I don't believe that a majority of voters want authoritarianism.
I do believe that more voters affirmatively want authoritarianism than affirmatively want democracy. This concerns me.
I believe that a large percentage of swing voters can theoretically be convinced that they will choose between authoritarianism and democracy based on which would be economically better for them. (Ignoring, of course, that once you've chosen authoritarianism over democracy, the authoritarian can redirect all of the money into his pocket because he no longer needs your support because we're not a democracy; long-term thinking has never been a widely-held human talent.) This concerns me far more.
William, read the Atlantic article by Peter Wehner and another never trump conservative. They report on post election polls indicating " Independents who accepted the corruption of tRump" but thought "he could get things done"! I'm gobsmacked by that!
At least 50% of the electorate either wants authoritarianism or is willing to tolerate it. Nearly everything Trump is doing was articulated by Trump himself or his closest advisers in the election run up. So no one can say they didn’t know. They either affirmatively supported it, or made a conscious decision to tolerate it and hope it all works out.
I think the polling that shows 64% of voters favor a pathway to legal status for illegal immigrants shows that they don't want authoritarianism. See https://americasvoice.org/polls/203304/.
The election was 9 months ago. A lot has happened since then. so it's not a measure of their preferences today.
In October and November, some of those who voted for Trump didn't quite know what deporting 11 million illegal immigrants meant in practical terms. First of all, they thought only illegal criminals would be deported. That did not happen. They also didn't realize it meant invading private businesses and hauling away hard-working, law-abiding persons who built strong families and communities to detention camps, which did happen. They didn't realize then how much undocumented immigrants contribute to the economy and society until those employed illegals were removed from their local businesses and the fields where their produce was grown. They do now. That's what this polling reflects.
I don't believe that a majority of voters want authoritarianism.
I do believe that more voters affirmatively want authoritarianism than affirmatively want democracy. This concerns me.
I believe that a large percentage of swing voters can theoretically be convinced that they will choose between authoritarianism and democracy based on which would be economically better for them. (Ignoring, of course, that once you've chosen authoritarianism over democracy, the authoritarian can redirect all of the money into his pocket because he no longer needs your support because we're not a democracy; long-term thinking has never been a widely-held human talent.) This concerns me far more.
William, read the Atlantic article by Peter Wehner and another never trump conservative. They report on post election polls indicating " Independents who accepted the corruption of tRump" but thought "he could get things done"! I'm gobsmacked by that!
At least 50% of the electorate either wants authoritarianism or is willing to tolerate it. Nearly everything Trump is doing was articulated by Trump himself or his closest advisers in the election run up. So no one can say they didn’t know. They either affirmatively supported it, or made a conscious decision to tolerate it and hope it all works out.
I think the polling that shows 64% of voters favor a pathway to legal status for illegal immigrants shows that they don't want authoritarianism. See https://americasvoice.org/polls/203304/.
To say the least, there is a disconnect between what people tell pollsters and their revealed preferences (i.e., elections).
The election was 9 months ago. A lot has happened since then. so it's not a measure of their preferences today.
In October and November, some of those who voted for Trump didn't quite know what deporting 11 million illegal immigrants meant in practical terms. First of all, they thought only illegal criminals would be deported. That did not happen. They also didn't realize it meant invading private businesses and hauling away hard-working, law-abiding persons who built strong families and communities to detention camps, which did happen. They didn't realize then how much undocumented immigrants contribute to the economy and society until those employed illegals were removed from their local businesses and the fields where their produce was grown. They do now. That's what this polling reflects.