It seems that you are trying to prove to me that Trump’s policies, such as tariffs, would also have downsides. This is obviously true.
> To me it feels like you’re turning a blind eye to the huge problems with a Trump/Vance administration.
I must admit that after you mentioned that you don’t know any restrictions that the Biden administration has done to freedom of speech I felt the same way. However, personal feelings are subjective, and, most likely, we are both biased on this issue. Can you think of a good rational argument that Trump’s call to imprison flag burners is a greater threat to freedom of speech than the currently existing restrictions in academic institutions?
Sorry for writing two comments, but I’m really curious of some ground beliefs, because it feels a little silly to talk about specific policy proposals without mentioning the—in my mind—biggest reason not to vote for Trump: he tried to steal the last election.
More specifically, he said after the election that the election was rigged against him. He had a bunch of court cases which sought to prove that the election was rigged against him, and pretty much every case was proven false. Then when his vice president were to certify electors from the state, Trump wanted him to use fake electors, which were not sent from the states, to say that Trump won the election. If his plan would have worked, then Trump would have stolen the election. But Pence did not do that, because Pence didn’t want to steal the election. He later said Trump “demanded that I choose between him and the constitution, [..] I chose the constitution”. That’s why the crowd was yelling “hang Mike Pence” during Jan 6.
I strongly disapprove of Trump’s post-election antics, but I believe them to be less important than the Democrat’s use of illegal immigration to boost their vote. If the US had no illegal immigration from Latin America, the Democrats would have lost about a fifth of their current voters, and, unless they radically changed their platform, would have lost all Congress and Presidential elections in the past twenty years.
Thanks for answering but I don’t get it. I think trying to steal an election is really bad. Is it just that Trump didn’t succeed that makes the difference?
And I don’t really know what you refer to when you say “Democrat’s use of illegal immigration to boost their vote”. I know illegal (and legal) immigrants tend to lean democrat, but illegal immigrants can’t vote. Is there some study looking at demographic patterns or so? What are the immigration policies of democrats that you think is wrong, and do you have a problem with legal immigration, as that helps democrats too?
Also, immigrants are more than just votes. America has historically had a high level of immigration, who bring a lot of good to the US. Just because a policy is good for democrats doesn’t make it into a bad policy. If you don’t like immigration or naturalization, then that’s fine, but I don’t think democrats should avoid a policy just because it will help them.
The “Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986” was passed by Ronald Reagan, a Republican, so probably not an attempt by democrats to get votes.
I believe the most likely interpretation of the events is that Trump was not actually trying to steal the elections but to make most Republicans believe that the victory was stolen from him so that he could have another chance in 2024.
Where are you getting this interpretation? He is not saying this, no one around him is saying this. He says that the 2020 election was rigged. He says that it was so rigged that he should be able to suspend the constitution. He tried to execute a plan which, if successful, would have made him president. How was he not trying? Was Rudy Giuliani not trying? Were the fake electors not trying when they signed all those fake documents? Was Trump not trying on January 6, when he told the protestors to pressure Mike Pence to go through with his plan? Were the Proud Boys not trying when they broke into the capitol? Were whoever placed pipe bombs around DC on Jan 5 not trying?
It feels like for someone not trying, he sure made a large impact and made a lot of people believe that he was trying and that they should try to help him win (because it was so rigged).
Well the reason I didn’t think of DEI statements and such is because that’s not really something Trump talks about much, right? He mostly talks about immigration (cats and dogs!), Ukraine, inflation, etc. So I don’t know much about it.
Also, I don’t really see DEI statements as a restriction on “freedom of speech” or “freedom of conscience”. If I understand correctly, it’s that grants by NSF to institutions have to have a section explaining their DEI initiatives. And sure you can disagree if that should be a factor, and maybe you think it’s stupid to have as a requirement, but just because they have different priorities/beliefs than you doesn’t mean they’re stifling freedom of speech.
