I have made several posts on Parsimony, this one will be focused on Race and its role in the current election. General Colin Powell has endorsed Obama for reelection. A close Romney adviser has suggested this is due to race and not due to issues. Of course Obama supporters have jumped on him for being racist, this much is to be expected. However I think we're overlooking the part Parsimony plays in this discourse. It has be said even beyond the level of Ad Nauseum that those who oppose Obama are mostly racist, and do not infact oppose his policies.
This position attempts to use Ockham's razor to shave away parsimonious distinctions in relation to peoples opposition to the president. It attempts to say that; given both racism and ideological differences, Racism is a more accurate and simple explanation for people's dislike of the president, therefore we can shave other reasons, like ideology, away and disregard them. The problem with this use of the razor is it opens up a parallel argument to be constructed in the reverse position:
Given both racial affinity and ideological agreement in support of the president, racial affinity is simpler and more accurate. Therefore we can shave away more parsimonious distinctions, such as ideological agreement.
In other words, the only reason people vote for Obama is because he's black and they're black, or else they feel some reason to support him based on race, either white guilt, or because they are also minorities. This is essentially what the Romney advisor said about Powell. Why is he so attacked when its a logically identical position to so many of Obama's supporters? Why are they not attacked? I think we should all use this as a clear example of why Race shouldn't even be mentioned in our political arena. We are all americans, no longer try to label yourself black, white, asian, etc. These distinctions only divide us. I hope we can rise above this at the ballot box this year.
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