I think that I spot the flaw of Fallows' argument, where he says that red states will ultimately refuse to gut their educational systems. Fallows is assuming some sort of political equilibrium, where the sane pushback gets stronger as the crazy moves further. But the feedback loop might be positive: ressentiment. The worse off the red st…
I think that I spot the flaw of Fallows' argument, where he says that red states will ultimately refuse to gut their educational systems. Fallows is assuming some sort of political equilibrium, where the sane pushback gets stronger as the crazy moves further. But the feedback loop might be positive: ressentiment. The worse off the red states get, the more they will devalue blue state values such as education and social order. "We are poor but proud" is a good way to stay poor forever.
I'm not sure that the business wing of the Republican Party will be a very effective counterweight. We have already seen the Republican Party do many things that their business wing despises: tariffs, Fed-bashing, immigration. Why not add education to the list? More so: the business class has only tepid support for anything not explicitly vocational or STEM.
Worth considering. Especially if red states are doing other things right, less effectively restrictive NIMBY-ism, more "business friendly." The growing firms there can always import the educated workers they need and maybe getting killed by some crazy concealed carry guy is not THAT big of a risk.
I'll concede your point on land use, but red states often have a curious idea of what "business friendly" entails--low wages, rather than high infrastructure. Getting killed by a crazy concealed carry guy is not that big a risk, but few educated workers want to inflict red-state antics on their kids' education.
I think that I spot the flaw of Fallows' argument, where he says that red states will ultimately refuse to gut their educational systems. Fallows is assuming some sort of political equilibrium, where the sane pushback gets stronger as the crazy moves further. But the feedback loop might be positive: ressentiment. The worse off the red states get, the more they will devalue blue state values such as education and social order. "We are poor but proud" is a good way to stay poor forever.
I'm not sure that the business wing of the Republican Party will be a very effective counterweight. We have already seen the Republican Party do many things that their business wing despises: tariffs, Fed-bashing, immigration. Why not add education to the list? More so: the business class has only tepid support for anything not explicitly vocational or STEM.
Worth considering. Especially if red states are doing other things right, less effectively restrictive NIMBY-ism, more "business friendly." The growing firms there can always import the educated workers they need and maybe getting killed by some crazy concealed carry guy is not THAT big of a risk.
I'll concede your point on land use, but red states often have a curious idea of what "business friendly" entails--low wages, rather than high infrastructure. Getting killed by a crazy concealed carry guy is not that big a risk, but few educated workers want to inflict red-state antics on their kids' education.