Imagine if the government started caring a lot about AI and NSF required people to talk about their AI work/impact in every funding request. Would that be stupid? Yes, because a lot of important work isn’t that relevant to AI. But this doesn’t really impact freedom of speech, it just means they prioritize research differently than you would. The government thinks DEI should affect research grants. You don’t. Someone will always feel left out when funding is allocated, and feel “forced” to act in some ways to receive funding. But I don’t see that as a restriction on “freedom of speech”.
When it comes to burning the flag, maybe it’s a bad example. In my mind, burning the flag just means hating on America and I don’t think that should be illegal. But some people see burning the flag like destroying something holy, so they treat that restriction differently than other restrictions. But it’s still a more clear restriction than DEI statements. It’s an actual law that restricts how you are allowed to express yourself in America.
But when it comes to infiltration of institutions, I find it worrying when Vance says:
Fire every single midlevel bureaucrat, every civil servant in the administrative state, replace them with our people.
What does he mean with “our people”? Would it be a restriction on freedom of speech to fire every civil servant and replace them with “our people”? I think it would. Surely he doesn’t mean people who are critical of Trump as “our people”.
Also, I think removing the right to abortion from millions of people is a much clearer restriction of liberty than DEI statements or banning flag-burning.
Would it be a restriction on freedom of speech to fire every civil servant and replace them with “our people”? I think it would.
Why does your argument about how the government is free to allocate funding however it wishes in the context of NSF grants not apply to civil servant salaries? About personal loyalty to Trump over the Constitution[1] or whatever,
you can disagree if that should be a factor, and maybe you think it’s stupid to have as a requirement, but just because they have different priorities/beliefs than you doesn’t mean they’re stifling freedom of speech.
…
But this doesn’t really impact freedom of speech, it just means they prioritize [not being critical of Trump] differently than you would. The government thinks [party loyalty] should affect [civil service positions]. You don’t. Someone will always feel left out when [civil service hiring] is allocated, and feel “forced” to act in some ways to receive [employment]. But I don’t see that as a restriction on “freedom of speech”.
If I understand correctly, it’s that grants by NSF to institutions have to have a section explaining their DEI initiatives.
Grants to individual researchers now also require the DEI statement. I think the AI is not a very good analogy because:
it’s apolitical
I assume that in your example historians and cancer researchers would not lose their jobs for saying heretical things in their AI statements.
A more appropriate analogy would be abortion. Suppose the progressive admins in the NSF are replaced with Christian conservatives who replace the DEI statement with the statement on the “sanctity of life”. To get grants, all researchers must demonstrate how their work is relevant to the fight against the murder of unborn children. Those who refuse or argue in favor of pro-choice policies do not get funding and, after a few years, are forced to quit academic institutions. Would you consider this policy a restriction on the freedom of speech and conscience or just a shift in government priorities?
It would probably be more constructive if we focus on one issue at a time, so I suggest we finish this topic before discussing others.
It would probably be more constructive if we focus on one issue at a time, so I suggest we finish this topic before discussing others.
Okay.
I see all of these decision of deciding what to fund and how to fund them as political. I mean, during the last century a lot of marine research was done through the military, and that shaped what kind of research was done, and which people could do it (probably not anti-war people). I see all of these things as changing government priorities and not restrictions on freedom of speech or conscience.
On the topic of DEI statements themselves, I don’t really think it’s that productive to require them on a large scale. Many universities and research agencies motivate them by saying that it’s important for them to have a diverse base of researches to be more effective/have more perspectives or that it’s the moral thing to do, after excluding them historically. And sure, that might make sense, but I think what that means depends a lot on the scientific field and where in America it’s done. So such policies are probably better done on a more local level.
I also see that the way the Biden/Harris admin has influenced the NSF is through two executive orders (1, 2) which I don’t think is that good. If NSF changed their priority or if laws are passed to change their mandate then that’s one thing, but executive orders are pretty blunt. They also make it hard to say who to blame for things like DEI statements as the executive orders are pretty vague. As the NSF is still an independent agency, it feels like DEI statements are more something the NSF made up to promote DEI and which Biden/Harris is allowing, then something they made them do.
