“Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservative.”
~John Stuart Mill
There has also been some recently published research to suggest that this is true--- so what do you think??
Lead researcher Gordon Hodson, a psychologist at Brock University in Ontario, did a study and found that adults and children that are prejudice with conservative beliefs are shown to have lower IQs.
If the shoe fits, Evan. Perhaps you could give us your SAT scores. Maybe you are an exception.
Or maybe you are a conservative leader, who knows his conservative followers are stupid and finds a way to make money off of that.
What do you think? Do any of those apply to you, Evan?
"I'm a liberal. I think that a standardized test score determines intelligence!! If numbers don't go up, we have to steal more money from people!"
If you really must know, I didn't take the SAT because the college I applied to didn't need it. My ACT score was a 26 out of 32 (20 was average). And all through my life I've scored in the top 10% of standardized math tests
Yet, I never understood Calculus.
*Liberal mind exploding*
I don't know what kind of money you think I'm making.
I'm a substitute teacher who tutors Japanese and English on the side. I don't make much money. I'm glad my wife has stayed with me so far, I guess she's truly in love (like I am).
My last check from this amazon.com ad-sense (is that what it's called? I don't even know) was $0.42 -- they don't bother sending them out because the postage, paper, and envelope cost more than the money I make.
So, what money am I making? I would SURE love to know where it is.
EDIT: I wanted to add in the sound effect of me completely destroying your argument:
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
I am impressed that you tutor Japanese Evan. Good for you.
But this is the deal, libertarianism assumes in impossible utopia. That utopia is that man is basically good. There is something missing in a libertarian's thinking to actually believe that is true.
Ask any teacher about IQ tests. They'll tell you that they're largely pointless.
Wow.
What a terrible thing to say.
This just shows that liberals think they're smarter and that they "need" to tell people what to think and do.
This is how fascism comes about.
Steve, please take down this thread.
Adding to that, if Liberals are so smart, why do economies fail when they are in charge?
Actually, it's government's fault. Government funnels created-money into certain sectors of the economy and causes crashes in those areas.
The real culprit, however, is the federal reserve interest rate. It has been at 0% for about 4 years now. We SHOULD have 100% employment by now, but we don't. It will be catastrophic as soon as the rate is raised.
"if Liberals are so smart, why do economies fail when they are in charge?"
But they don't. The correlation you claim doesn't exist in the real world.
You'll have to explain....because I heard that they have billions of money coming to them in unpaid taxes. Seems the big-wig citizens think they can party and not pay. Just like the banks. And here, btw!
Obviously, if you have bills to pay, and you shirk your responsibility, you have a problem. *republicans in congress*
Generalizations and a lack of respect to treat human beings as individuals. Great propaganda tool, label individuals in to a group and then attack the group. No basis in reality but that would not stop a propagandist from spreading untruths.
See kerryg's post at the top of the page.
"Studies published by a bunch of liberals with educations show (without any coherent way of defining 'smart' or 'dumb') that conservatives are dumb"
... wow, newsflash of the century.
Why do you assume that those who conducted these studies are liberal? Do you have any evidence of that? Or, are you assuming that educated = liberal?
If so, why are you assuming that? lol
I dunno, people who conduct social experiments of this nature tend to be liberal.
The social sciences are dominated by liberals, even in conservative states, and in conservative colleges.
Liberals are the ones who say dumb things like that. Liberals, especially the atheist ones, also think that people who believe in God have lower I.Qs.
Most Conservatives believe in God.
No, we think (correctly) that people with low IQ's tend to be more religious.
Fact: religious intensity and fervor declines with increasing intelligence and education. If you think about that, it makes perfect sense.
That does NOT mean that anyone expressing a religious faith is unintelligent. The relationship is not reversible.
It's like finding that almost everyone in a certain neighborhood goes to a local restaurant. That doesn't imply that everyone in the restaurant lives in that neighborhood.
Hey Pcunix, I have a friend who believes in eugenics and he is a Liberal. He does not believe in God, however. This was not the first time I spoke to some one who believes in eugenics and that person held Liberal views.
Interesting; a Liberal who does not believe in God, but believes in eugenics. Nothing like a little sterolization, abortion and selective breeding.
Eugenics goes back to the 1800's and is a Socialist platform.. It was embraced as a platform first by the Russians and then by the Germans... oddly enough it was only publicised internationaly by the Nazi's
{http://members.beforeitsnews.com/story/1790/970/Scientists_Identify_Link_Between_Size_Of_Brain_Region_And_Conformity.html} Your statistics fall in the realm of those that prove 70% of all statistics are made up on the spot and can be forged into anything to give credence to half truths
Conservatism stands for conserving tradition, authority and established norms. Liberalism criticizes tradition, tests authority and is skeptical of established norms. Since less intelligent people will seek simpler and easier explanations for the world, it stands to reason that they will generally be more attracted to conservatism.
It is easier and requires less thought to just accept things the way they are, and to accept the decisions and pronouncements of authority figures, than to criticize them or forge a new path.
Conservatism does not require a particularly open mind, but liberalism does. Open mindedness (i.e. ability to entertain alternate viewpoints or new ideas) is an important trait of intelligent people.
I am talking here about conservatism and liberalism in the classic, pure sense.
JFK defined a liberal as "someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people — their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties — someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a 'Liberal', then I’m proud to say I’m a 'Liberal'"
+1
I tend to think that political beliefs, like religious beliefs, are as much a reflection of personality as intelligence. People gravitate toward beliefs that meet their particular needs.
If anyone were to conduct research on this topic, I would be curious to know how they define the terms "liberal" and "conservative." The definitions of the terms have varied over the course of history. And it also important to note that the terms Republican/Democrat are not necessarily equivalent to Conservative/Liberal. Fiscal conservatism, for instance, used to mean a belief in balanced budgets. Many modern Republicans, however, clearly don't see that as a top priority. And Democrats in the 1960's were much more supportive of social welfare programs than they are today.
The average Republican and most conservatives tend to think and speak in stereotypes and generalizations. They are not broadminded people who observes all sides of a situation. They only see one side of a situation. They are the people who believe that there is ONE set way of doing things.
The average Republican and most conservatives tend to yearn for the past as the past represents a security blanket. They believe that the past is so much better than the present times which they are apt to demonize. They mythologize the past instead of thinking intelligently and analytically, instititutionalizing more innovative ways to solve the problem at hand. If you speak to a Republican and/or conservative, they usually very narrow minded in outlook.
The average Republican and conservative are usually not progressive. Progressive is clearly not in the vocabularies of many Republicans and/or conservatives. They are comfortable living in the past because they are afraid of the present and/or more so of the future. They believe in doing what has been tried and true. They are not about to stretch their minds by trying different methodologies of doing and learning things.
I would not say that Republicans and/or conservatives are less intelligent; however, they prefer to be in a stagnant mindset i.e. doing things the way they were always done and mindlessly adhering to tradition whether it is right or wrong. Republicans and/or conservatives just have dinosaur brains i.e. they are programmed to do things by rote and are deathly afraid to veer into the new!
With several exceptions, the conclusion is consistent with my experience.
No wonder you espouse fascist policies.
Well, Evan, I'm glad you didn't call me a fascist, only an espouser of fascist policies.
And Democrats are more intelligent but just as stupid.
If you catch my drift.
