Political Affinities Confuse Me
The general affinity of Silicon Valley and Americans of Japanese descent with the Democrat Party has always confused me. This subject came to mind after hearing of the death of Jack Herzig, a lawyer who was instrumental in gaining redress for Japanese-Americans (JA) interned during World War II.
Franklin Roosevelt, the President who interned the JA, is a Democratic icon. The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the internment. We traditionally have a long memory over honor and those that dis us (Kev, I can throw some slang in too :-), and yet, this hasn’t translated to a distrust of the Supreme Court or Democrats. My guess is that the Vietnam/Watergate Era was key.. The distrust that the JA had for the U.S. Government was embodied by a Republican, Richard Nixon. While Watergate was Nixon’s own doing, JAs seem to forget that John Kennedy, another Democrat icon, and Linden Johnson kicked things off in Vietnam.
Silicon Valley is another story. Most preach a life based on meritocracy and questioning the rules. While I can see how questioning rules would seem counter to Republicans, Democrat policies don’t lend themselves to a meritocracy. My guess again would relate back to the Vietnam/Watergate era for basically the same reasons as JAs in that Republicans are identified with mistrust in the U.S. Government.
These two groups, both of which I belong to, have very fundamental beliefs in self-reliance and personal responsibility which are anathema (that means reviled/shunned, Kev) to Democrats in my mind. If you believe I am wrong, please explain why the Democrats’ answer to any problem is a government program or more government spending. It is my belief that it is the desire to appear like a nice person that drives both of these groups to Democrats, not necessarily a belief in their policies. Who wouldn’t want to be associated with a political party that believes in protecting the environment, caring for the poor and elderly, and educating our children unless of course the method by which they were achieving these goals was to restrict private property rights, take money from working people, and indoctrinate.
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