But if someone just dislikes DEI statements then it doesn’t matter that much why exactly they were implemented, as the important part is that Trump would probably get rid of them.
So basically, I think it’s kind of a bad policy, but not that big of a deal.
The problem is that these questions depend a lot on the details. I don’t know much about the impact of DEI statements or how they are used. I mean, the Biden/Harris administration doesn’t have a policy which is “anti-DEI scientists should be fired” or even “NSF grants should require DEI statements”. The NSF just has the mission “to promote the progress of science, to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare, and to secure the national defense”. That’s really vague, and now the Biden/Harris administration has passed some vague executive orders. But even without executive orders, the NSF could just believe that promoting DEI efforts is important to achieve their mission more effectively. They may be mistaken, but I don’t think I can have that much to say about it if I’m not well read about it. That’s why I talk so much about process and why I dislike the use of executive orders as it’s kind of a sidestep of the normal process (I think).
Basically my answer is (2), but it depends on the details and I just haven’t seen that much of an impact of these DEI statements. I just think there are differences between the candidates that are a lot more important than their impact on DEI in academia.
Choosing (2) makes you an extreme outlier among Democrats, so to be honest, it’s a little hard to believe that you thought it through very well. In your opinion, why is it so bad to replace progressive civil servants with conservatives (“our people”), but doing the same for college professors is not?
So someone who doesn’t agree with democrats hasn’t thought through what they think? That doesn’t sound right. I already said I disagree with the policy and how it’s implemented. I just think there are other things which are a lot more important.
And I don’t think choosing (2) is that weird, I just think it matters a lot what the process is to “filter out” people. Trump has said that he wants to make every executive branch employee fireable by the president. That gives a lot of power to the president, which I think is bad. I think it’s good if the government has a system of checks and balances which limits the presidents power so that the government has a more “slow” and consistent policy, so that the employees don’t feel like they are micromanaged by the President.
Fair enough. My own opinion is that, beyond hurting freedom of speech, hiring researchers based on their race, sexual orientation, and ideological compliance is doing massive damage to scientific progress and undermines the ability of research institutions to provide objective information on matters of public policy (COVID-19, AGW, etc.). However, people can indeed have different opinions on the importance of these issues.
I responded to your other questions in two separate comments.
It seems that you are trying to prove to me that Trump’s policies, such as tariffs, would also have downsides. This is obviously true.
> To me it feels like you’re turning a blind eye to the huge problems with a Trump/Vance administration.
I must admit that after you mentioned that you don’t know any restrictions that the Biden administration has done to freedom of speech I felt the same way. However, personal feelings are subjective, and, most likely, we are both biased on this issue. Can you think of a good rational argument that Trump’s call to imprison flag burners is a greater threat to freedom of speech than the currently existing restrictions in academic institutions?
Sorry for writing two comments, but I’m really curious of some ground beliefs, because it feels a little silly to talk about specific policy proposals without mentioning the—in my mind—biggest reason not to vote for Trump: he tried to steal the last election.
More specifically, he said after the election that the election was rigged against him. He had a bunch of court cases which sought to prove that the election was rigged against him, and pretty much every case was proven false. Then when his vice president were to certify electors from the state, Trump wanted him to use fake electors, which were not sent from the states, to say that Trump won the election. If his plan would have worked, then Trump would have stolen the election. But Pence did not do that, because Pence didn’t want to steal the election. He later said Trump “demanded that I choose between him and the constitution, [..] I chose the constitution”. That’s why the crowd was yelling “hang Mike Pence” during Jan 6.
Do you care about that?
I strongly disapprove of Trump’s post-election antics, but I believe them to be less important than the Democrat’s use of illegal immigration to boost their vote. If the US had no illegal immigration from Latin America, the Democrats would have lost about a fifth of their current voters, and, unless they radically changed their platform, would have lost all Congress and Presidential elections in the past twenty years.