57 points - an extremely low IQ. I'm lucky to be walking and talking. lol
your posts would suggest otherwise .... testing anxiety perhaps ?
Duh!! Now I get it .... I must be Conservative
I know really intelligent individuals of both political stripes. I also know some pretty dumb/uneducated/ignorant members of both parties.
AHahahHAhAHAHhahHAhHaha
oh man, this post right here sums up my attitude to this forum!!!
ahahahHAHAHAHAHaHhahahahaha
Apologies, good sir. I must confess my utter disdain at the very premise of the forum topic that I am commenting upon.
I must say, it seems both ignorant and hypocritical to be arguing that one side of the coin is made of metal while the other is not.
But to have so effectively dug yourself into the twin graves labeled above, you then proceeded to be unable to identify the units of given quantity with a given unit! Thee then proceeded to be incapable of gathering the jest included in the post, and proceeded to conjecture quite foolishly to Ms. Habee's satire.
Bravo!
(Did I articulate it properly this time? I think my first post was easier to understand)
When the I.Q test were first introduced, even Dr. Binet said that it was not very reliable. The scientific community ran away with the idea of classifying groups of people and using eugenics soon afterwards.
I wrote an article on that too.
This is true. IQ tests aren't a great way to measure intelligence, mainly because the tests are a product of the people who wrote them, and reflect their culture and values. Sure, they try to be as objective and abstract as possible (and IQ tests of today are better than ones from the 20s), but not all intelligent people are intelligent in the same way.
For example, my dad was brilliant with mechanical things and math, but not so much with, say, literary criticism or history.
brilliant response, its true liberals are much smarter. Maybe you thought she meant 57 calories? 57 beers on the wall? 57 Chevy? Heinz 57? Oh I know, like Obama said, 57 States.
With hubby and his pals around, 57 beers wouldn't stay on our wall for long. lol
Shhhh, don't tell him what comes after 57, I like to watch the gears turn. You know, because they are so open minded.
My experience is that both sides have their share of unsophisticated, poorly educated, ill-informed, and otherwise stupid people. The main difference is that the conservative ones are more likely to work for a living.
So all stupid Conservative are hard working decent Americans and their Liberal counterparts are indolent collectors of governmental largesse....??? It is a point of view ...
Yeah, you about summed it up there Steve. At least in my experience.
Well, if your life's ambition was to leech off the state until the day you died which party would you vote for? I guess that if a welfare recipient did vote GOP that would make them mind-bogglingly stupid, though. Talk about wrecking the curve.
Quite a few of them do vote Republican because of their concerns over social conservative issues--abortion, reverse discrimination, sexual equality and so forth.
The Tea Partiers do kind of wreck the curve, don't they?
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/12/us/ev … wanted=all
This coming from an ideology that espouses the logic of "making it illegal to NOT own health care will make health care cheaper".
Wow, such vitrol from someone who's forum basically says "all hail the god-kings of Liberalism!"
I think you struck a nerve...
There is some empirical evidence to suggest that certain types of thinking correlate with intelligence. No need for anyone to take offense about it.
The Republican party is currently reaping what it has sown for the last 30+ years. Its pandering to the lowest common denominator has resulted in a party that has alienated women, minorities, independents, moderates, and thinking conservatives.
I can agree with THIS statement:
"The Republican party is currently reaping what it has sown for the last 30+ years. Its pandering to the lowest common denominator has resulted in a party that has alienated women, minorities, independents, moderates, and thinking conservatives."
But to simply say that conservatives are dumb (and that liberals are smart) is to be a black kettle informing the pot of its hue.
I do not believe that conservatives are dumb and liberals are smart. I do believe just what I said, that there is evidence to support that certain types of thinking correlate with intelligence. Instead of denying the evidence, we should look at it with an open mind and see what we can learn from it.
Right, that last part was me talking about Steve's OP.
Yeah, you did.
You're obviously a liberal, and you come here with a forum labeled "Conservatives are dumb"
You should be happy that no one reported you.
You sound JUST like Glenn Beck: "Is Obama a satanic death lord sent from the bowels of hell to enslave humanity?... I don't know, I never SAID that, I just ASKED it"
It was about the Mill quote....the headline was to get folks to look at the thread....If you read the quote Mill is not saying that all Conservatives are dumb....
Actually, Conservative leaders are the smartest, richest,(and immoral), (and unpatriotic)people on the planet. So, I have to ask; why are they throwing this election? What are they up to?
Robert Reich
"If Romney loses Michigan, much higher chance of brokered convention -- in which case watch Sarah Palin make her move."
Jeb Bush already said he isn't going to do it....someone who will look sane after Sanitarium...
And rich, like Romney, but likable.
The hero who will ride in and "save" the party.
Obama is Bush on Steroids.
Does that answer your question?
I've found that lots of conservatives who have accepted (or who are currently using!) government aid (food stamps, medicaid, etc) are some of the loudest voices against such programs. Funny, that....
If the government stole my money 20 years ago (and I was against it), and then I became poor, and the government decides it wants to give me my money back....
...then it would largely be hypocritical to not keep railing against it. In fact, if they changed their minds, they would be flip-floppers and hypocrites.
Well, they sure like to bash intelligence. "elite snob" and "pointy-headed liberal" being 2 of the smears they use.
And slimy santorum: "Don't you see how they think they are better than you?"
If they are so smart...they sure spend a lot of time degrading intelligence.
+1 and god forbid that the vast majority ever read anything from outside their political spectrum, I regularly exchange books amongst a close group of friends some of which are very conservative and its impossible to get them to read anything that disagrees with them my leftist friends on the other hand are happy to read literature from both sides if not agree with it, I allways find this sad I read the bible but god forbid you try to get a creationist to read the "On the origins of species". One thing is fact however the liberal voters are far more likely to have higher education, this does not make them smarter necessarily but it makes them on average better informed and more open minded.
Not all conservatives are like that. I consider myself to be a well read individual, reading books and periodicals from a wide spectrum of authors.
I would never generalise to the point of saying all, I said the majority and I stand by that. As for believing that there is some correlation here are some choice qoutes from the wikipedia article on the matter and a compendium of studies done on the subject.
Liberals were the most educated group with 49% being college graduates compared to an average of 26.5% among all the conservative groups.
In a 2004 survey of 1,000 economists registered Democrats outnumbered registered Republicans by a 2.5 to 1 ratio.
Among sociologists and anthropologists, Democrats outnumber Republicans 20 to 1.
I wouldn't even say "the majority," Josak. If you said "the loudest of the lunatic fringe," I'd be right there with you.
Lots of conservative "leaders" like to bash education, calling educated people 'brainwashed' and 'not real Americans.' Heck, W graduated from both Harvard and Yale, but did his best to sound like he never got so much as an associate's degree. He even painted Kerry (a fellow Skull&Bones brother) as a product of the East Coast Liberal Elite, while managing to keep his own 'down-home' cred, even though W was just as much East Coast Old Money as Kerry ever was.
If W was stupid, he was stupid like a fox.
But he sure was able to play to the fears of the ignorant.
The research is either faulty, fake or just ridiculous. Henry Kissinger, Ronald Reagan, Condi Rice, Colin Powell are a few conservatives I can named who are definitely not stupid.
There are liberals serving in the House of Representatives, who I will not name, who lower stupidity to a new level.
