Ramblebrain

Saturday, October 6, 2012

What We Think and Why: Two Guests Explain Their Political Beliefs

For this post, I'm just going to come to the podium, introduce the topic being discussed, and then shut up and listen while other people get up and talk. I've always been amazed by how much people misunderstand each other. We tend to think those on the opposite end of the political spectrum are more extreme, more sinister, and less intelligent than they really are. We think they do what they do because they're mean and stupid, when in fact, they're often doing it because they genuinely think it's the right thing to do. And they think we're mean and stupid.

Now that social media has come along, I think we're missing a great opportunity to explain to other people what we really think, and just as importantly, why we think it. Of course, what people usually do when politics comes up on social media sites is to take sides and have a big, playground feud with name-calling, scapegoating, and hurt feelings all around. But surely it doesn't have to be this way. At least, maybe we can use it to increase understanding, too. So, I put together an online survey asking people to briefly explain--in the most polite, thoughtful way possible--what their political beliefs are, and why they believe them. I also asked them if areas where the other side has a point, how they are most commonly misunderstood, and how they think public debate could be made more civil and productive. So far, the volume of responses has been underwhelming (2 people), but the quality has been excellent. One is a moderate, and the other is a moderate liberal. If you read these, and feel like explaining why you believe what you do, I'm linking to the survey at the bottom. If I get some more responses, I'll post them here. It would be nice to get some other views, especially conservative and libertarian ones. And now, I'll yield the floor to my guests.

First Guest (Moderate)

1. Where do you live?

Arkansas

2. How would you describe your political views?

Moderate

3. How would you describe your religious beliefs?

Christian (Protestant)

I'm a Christian who thinks many modern interpretations of Christianity are off in a significant way.

4. Please briefly describe your basic views about politics. Try to politely explain what you believe, and why. Please be as clear and specific as possible. If you say you believe something, please explain why you believe it. Be friendly! This is not the place to say why the other side is wrong. The point is not to convince others you're right, but to help them understand how you see things.

I think both sides of any political argument can usually learn something from the other, and the reason our country's so divisive is there's not enough respect for our collective differences. The truth is often found somewhere in between. I think each extreme stance is a direct response to the opposite extreme and that both extremes have way more in common than they'd care to admit. I think there's a difference between standing up for your beliefs (i.e. living your life according to your moral code) and denying someone else the right to theirs because of what you believe. Or at least, there should be a difference. I think science and theology aren't mutually exclusive. I think Christians' (or any faith's) refusal to acknowledge scientific advancements or to accept current scientific understanding is killing religious faith. I also believe that scientific arrogance is triggering that response. The only things science proves are the scientific reasons or causes of things in our physical world. It's not within the purview of science to disprove matters of faith and I believe scientists who claim otherwise are overstepping their boundaries. I also believe extreme conservative Christians who refuse to consider different interpretations of the Bible will eventually render their own faith obsolete. There's no reason our understanding or perception of God can't grow with our understanding of science and perception of the world in which we live. I believe God doesn't allow bad things to happen to good people. I believe we live in a physical world where natural things happen, and I believe each of us has been given the gift of free will. I believe that free will often results in people making poor decisions, which then have a negative (and sometimes devastating) effect on others. It's up to each of us to choose how to respond and grow from those experiences. I believe that what I believe doesn't really matter to anyone besides myself, my family and friends, and anyone upon whom I have the opportunity to have an impact. I believe my beliefs have more impact if I reserve them for when they really matter instead of waving them around like a showy flag. I believe I should leave a positive impact on this world and show respect for others. I believe this is a brilliant idea.

5. How do you feel that others most commonly misjudge your views? In other words, what are the biggest misconceptions or misunderstandings others have about people with your political views?

My conservative friends think I'm delusional and that I've lost touch with my beliefs when I voice a liberal stance on something they perceive as "un-Christian." My liberal friends think I'm ignorant or obviously closed-minded when I voice a conservative stance something.

6. Please rate how important you consider each of the issues below. If there are other issues you find important, please list them in the "Other" section.

	Very Important (1)	Important (2)	Somewhat Important (3)	Not Very Important (4)
Abortion	X
Crime		X
Economy and Jobs	X
Education	X
Environment	X
Ethnic Minority Issues		X
Foreign Relations	X
Gay Issues and Gay Marriage	X
Gender Issues				X
Global Issues	X
Government Spending		X
Gun Policy			X
Terrorism		X
Other (please specify):

7. Please list the top one to three political issues that are most important to you, and explain what you believe about them, and your reasons for those beliefs. Please remember that the point is not to prove you're right, but to explain your views to people who don't share them.

