21 APR 2014 by ideonexus

 Counterpoint to "US Oligarchy" Finding

As usual. It implies that the views of 'average Americans' are abrogated by the economic elite. As the PDF clearly states on page 14 "It turns out, in fact, that the preferences of average citizens are positively and fairly highly correlated, across issues, with the preferences of the economic elites." It also turns out that the paper defines 'average American' as someone at the 50% income level, and 'economic elite' as someone at the 90% income level or above, which works out to $146,000. Th...
Folksonomies: politics governance
Folksonomies: politics governance
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Does the research actually find that people who organize and attempt to influence government actually do?

19 APR 2013 by ideonexus

 Prejudice is an Enemy of Reason

We shall expose the origin and trace the history of general errors, which have more or less contributed to retard or suspend the advance of reason, and sometimes even, as much as political events, have been the cause of man’s taking a retrograde course towards ignorance. Those operations of the mind that lead to or retain us in error, from the subtle paralogism, by which the most penetrating mind may be deceived, to the mad reveries of enthusiasts, belong equally, with that just mode of re...
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It is a cognitive bias, and it prevents the acquisition of new truths.