Political views are a developed because of intelligence, influence of family members and community, upbringing, exposure to bad information and not enough exposure to good information. It has little to do with IQ. Not to many years ago it was fashionable to be conservative. Now the trend has turned.
Since I claim to be neither conservative or liberal, I do not know how you would measure my intelligence.
Let's move on to more meaningful discussions. Pick a issue, beat it to death, but make it a real issue and not something to do with name calling or putting labels on people.
I thought we were beyond the point of labeling people's ability because of their sex, religious belief, national origin, race, color, etc. I hope we do not have to start a new effort to ensure equal rights for the people who chose to be conservative--it is a choice, no one is born as a conservative or liberal.
There is a song in the movie South Pacific dealing with racial prejudice. The lyrics of the song dispute the question that people are born to be prejudice and instead, states that you have to be taught to be prejudice.
The same thing holds true for your political views. You are not born with them, you develop them.
Now there's a chuckle, I am more conservative than liberal, but do not fit in either box.
I feel certain if I asked if you had read On the Origin of Species you would say yes. hmmmm...
I love to read... almost anything, from sci-fi to War and Peace, (which I loved). Love Clancy, and Voltaire too, but Origin of Species? I have tried to struggle through that read for a very long time. A more boring and hard read would be hard -LOL - to find. Unless of course you included Ulysses(?) which I gave up on half way through.
Does being more educated equate to being more intelligent?
Does more educated really equate to being more open minded? I think not. Primarily because using those types of generalizations is almost always incorrect, but also because it seems that too often along with the higher education comes a higher esteem of one's own worth - ie. I know better than you. Which isn't exactly open minded.
but that's just my opinion, and since I only scored 2 points higher than Habee - maybe I'm too dumb to know what I'm talking about
GA
Sadly true.
I have a conservative neighbor.. well, actually I have many conservative neighbors but I happened to be discussing politics with this one and the subject of TV news came up. I mentioned my general disgust with Fox, he countered with MSNBC.
I then mentioned NPR. He'd never heard of it. I though he'd misheard me, so I spelled it out: "National Public Radio". Blank stare, no recognition. This is, by the way, a retired person who made their living as a well paid financial person, not some working class illiterate.
We then turned to the subject of health care. Of course he is rabidly against it (though in favor of Medicare, of course. an sees no inconsistency at all). I had just read an interesting article in The New Yorker and started telling him about it. Another blank stare - he'd never in all his life heard of that magazine. No, he didn't live in California, he lived right here in New England..
So, OK, we both have our share of ignorant folks, but in my experience, the far right has more of it. I know intelligent, well read conservatives, but they are moderates, not right wingers.
I'm not trying to defend conservatives, I'm merely trying to shut this "we're better than them" attitude that is BLATANT in this forum.
Those who "hate smart people" don't actually hate smart people. They hate being told what to do by "smart people".
This is why conservatives seem "dumb": they aren't, they just hate being told what to do.
“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man’s oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.”
~John Kenneth Galbraith
“I wonder how many times you have to be hit on the head before you find out who’s hitting you? It’s about time that the people of America realized what the Republicans have been doing to them.”
~Harry Truman
“Liberalism is trust of the people tempered by prudence. Conservatism is distrust of the people tempered by fear.”
~William E. Gladstone
“In this world of sin and sorrow there is always something to be thankful for; as for me, I rejoice that I am not a Republican.”
~H. L. Mencken
“Brains, you know, are suspect in the Republican Party.”
~Walter J. Lippmann
“The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. The Republicans are the party that says government doesn’t work and then get elected and prove it.”
~P.J. O’Rourke
In Delaware, the largest growth of population is Indian Americans, moving from India. You cannot go to a 7/11 or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I'm not joking." Joe Biden
"Isn't it a little racist to call it Black Friday?" Joy Behar
"I've now been in 57 states? I think one left to go?" Barrack Hussein Obama
"Don't fear the terrorists. They're mothers and fathers." Rosie O'Donnell
on Guam: "My fear is that the whole island will become so overly populated that it will tip over and capsize," Hank Johnson Democrat Congressman
"African Americans watch the same news at night that ordinary Americans do." Bill Clinton
Your H L Mencken quote is a humorous one. But not for the reason you're thinking:
The Republican party of Mencken's time was the equivalent of the Democratic Party today.
So... he's actually insulting liberalism there...
Yeah, but here's what happens in politics:
Before Romney and Santorum really get around to their smearing: "Obama is an abject failure" Nothing he did worked" He made everything worse"....
I found this article where all these "intellectuals" were talking about how the stimulus, the GM loan and the affordable care act really were working for America, and making things better.
But, the people in the article were all professors from Harvard, MIT, Yale, University of Chicago.
So I thought, "why bother?"
They will just chalk it up to "those snotty pointy-headed liberals who think they know everything"...as if they really know nothing, you see?
It's a waste of intelligence, politics. Too bad.
Thanks Ralph. Evan is what Robert Frank terms a "Movement Libertarian" and to appreciate that term and just how Evan's kind of fanaticism is destroying America's future, I highly recommend this Cspan video . . .
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/TheDarw
That's funny, because the people I listen to predicted every major economic event of the last century years in advance - sometimes even decades.
The guy that you're talking to - Ralph Deeds - defends people who argued that "the fundamentals are strong" HOURS before the crash happened.
Good luck with that entire "conservatives are idiots" talk, I hope it will comfort you when your money is worthless.
I don't think conservatives in the UK are any more stupid than average. They just give up thinking about issues earlier. Analysis leads to moral relativity, difficulty in assigning blame(conservatives like blame)and it all gets too much.
Liberals, on the other hand, think they can understand everything and they can fix everything.
So what would you rather be? Shallow or deluded?
No, I don't think Republicans/conservatives are stupid or less intelligent than others. They have a mindset that is less tolerant of others and ideas different from theirs. That does not make them less intelligent. Bill O'Reilly is a very intelligent man, but he is not tolerant of liberal ideas or of those from the Democratic party. But, the man is not stupid. We may not like his opinions or agree with his opinions, but he is intelligent.
I'd like to read the research out there that says intolerant people have lower IQ's. I don't believe that statement. IQ's can vary in either direction by 25 points at any given point in a person's life. Life is on going and some people are lifelong learners which can affect their IQ's one way or another. Since learning is a choice, some choose not to continue to learn after schooling. There are too many variables out there to make black and white statements about IQ. Enlightenment can come at any point in a person's life also affect IQ. I never write off human beings - they are too complex.
Liberals also have this mindset that is less tolerant of others and ideas different from their own.
Why else do Liberals think they are better or smarter than anyone else who is not a Liberal?
Where is the tolerance? Conservatives do not go around thinking that they are better than everyone else. Conservatives do not go around calling people "stupid" because they do not believe in Jesus Christ. Conservatives do not use the federal court system to sneak around issues and force people to accept things they do not wish to either.
http://www.funeducation.com/News/IQ-Tes … -lower-iqs
Study links intolerance to lower IQs
TUESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2012 17:42 PM
The Anti-Defamation League states that racism, the belief that one race is superior or inferior to another, has existed throughout human history. Based on the results of a Canadian study, low IQs may be responsible for some people’s intolerant views, LiveScience reported.
