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Post by snowman on Jun 13, 2009 23:20:41 GMT -5
In a newsroom, historically the sports desk is the most conservative part of the newspaper. A sportswriter told me that because sports are a meritocratic activity they are a more natural fit into the worldview of a conservative.
The economics of volleyball leave little room for the poor, so most people I talk to assume that the volleyball community is of a higher income level than society at large. The more someone pays in taxes the more likely they are to side with the more conservative candidate.
Considering these two factoids (ideas, assumptions, whatever) I was pretty surprised when I realized a few months back that the members Volleytalk's offthenet community are probably 2-3 times more likely to be on the left then on the right.
For those of you who have been around longer, has it always been like this? Does anyone have a theory as to why VT would be atypical?
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Post by chipNdink on Jun 13, 2009 23:59:44 GMT -5
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Post by bunnywailer on Jun 14, 2009 0:05:20 GMT -5
VT isn't really liberal. It's just that the pinko commies like to post more and whine more, so it just seems that way.
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Post by chipNdink on Jun 14, 2009 0:21:56 GMT -5
VT isn't really liberal. It's just that the pinko commies like to post more and whine more, so it just seems that way. Man, if I had a nickle for every time you posted and whined about that ...
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Post by BearClause on Jun 14, 2009 0:27:21 GMT -5
Yeah - where I'm from we see a lot of people who are high income and left-leaning. Much is made of Hollywood being left leaning despite the higher incomes of star actors and directors. Supposedly left-leaning places like San Francisco and Berkeley have median household annual income of well over $80K. Most of volleyball is enjoyed by the middle-class, and the tax policies of conservatives tends to disproportionately help those of $250K annual income. I do hope that one day I'll be in the higher income brackets. I wouldn't bother me if I'm already making more. It wouldn't change my politics.
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Post by mikegarrison on Jun 14, 2009 0:36:40 GMT -5
In a newsroom, historically the sports desk is the most conservative part of the newspaper [Assertion 1]. A sportswriter told me that because sports are a meritocratic activity they are a more natural fit into the worldview of a conservative [Assumption A]. The economics of volleyball leave little room for the poor, so most people I talk to assume that the volleyball community is of a higher income level than society at large [Assertion 2]. The more someone pays in taxes the more likely they are to side with the more conservative candidate [Assumption B]. Considering these two factoids (ideas, assumptions, whatever) I was pretty surprised when I realized a few months back that the members Volleytalk's offthenet community are probably 2-3 times more likely to be on the left then on the right [Assertion 3]. For those of you who have been around longer, has it always been like this? Does anyone have a theory as to why VT would be atypical? {Assumption C] Assertion 1, that sports desks are more politically conservative, doesn't match my experience, but my sample size of working newspapers is very small (one). I have no data at all for or against Assertion 2, but you don't present any either. Assertion 3 does not seem to be correct, IMO. But it's hard to say. the sample size is very small. And are you judging by the number of posts? That's obviously one sort of bias. The number of posters? That's another, and of course with Volleytalk who knows how many separate accounts are actually separate people? All the assupmtions betray your own value judgements. You assume that conservatives are more "meritocratic", but that's not my experience. All human social systems have pecking orders, and actual merit is usually not one of the strongest components in any of them. Assumption B flies in the face of the data that shows the "Blue" areas of the US pay more net taxes than the "Red" areas. And Assumption C assumes that assumptions A and B are "typical".
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Post by chipNdink on Jun 14, 2009 0:39:15 GMT -5
Yes, there are just as many, if not more, wealthy liberals as there are conservatives; but as GSOBB pointed out, it just SEEMS like conservatives pay more taxes because they're the ones who are constantly whining and complaining about it the most.
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Post by bunnywailer on Jun 14, 2009 0:50:08 GMT -5
Haha. This thread is hilarious, and plays out exactly like the one-note riff that VT's off-the-net liberal lunkheads are known for. The original poster just asked a regular question and these doofuses are already up on their bash conversatives they are evil soapbox.
