Mexicans are conservative on some issues: A reader noted that Mexican-Americans are social conservatives. I was curious to see the exact numbers on a few issues, social and otherwise, that are close to the liberal's heart. First, I looked at abortion. According to the GSS, while 41% of Americans are in favor of abortion for any reason, only 30% of Mexicans feel that way. Thirty-six percent of Americans favor spending more taxes to protect the environment, compared to 24% of Mexicans.
This group is also thought to be more homophobic than others, but there was only a one percentage point difference between those of Mexican ancestry and the general population who think there is nothing wrong with homosexuality (18 vs. 19%).
Feminists and environmentalists should think twice about favoring open borders. Greens should be doubly concerned since a flood a Mexicans also means environmental degradation through overpopulation. Perhaps people think that Mexicans can be brought around on these issues. In Mexico, abortion is legal only when the mother's life is at risk or in the case of rape, and only in the first trimester. If the Democratic party is increasingly swamped with Mexican members, I for one would be ecstatic to see it forced to move right on abortion.
Are gun owners mentally ill?
Some anti-gun people think owning a gun is a sign of some kind of mental abnormality. According to General Social Survey data, gun owners ...
Some greens are waking up to what you write about here. Witness the recent insurrection at the highest levels of the Sierra Club over immigration.
ReplyDeleteThis suggests a quick litmus test to separate the greens from the watermelons: support for Mexican immigration.
ReplyDeleteSide note: I think most people's distaste for the environmental movement is motivated by a strong dislike of the watermelons which tend to have very prominent positions in green organizations, like the Sierra Club as Jeff noted. (Of interest only in supporting the watemelon assertion, note that in the linked story, MoveOn saw fit to intevene in this internal Sierra Club matter)
Hidden in this post is the amazing figure that 4 in 5 Americans believe there is something wrong with homosexuality. You would never know this from watching news or other media. I think it must cover everyone from the most fundamentalist Christian to people like me, who have no philosophical/social opposition to homosexuals, but that instead view the lifestyle as a reproductive and evolutionary dead end.
ReplyDeleteAnd the real test would be asking "How would you feel if your child told you he/she was gay?" I don't know anyone who would say they were elated by this news. I would tell my child I loved him/her but privately my heart would broken.
Back to Mexicans - they really have problems with homosexuals. Maybe it isn't so much they view them that differently than other Americans, but they don't have any reluctance to share those views like others do.
While I'm no "open border" type, the social conservatism of Mexican immigrants and their children makes me think there might be unintended (and possibly positive) political effects from their unfettered movement north. However, as I stated earlier, I fear what I have always percieved as a distinct strain of fiscal leftism in them.
I ask the Inductivist - any data that supports my view that Mexicans are more likely to have fiscally liberal, ie, high tax, big spending views?
Hmmm - - if I'm right, maybe that's why Bush wants open borders and amnesty so bad - flood the nation with social conservatives and big government spenders!
On disapproval of homosexuality: my post was based on many years so I could maximize the sample size. The current percent of those thinking there is nothing wrong with homosexuality is somewhat higher: 33% for whites, 31% for Mexican-Americans, and 16% for blacks. But the fact remains that disapproval is still at a high level.
ReplyDelete