US Anti-Mask Conservatives are Motivated by Irrational Ignorant Machismo

submitted by Leo_Littlebook from self.politics

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[–]Leo_Littlebook[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

It doesn't matter whether the causation is that they're conservatives, male, rural, in lower infection rate region, or Republican. All of those factors are correlated and there's no point in trying to disentangle the causation. The relevant point is that those people do eschew masks, exhibit irrational machismo on the topic, and justify it with conservative talking points.

This is very visible in online communities. For example, my anti mask post got a score of 0 on r/conservative and the same arguments got a score of 200 on r/liberal. Your attempts to deny an ideological aspect to this are contrary to fact.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Liberal/comments/htwriq/us_antimask_conservatives_are_motivated_by/

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

Not being convinced by an argument is not the same thing as adopting its opposite. All I pointed out, and this is something you should take heed of, is that you do not have the evidence from a poll to conclude the divergence is caused by ideology. On the contrary, both gender and geography independent of political affiliation have a larger effect. That something is rationalized after the fact from a political bent on the internet, so what?

Causation is important. If the cause is geography, infection rates, and the sex of the participants, arguing on an ideological basis of politics will do absolutely nothing.

[–]Leo_Littlebook[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Your explanation is wrong. They are not normal people doing it because discomfort. They are conservatives doing it because conservative reasons. That's what they say when you ask them. Stop being pedantic.

There are plenty of lazy normies, and they are not defending their position in online communities. Those are the people doing it because discomfort.

As someone who participates in multiple conservative online communities, including right-wing Twitter, Gab, Voat, Saidit, a Discord and many RSS feeds, this is beyond obvious.

If you can't admit you were wrong, just shut up.

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

The plural of anecdote is not data. Since the divide between sex is so much larger, and geography about as large, it's quite obvious political affiliation is not a causal factor. Probably, personality traits associated with sex is far more likely. And with geography, people in less infected areas have less cause to be paranoid. That some people might express these underlying motivations in terms of political objections, well, so what? That wouldn't change their behavior if they did otherwise.

Since you ignored my final point, I'll repeat it: If the underlying cause has nothing to do with political ideology except coincidentally, then trying to argue it on that basis is pointless. Causation is important.

[–]Leo_Littlebook[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

You are absurdly pedantic. Conservative vs liberal is a profoundly powerful split in America. Reducing it to sex geography and personality is obscuring, not enlightening. Those differences exists at all times and places, however a left-right ideological split approaching civil war intensity does not. You've latched onto this attempt to reinterpret a survey I only glanced at that confirmed what I already knew from multiple communities. It is clear you are far too up your own skeptical behind to insightfully discuss the forest. Therefore I will block and move on.