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Why Liberals Are More Intelligent Than Conservatives

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I'm just trying to be devil's advocate here to get some discussion as to WHY people think there's any differencev
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think of average joe. how many problems does he have on his plate at any given time? is he going to always be thinking of the big picture, and behaving accordingly? in his financial spending, in particular?

no
 
SubDude said:
Science has it's place and so does politics... but they usually don't mix well together. Progress is one thing... but leading others where they don't want to go doesn't sit well with me.
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you don't get where i'm coming from

liberal/progressive ideas place great importance on the individual and his freedom and rights (these -ism's are getting sorta loose, we should define them). while liberals may try to direct positive social change collectively (e.g. a tax on cigarettes), we generally try not to entangle ourselves in others' sex lives, marriages, foreign politics, or kick somebody's door down for a devil plant

these authoritarian "i know better than you, lil bro" ideas are antithetical to most liberal perspectives but welcomed by many conservative perspectives (whether it's a parent wanting family values only TV or religious morals being enforced through government). the concept that each individual can be rational and self-directed and can be trusted to vote was a progressive idea for the non elites, women, blacks, etc

"Progressives" seem to assume they have all the latest and best relevant information needed to move forward for the common good, and everyone else is either uninformed or ignorant. Thats absurd.
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uh... both sides feel as if their lens/perspective/set of info is the best set of info to base our actions on, as far as we can currently tell; that's why they're on that side. but you know what... i think you're projecting here. i think conservatives are on average more moralist, elitist about their views, less likely to change their views, and as we've seen with data, more close minded

overall, i feel as if we've broadened our awareness throughout history, and are still doing so. conservative ideology resists the changes that this increased awareness calls for, for various reasons, emotional or pragmatic or philosophic. that's why throughout history, your side of the ideological fence has whored itself out to whoever the rulers were at that time; the "status quo side" is what i'm arguing against

here's some leftist elitism. left ideas are newer historically and the motivations for coming up with them more evolved socially and intellectually
 
rant*N*rave said:
^Correct me if I'm wrong, but all of those things are managed by local governments, not the federal government, aren't they?


The word "enumerated" is coming to mind...
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depends. a lot of funding for public transportation, over hauls of public service departments (water, fire, etc) come from the federal government. ATL is about to lose it's funding for MARTA because it can't handle it's public transportation system.
 
qwe said:
you don't get where i'm coming from

liberal/progressive ideas place great importance on the individual and his freedom and rights (these -ism's are getting sorta loose, we should define them). while liberals may try to direct positive social change collectively (e.g. a tax on cigarettes), we generally try not to entangle ourselves in others' sex lives, marriages, foreign politics, or kick somebody's door down for a devil plant

these authoritarian "i know better than you, lil bro" ideas are antithetical to most liberal perspectives but welcomed by many conservative perspectives (whether it's a parent wanting family values only TV or religious morals being enforced through government). the concept that each individual can be rational and self-directed and can be trusted to vote was a progressive idea for the non elites, women, blacks, etc



uh... both sides feel as if their lens/perspective/set of info is the best set of info to base our actions on, as far as we can currently tell; that's why they're on that side. but you know what... i think you're projecting here. i think conservatives are on average more moralist, elitist about their views, less likely to change their views, and as we've seen with data, more close minded

overall, i feel as if we've broadened our awareness throughout history, and are still doing so. conservative ideology resists the changes that this increased awareness calls for, for various reasons, emotional or pragmatic or philosophic. that's why throughout history, your side of the ideological fence has whored itself out to whoever the rulers were at that time; the "status quo side" is what i'm arguing against

here's some leftist elitism. left ideas are newer historically and the motivations for coming up with them more evolved socially and intellectually
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Yout last statement depends on the individuals perspective.

If I'm projecting then your rationalizing. You've chosen sides and seem to have totally molded your belief system to conform to that ideology. At least I'm flexable enough to cross a couple of lines. Several of the positions I've taken here are not all black and white... and a good compromise is sometimes possible. The problem being [historically] conservatives have conceeded so much and so often that it's finally reached a point where... not only is the line in the sand drawn, trenches are dug deep. I'm republican though probably not as far right as you think... but since no one else at BL supports conservative positions... I've kinda taken up the cause.

