Liberal atheists - You know that using words like "bigot", "retard", "idiot"?
You got a point there Jack. I have often been informed by church people that I'm an idiot; they don't have to keep telling me. I come on here to ask them simple questions. What's the point of them including statements about me in their answers? .
Are left-wing people actually less intelligent?
There are highly intelligent people on both sides of the ideological divide. I have personally met two IQ 180+ individuals who label themselves as conservative, and know of a third ( and yes, I am aware that is a significant fraction of the 180+ individuals in the entire US).On the other hand, you will find reputable research showing liberals have, on average, higher educational attainment and higher income than conservatives, both of which are weak proxies for intelligence.I would suggest that this really represents that liberals are more urban and conservatives are more rural, at least in the US. Higher IQ people tend to have net migration from rural to urban communities, so “birds of a feather flock together” and vote left, as they also finish their degrees and get high-paying jobs in the big city. The political environment plays a role in shaping behavior; if all the “smart cool kids” are voting left, then their peers will tend to follow that lead.I would suggest your perception of left-wing people as “less intelligent” is heavily shaped by right-wing propaganda. Both sides are guilty of this. For example, the left often describes the Tea Party as composed of knuckle-dragging Neanderthals, yet education and income for Tea Partiers exceeds not only that of conservatives in general, but of all liberals averaged as a group as well.In the end, the left enjoys a slight statistical advantage. But the small size of that advantage, coupled with the wide range of intelligence proxies for both groups renders that advantage practically meaningless.
For whatever reason, I see right-wing views as less intelligent than left. What are some examples of left-wing foolishness?
Lots of good answers on here already, between tolerance of intolerance, education policies, understanding of economics and price controls etc.The most foolish aspect of left-wing views I see here in the UK is the left’s view of the right. It’s not just that the Labour Party (in particular) thinks the Conservatives and UKIP are less intelligent, it’s that they think they are actually evil. That they have genuine venom running through their veins, and got into politics so they could put on a top hat as they cackle and steal sweets from babies.Just when I assume that it is a convoluted metaphor that has got out of control, I’m reminded that, no, even when the Conservative Party implements profoundly liberal policies - because, deep down, it is a party with a strong classically liberal streak - the left looks for some evil motivation behind it.I think of when David Cameron, then-Prime Minister whose son died in 2009, made a heartfelt and genuinely moving speech supporting the NHS making reference to his traumatic experiences, and Jack Monroe tweeted that he “uses stories about his dead son as misty-eyed rhetoric to legitimise selling our NHS”. What a totally closed-minded, unemphatic reaction.This to my mind is the biggest foolishness - a complete intransigence or unwillingness to accept or understand someone else’s point of view or what motivates them, and a firm and complete belief that you are Right and Good and no-one else can be; and it is rife in the UK left.Jonathan Haidt (a liberal psychologist) has been mentioned already, but he’s worth mentioning again: his book The Righteous Mind covers this well. From the NY Times book review by William Saletan (‘The Righteous Mind,’ by Jonathan Haidt):The hardest part, Haidt finds, is getting liberals to open their minds… In a survey of 2,000 Americans, Haidt found that self-described liberals, especially those who called themselves “very liberal,” were worse at predicting the moral judgments of moderates and conservatives than moderates and conservatives were at predicting the moral judgments of liberals. Liberals don’t understand conservative values. And they can’t recognize this failing, because they’re so convinced of their rationality, open-mindedness and enlightenment.
Are conservatives really blind followers like sheep, why would people say such a thing, give examples?
Here is a very basic example of the "sheeple" effect: The more educated a person becomes the more they are ABLE to see, understand, and think of multiple perspectives of most agreements, situations, and problems. It is because of this very fact that educated people tend disagree among themselves. The less educated the more likely they will accept the position of their group leader, they simple sheeple right along behind their group thinker. They just accept. OK, what does this mean to the left wingers: it means, as repugnicans put it, they can not decide among them selves-they have no cohesiveness. The upside for the repugnicans is they have what the left wingers dont---cohesiveness and unity. Basically they are a large group of sheeple who do not question their leadership. It is a good thing being ignorant---right????
Is the Foxnews spreading hate, fear and violence by spreading disinformation?Is this similar to RTLM in Rwanda?
Yes, Fox is biased. They, for a multitude of reasons chose the partisan route, as did MSNBC. One reason is primacy in news, they are the highest rated news broadcaster. But the way FNC is biased is alot more subtle than you are implying. I'd have a look at the documentary Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism for a really good look at the subliminal impartiality of Fox. However, I think alot of people who watch Fox don't really take it seriously, at least when the opinion shows come on. I for one watch Fox but am very aware when they put in their biases. Their "straight" news programs are not very biased but they'll occasionally throw in opinion to skew a story. Just count how many times you hear "some would say", which is equivalent to saying "my opinion is". When watching MSNBC its very clear when the opinion shows are on, but not as clear with Fox. Now the problem comes when a great deal of people in this country take the words of the opinion shows and biases of the "straight" news stories to heart. Fox displays a very clear narrative that alot of people in this country identify with. The same goes with MSNBC, they are both partisan news organizations. But no one does partisanship like Fox. There is a very clear imbalance between MSNBC and Fox in terms of insertion of opinion into news and subliminal bias. Oh, and to the commenter above me, "MSNBC is just as biased for the left wing and has radical hosts like Maddow, Olbermann, and Schultz." I don't think it's fair to compare Maddow, Olbermann (maybe Schultz) to Glenn Beck and call them radical. They are partisan like O'reilly and Hannity are partisan. Beck takes opinion show to a whole new level. His show particularly gets people very riled up about government intervention and libertarian values, but does so in my opinion in an irresponsible way, by playing more to people's fears than coercion with rational argument. Now to the guy below me, he's a perfect example of how fear and prejudice are perpetuated by partisanship. There's no need for personal attacks in politics. What every happened to rational discourse? The founders would look at us in shame.
Republicans, please explain to me?
I am a Republican, however, I somewhat disagree with your claims I do not support mass job outsourcing. I am proud of products that are made in America, and use them often. (Manhole covers for example) I am against universal health care, because I am a firefighter. If it were free to go to the hospital, for any reason, our call loads would quadruple, and our hospitals overfilled. Let alone the huge cost of it all. I vote for giving the military more money for medical care. We need to take care of those guys. What the hell is wrong with giving an incentive to being successful? Is getting ahead in life a crime? Why should we punish them? I support our efforts in Iraq. We are helping so much over there; building schools, infrastructure, and helping them secure their country. What is so bad about that? And so what if the rich are getting richer, isn't that the way our system works? Everybody though Iraq had WMDs. Republicans, Democrats, the UK, Poland, Australia, all of the countries that came and helped us. Sorry, the man's got a lot of crap on his plate. You never heard anything from FDR about the environment when he built the Grand Coolee Dam either. I have a problem with any infringement on the Constitution. Liberals have no problem telling me what kind of displays I can have in my yard for Christmas either. Is that not free speach as well? Ivy league alumni are reputably liberal because their professors are. After 4 years of exposure, it takes a strong willed mind to not conform.