Psychologist Gordon Hodson of Brock University in Ontario led the study, which found that those who have low IQs as children are more likely to be prejudiced against others as adults, the news source stated. To arrive at this conclusion, Hodson and colleagues analyzed data pertaining to IQ, social conservatism and racism from two U.K. studies.
The researchers found that in many cases, children with low IQs grew up to be racist adults. Furthermore, a belief in socially conservative ideologies was what linked low intelligence in childhood with a prejudiced attitude later in life, according to the news outlet.
Hodson told the news source that conservative ideologies tend to place an importance on hierarchy and resistance to change, which, in turn, can lead to prejudice. However, this is certainly not true of all people with conservative beliefs.
and socialism is smarter? that is too funny... need I produce the list of socialistic failures in history with the major player in the game being Hitler? It is the product of the Liberal Eletist Mindset to think they are superior and can take everyone elses life in their hands,, (ie: Pelosi is a prime example also) because those that follow timeless principles are cavemen and need to be. The only Socialist that had the brains and the balls to lead turned out to be in fact Facists in disquise and the worste tyrants of history. All for the people right
"Racism can be found predominately in dumb people"
... ok...
"Conservatives are dumb and racist"
... wait, how'd you come to that conclusion?
"... um... conservatives are racist?"
Maybe because some stupid a$$ had a sign with Obama as a voodoo witch doctor and none of the "smart" conservatives said anything. Maybe because a conservative hero (Malkin) called little Malia Obama "ghetto trash", and the stupid response was "Oh it's not her fault her old man's a marxist who hates America".
They have spewed more hatred since Limbaugh came on the scene to call them stupid is a compliment.
And their current candidate du-jour follows the tenent of Opus Dei. WHILE spewing "we are the freedom party"!
As Ms. Pelosi said about them the other day: DUH
Just a reminder: the US now has Drone planes spying on you!
http://lewrockwell.com/orig11/lendman12.1.html
I made no conclusions whatsoever, Evan—YOU are the one leaping to conclusions and you obviously overlooked the last paragraph of my post which CONCLUDED:
"Hodson told the news source that conservative ideologies tend to place an importance on hierarchy and resistance to change, which, in turn, can lead to prejudice. However, this is certainly not true of all people with conservative beliefs."
Why must absolutely everything be either/or for you?
Because crap like that leads to prejudice.
I mean, just listen to Pcunix and others on these forums: if it's conservative, it's obviously a cross wielding hick.
This crap has got to go. On BOTH sides.
If it's FAR RIGHT Conservative, yes, it's either an ignorant hick or a greedy rich person.
No smart person votes against their own interests, yet that's exactly what many GOP voters do.
AAAAAAhahahahah!!!
What if "stealing from others to pay for your own well being" isn't considered by the people who receive the money as "their own interests".
See how that works?
Naw, that's just how you see it. You don't acknowledge that Whimsy said "However, this is certainly not true of all people with conservative beliefs."
You also don't acknowledge that I said: "I do not believe that conservatives are dumb and liberals are smart. I do believe just what I said, that there is evidence to support that certain types of thinking correlate with intelligence. Instead of denying the evidence, we should look at it with an open mind and see what we can learn from it."
Or that PC said: "many conservative moderates don't have very different views than many liberals. In fact, when we have honest conversations, we usually find much common ground and understanding of the other sides point of view."
See? Your responses to quite reasonable statements are extreme and unreasonable, like your response to Whimsy that he had concluded "conservatives are dumb and racist" when he clearly had not.
Or saying that PC wants to murder you (in another thread).
You're not helping your case, you know.
"Or saying that PC wants to murder you (in another thread)."
I'm not saying he wants to murder me, YET.
He will when I peacefully secede from the union.
Aright look, we all know that loud mouth liberal progressives think they are smarter than everyone else, and that they know better than you how to run your life. That is a given.
Problem is, they can’t ever win an argument, because they are so used to “changing the language of the discussion” for their talking points, they forget the subject.
So the rest of us are not so convinced of their superior intellectual abilities, but we do know all they want is to tell everyone else what to do… Had a nasty ex-wife like that, …dumped her off on a liberal.
Watch the fur fly now..
Have you met my uterus? All the R's running for pres think they own it.
Can you tell me how kerryg's post demonstrates intelligence?
Your uterus? What part of the discussion is that? Oh wait we’re changing the Language and parameters of the debate. I get it.
Oh, and I can tell you with certainty, that I have indeed not, and shutter at the thought of ever doing so…and I’m Fearless…..odd though, that you don’t know who it’s met.
"all they want is to tell everyone else what to do"
Hello!!! Personhood amendment. Freedom. get with it!
Ready, if you don't know LMC's uterus, then you're...
... wait, that joke will get me banned...
Anyway, LMC just LOVES to talk about her uterus, in fact...
... wait, so would that one...
... why can she talk about her uterus but not...
[BANNED]
I mean I must qualify this by saying I disagree with most everything you have said in this thread but that post cracked me up so thanks for the chuckle.
I've never seen you banned Evan, though I've seen plenty of people banned for less. You should consider yourself lucky. You get away with murder. FIGURATIVELY SPEAKING....before someone reports that I called you a murderer and I get banned again.
I've had my 3 day suspensions VERY frequently.
I just post so often that no one notices.
Really? I've been banned 4...and the last was a 3 month term....and I never said someone could kill their mother in front of them and it would be ok.
And I notice. It's debasing the atmosphere.
I'm not stupid and I wouldn't rejoice at my mothers death. Just because I'm not a Paul supporter...doesn't make it open season.
I see you on here cheerleading Obama -- who has killed so many mothers, so many fathers, so many children, so many grandparents -- with only 2 arguments to support his obvious tyranny
1) he's pro-choice
2) he acts like he hates companies, even though they're his biggest donors.
Sorry if it was mean, but it was true.
No.. it is NOT true that you could kill my mother in front of me and it would be Ok as long as you support abortion.
Stop with the personal attacks.
I attack Ron Paul....do I attack you?
No, you attack his philosophies. I agree with many of his philosophies.
I'll let you draw the conclusion.
And you hate Obama...does that mean you hate me?
You really didn't understand what I wrote.
Yeah, actually I did.... I said "I attack Ron Paul--but you attack me." You said "I think like Paul,so when you attack him, you attack me"...paraphrasing
But I think like Obama, so when you attack him, you are attacking me?
No..it's not personal.
You make it personal.
------------
Evan:
"You attack Ron Paul because his beliefs are (in your eyes) stupid.
I believe in many of the same things that Ron Paul believes in.
Thus, your attacks on Ron Paul's philosophies are attacks on mine.
This does NOT mean you hate me."
-------------
LMC:
"Evan attacks Obama's philosophies.
I share many of Obama's philosophies
Thus, an attack on Obama's philosophies are attacks on mine.
This means he hates me"
--------------
I think this will clarify things.
What?
You are the one who said I would watch my mother be killed as long as the one doing it was pro-abortion.
That is personal.
Where have I been personal with you?
Intolerance?
He told me I would watch my mother be killed as long as the person doing it supported abortion.
That is vile. and that is what Republicans are. Vile.
Smart Liberal Woman? Who wants to handle one of those? Give a me a good-looking conservative one every time. You’ll never have to discuss her uterus and the only introduction you get to it, is beneficial.
Yes, all that sex for the purpose of procreation must be hard to keep up with.
