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Phyllis Stein
04-02-2010, 12:04
These are the results from a survey of American Republicans. Scary reading. :eek:



1. 39% think Obama should be impeached (for what, exactly, is unclear).

2. Only 42% believe Obama was born in the United States. 36% believe he was not born in the U.S., and 22 percent are unsure.

3. 63% believe Obama is a Socialist. 22% are unsure.

4. About a quarter believe that Obama wants the terrorists to win. 33% are unsure of whether or not he wants a terrorist victory.

5. 55% believe that Sarah Palin is more qualified to be president than Barack Obama. 33% are unsure. Only 14% believe that Palin is not more qualified than Obama. The survey did not ask participants if they understand the definition of “qualified.”

6. 2/3rds of Republicans either believe that Obama is a racist who hates white people, or aren’t sure if Obama is a racist who hates white people.

7. A third of Southern Republicans would like their state to secede from the Union. Which, hey, is better than conservative Southerners 150 years ago, so here’s to progress.

8. Only 7 percent of Republicans believe that Congress should make it easier for for workers to form or join labor unions. Nearly 70% do not believe that Congress should make it easier.

9. If illegal immigrants agreed to pay a fine and learn English, 25% of Republicans think it would be ok to let them stay in the United States.

10. More than half of Republicans do not believe that openly gay men and women should be allowed to serve in the military.

11. Only 7 percent of Republicans believe that same-sex couples should have the right to marry. Only 11 percent believe that same-sex couples should receive state or federal benefits — belying the idea that this is just about the “institution of marriage.”

12. Shockingly, even to me, only 8 percent of Republicans believe that gay men and women should be allowed to teach in public schools. 19% are not sure; 73% believe that gay men and women should not be allowed to teach.

13. In better news, 42% of Republicans think that sex ed should be taught in schools.

14. In less-good news, apparently most Republicans didn’t get decent sex ed, because 34% of them think the birth control pill is abortion, and 18% of them aren’t sure.

15. Apparently science is also lacking, because a large majority — 77% — of Republicans believe that public school students should be taught that the book of Genesis in the Bible explains how God created the world.

16. Back to good news: Feminism has infected even Republicans! 76% of them believe that marriage is an equal partnership between men and women, and 86% of them believe that a woman should work outside the home.

17. Back to bad news: A solid 31% of Republicans think that contraceptives should be outlawed. As noted above, 34% think the birth control pill is abortion; 76% think abortion is murder. I think it’s probably safe to say that most of that 34% also believe that abortion is murder. Does follow, then, that somewhere around 1/3 of Republicans think you have committed murder for being on the pill? How much time, do you think, should the more than 80% of American women who use hormonal contraception spend in jail for murder? And is flushing a tampon destroying evidence?

18. The one thing that the largest majority of Republicans agree on? Killing people! 91% support the death penalty, and only 4% oppose it. That’s a more significant margin of approval than the 67% who believe that Jesus Christ is the only way for an individual to go to Heaven.

Conclusion: America needs to invest significantly more in its educational system. And if only there was a way to teach children empathy.


From here (http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2010/02/02/do-you-live-in-the-united-states-here-are-some-stats-that-will-make-you-want-to-move/).
Original data here (http://www.dailykos.com/statepoll/2010/1/31/US/437).

spoon
04-02-2010, 12:22
:eek:

:no:

AM
04-02-2010, 12:26
Scary sad.

The Fox
04-02-2010, 12:27
:laughing::laughing::laughing:

is it wrong that im not suprised at all by those stats

Nomsie
04-02-2010, 12:28
*scratches head*


Sigh.



And DP wonders why I am so skeptical about the "good ole' US of A"...

Pippi Longstocking
04-02-2010, 12:31
Those zany republicans! :laughing:

I can't believe people actually think like that. I shouldn't laugh, because it's awful really, but...:laughing:

BigRedV
04-02-2010, 12:46
:sleeping:

These people are crazy.

