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While the question you wanted to answer is a great question to be asking in the era of Trump, that's not the question that Beck was asking. "What happened to u

While the question you wanted to answer is a great question to be asking in the era of Trump, that's not the question that Beck was asking. "What happened to us?" in this context was, "Why are supposedly conservative groups telling Facebook how to run their business, using many of the same tactics and arguments they've objected to when used by their ideological opponents?"

pjc50 10y ago
This very much matters in the era of Trump. The reason there's no ideological consistency is that the publicly-stated ideology is backformed from the private, unacceptable ideology of maintaining racial and economic inequality. That's why suddenly these people are in favour of "affirmative action" when it benefits themselves; there's no principle at stake other than self-interest.
- twoodfin 10y ago
  I think that's massively oversimplifying. Many Republicans really do believe things like: "A nationwide $15 minimum wage would have profoundly negative economic consequences both for small businesses unable to defray the added labor cost, and for the employees they'd otherwise be able to hire." You can disagree with that belief, but it's not rooted in racism and classism.
  - JoeAltmaier 10y ago
    In fact my Mother-in law who lived through the Great Depression on onions and milk, remembers when the Minimum Wage went into law. She remembers it as the time of the great job crash. Folks used to be able to be bicycle messengers or doormen or junkyard watchmen - many of those jobs became too expensive and disappeared. Some jobs got folded together into one, making more work for those already employed and putting others out of work. She was not a fan of Minimum Wage.
  - pjc50 10y ago
    We'd like to hope that that's an empirical question which economics could answer, but that's not how the discussion tends to go. It also doesn't address the question of how viable life on current minimum wage levels is without external support or high hours, although that depends a lot on local housing costs. Anyway, none of the parent comment chain mentions minimum wage; we started off talking about social policy and LGBT acceptance/hostility.

pjc50 10y ago

This very much matters in the era of Trump. The reason there's no ideological consistency is that the publicly-stated ideology is backformed from the private, unacceptable ideology of maintaining racial and economic inequality. That's why suddenly these people are in favour of "affirmative action" when it benefits themselves; there's no principle at stake other than self-interest.

twoodfin 10y ago
I think that's massively oversimplifying. Many Republicans really do believe things like: "A nationwide $15 minimum wage would have profoundly negative economic consequences both for small businesses unable to defray the added labor cost, and for the employees they'd otherwise be able to hire." You can disagree with that belief, but it's not rooted in racism and classism.
- JoeAltmaier 10y ago
  In fact my Mother-in law who lived through the Great Depression on onions and milk, remembers when the Minimum Wage went into law. She remembers it as the time of the great job crash. Folks used to be able to be bicycle messengers or doormen or junkyard watchmen - many of those jobs became too expensive and disappeared. Some jobs got folded together into one, making more work for those already employed and putting others out of work. She was not a fan of Minimum Wage.
- pjc50 10y ago
  We'd like to hope that that's an empirical question which economics could answer, but that's not how the discussion tends to go. It also doesn't address the question of how viable life on current minimum wage levels is without external support or high hours, although that depends a lot on local housing costs. Anyway, none of the parent comment chain mentions minimum wage; we started off talking about social policy and LGBT acceptance/hostility.