Abortion - I personally don't believe my life is my own. I believe I have a responsibility to make loving choices in everything I do and to accept responsibility for my actions. I don't always succeed but I must always strive. I believe there are natural consequences to all that we do, and one of the potential natural consequences of sex is pregnancy. As a woman, I believe we make our choice when we decide to have sex. If pregnancy results, it's our responsibility to make a loving choice and if we're not prepared to keep the baby, maybe the father is. If not, there are many adoption options. I believe abortion should be reserved for victims of rape and incest, though I admit proving who's a victim and who's not isn't always easy. Having said all this, I also believe both sides of this debate miss HUGE opportunities to work together to prevent the need for the argument in the first place. Sex Education and Personal Responsibility classes could go a long way toward that goal. Gay Issues and Gay Marriage - I believe conservative Christians are way off base here, and I believe how this debate turns out could have a huge impact on human rights in general. I don't believe the government has the right to restrict gay marriage rights any more than I believe they have the right to restrict mine. I don't think it matters whether you believe gay men and women were born gay or whether you believe they choose to be gay. The point is they should have the choice to be happy regardless of WHY that makes them happy. I have a dear friend who believes to the core that gay people shouldn't be allowed to marry because it's not Biblical, but in the next breath she'll state she wants a government whose role in her life is restricted in order to protect her rights as a human being. This woman is brilliant in so many ways yet she has no idea how contradictory these two stances are. Education - I believe education is the key to pretty much everything.

8. Are there areas where you think people of different political views might have a good point? If so, please explain.

Being the moderate that I am, I almost always see both sides of the argument. I may come down on one side of the fence over the other, but I can usually see the other point and find some truth in it.

9. Do you think there is too much partisanship or incivility in public debate? If so, do you have any suggestions for ways we could make public debate more constructive? Are there any other points you would like to make about this issue?

There's definitely too much partisanship and incivility in public debate. We could start by respecting our neighbors more. Insist on being right less often. Admit when we're wrong. Not that I'm always good at it because I do have a fair amount of pride, but I try to see reason in the end because I despise arrogance.

___________________________________________________

Second Guest (Moderately Liberal)

1. Where do you live?

Arkansas

2. How would you describe your political views?

Moderately Liberal

3. How would you describe your religious beliefs?

Christian agnostic

I believe that politics are corrupted by money and always have been, but that the Supreme Court's granting of personhood status to corporations has led to a supernova of corruption which threatens our entire nation. The current political atmosphere is poisonous to any sort of cooperation and accomplishment, and ensures that lawmakers spend more and more time raising money and less and less time representing their constituents. It's crucial that leaders on both sides begin to cooperate even if it means that they don't get re-elected. If they were the public servants they claim to be, they would care less about re-election than about doing what is right. Vick Snyder is a wonderful example of what a true public servant should be. I don't believe that continuing extreme tax breaks for the rich and for corporations has been or will be effective at increasing jobs. It's been tried and has only made things worse. Our political campaigns last far too long and spend an obscene amount of money. I firmly believe in separation of church and state, both for the protection of the state and for the protection of religious freedom. Anytime a given group's religious beliefs and practices are accepted as part of the state, other religious beliefs and practices are automatically discriminated against. This is completely un-American in my opinion. I think that the U.S. offensive war in Iraq was a terrible mistake which has cost our country dearly and which helped to sink our economy to a sorry state. Deregulation of the banking industry was also a terrible mistake, for which both parties are to blame. Once again the corrupting influence of big money. I believe that true leaders must stand up and do everything in their power to turn environmental destruction around before it's too late. True patriots do not object to paying reasonable taxes to support national infrastructure, defense, our elderly, etc. Every effort should be made to stop fraud and waste, but we must take care of the nation and its people, and the very wealthy should pay their fair share.

5. How do you feel that others most commonly misjudge your views? In other words, what are the biggest misconceptions or misunderstandings others have about people with your political views?

In this part of the country, people with my political views are probably considered radical and deluded. Many people think that any degree of liberalism is somehow anti-Christian, when in fact, many Christians believe that Christ would be classified as a liberal if he were on Earth today. Anything other than conservatism is viewed as "bleeding-heart", and wanting to give away hard-earned money to lazy people. I think most conservatives believe that there are huge numbers of free-loaders getting "welfare" and that the U.S. gives away a large part of its wealth in foreign aid because of liberals. In fact, what most people think of as "welfare" doesn't exist anymore except in cases where children are concerned, and foreign aid is a small part of our budget. Conservatives seem to think of liberals as immoral hippies who want a Marxist government. I think one of the biggest misconceptions people have about people who support Pres. Obama as I do, is that we have been taken in by a Black Muslim who wants to destroy America.

