I often criticize the foolish but popular idea that all human thought, opinion, and belief can be neatly divided into two rigid “sides”, but it’s rare that I am presented with such a perfect example of the absurd results of clinging to such a childish view and then acting surprised when real people in real life don’t act like your imaginary theoretical “side members” are supposed to act according to your scheme. For those who missed it, Kansas voters overwhelmingly rejected an amendment to their state constitution which would’ve opened the door to for Kansas politicians to jump on the forced-birth bandwagon:
Voters overwhelmingly voted against a measure that would have allowed abortion to be banned in Kansas in the first post-Roe test of abortion’s legality put directly to the people…The ballot measure would have amended the Kansas constitution to state that it did not protect the right to have an abortion. Such an amendment would open the gates for state lawmakers to ban abortion—an option currently blocked by a 2019 state Supreme Court finding that the Kansas Constitution’s guarantee of “equal and inalienable rights” included a “natural right of personal autonomy” that protected abortion access. But voters yesterday gave a resounding no to the question “should the Kansas constitution be amended to remove protections of abortion rights?”…Whether Kansas is a good bellwether for the rest of the country on this issue is debatable. But Kansas is a relatively conservative and Republican state, and residents voting against an anti-abortion initiative at least suggests that conservative enthusiasm for banning abortion might not be as strong as many believe…
But rather than come to the sensible conclusion that Liz Brown did above – that maybe most people who label themselves “conservative” might not be quite as deranged as their “leaders” – we instead got a lot of apples-and-oranges nonsense like this:
So, what can #westernkansas tell us about why the Kansas abortion amendment failed?
Even in rural, mostly conservative areas, the amendment fared far worse than Trump did in 2020
Greeley County, the least populated in the state, voted 86% for Trump and 61% Yes…a 25% swing
— David Condos (@davidcondos) August 3, 2022
He goes on and on, for tweet after tweet, doggedly comparing Trump’s election results to the results of this election, as though it were a foregone concluson that every single voter of both schoolyard “teams” was so mindlessly-obedient to their “team’s” agenda that their votes on each and every issue can easily and accurately be predicted by simply tallying their votes in the most recent presidential election. Of course, if that were actually true, there would be no point in going through the trouble and expense of any election other than presidential ones. But of course it isn’t true, no matter how much the Manicheans pretend otherwise. In plainer language: just because you and/or the pundits you follow decided that support for Trump and hostility to abortion rights go together like bacon and eggs, doesn’t mean every single person who eats eggs also loves bacon.
I often eat eggs and bacon together, but sometimes I eat fruit and yogurt. And other times none of the above.
I think there is some validity to the “team” theory, but trying to generalize about people is as likely to be a lost cause as most other generalizations, which, in the end, are always false (including this one).
I think it’s a sign of prejudiced and stereotypical thinking to assume every one is subject to the herd instinct, or that people don’t draw their own conclusions on various issues. I think in general people are getting pretty tired of being taken for granted, by either “team” or their acolytes. One hopes so, anyway.
I’ve been guilty of the Black-and-White fallacy myself in the past, and one of my audio rants started with “Even if You Are Opposed To Abortion, Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Ban It.” The People of Kansas have taken Harry Browne’s principled approach to heart unlike Louisiana’s increasingly hypocritical and out-of-touch religious establishment. (And for that matter-its outmoded, incompetent, and corrupt political, bureaucratic, and arbitrary establishments.) By the way, what are your thoughts on Chief Justice Alito’s statement mentioning that abortion having been illegal since 1791?