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The entire piece was about why people in these small, high-poverty towns support Trump’s tariff policies, not how they voted. You’re welcome to buy our data like everyone else. Then you can make an informed decision about it.

Half the population of Bedford Co is in 2 townships, Hopewell (median income of $95k, poverty rate of 5%) and Bedford Twp ($80k income, 4.5% poverty rate). Hyndman is $62k and 11%. So yes, there are hundreds of towns in the U.S. more like Hyndman than most of its own county.

Because it was a personal intro to a much longer writeup I do for clients every week. Mark simply posted a few screenshots from it, I guess because he agrees with it. Our company has more data on this stuff than literally anyone in the world, ever. You’re barking up the wrong tree here.

Sure. And I alluded to the root cause of that in what I wrote.

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John Dick @jdcivicscience.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

Well, given that my entire company exists to gather and study political, demographic, and economic data, rest assured I factor it into every point of view I have (hence why people like Mark Cuban trust it and share it).

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A) Where and when did I extrapolate from Hyndman to the "entirety of Red America? I've never done that. B) I also never claimed Hyndman & Bedford had vastly different politics, only different economic circumstances.

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John Dick @jdcivicscience.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

1 I've spent half my life (still do), own a home, and will retire in Hyndman. I'm confident in my authority on the matter (as is Mark C); 2 Conflating Hyndman (pop 850) with Bedford (pop 47k) is data malpractice; 3 Reading select screenshots of an email prologue and calling it "a report" is absurd.

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John Dick @jdcivicscience.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

Though still far less than other groups, tariff concerns among Republicans have risen steeply over the past month, per CivicScience.

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Again, how is acknowledging why they support tariff policies “rewarding their worst impulses?” I’m certainly. It saying it should change our evaluation of those policies.

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This thread went far afield of what I wrote about - the impact of globalization on their local economy. Empathy here is saying: I understand why you feel screwed over by a system you didn’t control and why you support tariff policies I personally believe are asinine. What’s wrong about that?

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Because that’s how empathy works. And this group of people has clearly shown the power to elect an authoritarian into office. So we can ignore and revile them and keep losing, or figure out economic policies that work for everyone.

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Yeah you’re right. I wanted to edit it five seconds after I posted it. I meant that 78M total people voted for Trump (which is less than the # of blacks and Hispanics in the U.S.).

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For sure. My very white family has been in Hyndman for 4 generations - I can’t relate to the prejudice in the least and I’m sorry you were affected by it. Exclusion is one of many complex reasons these towns are failing. I was merely writing about globalization as one of those reasons.

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Listing and stack-ranking the long list of people who are to blame for the situation was never my purpose, if only because there’s no objective, quantitative way to measure it.

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I think I said as much in the same paragraph you’re quoting.

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I’ve never asked anyone there who they blame for the lack of infrastructure or credit for its eventual arrival. My guess is their Republican representatives blamed the other side, then took credit when it happened, so that’s what they believe.

There absolutely is deep underlying prejudice in these places, passed down for generations with little opportunity (education, travel, etc) to gain real empathy. If that’s enough reason for us to not empathize with their economic plight, ok. But it doesn’t get us any closer to fixing anything.

I’ve spent half my life in Hyndman since childhood (and still do). The other half took me to college and a lot of professional success (hence “up and to the right”). I’m quite confident my friends and family there wouldn’t be offended by my perspective or the notion that I’ve earned one.

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Not really. This missive was about the impact of globalization and free trade on the economy. Their local representatives have little if any real influence over those policies. Right or wrong, most people assign credit and blame for the economy to whoever is in the White House.

Who knows. Superior pandering by Rs, right-wing control of terrestrial radio?

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John Dick @jdcivicscience.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

I can’t speak to where you grew up or your experience, nor would I question your “authority,” given I have no idea who you are. But I’ve spent half my life in Hyndman, continue to, and will retire there. I talk to my friends about these things at great length. I stand behind everything I wrote.

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How long until they ban people from the platform for continuing to refer to it as Twitter?

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John Dick @jdcivicscience.bsky.social · 06/02/2025

With all the higher-ed loathing from the right in recent years, has there been a single Trump appointee that doesn't have a college degree, or even a non-prestigious one? It's as if Trump believes a college education is essential to being "the best and brightest."

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John Dick @jdcivicscience.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

You cant say you’re only hiring the best and brightest while stacking govt with your political supporters. There are 100M Blacks & Hispanics in the U.S. 78M voted for Trump. You’d have better odds finding a qualified candidate if you only hired minorities than if you only hired Trump supporters.

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John Dick @jdcivicscience.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

Daughter: Dad, what do they do when Punxsutawney Phil dies? Me: They get a Re-Phil.

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John Dick @jdcivicscience.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

In related news, here’s a 2022 GMC Yukon Mt. McKinley.

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John Dick @jdcivicscience.bsky.social · 21/01/2025

Few if any National Anthems will ever hold up against Chris Stapleton’s at the Super Bowl, especially since he played and sang it live, but Coco Jones just did an all-time prerecorded rendition at the National Championship game.

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John Dick @jdcivicscience.bsky.social · 21/01/2025

Wait, doesn’t Donald Trump work remote?

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John Dick @jdcivicscience.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

Of all the endless slights, Gen X being completely ignored in today’s Strands puzzle is a new low.

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John Dick @jdcivicscience.bsky.social · 15/01/2025

How is it possible that I still haven't found an effective synonym for the verb "trump" over the past ten years? It's editorial torture.

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It would be cool to have at least one close game this weekend.

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Maybe the Steelers are merely a textbook example of the Third Generation Principle of family-owned businesses and why they fail. There's some "Innovator's Dilemma" in there too. All-in-all, a classic case of organizational decline most business school grads could diagnose.

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No, that was precisely my take. Just accept that the benefits these apps provide vastly outweigh whatever damage they might do by changing their content moderation policies (at least until it doesn’t). But let’s not pretend we’re fooling anyone with half-measures like a 1-week boycott.

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You missed my point entirely. I have no intention of quitting those apps, but I also don’t judge people who do. Just own whatever position you want to take. A half-measure like a one-week boycott is simply disingenuous.

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Then just accept that “the good” Meta apps do far outweigh the consequences of a content moderation policy they have every right to implement. That’s why I’m continuing to use them.

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That’s precisely my point. Let’s all just be honest that the usefulness of these (free) services outweighs whatever issues we might have with their policies. These boycotts are a half-measure at best.

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John Dick @jdcivicscience.bsky.social · 11/01/2025

I wasn’t saying that at all, only that this boycott is a half-measure at best. I fully intend to keep using Meta apps. Their usefulness still outweighs whatever issues I might have with their policies…for now.

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This is kind of a self-own. If you believe that strongly about it, quit using them altogether. Otherwise, acknowledge that you’re willing to completely sell out your principles because you’re addicted to using a social media app. Or just admit that you’re not all that pissed off in the first place.

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John Dick @jdcivicscience.bsky.social · 10/01/2025

The point was simply about the low quality of teams/product we're sending over.