6. Please rate how important you consider each of the issues below. If there are other issues you find important, please list them in the "Other" section.

	Very Important (1)	Important (2)	Somewhat Important (3)
Abortion			X
Crime		X
Economy and Jobs	X
Education	X
Environment	X
Ethnic Minority Issues		X
Foreign Relations		X
Gay Issues and Gay Marriage			X
Gender Issues		X
Global Issues		X
Government Spending		X
Gun Policy		X
Terrorism		X
Other (please specify): Unlimited political contributions, especially by corporations.

1. Environment- I put this first because if we destroy the environment, none of the other issues will matter in the long run. 2. Economy and jobs-When people are unemployed and/or financially insecure, they are easy prey for demagogues who can stir them into irrational and dangerous actions. If the economy is not healthy, every other aspect of society suffers. 3. Education--Education is essential to the future of the nation and it's people. We have to have people who are educated to play a productive part in the modern world and we can't allow ourselves to fall even farther behind other developed nations. Educated people are able to make better choices for their own lives and thus for the nation as a whole. They have more stable families, and live longer, healthier lives.

8. Are there areas where you think people of different political views might have a good point? If so, please explain.

I think it is true that there are people who cheat the system, and that we need better ways of detecting fraud of all sorts.Of course, there is government waste which needs to be addressed by honing in on specifics. I think the conservative idea that single-parent families are less likely to succeed is true because common sense and valid research both support this. I think that the conservative idea that people should show individual responsibility by buying health insurance if possible is a good one, though conservative leaders now disown the idea they came up with.

Yes, there is far too much of both. We could make public debate (pre-planned debates) more constructive if we agreed to have all questions independently fact-checked before the debate and if those facts were distributed to both the audience and the debaters beforehand. Otherwise, things can only improve if reasonable people of all beliefs push vocally for a more civil and fact-based discourse. Extremists of all stripes do vast harm to civil discourse. Educating people in recognizing propaganda techniques along with critical thinking skills would help to defeat those who make a living keeping the public stirred up with lies and hate-speech. Better science education would help people to understand issues concerning the environment, health care, and research.

____________________________________________________

Thanks to my guests for their thoughtful responses!

Click here to take survey

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Big Brains and Southern Accents

I've lived in the south most of my life, and I've met people with pronounced southern accents who also happen to be Rhodes Scholars, Ivy League grads, doctors, scientists, and Pulitzer Prize-winning writers. Yet when you enter the phrase "southern accent" in a web search, you'll immediately see words like "stupid" and "uneducated". I discovered this yesterday, because I was searching for "smart people with southern accents". Why? Because I needed to find some examples to pass around. I had just seen a particularly painful example of a dumb southerner, and it was hurting my soul.

It was on the Daily Show. They were poking fun at the hard right's mistrust of science, and they choose to interview a socialite and occasional Republican spokesperson from Little Rock, Arkansas named Noelle Nikpour. Ms. Nikpour claimed, in her thick southern drawl, that scientists were "scamming the American people right and left", and that ordinary Americans are just as qualified to judge scientific theories as scientists themselves. The interviewer pretended to agree with her, and the stupidity of her statements just escalated from there. She never even realized he was messing with her. I thought she was probably an actress who was in on the joke, but no, she's a real person who occasionally appears on Fox News. The clip was surely edited to make her look as dumb as possible, but if she's not an absolute bubbleheaded idiot, she did an amazing impression of one. It would have been painful to watch if it wasn't so hilarious.

OK, so it was still a little painful. I'm from Arkansas too, and I don't want people thinking she represents everybody from my state. And lord have mercy, I hope I'm not that dumb. But when I leave the south, people quite often assume I am, because I talk like she does. I've had people talk to me for a while, get a puzzled expression on their face, and then tell me, "You're a lot smarter than you sound!"

They actually intend it as a compliment, which is truly bewildering. I've also had people assume I'm very religious or conservative, or that I'm a racist. I've even met a couple of people who seemed to be afraid of me because I'm from the south (and I'm not a scary person). But here's the ironic thing: I may have a southern accent, but when people hear it and assume I'm stupid, they're the ones being foolish, not me. They're the victims of a fallacy: the idea that you can take a stereotype about a group of people, and conclude that an individual from that group will match the stereotype. It doesn't work that way. For one thing, many stereotypes are unfounded. But even if there's some basis for the stereotype, it still doesn't work that way, because a group average, and an individual from that group, are two very different things.