"You see a lot of smart guys with dumb women but you hardly ever see a smart woman with a dumb guy." -- Erica Jong
It's not that they are smarter... they are not fettered with a value system that they consider obsolete and thereby consider themselves to be smarter is all.... Hence the term Liberal.
Right...our value system is old as time.
And not smarter, just more caring. Of people, that is, not $$
Really? Then why do conservatives donate more to charity? Liberals like to give other people's money away. Conservatives prefer giving their own.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/21/opini … istof.html
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=2682730&page=1
http://philanthropy.com/blogs/prospecti … rity/19091
It's not that simple, habee. From the NYT article you linked:
"It’s true that religion is the essential reason conservatives give more, and religious liberals are as generous as religious conservatives. Among the stingiest of the stingy are secular conservatives.
According to Google’s figures, if donations to all religious organizations are excluded, liberals give slightly more to charity than conservatives do."
The ABC article concluded that conservatives are more charitable than liberals based on how much money the Salvation Army bellringers collected in a conservative area vs a liberal area, but a lot of liberals I know refuse to donate to the Salvation Army because of the SA's anti-gay policies.
And then there's the question of giving without keeping records. I know a lot of my friends--both liberal and conservative--make small cash donations to charities throughout the year and do not keep track of them. I know a lot of my friends give money directly to people in need, but I don't imagine this data is tracked.
So, maybe conservatives are more charitable. But I'd want to know the methodology of the study, and see what the peer review had to say.
Yes, conservatives donate more to charity. We know.
I live in a conservative rural area. There are hundreds of little microcharities. Some of them are great. Most of them pay their directors $70-$90,000/year while paying their staff $8-10/hour. I recently heard a director making $90,000 per year say it would be outrageous to pay a skilled office worker $12/hour. The county I live in is 8th from the bottom in the U.S. for wages.
As a liberal sitting on a board of one of these charities, I fought to pay an executive assistant with over 20 years' experience and skills in database management, research analysis and reporting, as well as supervisory experience $12/hour. I lost. Instead, they settled for an unskilled recent high school graduate and are paying her $8/hour. Heaven forbid the ED get paid less and the help get paid more.
In my experience, liberals want people to be able to make a living wage so they don't have to use charity. Most conservatives here think "the other guy" isn't worth much. It doesn't occur to them that just $2-$4 more per hour above minimum wage could give employees, who are also consumers, a little extra money to contribute to the local economy.
To me, it's just stupid. But hey, conservatives donate more to charity, so they must be more caring. Right.
We all have it wrong... and this kind of stuff only keeps us occupied and it is the objective. I wish I could elect George Carlin, He knew what was what {http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYIC0eZYEtI)
You say this: "It is the product of the Liberal Eletist (sic) Mindset to think they are superior and can take everyone elses life in their hands."
Then caution me about "this kind of stuff." Do you see the irony?
And I love George Carlin!
Charley expressed it perfectly... I stopped trying to argue because it is pointless to try to convert opinion. It is better just to state the facts
Charley Reese's final column for the Orlando Sentinel was written on July 29th, 2001...
He had been a journalist for 49 years.
He's now retired and this piece was HIS LAST COLUMN ... verified True by Snopes.
This is about as clear and easy to understand as it can be. The article below is completely neutral, neither anti-republican or democrat. Charlie Reese, a retired reporter for the Orlando Sentinel, has hit the nail directly on the head, defining clearly who it is that in the final analysis must assume responsibility for the judgments made that impact each one of us every day. It's a short but good read. Worth the time. Worth remembering!
545 vs. 300,000,000 People
-By Charlie Reese
Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.
Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?
Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?
You and I don't propose a federal budget. The President does.
You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.
You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.
You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.
You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.
One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one President, and nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.
I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.
I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a President to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.
Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.
What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits. The President can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.
It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.
If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.
If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red.
If the Army & Marines are in Iraq and Afghanistan it's because they want them in Iraq and Afghanistan ...
If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way.
There are no insoluble government problems.
Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation," or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.
Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.
They, and they alone, have the power.
They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses.
Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees...
We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!
What you do with this article now that you have read it... well, it's up to you, 'n might be funny if it weren't so true.
The poem... be sure to read all the way to the end:
Tax his land,
Tax his bed,
Tax the table,
At which he's fed.
Tax his tractor,
Tax his mule,
Teach him taxes
Are the rule.
Tax his work,
Tax his pay,
He works for
peanuts anyway!
Tax his cow,
Tax his goat,
Tax his pants,
Tax his coat.
Tax his ties,
Tax his shirt,
Tax his work,
Tax his dirt.
Tax his smoke,
Tax his drink,
Tax him if he
Tries to think.
Tax his pies,
Tax his beers,
If he cries,
Tax his tears.
Tax his car,
Tax his gas,
Tax that cigar,
Tax his ass.
Tax all he has
Then let him know
That you won't be done
Till he has no dough.
When he screams and hollers;
Tax him some more,
Tax him well 'till
He's good and sore.
Then tax his coffin,
Tax his grave,
Tax the sod in
Which he's laid...
Put these words
Upon his tomb,
'Taxes drove me
to my doom...'
When he's gone,
Do not relax,
As its time for the
Inheritance tax.
.. and least we forget:
Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL license Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Excise Taxes
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax (currently 44.75 cents per gallon)
Gross Receipts Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Taxes
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Personal Property Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service Charge Tax
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
Sales Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Nonrecurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Taxes
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax
STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?
Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, & our nation was the most prosperous in the world.
We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.
What in the heck happened? Can you spell 'politicians?'
I hope this goes around THE USA at least 545 million times!!! YOU can help it get there!!!
GO AHEAD. . . BE AN AMERICAN!!!
Oh, bull.
The facts are a bit different.
We elect our politicians. Many of them do the best they can to support the interests and desires of those who elect them.
Politicians from liberal States have to fight the desires of their conservative State brethren and vice versa. Even back home they have to try to balance strongly conflicting opinions - few places don't have some ideological mix.
We have problems in Washington because we have problems at home. We have a culture war and Washingon reacts because of that.
Charley Rease is wrong. He sounds like every other right wing, government hating fool. It's the typical placing of blame on the other guy, when the reality is that because of our widening culture gap, there is no one at fault - its just two irreconcilable sides with extrely different ideas.
Hey, bravo and thanks for the eloquence in your mature perspective on the pettiness of theirs, Pcunix!
I'm confused. Are you saying that liberal charities are better run?
Oh, and as for saying conservatives "care more," I was countering LMC's statement that liberals care more about people than conservatives do.
No, my point was that donating to charity, while one way to help, might not be the best way to help. Perhaps the best way is to support policies that bolster the middle class, like paying your workers a decent wage. I don't believe that either conservatives or liberals care more than the other. I do believe that many conservatives have a tendency to think they deserve what they themselves have earned, but other people don't. I also think some, not all, use charity as a way to feel good about their innate selfishness.
I know it sounds harsh, and maybe you see it differently, but that is my experience dealing with predominantly liberal and predominantly conservative communities. There are always exceptions, of course.
"In my experience, liberals want people to be able to make a living wage so they don't have to use charity. "
And then they do stupid things like increase the minimum wage and make it illegal to not own health care.
Brilliant.
Blue states also subsidize red states with their tax dollars! Ingrates.
Your link is down, and "small business" and "retail job growth" are small portions of the economy.