Thanks for answering but I don’t get it. I think trying to steal an election is really bad. Is it just that Trump didn’t succeed that makes the difference?
And I don’t really know what you refer to when you say “Democrat’s use of illegal immigration to boost their vote”. I know illegal (and legal) immigrants tend to lean democrat, but illegal immigrants can’t vote. Is there some study looking at demographic patterns or so? What are the immigration policies of democrats that you think is wrong, and do you have a problem with legal immigration, as that helps democrats too?
Also, immigrants are more than just votes. America has historically had a high level of immigration, who bring a lot of good to the US. Just because a policy is good for democrats doesn’t make it into a bad policy. If you don’t like immigration or naturalization, then that’s fine, but I don’t think democrats should avoid a policy just because it will help them.
The “Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986” was passed by Ronald Reagan, a Republican, so probably not an attempt by democrats to get votes.
Where are you getting this interpretation? He is not saying this, no one around him is saying this. He says that the 2020 election was rigged. He says that it was so rigged that he should be able to suspend the constitution. He tried to execute a plan which, if successful, would have made him president. How was he not trying? Was Rudy Giuliani not trying? Were the fake electors not trying when they signed all those fake documents? Was Trump not trying on January 6, when he told the protestors to pressure Mike Pence to go through with his plan? Were the Proud Boys not trying when they broke into the capitol? Were whoever placed pipe bombs around DC on Jan 5 not trying?
It feels like for someone not trying, he sure made a large impact and made a lot of people believe that he was trying and that they should try to help him win (because it was so rigged).
Well the reason I didn’t think of DEI statements and such is because that’s not really something Trump talks about much, right? He mostly talks about immigration (cats and dogs!), Ukraine, inflation, etc. So I don’t know much about it.
Also, I don’t really see DEI statements as a restriction on “freedom of speech” or “freedom of conscience”. If I understand correctly, it’s that grants by NSF to institutions have to have a section explaining their DEI initiatives. And sure you can disagree if that should be a factor, and maybe you think it’s stupid to have as a requirement, but just because they have different priorities/beliefs than you doesn’t mean they’re stifling freedom of speech.
Imagine if the government started caring a lot about AI and NSF required people to talk about their AI work/impact in every funding request. Would that be stupid? Yes, because a lot of important work isn’t that relevant to AI. But this doesn’t really impact freedom of speech, it just means they prioritize research differently than you would. The government thinks DEI should affect research grants. You don’t. Someone will always feel left out when funding is allocated, and feel “forced” to act in some ways to receive funding. But I don’t see that as a restriction on “freedom of speech”.
When it comes to burning the flag, maybe it’s a bad example. In my mind, burning the flag just means hating on America and I don’t think that should be illegal. But some people see burning the flag like destroying something holy, so they treat that restriction differently than other restrictions. But it’s still a more clear restriction than DEI statements. It’s an actual law that restricts how you are allowed to express yourself in America.
But when it comes to infiltration of institutions, I find it worrying when Vance says:
What does he mean with “our people”? Would it be a restriction on freedom of speech to fire every civil servant and replace them with “our people”? I think it would. Surely he doesn’t mean people who are critical of Trump as “our people”.
Also, I think removing the right to abortion from millions of people is a much clearer restriction of liberty than DEI statements or banning flag-burning.
Why does your argument about how the government is free to allocate funding however it wishes in the context of NSF grants not apply to civil servant salaries? About personal loyalty to Trump over the Constitution[1] or whatever,
This dovetails nicely with your other argument, about him “trying to steal the last election.”
If I understand correctly, it’s that grants by NSF to institutions have to have a section explaining their DEI initiatives.
Grants to individual researchers now also require the DEI statement. I think the AI is not a very good analogy because:
it’s apolitical
I assume that in your example historians and cancer researchers would not lose their jobs for saying heretical things in their AI statements.