I'm not trying to deny some of the uncomfortable truths about the south. I grew up here, but I've lived other places, so I know what's good and bad about it. The fact is, there's some truth to a few of the stereotypes about the south. On average, it does lag behind the rest of the country in things like education and literacy. That's not because southerners are born dumber; it's because a complex mix of history and economics has left education tragically neglected in some parts of the south (though not in places like Austin, Athens, and Chapel Hill); and because ignorance, like education, is self-reinforcing. Of course, everybody knows that racism has played a big role in southern history, and it's true that serious racism still exists here. However, the south has no monopoly on that particular poison. Here's an example: It's hard to gauge racism in surveys, but if you look at how often people Google racist terms and jokes in different states, it's not just southern states. Yes, 6 of the top 10 are in the south (although number 1, West Virginia, is a border state that stretches far north). But the other four are indisputably northern. They are: 3. Pennsylvania, 6. Michigan, 7. Ohio, and 10. New Jersey. This actually matches my experience. I've heard plenty of racist talk in the south, but some of the most viciously racist things I've ever heard were said in a northern accent.

While it offends me when people assume I'm dumb or racist, it merely irritates me when they assume I'm conservative, simply because...I'm not. It's true that I'm appalled by the excesses of the extreme right, but to say that all conservatives are dumb, racist, or poorly-educated would be making the very mistake I'm railing against here. I bring conservatism up only because it is one of the assumptions people make about southerners. Southernness, conservatism (particularly social conservatism), lack of education, and racism are all somewhat correlated, but that doesn't mean they're inseparable, much less identical. If you're a smart, educated, non-racist conservative, you've probably had people make the same assumptions about you, based on your politics, that they make about me, based on my accent.

In any case, if you randomly picked out a southerner, the person you picked would be somewhat more likely to be poorly-educated and conservative than someone randomly picked from the rest of the country. Furthermore, if you randomly picked a southerner with a strong accent, you would be somewhat more likely to get someone who is religiously conservative or poorly educated. That's because: 1. People who come from rural areas tend to have stronger accents, and people who stay in those areas are more likely to be conservative. 2. Highly-educated southerners usually tone down their accents. That's partly because of the prejudices I'm talking about here--they don't want their non-southern peers to assume they're dumb racists; an assumption that's as common as it is ridiculous.

But the fact remains that if you had ten-thousand randomly selected people with a strong southern accents, and ten thousand people from outside the south with boring newscaster accents (yes, that's an accent too) then it's probably true that more people in the southern accent group will be poorly-educated and conservative. And yes, a few more might be more racists too, though that probably has as much to do with education as region (uneducated non-southerners are more likely to be racist than educated ones, after all). So what does this prove about the person you just met, with that thick southern accent? Not a damn thing. The fact that lack of education, conservatism, and--possibly--racism are a little more prevalent among people with strong southern accents doesn't mean a particular person with a southern accent has any of those traits, or that a person without a southern accent lacks them.

Still, if you stop in a diner in some rural part of Mississippi where people have thick accents, you would be right to think you shouldn't make loud jokes about the religious right, or declare to a bunch of rough-looking white guys that Martin Luther King, Jr. was the greatest American ever. You would probably be right to think those guys don't have Ph.D's, too. Heck, you might even be right if you thought they were dumb racists. But you might be wrong, too, and that's my point: you can't take a statistical tendency of a group and arrive at any certainties about the particular representative of that group standing in front of you. Likelihoods, yes; certainties, no. If you meet me, hear my accent, and think, "Maybe I should watch what I say, he might be really religious or conservative", I have no problem with that, because it's a reasonable assumption...if you remember the "might be" part. People who talk like me are more likely to be religiously conservative--but I'm not. We all think in percentages. Intuitive statistics are a vital part of the human mind. We just have to remember the limits of that kind of thinking. I say "we" because I've been guilty myself. Once I was at a music festival in Arkansas, and a hairy guy in overalls--with an accent stronger than mine--started talking to me. I was thinking, "Who is this yokel", when he told me he was a dermatologist. That "yokel" was an MD in a very competitive specialty--dumb people don't become dermatologists. When he saw the look on my face, he shot me a knowing grin. I knew that grin, because it's the same grin I give people when I say big words in an Arkansas accent, and see the confusion in their face. It's a grin that says, "You're the one being dumb, not me. Gotcha!" I grinned back. Touché, Doc.

