On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 9:54 PM, Bryan Atinsky <bryan at alt-info.org> wrote:
> Hi all, I know of studies that relate engineering to extremist mindsets, but
> is there any statistics about the number/percentage of engineers voting
> republican/libertarian?
>
> Or is this an old-wives tale?
Do you know where I could find these studies? Searching for something like "engineering extremist mindsets" only gives me lots of links on Islamic extremism, not western extremism.
I think it's interesting to read the right-wing take on software-developer/entrepreneur sites, like I noticed last weekend:
Project Cybersyn: real-time computer control of a planned economy (1970-1973)
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1190508
Venezuela's Chavez calls for Internet controls
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1190800
Why No Jobs
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1192360
In my view, one main thing the libertarian right does well is to have a convenient site (mises.org) which has:
- lots of well-written books and articles about their ideology
- regularly updated blogs
- active, maintained forums (perhaps a training ground to develop
reasoned arguments)
I don't know what their offline organizing is like. But of course, lots of software people log huge hours online, so I suppose online institutions are extra effective among them.
As SA's interesting study alludes, most probably identify themselves some kind of "moderate" or "independent", so there's currently more dissatisfaction with freemarket interpretations of economics than usual, given the need for state intervention. But "moderate" winds easily change direction...
All the best, Tayssir