Not if you listen to the GOP machine: they've been saying that 'small business' is the backbone of the American Economy. They're constantly saying that small business owners are the job creators.
The GOP machine can say whatever it wants. small businesses aren't a major factor in the economy.
Sure, they matter, but to assume that they dominate and are a great predictor is pointless.
Interestingly, the original J.S. Mill quote is forgotten in all the rhetoric and "we smarter than you are" back and forth. What he said was that not all Conservatives are stupid/dumb but that most of those who are (stupid/dumb)tend to be Conservative....a slight distinction from what the bulk of this thread seems to be about....
I think it's according to region, too. For example, I'm in deep red territory. In fact, as a moderate, I'm often looked at with suspicion, politically speaking. The vast majority of the middle class here is conservative - teachers, doctors, lawyers, business owners, farmers, etc. Local liberals, however, include a few college professors, along with minorities, the poor, and the uneducated. I'm quite sure it's different in other parts of the country.
It's funny, most of my friends who went to college and work in professional jobs (and have higher incomes) tend to be liberal (with some exceptions) and most of my friends who didn't go to college and work in non-skilled jobs (and have lower incomes) tend to be conservative (with some exceptions).
That's in Michigan, by the way. We went to Kerry in '04, but also banned Gay Marriage. Go figure.
So good to see a post that is open-minded and non-judgmental toward others. :-|
"Last week that state's Senate, newly under Republican control after a GOP election surge in November, overturned a 20-year-old law that barred residents from buying more than one handgun a month.
Virginia's refusal to close the notorious "gun-show loophole" has long been criticized by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who frets that relatively tough regulations in his state are undermined when criminals can easily purchase firearms in other states and bring them into New York. In fact, similar worries about interstate gun-running were what prompted Virginia's legislature to restrict handgun purchases in 1993. But with Republican lawmakers and two Democrats from rural districts eager to make a statement about gun rights, the state Senate approved the repeal by a 21-19 vote, and Gov. Bob McDonnell is expected to sign it."
At the same time they are restricting rights to abortion....they are making gun rights stronger.....
Stupid?
No--
Equality under the law: Not on your life.
THIS is the result of Jobs Jobs Jobs vote in 2010...It was NOTHING to do with jobs.
BTW--this new Virginia forced probe bill is being called State Sanctioned Rape.
http://projects.propublica.org/pactrack … tions/tree
Super Pacs....Holy Moly!
Wasn't another part of Nazi madness the disgusting human experiments they did?
My oldest daughter was raped. I remember when she was having a rape kit done, lying in stirrups at the police station, having an officer stick things in her, crying and saying to me "mom, it hurts..."
If one of these anti-abortion Nazi punks tries to stick a probe up one of my daughters....they will feel the wrath of this momma's rage. You think Palin is mama bear?
You R's and Yellow Dog Dems keep on with your war on women...you will feel the wrath.
Was waiting for this:
NOW we get to the crux of it:
Santorum: "Woodstock is the great American orgy. This is who the Dem Party has become...sexual freedom...Homosexuality" http://thkpr.gs/x1uFBL
"It’s about sexual freedom.”--That's what he can't stand....the guy's a sicko if you ask me. Mentally deranged.
And probably a pervert between the sheets.
(IF you ask me....PROBABLY.....no statement of fact here.)
Meanwhile . . .
"Santorum’s policies would have killed my daughter"
http://www.salon.com/2012/02/21/santoru … _open2012/
The Democrat strategy: Promise vague miracles, then deliver none.
Guess you don't feel the positive vibe that is going on now....too bad.
Nothing vague at all and all that is stopping us from delivering them is greed and stupidity from the GOP and Libertarians.
I love how you defend a vague promise with a vague premise.
"hey everyone, let's end greed!"
+1. The GOP has been campaigning on fear since 9/11.
Let us talk about the DNC strategy to scare the mass public.
#1 Playing the race card. Often good against Blacks or Hispanics when cases involve White police officers, White teachers, White Republican Senators, Mayors OR governors.
#2 Class warfare. This ploy is often used by the Democrats when it comes to taxes. The Rich 1% does not (blah blah) followed by... rich corporations do not (blah blah). Notice the Democrats try to put a political face on the class warfare tactic by suggesting only Republicans fight for the rich when it comes to tax breaks. The 1% rich pay most of the taxes. The bottom does not pay a silver dime.
#3 Calling the U.S soldiers "storm troopers" during the Iraq War. This was done by various Democrat Senators.
#4 Demonizing the Tea Party members as "racists" or "kkk members." Often used to scare Black people some more.
#5 Making up false numbers to justify global warming Or climate change. Never mind the many thousands of scientists who have spoken out against the quackery science involved in global warming and climate change.
#1: Who is playing the race card when Obama is called "the food stamp president" or is shouted down as a liar during the SOTU?
#2:The war of class is over in America because the wealthy won long ago—with bribery in the U.S. Congress, the election of too many Crony Presidents and a fanatically conservative Supreme Court majority.
#3:No one was called "stormtroopers," but rather that some in our military used "stormtrooper tactics." Get over the hyperbole and rhetoric.
#4:Wait—what am I doing answering the questions of someone who'll never get it?
#5: Have a nice day in your Fox News-Tea Party Bubble, Marquis!
I can't believe so many conservatives are embracing Santorum. He's not even a fiscal conservative!!
And he is anything but small government, the fact that he is leading in the polls may make the most convincing evidence for the basis of this thread
I think part of the problem is that many moderate conservatives have been too frightened by what they see as unwarranted intrusion of the Federal government into their lives and especially into their pocketbooks.
Sometimes that's just an ideological view reinforced by years of hearing disparaging remarks about "Washington Democrats".
Sometimes it's an insular view caused by an inability to appreciate the larger problems of the nation. A pig farmer in Georgia may not be able to understand why federal laws need to affect his very local farming. Of course, sometimes he is right: remember Obama's weak pun about spilt milk? That's the kind of blind enforcement of well meaning regulations that cries out for local ombudsmen.
Whatever: many conservative moderates don't have very different views than many liberals. In fact, when we have honest conversations, we usually find much common ground and understanding of the other sides point of view.
Their party has been hijacked by a bunch of crazies. The left has its crazies too, but they never reach any kind of national prominence - it's rare that any even get to Congress, never mind the Presidency. On the Right, however, they are in full bloom.
That leaves a moderate (hi, Habee) with tough choices. Support the party that believes in a powerful central government or the party that does not? Never mind the particular slant of a particular POTUS hopeful, look at the base ideology that matters: should a rural pig farmer have to be burdened with Federal regulations?
For me, the answer is yes, we HAVE to do that. I do believe we need rational "feet on the ground" to avoid spilt milk stupidity, but removing the power is not the right answer.
We are in this together. We can build a better world or we can revert to the 19th century. The far right will destroy us if we let them.
He appeals to the basest instincts of the basest of the base.
Investments in expanding personal power . . . "The GOP's Big Investors"
In a sense, Santorum, Gingrich, Paul, and Romney are fronts . . .
http://www.truth-out.org/gops-big-investors/1329919572
BREAKING: New Romney tax cut plan would cost $10.7 trillion over 10 years http://thkpr.gs/xqliDf
Cutting from Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Surprised? No.
Corporate/Uber Rich/Banksters Heaven.
