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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   3205 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for March 9, 2025

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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What were your top priorities, and by what metric has Trump accomplished them?

What did you expect his economic policies to be, and why?

I expected Trump’s economic policies to be 1) passing a tax cut and 2) slashing regulations that affect politically connected people/his supporters, especially in support of drilling more.

My #1 priority is providing protections to social conservatives from harassment and discrimination. Trump has done what I would’ve thought I could have asked for. Rolling back woke probably would have been number two, maybe tied with judicial appointments. Taking a wrecking ball to the education-industrial complex, anti-trans, and having a functioning border would probably be up there. I’ll add in abortion and then guns.

If immigration ranked high on his list, then Trump cut it off overnight. I also appreciate his crackdown on the trans issues, and calling off the dogs set loose on a whistleblower by the Biden administration.

If immigration ranked high on his list, then Trump cut it off overnight.

How reliable is data on this? Setting aside the innate challenge of quantifying illicit activity, people used to claim that Obama-era definitions of Border Control interactions with attempted/alleged illegal immigrants were deliberately misleading and the Trump administration doesn't seem to be especially scrupulous in how it communicates their actions and the associated data.

How reliable is data on this?

I don't know, but don't you think this reply is a bit of a cope? You made a simple question indicating curiosity about what are Trump supporters' priorities, and how they measure whether or not they've been achieved. I can give you a simple answer based on publicly available data, but what answer do you expect when you start questioning it's validity? I can't think of a way do a deep dive and sanity check the numbers, and you probably know / suspect that, so I'm left wondering if the original question was even asked in good faith.

and the Trump administration doesn't seem to be especially scrupulous in how it communicates their actions and the associated data.

This is the lovely thing about adversarial systems, you don't really need them to be. There's no simpler way to attack Trump and demoralize his supporters than to show that he failed to stop / slow down immigration. The fact that nobody is doing it is good indication that the numbers are relatively accurate.

I don't know, but don't you think this reply is a bit of a cope? You made a simple question indicating curiosity about what are Trump supporters' priorities, and how they measure whether or not they've been achieved. I can give you a simple answer based on publicly available data, but what answer do you expect when you start questioning it's validity? I can't think of a way do a deep dive and sanity check the numbers, and you probably know / suspect that, so I'm left wondering if the original question was even asked in good faith.

Define "cope." I don't think it applies, since I'm also in favor of strict enforcement of strict border/immigration enforcement (albeit not to the extent of it being a central priority) and I referenced there also being concerns about Obama-era data, but Motte participation is the most "online" I get, so a user of the word "cope" stating its definition would be helpful.

If you're trying to use the data to make a point, you should also care about its reliability.

You're not the person I replied to, so questioning me questioning your evidence is extra silly.

There's no simpler way to attack Trump and demoralize his supporters than to show that he failed to stop / slow down immigration. The fact that nobody is doing it is good indication that the numbers are relatively accurate.

Or perhaps there isn't useful data (whether because of the innate problems quantifying illicit activity, because it's been fewer than 60 days, something else, all of the above...), and Trump's opponents are more scrupulous.

Supposing data showed the Trump administration wasn't slowing illegal immigration, what would make questioning the reliability of the data a "cope?"

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