In this essay, I would like to suggest a thought experiment.
An experiment where there is no empirical data; however, there is data that come from experience, reason and the application of logic. It is an experiment that can be conducted by anyone. It is relatively easy and requires
little time. Additionally, it is, perhaps, even more enlightening when performed
in small groups. It is an experiment that I believe provides surprising insight
into one of the two major political parties in America.
Introduction
According to Wikipedia: A hate group is an organized group or movement that advocates and practices hatred, hostility, or violence towards members of a race, ethnicity, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation or any other designated sector of society.
To begin the experiment, we need to choose from five to ten well-known
hate groups or organizations. I have chosen eight. My groups are composed of sympathizers and supporters
of various, well-known, hate messages or hate ideologies. I have excluded supporters
of extremely controversial social issues (such as abortion and immigration) but
you may want to include them in your experiment. I have intentionally selected hate messages, or
hate ideologies, with high name recognition and a message or ideology that is
almost universally known and understood. That is to say, my list does not
contain any obscure groups, although, obscure groups are just a meaningful and don't have to be excluded.
Hate list:
- · Sympathizers and supporters of the Ku Klux Klan
- · Sympathizers and supporters of the Neo Nazis or the American Nazi Party
- · Sympathizers and supporters of the skin head movement
- · Sympathizers and supporters of the white supremacist movement
- · Sympathizers and supporters of the anti-gay or anti-LGBT movement
- · Sympathizers and supporters of the Holocaust Denial movement
- · Sympathizers and supporters of the Westboro Baptist Church
- · Sympathizers and supporters of the Aryan Nation
While there is some overlap among some of these groups, all
are unique and have messages or ideologies that clearly differentiate them.
Members of one group may sympathize with another, however, such sympathy is
most likely based on the common denominator of hate. Nonetheless, when you
conduct the experiment, you may want to choose groups that you feel to be more
independent.
Methods
First, imagine that we have 100 randomly selected members
from each of the 8 groups. One-hundred is chosen to make the percentages easier to determine. Almost any number over 10 would work just fine. The only stipulation is that they be old enough to
fully understand what these groups represent. I suggest a minimum age of 21, but
you might prefer another age.
Second, we will use the most recent national election cycle,
i.e., that of 2014. We will assume that they were exposed to the election
rhetoric of both the Democratic party and the Republican Party. In essence, we
are saying that they were exposed to that which they were actually exposed to;
nothing special, nothing different.
Normally, voting demographics are easy to come by, except in
cases groups. Very few polls are
conducted to determine how sympathizers and supporters of hate groups vote in
an election. The goal of this experiment is to determine for ourselves, based
on our knowledge of the message and ideologies of these hate groups, how the hate group sympathizers and supporters would vote.
The third and final step is to rerun the election and make
our predictions.
When I ran the experiment, the outcomes were both ominous
and very, very clear. In each and every case, I asked myself the following
questions:
- In general, would voters feel most at home under the Republican tent or the Democratic tent?
- During the campaign, would voters feel more aligned with the rhetoric of the Republican candidate or the Democratic candidate?
- On specific issues of interest (i.e., hate issues) would voters identify more with the Republican candidate or the Democratic candidate?
- With which party would voters feel the greatest affinity, the Republican Party or the Democratic Party?
Results
For every group, the 100 members voted
overwhelmingly for the Republican Party. In my mind, while trying to be relatively conservative with my guesses, I was unable to imagine fewer than 60% of each group voting Republican and, for
certain groups (e.g. the KKK, white nationalists and Westboro Baptist Church),
I consider 80% to be much more likely.
Discussion
This very simple thought experiment, while not scientific, is very enlightening with regard to the Republican Party. The validity of the test increases with each additional experiment. The test can be carried out for any hate group or collection of hate groups; and while results may vary, I'm fairly certain that the alarming trend will not. The
Wikipedia page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_organizations_designated_by_the_Southern_Poverty_Law_Center_as_hate_groups)
has an enormous, comprehensive list of hate groups. I encourage you to peruse
the list and conduct this experiment again, and again and again. I think you will see that the outcome is
consistently the same, hate groups favor the Republican Party over the Democratic
Party.
Conclusion
America has one national party that appears to consistently
be the party of choice for almost every hate group and hate organization in America.
Based on the Wikipedia definition used in the Introduction, the Republican
Party can, without exaggeration, be considered a hate group. America can ill afford to have a
national hate party. Its defenders will refute this claim, but the Republican
Party now represents the dark side of almost every social issue that confronts
America. It is now the "big tent" and preferred party for racism, bigotry, misogyny, homophobia, and xenophobia.
Just as Republicans demand that “good” Muslims take a stand and break away from
the barbaric history of Islam, Republicans must now take a stand by denouncing
and stepping away from the hatred that has become an integral part of the party.
No comments:
Post a Comment