ROMNEY'S NEW TAX PLAN: "A huge tax cut that’s paid for by cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid" http://thkpr.gs/w4jF1S
Don't believe the sources, what's the difference?
I already lived through it, although my opinion is like garbage.
What the H is wrong with this D country?
Can you show me a single person who is not stupid. Steve Jobs was stupid (he said he is stupid because he didn't go for therapy when the cancer was first detected)Even Albert Einstein is stupid, because most recently his theory has been proven wrong (that nothing can travel faster than light). I have written a hub about Scientific Truths and Facts about Evolution and Natural Selection. Read it and then you will understand how stupid we all are.
The hypocrisy is jaw-dropping—how the conservative extremists (and Libertarians like Evan) around here ignore the GOP's blatant attacks and opposition to anything that helps Americans while affixing blame to their opponent Democrats for not accomplishing any "Change (we can believe in)."
I still believe in it—even if it's at a snails pace. The public is finally waking up to these weasel's obstructionist ploys.
More of their blatant favoritism:
"Every Republican presidential contender and nearly every Republican member of the House and Senate has signed a pledge to oppose ending taxpayer handouts to Big Oil — handouts that will add up to more than $40 BILLION over the next ten years. In addition, Republicans have repeatedly voted in lockstep to block efforts to repeal the tax giveaways to Big Oil. President Obama, however, remains undaunted and has once again included repeal of these wasteful giveaways in his budget for 2013.
Republican Politicians Want to Cut Big Oil’s Taxes Even More: Both the House Republican budget plan released last year (and supported by nearly every Republican member of the House and Senate) and the tax plans of every GOP presidential contender call for cutting the corporate tax rate by one-third or more. This huge tax cut could result in another big windfall of billions of dollars for Big Oil. By contrast, President Obama has proposed closing wasteful tax loopholes and wants to clamp down on the use of foreign tax shelters (ExxonMobil uses at least 20) that allow huge corporations to avoid paying their fair share in U.S. taxes."
********
Obama's proposals will be blocked in Congress, awaiting the election of any R.
Should that happen, we will see Robber Baronry of EPIC proportions!
If you think that theft is the way to "help people" then you'll never have my support, Whimsy.
Theft is never the solution: the right to property is inalienable. Not even your precious government can take that away.
PS, the poster is great.
Your beliefs, Evan, are, in a word, ludicrous . . .
http://www.hulu.com/watch/332394/the-da … s-p1-sr-i1
That's funny, because I have about 20 million people in this country alone who agree with me.
And probably a billion more around the world.
Well, there's a lot of people who don't believe that the theory of Evolution is sound science, too. I wouldn't put too much weight on "lots of people think this" as support for an argument.
That's a valid point, but i think comparing "fiscal sanity" to "creationism" is a bit of a stretch.
That's a conveniently evasive ploy, Evan.
The point being, creationism is NOT being compared to "fiscal sanity"— believing in an ideology doesn't make an ideological consensus a verifiable fact.
Did you even bother to listen to Reagan's former economic advisor in that interview above?
You believe in an ideology that doesn't have a verifiable fact, either. Liberalism is entirely based on assumptions and beliefs.
You need to come back to Earth, but leave your high and mighty assumptions in outer space where they belong.
liberal
adjective
open to new behavior or opinions and willing to discard traditional values : they have more liberal views toward marriage and divorce than some people.
libertarianism
noun
an extreme laissez-faire political philosophy advocating only minimal state intervention in the lives of citizens.
You're always evading salient points Evan and if anyone is from outer-space around here, it certainly isn't me . . .
History exists. Sorry that "understanding that classical liberalism was very libertarian (by today's standards)" is difficult to understand.
But here's a start: words change meaning all the time.
Example: "This is a very gay day, indeed!"
Gee, what's that expressed as a percentage, Evan?
Umm, 20 mill vs. what, 310 mill or so.. ?
Oh, yes, you are DEFINITELY mainstream!
Well, we all know that liberals equate mainstream with good.
Just like the Germans did.
I like how the German people are forever to be the worlds devil people.
Are there not other evil goings on happening right now as we speak?
Yes there are....so you can drop the German=Evil always and forever.
And the not so subtle attempt to tie liberals with Nazis.
As your right wing pals are doing on national tv.
The germans aren't evil.
They're just an un-erring example of what can happen when you follow the road, or allow might to make right, or refuse to resist, or allow government to get too big, or any number of things.
Yes, exactly...when you allow them to invade your private life...you have trouble. *Personhood Amendment*
"I don’t think we’ve seen in the history of this country the kind of attack on religious conscience, religious freedom, religious tolerance that we’ve seen under Barack Obama,” said Mitt Romney in the Arizona debate last night, in an attempt to match Rick Santorum and virtually every GOP politician."
This coming from a party that alludes to the president at Hitler, and whose politicians push for state sanctioned rape.
Any more Republican religious freedom, and we might all be in jail.
Bad!
Bad!
You are all BAAAAAAAAD!
It is more appropriate to note that loyal party voters whether they are democrat or republican or any combination left to right are not intelligent at all. They allow the party to do their thinking and follow the party like sheep.
The result is what we see in the country today.
Neither party when in control did anything to prevent the economic collapse or even recover from the economic collapse of this century.
Neither party, no congress and no president since the oil crisis of the 1970s did anything to prevent our dependence on foreign oil. And today it is both an economic and national defense threat to our country.
Loyal party voters have caused this country to collapse. Yet each voter blames the other party for it.
The 2012 election will not help the country no matter who wins the election as the 2008 election results didn't help the country.
No election will help the country until the loyal party voter is extinct.
I like your candor and awareness ib, and you make a great argument; nevertheless what does your kind of fatalism amount to? Are you saying: "Our democracy can't be fixed—so why bother?"
You never know what the future may hold if you're willing to struggle for a better way of life . . . without stealing and killing to be comfortable and secure. But you can count on trouble if you don't address the things that can destroy your health, safety and the gifts of life.
wow
My solution was in my last sentence
No election will help the country until the loyal party voter is extinct.
The voters need to vote for the best candidate regardless of party, because that is the more intelligent vote.
Democrats and Republicans both take advantage of their loyal party voters, and cash their vote as soon as they register.
Then both parties pander to the independent voters, so the solution is to be an independent voter.
Thanks
Thanks for explaining—two points however: 1. By the time I got to your last sentence, I was so disheartened, I didn't bother to consider it a solution. 2. Your solution (of being an independent) seems a bit simplistic because even independents are still stuck with having to choose between dysfunctional candidates in a dysfunctional system. It's the money and the influence of it that needs to be addressed, IMHO.
Wizard
As you said, basically you have to start somewhere.
My somewhere is to break the historical trend of the loyal party voter that has taken us to where we are today.
Most loyal voters are sheep and the party is their sheepherder.
Until that sheep run free, there will always be the vote for the lesser evil rather than the optimal choice.
To get the money out of the picture, the voters need to get politicians into office that can change the lobbyists and third party funders into a neutral position. Voters can do that by not re-electing incumbents that don't do what the voters want.
It won't happen overnight, but it will never happen until the voters change from sheep to intelligent voters nothing good will happen from elections.
Remember that it was the lack of intelligence of loyal party voters for both partys that got us to where we are today. And as long the the loyalists from one party blame the other party for the problem the game continues to be lost.
my opinion....
