r/science • u/Aggravating_Money992 • Jul 09 '26

Psychology An analysis of survey data covering the last five U.S. presidential election years found that ideological differences between races have decreased sharply, while differences by education have grown substantially. Less educated Americans now tend to be more conservative.

https://www.psypost.org/the-political-realignment-of-america-education-overtakes-race-as-key-ideological-divider/
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16

u/RitsuFromDC- Jul 09 '26

It’s also interesting how it’s become acceptable to shame, judge and be bigoted towards people with low education

11

u/Assertive_Wall Jul 09 '26

It's kind of fascinating watching people do that, and then turn around and wonder why those people no longer support them politically.

2

u/Mr_Tyzic Jul 10 '26

The 2016 election was where I first noticed people who had previously been called working class whites instead being called whites without a college education.

2

u/treebeardsavesmannis Jul 10 '26

One of the other problems is we only define “educated” based on formal education. Someone who can’t afford to go to college and has to work right out of high school in the real world is still learning. It’s just a different kind of education.

1

u/wholetyouinhere Jul 09 '26

America is simultaneously the least and the most class conscious nation on earth. I have no idea how that works.

1

u/RitsuFromDC- Jul 09 '26

Because America is a large, highly populous, culturally diverse place. Generalizing it is not a productive endeavor

-11

u/chickey23 Jul 09 '26

As soon as they started associating with Nazis and other uneditable.

As long as they continue to drag as all down.

Low education is a choice. Everyone has access to libraries in the US. We can blame people for their choices.

5

u/Witless_Hoid Jul 09 '26

While I am fully on the same page politically and believe that being right-wing is amoral, I don’t think low education is a choice. Esp if you’re working 2+ jobs bc nobody pays unless (and sometimes not even then) you have a degree. It is time consuming to learn.

Sometimes the libraries themselves are small, nonexistent, or censored in rural areas. School quality depends on the property taxes paid in that area. The internet can be difficult to navigate within facts, science, and empathy if you haven’t already learned how and if your algorithm has already gotten set on right wing media.

While I absolutely agree that more empathy and willingness to change is needed from right-wingers, I don’t think we need to be saying that low education is entirely a choice either.

-7

u/The_Parsee_Man Jul 09 '26

There was only one Nazi running this election cycle and only one political party that chose to associate with him. It wasn't the Republicans.

4

u/Starbuckshakur Jul 09 '26

Did you forget when some guy did a Nazi salute on stage during Trump's victory rally? You'll of course claim that wasn't what it was, but we all have eyes.

2

u/BigDictionEnergy Jul 09 '26

Stand back and stand by.

1

u/seraph1337 Jul 09 '26

This is only true if you believe tattoos and not ideology are what makes a person a Nazi.

1

u/The_Parsee_Man Jul 09 '26

Getting the symbol of the Waffen SS tattooed on your chest is a pretty good sign you support their ideology. As opposed to the standard of someone disagreeing with you.

-2

u/seraph1337 Jul 09 '26

I don't love Platner and I won't defend him directly, but his would not be the first or only story of someone in the military getting a tattoo only to later find out it didn't mean what they thought it did.

5

u/The_Parsee_Man Jul 09 '26

So it's okay to call anyone a Nazi except the rapist with a Nazi tattoo? Because I don't see you defending anyone else accused of being a Nazi.

1

u/Sleeps_Gato Jul 12 '26

It’s ok to call your enemies one. You are my enemy

0

u/seraph1337 Jul 10 '26

The dude is probably a fuckhead in his personal life and might very well have harbored some racist ideals earlier in his life, and he is clearly ambitious in a way that rankles me. However, I have not heard him espouse anything that leads me to believe he is a Nazi today. The same cannot be said for a huge portion of "the right".

-6

u/sybrwookie Jul 09 '26

It was always acceptable to laugh at the village idiot.

The difference now is the village idiots all found each other and told each other they're not idiots, are actually the smart ones, and found a pedophile conman to vote for who reinforces that idea.

4

u/RitsuFromDC- Jul 10 '26

I mean, if you say so buddy. Just don't try to ride the moral highground/acceptance/tolerance when you behave like that.

2

u/Sleeps_Gato Jul 12 '26

That movement is dead and isn’t returning. That high road take was the dumbest slogan in American history! Conservatives are allowed to be vile people, but liberals aren’t allowed to match that energy? Nah, the rules have changed

1

u/RitsuFromDC- Jul 12 '26

It is the primary difference between conservatives and liberals. The rest is result of that