Comments on: Merit and Fear http://dangerousintersection.org/2008/07/14/merit-and-fear/ Human Animals at the Crossroads of Culture, Science, Religion and Media Sat, 22 Nov 2008 11:22:13 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: davea0511 http://dangerousintersection.org/2008/07/14/merit-and-fear/#comment-21338 davea0511 Mon, 14 Jul 2008 17:23:36 +0000 http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=2856#comment-21338 There's no doubt that both fear and prejudice has played a major role in our country's history (although I don't think that's uniquely American). I also think the fear of having a black president is much easier to overcome that the fear of having a woman president, or even more challenging, a Mormon president. It's the politicians who have obvious things like minority race, sex, or religions on their resume that automatically get the most scrutiny - and in most cases I think it's fair to conclude that those who are hopelessly in the majority are the ones who get the least scrutiny, which phenomena has likely set us up for some of the quandaries we now face. That said, I think we have good reason to be afraid of almost all politicians. There’s no doubt that both fear and prejudice has played a major role in our country’s history (although I don’t think that’s uniquely American). I also think the fear of having a black president is much easier to overcome that the fear of having a woman president, or even more challenging, a Mormon president.

It’s the politicians who have obvious things like minority race, sex, or religions on their resume that automatically get the most scrutiny - and in most cases I think it’s fair to conclude that those who are hopelessly in the majority are the ones who get the least scrutiny, which phenomena has likely set us up for some of the quandaries we now face.

That said, I think we have good reason to be afraid of almost all politicians.

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