Judging people by their dialect is dumb for other reasons, too, not just because it's an unwarranted and unfair generalization. It's not just that people with accents might not match your stereotype about them. It's also that the distinction we make between high-status and low-status accents is completely arbitrary. There is no Platonic form of perfect English pronunciation, or even perfect English grammar, hanging up there in the sky. There's nothing about saying, "You guys went to the store already?" that makes it intrinsically better than saying, "Y'all done went to the store?" The first is the standardized way of saying it, but that's because of historical accidents that have more to do with social prestige and arbitrary pronouncements than rationality. It could have gone the other way. Of course, I realize that if someone doesn't seem to know how to speak in standard English, that probably does mean they're less educated, since people learn standard English in school (and grammar is easier to control consciously than accent--it's easy for me to speak in standard grammar, and nearly impossible for me to speak without an accent). But poorly educated is not the same as dumb, and a non-standard form of English is not the same as a degraded form. Languages evolve, change, and diversify, but no language has ever devolved into meaningless gibberish. If you're a grammar warrior, you may be pretty skeptical about these claims. Well, this ain't the place to get into that, but I done wrote more about that here.

The point of all this is that it's time for southerners, and anyone else with an unusual accent, to show the rest of the country that we don't all match the stereotypes. It's the people with the prejudices about accents, not the people with the accents, who are being stupid. Smart southerners should point that out to them, and fight the "dumb southerner" stereotypes the media loves so much. If I were a filmmaker, I'd be tempted to put together a video showing a bunch of brilliant people with southern accents talking about their accomplishments: "Ah'm a world renowned brain surgeon, and Ah have a southern accent." They wouldn't be hard to find. At the very least, I'd like the next person who Googles "smart people with southern accents" to actually find something good, or at least find this post. When I had the idea for this post, I was just going to make a list of smart, famous people who still sound like they're from the south. But I realized it's tough to come up with a list like that--not because it's hard to find smart southerners, but because a lot of southerners who've become famous have had to suppress their accents. Because of people's dumb assumptions.

But not everyone had to learn to talk like Tom Brokaw to get famous. A southern accent is a good thing if you want to be a country singer, for example. While "smart" may not be the first word that comes to mind when you think of country singers, some of them, like Lyle Lovett and Dolly Parton, are quite brainy (Kris Kristofferson was a Rhodes Scholar, though he didn't grow up only in the south). A southern accent can also be useful for politicians, which may explain why half the presidents from the last few decades have had them (some of those presidents have even been pretty smart. Bill Clinton may be morally flawed, but nobody can say he's dumb). But most other famous southerners--people like newscasters and actors--have to be able to dial back their accent, at least some of the time. Either it doesn't fit the part, or...well...people think it makes them sound stupid. Of course, most brilliant people, wherever they're from, never become famous (maybe they're too smart). You can be at the top of your field in medicine or law, and be a complete unknown to most people. I went to college with a guy with a thick north Louisiana accent. Now he's a neurosurgeon. He's not famous, but he's scary smart.

My point in all this is that, even though there are thousands of absolutely brilliant people out there with strong southern accents, it's hard to name many famous ones that aren't country singers or politicians. But it only takes one counter-example to wreck a bad generalization, and there are plenty of those, even among famous people. William Faulkner, Bill Clinton, Harper Lee, Martin Luther King, Jr, Bill Moyers, EO Wilson, Rick Bragg, Flannery O'Conner, and thousands of other bright, successful people are proof that having a southern accent doesn't make you dumb. Most people know this, at some level, but it's a hard association to kick. As I said, even I have been guilty of stereotyping people with thick accents, and I have one! That's how pervasive the stereotype is. That's a shame, but I can fight it. The next time I hear someone speaking with an accent--any accent--I'm going stop and listen to what they're actually saying, not the accent they're saying it in. Having an accent doesn't make people stupid. But unfounded stereotypes and assumptions do.

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Black Jack David and the Gypsy King: The Mythic Roots of a Folk Song

Not long ago, I left these Louisiana swamps to go home for the weekend, back to the Arkansas Ozarks where I grew up. I guess I was a little homesick, because I loaded my MP3 player with traditional songs; mostly old Anglo-Americans tunes from the southern hills. Some those songs strike primal chords in my emotions, because I've heard them as far back as I can remember.

I can't play a lick on any instrument, but my great-grandfather, Neal Morris, was a singer and recollector of old songs, and he can be heard singing on some of the field recordings collected by the great folk music collector Alan Lomax. Neal's son (my great uncle) was the folksinger and folklorist Jimmie Driftwood. My great-grandfather died before I was born, but Jimmie Driftwood lived until I was in my mid-twenties. I never got to know him that well, but I went to his house many times as a kid; and listened to him and the rest of my extended family sing into the night. Sometimes, I would fall asleep, and have to be carried out to the car. That twangy mountain music would run through my dreams all the way home. No wonder I still have an Arkansas accent.