dennis said:
Sigurd said:
It does matter what Romney said. It is a sad truth, but I think the love and hate for E.V. has become a political stance. Most of my skeptical friends are republicans and get their (mis)information from Fox. Now, if even Mitt is calling E.V. companies losers, then it feeds into this mistrust of the technology and the companies. Why he doesn't embrace U.S. manufacturing and innovation is beyond my undertanding.
I have seen how Fox has bashed the Volt now for years. I think the Volt is a monumental accomplishment and I am proud of G.M. to have invested in E.V.. I think this bashing of the Volt has left opinions with the viewers that does not help companies like Fisker and Tesla. Now, with Mitt reinforcing that stance, he is not helping.
My wife and I were discussing this today. She pointed out that rather than innovate, the EV skeptics want to remove our dependence on foreign oil by doing "more of the same" with more domestic drilling, fracking for natural gas, clean coal, etc.
We have to remember that the Republican Party is the party of the conservatives. That is not just a political stance, but an attitude as well. Conservative people will never be innovators - it's too scary for them. So it is no surprise that my home state of California, the innovation capital of the U.S., has voted Democratic in the last 5 Presidential elections, and will do so again in 2012.
Wow. that is a stretch to connect politics, voting patterns, innovation and entreneurialism. This is pretty shoddy thinking and inconsistent with serious research.
First, the academic literature analyzing what makes an Entrapeneur an entrepreneur indicates "effectual reasoning" as the core essence... not democrat or republic party affiliation. Please read the inc. article: http://www.inc.com/magazine/20110201/how-great-entrepreneurs-think.html
The quote about risk is telling. The entrepreneur most typically manages risk within a box of "affordable loss" (to quote the academic literature). The DOE loan, in my opinion, distorted the risk formula for Fisker management. This has nothing to do with political stripe.
Fact is, CA will go democratic, but it is not the base of entrepreneurs or business owners that will make this majority happen. Please see the polling data from the national association of small business owners (poll link below). You simply have the facts wrong.
Furthermore, the literature on innovation doesn't really cut by conservative or liberal either. See article below on drivers of innovation.
For you to write that a conservative will never be innovative may be your own bias, and you are entitled to your bias. But, it is painful for me to read such poor reasoning when searching the web on drivers of innovation, entrepenurialism, or the political skew of business owners is only a click away. Fact is, the drivers of innovation are not caused by political affiliation - or even well correlated with political leaning. These are separate issues... (though, I will say most of the silicon valley folks I know from my days at Wired and internet technology start-ups leaned libretarian... As in leave us alone to do our thing... But I haven't seen any poll to validate this personal experience).
Given your political leanings, i have to offer this friendly poke, before providing the research links.. A quote of a bumper sticker.... "republicans - we work hard so you don't have to."
Here is some thoughtful analysis on innovation and entrepreneurialism. May it enrich your perspective.
More explanation from the batten institute, at darden school of business, on drivers of entreneurialism: http://www.darden.virginia.edu/web/Batten-Institute/Initiatives/Effectual-Entrepreneurship/
poll of small business owners view on political issues: (pg 14, majority happen to be republican):
http://www.nsba.biz/?p=2666
Drivers of innovation:
http://businessjournal.gallup.com/content/26068/four-drivers-innovation.aspx