That first graphic is terrible. ‘Democrat’ and ‘Republican’ are not political philosophies and do not belong anywhere near that graph. Even if the considerable overlap between the two did not exist, it still would not change the fact that they are real-world organizations whose official platforms are influenced by the particulars of the country at any given time; while there are (for example) libertarian and socialist parties, no one in their right mind would suggest that socialism is defined by whatever the socialist party is running as its platform this year.

Moreover, both mainstream parties have a “big tent.” Log Cabin Republicans are not evangelicals, evangelicals are not libertarians, and libertarians are not part of Sarah Palin’s cult of personality. To suggest this is a problem for just one of the mainstream parties is to ignore reality.

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