April 18, 2024

A Seismic Shift

To the surprise of many, we’re witnessing a rightward shift among voters of color. David Leonhardt reports on this in the New York Times, and it challenges the widely held argument that Trump’s 2016 victory was because of racial anxieties and not economic distress.

Looking back on this eight years later, the argument appears flawed.

Leonhardt writes, “In much of the world, working-class voters, across racial groups, have become attracted to a populism that leans right while sometimes including left-wing economic ideas, such as trade restrictions. This populism is skeptical of elites, political correctness, high levels of immigration, and other forms of globalization.”

There is a lot of time between now and November, but Biden’s share of likely nonwhite voters has taken a precipitous plunge.

Polls can be flawed; look what happened in 2016. But in 2022, the Democrat’s disappointing performance among nonwhite voters propelled Republicans to take the popular vote in House elections. That happened.

Other facts that are often overlooked are voters of color:

• Are more religious than progressive Democrats
• Favor tighter border security
• Support school choice and vouchers
• Support more police (but also police reform)

Biden’s State of the Union leaned into issues that the voters he needed to convince the most did not value. The good news for Biden is working-class voters lean left on economic issues and tend to support higher minimum wages, a heavy state hand with health insurance, and trade restrictions. He also has a lot more money to throw at his re-election bid.

Street Epistemology

Peter Boghossian is a former university professor who is now an author and content creator. He is the creator of Street Epistemology, a method that explores and challenges our deeply held beliefs in a non-confrontational manner.

Boghossian engages in this on the street where the goal is not to convert or persuade, but rather foster an open-minded dialogue that could (and often does) result in re-considerations of people’s previously deeply held beliefs.

Boghossian takes his methodology into some of the most hostile places on the planet - Kabul or Port-au-Prince, you might imagine? No, even scarier - college campuses.

Consider the rather innocuous premise of “MOST of the Police in the U.S. Are Racist” at Portland State University. This guy must have a death-wish!

I enjoy these videos because Peter uses the Socratic method - challenging assumptions, questioning evidence and reasoning, eliciting alternative viewpoints, and then questioning the question itself - which pushes critical thinking to an almost painful reality.

We haven't seen a college female sharpshooter like Caitlin Clark. I could watch this clip for days on end ...