He’s continuing to explore the NIPs. After running through a lot of inconclusive details about party and ideology and non-attenders of church, he concludes that the inconclusion is the conclusion.
= = = = = START BURGE:
It used to be easier to predict whether someone was a never attender by whether they identified as an evangelical or a Republican or a man. Now, those variables still have explanatory power, it’s just less. Never attenders are starting to look more and more like the general population – not some unique group like they were in 2008.
This is what’s going to happen as a group gets to a third of the population, by the way. This is what I always say about the nones – you can’t get that large without drawing in people from basically every demographic group.
= = = = = END BURGE.
I’ve been asking one question about all of these NIP categories, from church to politics to entertainment. When a large portion of the population doesn’t want Brand A or Brand B, there should be an opportunity for a new brand C with fresh features and fresh ideas. Why hasn’t it happened?
Burge’s inconclusion probably answers why the new opportunities fail. At this point in the development of nihilism and mistrust, everyone is tired of bait-n-switch games, tired of lies and betrayal. Everyone is sharply tuned to detect the slightest hint of bullshit, so a new competitor can’t overcome buyer resistance no matter how hard it tries.
Conversely, when a large and varied portion is outside of the teams, the people who remain inside the teams are purified. Only the most serious cult-loving suckers are still in the fence. The leaders no longer have to worry about losing or gaining members. They don’t NEED to do anything to keep the suckers inside the fence, and CAN’T do anything to attract the NIPs. Government has no reason to solve problems. Just keep making the noises the cultists want to hear.
Polistra's Mill 