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Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
Political polarization among Americans has grown rapidly in the last 40 years—more than in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia or Germany—a phenomenon possibly due to increased racial division, the rise of partisan cable news and changes in the composition of the Democratic and Republican parties.
That's according to new research co-authored by Jesse Shapiro, a professor of political economy at Brown University. The study, conducted alongside Stanford University economists Levi Boxell and Matthew Gentzkow, was released on Monday, Jan. 20, as a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper.
In the study, Shapiro and colleagues present the first ever multi-nation evidence on long-term trends in "affective polarization"—a phenomenon in which citizens feel more negatively toward other political parties than toward their own. They found that in the U.S., affective polarization has increased more dramatically since the late 1970s than in the eight other countries they examined—the U.K., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Switzerland, Norway and Sweden.
"A lot of analysis on polarization is focused on the U.S., so we thought it could be interesting to put the U.S. in context and see whether it is part of a global trend or whether it looks more exceptional," Shapiro said. "We found that the trend in the U.S. is indeed exceptional."
Using data from four decades of public opinion surveys conducted in the nine countries, the researchers used a so-called "feeling thermometer" to rate attitudes on a scale from 0 to 100, where 0 reflected no negative feelings toward other parties. They found that in 1978, the average American rated the members of their own political party 27 points higher than members of the other major party. By 2016, Americans were rating their own party 45.9 points higher than the other party, on average. In other words, negative feelings toward members of the other party compared to one's own party increased by an average of 4.8 points per decade.
The researchers found that polarization had also risen in Canada, New Zealand and Switzerland in the last 40 years, but to a lesser extent. In the U.K., Australia, Germany, Norway and Sweden, polarization decreased.
More information: Levi Boxell et al, Cross-Country Trends in Affective Polarization, (2020). DOI: 10.3386/w26669
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday January 28 2020, @04:20PM (9 children)
Unreserved apologies for that.
However, by your own admission, you have - legally speaking - no skin in the American's (correction: USians) political game.
Are you sure you can act as a "moral compass" for them? If they don't actually want to live in a democracy, if they traded democracy in exchange for their "temporary embarrassed billionaire"... who am I or you to say they must do otherwise.
(Note that I said I see their infight as irrational - a matter of personal opinion - not that they are not entitled to do it. Whatever float their boats.
The mainland Chinese seem to be happier with their govt, to the point of blaming Hong Kong for making such a fuss.
The Vietnamese seem to be happy enough with their still communist regime - many visit Australia and choose to go back.
Heck, the majority of Cubans made their choice too - as a fun fact, their life expectancy [worldlifeexpectancy.com] make them live under their regime one year longer than USians [worldlifeexpectancy.com])
You know the "Fiat justitia, pereat mundus"? In an approximate (tongue in cheeck) translation: "Rulz are rulz and if all break them, the entire civilization collapses anyway. Zo, let the mundus to pereat sooner if so it wishes, we are gonna uphold the rulz, 'cause that's what make us different from the barbarians". Do you really really want to fault him for that?
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Tuesday January 28 2020, @06:04PM (8 children)
People asked how it was possible for the nation of Germany to descend into Naziism. But Germans voted for Hitler, same as all hey voted for Trump. Both were opportunistic racists, and racism is a lever like none other. -
At least this time it will most likely not engulf the whole world. That's one benefit of the US's policy of increased self-isolation. But it's gonna be messy for everyone no matter where you live on the planet.
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday January 31 2020, @11:51PM (7 children)
I just hope to fuck I can get out of this place before it all comes crashing down. Being poor and female and gay (and closeted, in meatspace...) does not make this an easy proposition, especially not given all the shit I'm dealing with.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Saturday February 01 2020, @12:29AM (6 children)
Now that Trump will be acquitted and probably win election you're a prime candidate for refugee status in Canada. Persecution for being lgbt is often invoked by refugees.
With the way the refugee process is already backed up something like 5 years with appeals due to the huge influx of people coming illegally into Canada by just walking across the border at Roxton Pond, it's well known how easy peasey it is.
Walk across the border.
Nice cops arrest you, bring you and your baggage to a trailer park office
Say you're a refugee.
Do the paperwork.
Identity check to make sure there's no international arrest warrants
Get paperwork showing you're eligible for free health care, public assistance
Brought by bus to temp shelter if you don't have anyone to go to.
In by 9, out by 5
https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/mobile/refugee-claimants-forced-to-turn-to-welfare-as-work-permits-stalled-in-federal-bureaucracy-1.4769385 [ctvnews.ca]
Bring documentation of education and work experience and you'll probably be working within a month - we have a severe worker shortage,
Or just apply for a work visa. Like I said, huge worker shortage, government is actively holding job fairs in other countries.
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Saturday February 01 2020, @12:37AM (5 children)
Think I should get PTCB certified first? Would having the shiny expensive piece of paper that tells the HR grindbots I know what I know make a work visa easier?
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Saturday February 01 2020, @12:58AM (4 children)
You can do it on the job here - or maybe not even bother. I know my sister worked for years as a lab tech - but her husband owned the pharmacy. Either way, education is WAY cheaper here. I think someone with refugee status pays the same as a local - sometihing like 5-10% of what an education costs in the USA for a degree.
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Saturday February 01 2020, @02:25AM (3 children)
Oh, it's a corporate cert, not an accredited education program. It's like CompTIA A+ for people who put pills in bottles instead of RAM in DIMM slots.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Saturday February 01 2020, @02:35AM (2 children)
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Saturday February 01 2020, @03:14AM (1 child)
Helluva world we live in, huh? :/ I'll have a year of outpatient experience this June; with that and the PTCB cert I'll be attractive enough to come in on a work visa, no?
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Saturday February 01 2020, @04:06AM
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.