50% of Americans still believe Lee Harvey Oswald was a lone assassin :laughing:

spoon
04-02-2010, 12:49
Not at all educational but scary in the same sence is good old Borat. He had me :eek:ing all night:laughing: plus he lightened the load by making me laugh:laughing:

MimiGrace
04-02-2010, 12:50
*facepalm*
and sigh.

Australia really is going to go down that path isn't it? I'm thinking i might move back to europe...:(

delirium
04-02-2010, 13:03
I don't really see it as much different than a lot of our right wing voters here in aust, particularly in regards to immigrants, homosexuals and trade unions. :no:

I just can't fathom how only 8% of those surveyed would be ok with a gay teacher teaching their kids So 92% weren't :eek:

sockstealingpoltergeist
04-02-2010, 13:15
I don't really see it as much different than a lot of our right wing voters here in aust, particularly in regards to immigrants, homosexuals and trade unions. :no:

I just can't fathom how only 8% of those surveyed would be ok with a gay teacher teaching their kids So 92% weren't :eek:
:iagree: Bloomin heck.

We have conservatives too, of whom I live in fear.

Fuchsia!
04-02-2010, 13:28
I don't really see it as much different than a lot of our right wing voters here in aust, particularly in regards to immigrants, homosexuals and trade unions. :no:

I just can't fathom how only 8% of those surveyed would be ok with a gay teacher teaching their kids So 92% weren't :eek:

that made me :eek: aswell.


I could never live there. I hope Australia never becomes them

Phyllis Stein
04-02-2010, 14:34
The survey sample size wasn't very large...I think if you took the survey in CA, WA, and other western states, you'd prob find a different attitude.


The sample size was around 2000, which isn't too bad for the type of survey. From the original data,
The margin for error, according to standards customarily used by statisticians, is no more than plus or minus 2% percentage points. This means that there is a 95 percent probability that the "true" figure would fall within that range if the entire self identified Republican population were sampled.

Also, those surveyed were representative of the proportion of Republicans in each state. Surveying more from the states you mentioned would have been less accurate of the distribution of Republicans. Though of course, the attitude and beliefs of Republicans would vary across states.

As for the how this relates to Australia, my take on it is that conservatives in both America and Australia are in the midst of a backlash against academia, science, secularism, human rights etc. This is a worldview that fundamentally undermines education.

When we devalue education *anywhere*, we enable this idea that any one person's beliefs and opinions are as worthy as any others, regardless of the basis for those beliefs and opinions.

We allow subjective reality to dictate what we believe, and therefore what politics we support, rather than look to science and other more objective understandings to inform our views. We demand that others indulge our ignorance, on the basis that everyone's opinions are equal.

What I read into these survey results is willful ignorance, the kind of thinking that rejects all evidence that contradicts one's pre-conceived beliefs. People believing what they *want* to believe, rather than being open to what *is*. People erecting such a defensive wall around themselves and their beliefs that they become insular, afraid.

And if anything, the results made me realise just how much damage we do when we uncritically reject all "research", when we deride academia and lifelong learning, and when we celebrate, endorse or accept ignorance. Something to think about, anyway.

jaq
04-02-2010, 14:44
I must confess to being a bit dubious about how representative the survey is of all Americans ... surveying Republicans alone is always going to reveal the most extreme views, and those on the extreme (right!) are more likely to be Republicans ikywim.

A larger subset of Americans will have more progressive beliefs, and either support the Democrats, OR be apolitical. (Though Americans, generally, seem to be less apolitical than Australians.)

The danger, though, is that the type of organisations these people (the creationism believers, the no-gays-in-the-military, the anti abortion and pro capital punishment lobbies) belong to tend to be international. Evangelical, shall we say.

I am profoundly thankful we have a national curriculum coming, because one of the things I live in fear of is the fundamentalist agenda taking root in schools. Not just some, religious schools, but all schools. It would be the end of western science as we know it.