[Peace-discuss] McClatchy: public opposed to more troops in Afg., esp. women, lower-income

[Robert Naiman]

I agree, one should not over-interpret these differences affirmatively
based on this single poll. I think they are more important for
dispelling the opposite assumptions. If one really wanted to make
conclusions about different groups one would need more data and try to
pull apart cross-correlations - more educated people tend to have more
income, tend to be more Republican, etc. I suspect those
cross-correlations are driving most of the differences here, although
the possibility that more educated people are more indoctrinated
should not be discounted.

I saw a talk many years ago at Levis by a historian whose name,
unfortunately, I can't remember. He asked the large crowd if they
thought less-educated or more-educated Americans were more or less
likely to support the Vietnam war. A handful of us raised our hands
for the proposition that more educated Americans were more likely to
support the war. The overwhelming majority of the crowd thought that
less-educated Americans were more likely to support the war. Of
course, polling showed the opposite. He claimed that the result was
true even if you pulled out differences in income, and that the
difference was due to the indoctrination effect of education.

I was part of the handful, because I had read my Chomsky. :)


On Fri, Sep 4, 2009 at 2:11 PM, Morton K. Brussel<brussel at illinois.edu> wrote:
> So what does this mean?
> That the more knowledge one has, or that the more reading one does, the more
> one supports the government's policies?
> (The numbers are not that significant in any case—e.g., 48% vs 44%. With a
> 3% estimated error?)
>
> The poll may be good ammunition for those wanting "our" withdrawal from SE
> Asia, but it will be subject to different conclusions.
>
> --mkb
>
> On Sep 4, 2009, at 12:31 PM, Robert Naiman wrote:
>
>> Opposition to more troops was strongest among the least educated:
>> 67-28 among those with less than a high school education and 49-38
>> among those with some college. The tide turned among the college
>> educated, with 46 percent favoring more troops and 44 percent opposed.
>
>



-- 
Robert Naiman
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org
naiman at justforeignpolicy.org

Senator Feingold Calls for Timetable for U.S. Troop Withdrawal from Afghanistan
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/exit-afghanistan