Can't just answer the original question - gotta turn everything into a platform to push their own $.02.
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Post by OverAndUnder on Jun 14, 2009 0:55:14 GMT -5
Haha. This thread is hilarious, and plays out exactly like the one-note riff that VT's off-the-net liberal lunkheads are known for. The original poster just asked a regular question and these doofuses are already up on their bash conversatives they are evil soapbox. Can't just answer the original question - gotta turn everything into a platform to push their own $.02. SOBB, have you stopped beating your drag queen boyfriend? And I hope you will just answer this original question "yes" or "no" without a lot of pointless semantic analysis.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 14, 2009 10:55:30 GMT -5
snowman, first of all I think your premises stand on fairly shaky ground.
But your biggest mistake, I think, is assuming volleyball fans are like "normal" people. The very fact we are volleyball fans places us well outside the mainstream. Therefore, is it really surprising that we would not follow "normal" patterns?
Take Bob for example. Are most hairdressers as hostile as he is? Probably not. But most hairdressers aren't passionate followers of men's volleyball.
Oh, hell. That's a bad example.
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Post by snowman on Jun 14, 2009 12:17:06 GMT -5
But your biggest mistake, I think, is assuming volleyball fans are like "normal" people. The very fact we are volleyball fans places us well outside the mainstream. Therefore, is it really surprising that we would not follow "normal" patterns? This is a great point, and one that I hadn't considered at all. Marginalized or persecuted populations are reliably progressive. Common volleyball experiences - like getting kicked out of the gym by the basketball team, are, at the root, akin to the Native Americans being moved off of their lands, or losing your house to eminent domain and in a much smaller way would give one the same sense of injustice. Historically most revolutions have been led by people who were the youngest (read smallest, weakest) in their family and most likely to see things as being unfair. I can see a correlation between that experience and that of a volleyball player who grew up with left over basketball uniforms.
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Post by chipNdink on Jun 14, 2009 14:21:47 GMT -5
But your biggest mistake, I think, is assuming volleyball fans are like "normal" people. The very fact we are volleyball fans places us well outside the mainstream. Therefore, is it really surprising that we would not follow "normal" patterns? This is a great point, and one that I hadn't considered at all. Marginalized or persecuted populations are reliably progressive. Common volleyball experiences - like getting kicked out of the gym by the basketball team, are, at the root, akin to the Native Americans being moved off of their lands, or losing your house to eminent domain and in a much smaller way would give one the same sense of injustice. Historically most revolutions have been led by people who were the youngest (read smallest, weakest) in their family and most likely to see things as being unfair. I can see a correlation between that experience and that of a volleyball player who grew up with left over basketball uniforms. So you think White Supremacists, who are angry the NBA is dominated by mostly black players, are liberal?? LOL
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Post by Deleted on Jun 14, 2009 17:08:25 GMT -5
You go far enough in either direction and eventually you're just wacko.
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Post by OverAndUnder on Jun 14, 2009 17:47:46 GMT -5
I don't find "VolleyTalk" to be "liberal", whatever that means.
I think there's a low tolerance for @$$%*!*, and VolleyTalk appeared during the Golden Age of GOP Control of the culture with tragic capital to spend. Their feces were in people's faces more often. Now, as it usually does, the pendulum has swung in the other direction. Five years from now there will be a large pile of DNC @$$%*!* turning noses.
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Post by bunnywailer on Jun 14, 2009 21:17:10 GMT -5
Haha. This thread is hilarious, and plays out exactly like the one-note riff that VT's off-the-net liberal lunkheads are known for. The original poster just asked a regular question and these doofuses are already up on their bash conversatives they are evil soapbox. Can't just answer the original question - gotta turn everything into a platform to push their own $.02. SOBB, have you stopped beating your drag queen boyfriend? And I hope you will just answer this original question "yes" or "no" without a lot of pointless semantic analysis. Actually, I'm a lesbian. And she's not a drag queen, she just looks like one.
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