Why I voted for Trump

When the election season of 2016 began, Trump was not on my radar. However, after the party conventions, there were only 2 viable candidates: Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. I wanted to choose the candidate who most closely matched my world view. I also wanted to make sure the political party was aligned with my views. A world view is simply a comprehensive conception or apprehension of the world especially from a specific standpoint. Everyone looks at life through a particular window on the world. Our world view helps us answer life’s big questions: Is there a God, what is real and true, what is moral, where do our laws come from, what happens after we die? Whether conscious or subconscious, every person has some type of worldview. A personal worldview is a combination of all you believe to be true, and what you believe becomes the driving force behind every emotion, decision and action. Therefore, it affects your response to every area of life: from philosophy to science, theology and anthropology to economics, law, politics, art and social order — everything.

More important than your world view are the issues that face American citizens. In order to see how my world view is reflected by candidates, I took an online quiz to see which candidate most closely lines up with my views on issues in the areas of crime and Justice, economy, education, energy, foreign policy, 2nd amendment, health care, immigration, labor and wages, marijuana, national defense, race, environment and gender issues. The following are among the 75 questions asked:

• Should Law Enforcement Be Allowed to Use Racial Profiling?

• Does Lowering the Corporate Income Tax Rate Create Jobs?

• Should Any Public Colleges or Universities Be Tuition-Free?

• Should Voters Be Required to Show Photo Identification in Order to Vote?

• Should Fracking Be Allowed?

• Should the United States Build Additional Nuclear Power Plants?

• Is the Nuclear Arms Deal with Iran Good for America?

• Should More Gun Control Laws Be Enacted?

• Is Obamacare (ACA) Good for America?

• Should Planned Parenthood Receive Federal Funding?

• Should the United States Continue to Build the Fence/Wall along the US-Mexico Border?

• Should the Federal Minimum Wage Be Increased?

• Should the United States Close the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp?

• Should the NSA Continue to Collect Phone and Email Metadata on US Citizens?

• Should Interrogation Techniques Such as Waterboarding, Be a Legal Option?

• Is the Criminal Justice System Unfair to Black People?

• Is Human Activity Primarily Responsible for Global Climate Change?

• Should the United States Transition Away from Fossil Fuels and Towards Renewable Energy?

• Was the US Supreme Court Decision Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage a Good Decision?

When the dust cleared, I agreed with Trump by 91% and Clinton by 20%.

Of course, one’s world view isn’t always the primary reason for supporting a particular candidate. Other reasons include member of constituency groups, family tradition and personal motives.

There are 2 things that people don’t talk about at Thanksgiving dinner; politics and religion. Why is that the case? Some, if not most people, are wed to their beliefs. When a belief is tied to one’s emotions, a challenge is often met with anger. Which, feeds my question: why do we get angry simply because someone holds different view than we do? The answer is that we actually don’t— we get scared. Like many other fears, this emotion manifests itself in irrational forms, and the way it plays out simply looks like anger. But, its not. It’s fear. When we encounter someone, who has, what sounds to be a reasonable and convincing view on an emotional topic that challenges one of ours, we get scared. The more our mind tells us that the alternative position sounds good, the more scared we get. The subconscious question then becomes: “If I’m wrong about this, what else am I wrong about?” My answer is to discuss the disagreement using facts and logical reasoning while avoiding logical fallacies. This chart identifies some of the most common views.

I can defend my beliefs using facts and logic while avoiding logic errors. In my next blog, I will explain common logic fallacies. The following propaganda techniques used by many people, especially politicians, to persuade you that their ideas are true.

Propaganda Techniques

What are Propaganda Techniques? They are the methods and approaches used to spread ideas that further a cause - a political, commercial, religious, or civil cause.

Why are they used? To manipulate the readers' or viewers' reason and emotions; to persuade you to believe in something or someone, buy an item, or vote a certain way.

What are the most commonly used propaganda techniques? See which of the ten most common types of propaganda techniques you already know.

Name calling: This technique consists of attaching a negative label to a person or a thing. People engage in this type of behavior when they are trying to avoid supporting their own opinion with facts. Rather than explain what they believe in, they prefer to try to tear their opponent down.

Glittering Generalities: This technique uses important-sounding "glad words" that have little or no real meaning. These words are used in general statements that cannot be proved or disproved. Words like "good," "honest," "fair," and "best" are examples of "glad" words.

Transfer: In this technique, an attempt is made to transfer the prestige of a positive symbol to a person or an idea. For example, using the American flag as a backdrop for a political event makes the implication that the event is patriotic in the best interest of the U.S.

False Analogy: In this technique, two things that may or may not really be similar are portrayed as being similar. When examining the comparison, you must ask yourself how similar the items are. In most false analogies, there is simply not enough evidence available to support the comparison.

Testimonial: This technique is easy to understand. It is when "big name" personalities are used to endorse a product. Whenever you see someone famous endorsing a product, ask yourself how much that person knows about the product, and what he or she stands to gain by promoting it.

Plain Folks: This technique uses a folksy approach to convince us to support someone or something. These ads depict people with ordinary looks doing ordinary activities.

Card Stacking: This term comes from stacking a deck of cards in your favor. Card stacking is used to slant a message. Key words or unfavorable statistics may be omitted in an ad or commercial, leading to a series of half-truths. Keep in mind that an advertiser is under no obligation "to give the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth."

Bandwagon: The bandwagon approach encourages you to think that because everyone else is doing something, you should do it too, or you'll be left out.

Either/or fallacy: This technique is also called black-and-white thinking because only two choices are given. You are either for something or against it; there is no middle ground or shades of gray. It is used to polarize issues, and negates all attempts to find a common ground.

Faulty Cause and Effect: This technique suggests that because B follows A, A must cause B. Remember, just because two events or two sets of data are related does not necessarily mean that one caused the other to happen. It is important to evaluate data carefully before jumping to a wrong conclusion.

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