Hardly the only place he'd have been at odds with the current bunch of idjuts.
But they all act like he's their hero. It's exactly like their crazy thing with Jesus - they would never dream of actually LIVING in accordance with his views, but they love wearing the tatoos..
He was big government, that's for sure.
Just like Bush: his platform was small government, then he sold out.
He didn't sell out, he had a democrat congress that compromised their way.
Ron Paul 20???
One born every minute.
Only 78 vetoes?
Sounds like he didn't believe his own philosophy.
Here's the only way to reach the right-wing . . . the main ingredient in this video . . .
http://youtu.be/TOVnmuHlZ3Y
Thanks for taking the time to view it, LMC.
I love David....he started me on my way to many fascinating topics!
I read a brain biology study published in Discover magazine that found - among a fairly large group of test subjects - a distinct correlation between conservative thinking and a lesser capacity for cognitive reasoning. There are many types of intelligence, but what this indicates is what seems outwardly evident to many: people whose brains function in this way are less capable of absorbing new ideas and applying them to their existing knowledge and the world at large.
Conservatives tend to function in a zealous and often purely reactionary manner that is not rooted in logic, reason or fact because they are intimidated and frightened by that which is new and that which they do not understand. One could say that it's in everyone's nature to fear the unknown, but obviously some people are much more willing to embrace it and make an attempt to understand it than others who panic and become defensive even at the mere suggestion of something that does not fit neatly within their established thought pattern.
I stopped attempting to argue with conservatives after reading that article because it's literally, actually impossible. Based on prior experience I'm sure someone who reads this will want to call me a pretentious flaming liberal this and that, but just for the record, the only things I really believe in are progress and mediation.
But it also found that conservatives are better at identifying threats.
I am a liberal. I recognize that most conservatives do not match my intelligence in seeing complex relationships. I also recognize that my kind of intelligence is dangerous when faced with certain kinds of problems.
Put me and a smart conservative in the wilds and maybe I'll be quicker at designing a better hunting weapon, but the conservative might be the one who keeps us alive long enough for me to do that.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biology_an … rientation
If that's the case, why did GWB and his Neo-Cons drag America into an unnecessary war in Iraq?
I'll take my chances with rational Liberals & Moderates—in the woods or anywhere.
I would love to see you two in the woods, matter of fact I have access to about 30,000 acres in South Texas, I am extending an invitation to you both to come and stay for as long as you like and attempt to live on that same acreage. There is plenty of water and game for 20 people to thrive for a very long time, I will leave you two out there for as long as you would like I would provide GPS and weapons. Interested?
Can I come? Sounds like fun! I'll need lots of ammo for my .308. Oh, throw in some 12-gauge shells, too, if you have any game birds. 7 1/2 express load for doves, please. Should I bring a .22, also, for small game? If you have any wild hogs, I'll bring my two Great Danes.
Obviously you have never been to South Texas, plenty of all that you mentioned. Yes, you can come, those guys may need the help. They may also need help in distinguishing cattle from hogs, my uncle would be pissed if they shot a cow.
Nope, never been to Texas, but we prolly have similar game here. We have deer, squirrels, rabbits, wild turkeys, ducks, woodcock, doves, wild hogs, and my fave, Bobwhite quail. Occasionally, we luck up on some wild geese.
Where do you think the two woodsman went? This is a serious offer, I'm not paying for gas or plane fare but I will supply Ammo. I think that being faced with this type of activity or hell, even surviving in the inner city, these two would come up a bit short. You seem to have the wherewithal to survive, even if you're a moderate!
Tell you what, Tex: you trailer me in a good quarter horse with some cow sense and I'll round up the new crop of calves and do the spring branding or tagging for ya!
I'm sure you could probably do it but there are plenty of vaqueros to handle that. I would probably just let you show the two gentleman how to load the individual weapons and of course show them the end that projectiles egress.
46 hours after my invitation was extended and the two "smarter than conservatives" men have not responded.
Go back and try READING what I said: http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/93222?p … ost1996896
Pay particular attention to the link.
That's a good point, and thanks for the fun Wiki link. I think it's safe to assume that conservatives own most of the guns, too, which will be useful in the event that society or all of civilisation implodes.
And ask Cheney about the war in Iraq, missing a chance to profit massively through Halliburton was probably the only threat he detected.
I could send my twelve year old niece, if that would help?
I can't believe this forum hasn't been taken down by a moderator.
"Is the opposing party to my belief system stupider than me?"
Astonishing.
Hey there appears to be some evidence to support it, this is called free speech then we can all engage the evidence and decide whether it holds any value or not. For a libertarian you sure do like yourself some censorship huh.
I have yet to see a single citation of a study that shows this.
HubPages is a private enterprise -- you clearly fail to understand what property means.
I don't think it's a matter of intelligence....
I've heard all politicians have to go thru a certain corruptness before they can run for presidency.
all politicians lie and are deceitful. I don't know if any are better than others on a wide scale. Sometimes I just don't know if I should vote; or if I should just vote for one main thing; most of the minor differences are not going to make much difference IMO. If that makes sense.
Funny....I hated both party's up until Howard Dean came along.
Never voted for them...always voted other party or Donald Duck.
Then Dean came along and showed me what a Democrat was.....and I've been one ever since.
Careful with the labeling is all.....I see some 3rd party types starting to have their own type of Baaaah Baaaah mentality!
Their mantra, which is false: Dems and Repubs are the same party, different wings.
That's sheeple mantra!
You guys have way more stamina than I....and Evan still does not get it--this was not about bashing the Conservative side of the Hub Pages community but rather what political ideology the intellectually challenged might gravitate towards??
@Evan your comment regarding IQ is totally on point -- a worthless measure or should I say mismeasure....Book recommendation--THE MISMEASURE OF MAN by Stephan Jay Gould. A Paleontologists/Historian of Science's history of the concept of IQ and its misuse. A great read.
Maybe this evening will shed some light on the questions raised in this thread..
by Credence2 5 months ago
Background:https://theconversation.com/states-are- … rce-205175
by mega1 13 years ago
Or does it just seem that way because the Democrats/liberals are less vocal about it? Lately it seems to me there are many many more conservatives and their agendas being pushed at us. I usually keep away from politics entirely, but if it is true that most of the forum posters are...
by Tim Mitchell 3 weeks ago
An interesting article I read; How Fear and Anger Impact Democracy (May 21, 2019) brings some light on the OP title. It is an essay published in Items, Insights from the Social Sciences of the Social Science Research Council.The article in my view shares what we may have long suspected and lived...
by Grace Marguerite Williams 7 years ago
To Black Conservatives and/or Republicans, what are the 10 ways that the Democratic Party and/orLiberals impair, fail, and even destroy the Black mindset and community? Give detailed, insightful, and analytical answers.
by Grace Marguerite Williams 8 months ago
The Democratic Party have institutionalized socioeconomic policies which are the detriment to America such as welfare & a governmental health program known as Obamacare. Because of the Democratic Party, we have generational welfare which the onus of tax is on the middle...
by Credence2 8 years ago
I have always wondered what makes progressives (liberals if you like) different from conservatives. When both are witness to the same events, yet each group has a different take on what is or what should be done.This is a lot like the gold or blue dress controversy of a couple of months ago. Who...
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