A more appropriate analogy would be abortion. Suppose the progressive admins in the NSF are replaced with Christian conservatives who replace the DEI statement with the statement on the “sanctity of life”. To get grants, all researchers must demonstrate how their work is relevant to the fight against the murder of unborn children. Those who refuse or argue in favor of pro-choice policies do not get funding and, after a few years, are forced to quit academic institutions. Would you consider this policy a restriction on the freedom of speech and conscience or just a shift in government priorities?
It would probably be more constructive if we focus on one issue at a time, so I suggest we finish this topic before discussing others.
Okay.
I see all of these decision of deciding what to fund and how to fund them as political. I mean, during the last century a lot of marine research was done through the military, and that shaped what kind of research was done, and which people could do it (probably not anti-war people). I see all of these things as changing government priorities and not restrictions on freedom of speech or conscience.
On the topic of DEI statements themselves, I don’t really think it’s that productive to require them on a large scale. Many universities and research agencies motivate them by saying that it’s important for them to have a diverse base of researches to be more effective/have more perspectives or that it’s the moral thing to do, after excluding them historically. And sure, that might make sense, but I think what that means depends a lot on the scientific field and where in America it’s done. So such policies are probably better done on a more local level.
I also see that the way the Biden/Harris admin has influenced the NSF is through two executive orders (1, 2) which I don’t think is that good. If NSF changed their priority or if laws are passed to change their mandate then that’s one thing, but executive orders are pretty blunt. They also make it hard to say who to blame for things like DEI statements as the executive orders are pretty vague. As the NSF is still an independent agency, it feels like DEI statements are more something the NSF made up to promote DEI and which Biden/Harris is allowing, then something they made them do.
But if someone just dislikes DEI statements then it doesn’t matter that much why exactly they were implemented, as the important part is that Trump would probably get rid of them.
So basically, I think it’s kind of a bad policy, but not that big of a deal.
Can you clarify your answer a little? Do you consider this policy to be not that big of a deal because
it only forces anti-DEI scientists out of the academy, or
the specific ideological filter does not matter and forcing out all pro-choice and pro-DEI scientists would not be that big of a deal either.
The problem is that these questions depend a lot on the details. I don’t know much about the impact of DEI statements or how they are used. I mean, the Biden/Harris administration doesn’t have a policy which is “anti-DEI scientists should be fired” or even “NSF grants should require DEI statements”. The NSF just has the mission “to promote the progress of science, to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare, and to secure the national defense”. That’s really vague, and now the Biden/Harris administration has passed some vague executive orders. But even without executive orders, the NSF could just believe that promoting DEI efforts is important to achieve their mission more effectively. They may be mistaken, but I don’t think I can have that much to say about it if I’m not well read about it. That’s why I talk so much about process and why I dislike the use of executive orders as it’s kind of a sidestep of the normal process (I think).
Basically my answer is (2), but it depends on the details and I just haven’t seen that much of an impact of these DEI statements. I just think there are differences between the candidates that are a lot more important than their impact on DEI in academia.
Choosing (2) makes you an extreme outlier among Democrats, so to be honest, it’s a little hard to believe that you thought it through very well. In your opinion, why is it so bad to replace progressive civil servants with conservatives (“our people”), but doing the same for college professors is not?
So someone who doesn’t agree with democrats hasn’t thought through what they think? That doesn’t sound right. I already said I disagree with the policy and how it’s implemented. I just think there are other things which are a lot more important.
And I don’t think choosing (2) is that weird, I just think it matters a lot what the process is to “filter out” people. Trump has said that he wants to make every executive branch employee fireable by the president. That gives a lot of power to the president, which I think is bad. I think it’s good if the government has a system of checks and balances which limits the presidents power so that the government has a more “slow” and consistent policy, so that the employees don’t feel like they are micromanaged by the President.
Fair enough. My own opinion is that, beyond hurting freedom of speech, hiring researchers based on their race, sexual orientation, and ideological compliance is doing massive damage to scientific progress and undermines the ability of research institutions to provide objective information on matters of public policy (COVID-19, AGW, etc.). However, people can indeed have different opinions on the importance of these issues.
I responded to your other questions in two separate comments.