“…Too small to be a republic, too large to be an insane asylum…”

Long ago at Kung Fu Monkey:

Friday, October 07, 2005
Lunch Discussions #145: The Crazification Factor

….John: Hey, Bush is now at 37% approval. I feel much less like Kevin McCarthy screaming in traffic. But I wonder what his base is —

Tyrone: 27%.

John: … you said that immmediately, and with some authority.

Tyrone: Obama vs. Alan Keyes. Keyes was from out of state, so you can eliminate any established political base; both candidates were black, so you can factor out racism; and Keyes was plainly, obviously, completely crazy. Batshit crazy. Head-trauma crazy. But 27% of the population of Illinois voted for him. They put party identification, personal prejudice, whatever ahead of rational judgement. Hell, even like 5% of Democrats voted for him. That’s crazy behaviour. I think you have to assume a 27% Crazification Factor in any population.

John: Objectively crazy or crazy vis-a-vis my own inertial reference frame for rational behaviour? I mean, are you creating the Theory of Special Crazification or General Crazification?

Tyrone: Hadn’t thought about it. Let’s split the difference. Half just have worldviews which lead them to disagree with what you consider rationality even though they arrive at their positions through rational means, and the other half are the core of the Crazification — either genuinely crazy; or so woefully misinformed about how the world works, the bases for their decision making is so flawed they may as well be crazy.

John: You realize this leads to there being over 30 million crazy people in the US?

Tyrone: Does that seem wrong?

John: … a bit low, actually….

This, via Public Policy Polling:

December 18, 2015
Trump Lead Grows Nationally; 41% of His Voters Want to Bomb Country From Aladdin; Clinton Maintains Big Lead

….To put some of these findings about real modern day issues and Trump voters in context, 41% of his voters think Japanese internment was a good thing, to 37% who don’t. And 41% of his supporters would favor bombing Agrabah to only 9% who are opposed to doing that. Agrabah is the country from Aladdin. Overall 30% of Republican primary voters say they support bombing it to 13% who are opposed. We asked the same question of Democrats, and 36% of them opposed bombing Agrabah to 19% in support….

I haven’t seen the movie. Does that make me an undecided on Agrabah?

There’s more [pdf]:

[….]

Public Policy Polling surveyed 532 usual Republican primary voters and 525 usual Democratic primary voters on December 16th and 17th. The margin of error for both parties is +/-4.3%. 80% of participants responded via the phone, while 20% of respondents who did not have landlines conducted the survey over the internet.

[….]

[Republican primary voters]

Q32 Would you support or oppose banning Muslims from entering the United States?
Support banning Muslims from entering the United States 54%
Oppose banning Muslims from entering the United States 25%
Not sure 21%

Q33 Do you believe that thousands of Arabs in New Jersey cheered when the World Trade Center collapsed on 9/11 or not?
Believe thousands of Arabs in New Jersey cheered when the World Trade Center collapsed on 9/11 36%
Do not believe thousands of Arabs in New Jersey cheered when the World Trade Center collapsed on 9/11 35%
Not sure 29%

Q34 Would you support or oppose shutting down mosques in the United States?
Support shutting down mosques in the United States 28%
Oppose shutting down mosques in the United States 47%
Not sure 26%

Q35 Would you support or oppose creating a national database of Muslims in the United States?
Support a national database of Muslims in the United States 46%
Oppose a national database of Muslims in the United States 37%
Not sure 17%

Q36 Do you think the religion of Islam should be legal or illegal in the United States?
Islam should be legal in the United States 53%
Islam should be illegal in the United States 26%
Not sure 21%

Q37 Looking back, do you support or oppose the policy of Japanese Internment during World War II?
Support the policy of Japanese Internment 28%
Oppose the policy of Japanese Internment 49%
Not sure 23%

Q38 Would you support or oppose bombing Agrabah?
Support bombing Agrabah 30%
Oppose bombing Agrabah 13%
Not sure 57%

[….]

Yeah, those numbers are probably a bit low, actually.