I'd like to tell you a brief story which I'm sure you've heard variations before. But this is my experience.

I was raised by Christian parents. My mom was at home and my father was Asst General Counsel and Organizer for ICWU. I had "normal" childhood before I was drafted into the army at 18 and served about 1.5yrs before gettting medically discharged. I hated what I did in the service and it took about 2 yrs of "kicking around the country" to put that behind me and accept what I did was OK. I eventually landed in California and enrolled in college. I immediately joined VVAW [viet vets against the war] and supported groups like SDS-Worker-Student Alliance. Our focus was fighting racism, supporting workers'/unions sruggles, drug law reforms, poverty, nuclear disarmament....etc. I even volunteered for Tom Hayden's primary campaign run for the senate in 1976.... though I didn't like his position against drug reform. It's safe to say I was pretty far left for the times.

My girlfriend got pregnant in my senior year so I needed to go to work quickly after graduation. Over the years I had 5 more kids and my career led me to several relocations eventually landing in the midwest.

To some extent... I still support many of the same causes as I did as a young man. My political beliefs haven't changed all that much... but the times have. What was far left in the 70's is near to right center now. I've moved some towards the right... which is mostly an evolution many young college kids experience when they grow older, get married and have families. By the time many of us settle into this lifestyle... our priorities change to what's best for kids and family is primary and the good of all, is secondary. The two aren't always consistantly the same. This transition [for me] was mostly complete by my late 30's to early 40's.

The point is... I suspect many of you will also find yourself naturally moving right center over the course of your lives.... and not necessarily because your values change all that much. I say this assumming most of you [not all] are in the 20-35 age range and haven't yet started a family or else don't plan on it.... or else your children aren't yet school age. Middle school is when things really get complicated these days.

Let me correct you... Conservative Ideology resists unecessary and unproductive change.
 
The qualities of a particular change in policy, law, etc. being either necessary or productive are non-obvious and require political discussion/debate.

By claiming that conservative ideology resists unecessary and unproductive change you are failing to take into consideration who defines those terms and under what conditions they are applied.
 
SubDude said:
My political beliefs haven't changed all that much... but the times have. What was far left in the 70's is near to right center now.
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Odd. My parents argue the precise opposite, contending that in in terms of political-economic policy, Nixon was to the left of Clinton. Perhaps the general atmosphere has moved leftward in terms of social permissiveness, but rightward in terms of fiscal and monetary policy.

ebola
 
ebola? said:
Perhaps the general atmosphere has moved leftward in terms of social permissiveness, but rightward in terms of fiscal and monetary policy.
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I would say that is almost 100% accurate with the exception of the latter. The people want to be more rightward in terms of fiscal responsibility but it just does not happen for one reason or another. Whether liberal or conservative, politicians do not make good business decisions.
 
i think, by rightward, he was referring to how wealth has been distributed and handled. the top 2% have had an ever increasing share, the wealthiest sometimes pay the least taxes, the big guys get the big breaks, and our politicians are quite "bought"

i believe you're confusing "fiscal austerity" with what used to be called "fiscal conservativism", though i guess these days that term doesn't really mean anything anymore... it's been hijacked by those who benefit from such upward wealth flow, and it's no longer austere or reasonable
 
qwe said:
i think, by rightward, he was referring to how wealth has been distributed and handled. the top 2% have had an ever increasing share, the wealthiest sometimes pay the least taxes, the big guys get the big breaks, and our politicians are quite "bought"

i believe you're confusing "fiscal austerity" with what used to be called "fiscal conservativism", though i guess these days that term doesn't really mean anything anymore... it's been hijacked by those who benefit from such upward wealth flow, and it's no longer austere or reasonable
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And its no longer 'rightward' (and never has been really) considering the make up of Obama's administration. Although, its nothing new but only the right seems to get called out on the carpet for it.
 
Although, its nothing new but only the right seems to get called out on the carpet for it.
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umm, check the mainstream media lol. *total* opposite, the republicans brand themselves the "fiscal conservative" party
 
A level 3 liberal gets +1 intelligence boost and the ability "gloat."
 
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