Tribesmen unhidden

Fortune.com recently reported on a "Hidden Tribes" study that More In Common had conducted. Mislead by the photo Fortune used on Facebook to promote its story, I concluded headline claim "The Far Right Represents Only 6% of Citizens, Study Says" referred exclusively to the two-legged detritus depicted:

(Fortune.com photo)

So misdirected, I reposted the Fortune article link with the following message:

"6% is still too much, of course. But it's a far piece from the 'under every bed' ubiquitousness political propagandists would have us believe.

"For some, continued power and paychecks hinge on unsubstantiated hysteria. Were they sincere in their claimed beliefs, they would celebrate hate groups' nearly complete disappearance from the landscape.

"Instead, they pretend such ragged and execrable assemblages still pose significant dangers."

It was only when I personally took the Hidden Tribes online quiz that I realized I'd been had, and that a mainstream media organ had again artfully contorted definition into something convenient to its bias. My answers put me in that 6% "Devoted Conservatives" category.
The Hidden Tribes study page characterized the 6% thusly:

"The Devoted Conservatives are the counterpart to the Progressive Activists, but at the other end of the spectrum. They are one of the highest-income groups, and they feel happier and more secure than most other Americans. They are highly engaged in social and political issues and think that religious liberty, abortion, and terrorism are especially critical issues. They value patriotism and loyalty to the flag. They feel that traditional values are under assault and that Americans are being forced to accept liberal beliefs about issues such as immigration, racial inequality, Islam, and the role of women. They believe that American values are being eroded rapidly, and they see themselves as defenders of those values."

The Values described by the study's authors are hardly standard among the few-in-number hooded hate-wretches in the Fb photo. Foolish and terrible articles of faith for marchers in that regrettable number include unscientific notions of racial superiority, and that violence and terrorism are legitimate tools for an imagined worldwide conflict.

Such are flatly incongruent with any reasonable characterization of traditional, patriotic Americanism. Equality, liberty, individualism, and national sovereignty are its genuine hallmarks -- not the foul, ignorant, false, vicious, and oppressive passions advocated by hate thugs like those shown in the Fortune.com photo.
A look at More In Common's "Our team" page turns up rich evidence of an organization hardly disposed toward principles like nationalism and state autonomy. Many members hail from EU nations, and count liberal groups like Change.org, Greenpeace, Global Zero, Google, and the French Socialist Party on their resumes.
Small wonder they would rank traditional values and patriotism as negatives. Their sort has never supported liberty.

Patriotism and respect for the flag, and opposition to the horrors of abortion and political violence, are traditionally cherished beliefs among Americans. They are not and never were extreme negatives common to Nazism and Tiki Torch-carrying bottom-feeders.
Consider the outrageous reality that visible media, show business, and academic figures routinely smear as immoral American principles that have produced tremendous advancements in politics, medicine, science, education, and the arts. These momentous strides not only bettered our own land and culture, but served to inspire countless millions the world over.
The Hidden Tribes study was not legitimate political inquiry -- in which popular attitudes are chronicled objectively and without prejudice -- but merely another example of irresponsible academics seeking to move definitional goalposts, that laudatory, long-defended American values can be slurred as conflicting with the larger interest.