Did You Get That Post-Election Survey, Too?

This is only a status update. Real blog posts, on topics suggested by sponsors, cost $5 each and are waiting to be funded.

I'm online live from the real-world Internet Portal store on Jackson Street. We buy, sell, or trade, but so far today all I've done is be harassed by a person who's stopped paying for hack writing and seems upset that the person's stopped getting it.

Cold November rain washed away most of the business in town yesterday. The rain seems to be stopping now, while people are still in town. Come out and shop, people. You are not limited to buying what you see in the store; you can order things online here, and we're looking for more suppliers of hand-crafted merchandise. Not secondhand goods. Lots of other stores sell secondhand goods, some of it quite nice. We are looking for new, handmade goods. If you paint, sculpt, carve, sew, cast, knit, crochet, embroider, tat, quilt, forge, or wire, we want you to be part of this store.

I've shared my Yougov link here before; since nobody's used it I'm guessing all US readers are already members of Yougov US. This is a legitimate paid survey site. No phone numbers, no spam, no obnoxious e-mails where halfway through a survey you're notified that you're not the demographic someone was looking for and will not be paid for your time. When you get Yougov surveys, once in a while you may get one that shuts you out, but if so it will be attached to one that doesn't; you do get some points for opening each survey link. The cash value of the points is low. Nobody gets rich at Yougov. Everybody who fills out a few legitimate sponsored surveys, mostly about shopping and brand recognition, earns a giftcard every few months at their choice of Amazon, Target, and various real-world chain stores. They have a social page where you can discuss unsponsored brands of your own choice on Disqus, if you have time; a gifted "marketer" could use that feature to promote a new product. Since I'm a knitter I've always opted to let Yougov buy me yarn at Michaels. Currently, I'm watching the mail for another giftcard to buy some yarn in time to knit something for Christmas.

If you're not already a member of Yougov, and you are in the United States, you can join on your own, but both you and I get points if you use this link:

https://today.yougov.com/refer/brglBv6yISldXGeAQbYXBg/

Yougov has pages in other countries too; I'm told that each one has different rules, and not all are as user-friendly as the US, UK, and Canada versions. On the other hand some may in some ways be friendlier. In some countries Yougov reportedly offers the option of cash payouts, which are not available here.

Anyway, following the election, I received one of the very few Yougov surveys that don't focus on brand-name merchandise. I suspect it was sponsored by the Democratic Party, because it began with questions about the voting experience.

My voting experience this year was totally normal. I went in after work, waited for one other voter to be signed in, showed my card, was signed in, and didn't even have to wait to go to a booth and vote. I voted for one winning candidate and one losing one. 

There were several other questions, some of which bordered on being insulting. Still beating that dead horse of "Republicans are racists," the D's asked which races (people guessed) their congressional candidates belonged to. 

They might have done better to have remembered their own rhetoric. In 2010, the D sponsors of former Congressman Boucher of Abingdon advertised in Gate City that then Candidate Griffith of Christiansburg was "Not from here. Not for us." Now, apparently, the same party operatives are under the impression that "Flaccavento" is a Gate City name. It's not. "Rossi" is, and arguably "Adenolfi" is, now, but nobody's even mentioned what town Candidate Flaccavento does come from. Either Abingdon or Christiansburg is more than a day's walk from Gate City but in view of recent D sloganeering, "Not from here. Not for us," kept coming to mind.

The survey went on to ask some more questions, including questions of foreign policy, about which I have no opinion. I think my final comment on the survey was worth sharing. It has been revised slightly for clarity.

"
Sponsors should try to avoid forcing choices on questions where respondents have no informed opinion. I could support either blocking immigration (or travel) due to a situation of special danger, or screening all foreigners thoroughly before letting them enter the country. I cannot imagine why people from one country, not at war with us, should be treated differently from others. That doesn't mean there can't be reasons; it means I've not been there and have no way to evaluate anything I've heard. The question is what people intend to do, not where they come from or what they look like.

This relates to the questions about race relations in the U.S. in a way...I think special problems that used to face Black people have been (mostly) resolved. Apart from individual relationships, which can be serious problems when the individuals involved are bigots, the special problems currently facing Black people are the ones they have in common with poorer people of any color. A more centralized economy makes it harder for people of any color to raise their standard of living. Young Black people deserve not empathy, but sympathy, from older White people because those of us who aren't wealthy face most of the same problems.
"

To which I'm sure regular readers are adding, "...And bigger government is not the solution."