Conservatives vs Liberals

[F3SS]

Attacking a belief system? I posted articles highlighting MULTIPLE scientific studies showing hard numbers that conservatives aren't very smart. What is hilarious is the fact that you think I am a liberal. Why? Because of what I posted? I am not a liberal, but I am also not afraid of facts.

Dude, you said you could identify liberals from conservatives in any conversation simply by looking at spelling and grammar while ignoring content all together. That qualifies as a broad attack on the conservative belief system.

Why? You battle conservatism constantly and champion nearly every liberal outlook on these boards. You are very far left on many issues. To me, that's a modern day liberal.

[Agent0range]

Dude, you said you could identify liberals from conservatives in any conversation simply by looking at spelling and grammar while ignoring content all together. That qualifies as a broad attack on the conservative belief system.

Why? You battle conservatism constantly and champion nearly every liberal outlook on these boards. You are very far left on many issues. To me, that's a modern day liberal.

That is not an attack on their belief system. It was a 100% true statement. I would post examples, but I would definitely get in trouble. What issues am I far left on? I don't think guns should be banned. I hate safety net programs. I like Obamacare only because I understand the economics of it and how it should help lower my premiums...I don't really give a **** about the uninsured. But, no, I am definitely not conservative. I will never associate with bigots.

[Yamato]

That is not an attack on their belief system. It was a 100% true statement. I would post examples, but I would definitely get in trouble. What issues am I far left on? I don't think guns should be banned. I hate safety net programs. I like Obamacare only because I understand the economics of it and how it should help lower my premiums...I don't really give a **** about the uninsured. But, no, I am definitely not conservative. I will never associate with bigots.

So you don't care about others and it's all about getting more for yourself by forcing other people to pay for it. So why should someone else associate with you?

[F3SS]

Agent, you're first source basically reiterates over and over that liberals live in a bubble filled with hubris and narrow minded views about those outside the bubble. You're second source is about the great findings the liberal swine Jeneane Garafollo went on about seven or eight years ago as proof that conservatives are more Neanderthal than human. The first source was fair, the second source was lopsided. Neither were links to the actual studies you're drooling over. Conveniently done. You linked to op-eds instead of the studies. Unless you posted them later. Now, I'll consider going back and looking for links to all the studies but I don't think the first source was anything but a blog.

[F3SS]

But, no, I am definitely not conservative. I will never associate with bigots.

No you're not conservative. You don't care about anyone but yourself. Liberals champion the collective but they set rules for other people to love by rather than themselves. You are a bigot though and that's a trait belonging more and more to the left these days. You, like the left, are completely intolerant and non-accepting of anyone and anything outside of your view. On a daily basis you are rude and insulting more than you are conversational. Those things define a bigot.

[F3SS]

That is not an attack on their belief system. It was a 100% true statement.

However you'd like to spin it but you cannot identify political beliefs simply by examining spelling and grammar. That is not 100% true in any way, shape or form. Hell, that'd make me a fairly hard leaning lefty since my spelling and grammar are pretty darn good. It's a broad statement and you know it. To not admit you're wrong only solidifies everything said here at the end of your first source.

To reiterate, people who subscribe to non-traditional ideas probably have above-average intellects, but that does not mean other smart people will like those ideas. This is a point often lost on liberals who work in universities or in the news media. They observe, usually correctly, that friends and acquaintances in their social circle are smarter than the average (and likely more conservative) people they encounter on the street. But too many elites see this correlation between smartness and liberalism as somehow a validation of their political views. They seem unaware that the wider world features plenty of intelligent people who are not professors or movie critics or government bureaucrats. Even among the nation’s smartest people, liberal elites could easily be in the minority politically, but different social circles keep them insulated from finding that out. The result is a convenient but damaging political meme that circulates among some people on the Left—the belief that their opponents simply can’t understand what makes for good policy.

The bottom line is that a political debate will never be resolved by measuring the IQs of groups on each side of the issue. Even if certain positions tend to be held by less intelligent people, there will usually be plenty of sharp thinkers who take the same side. Rather than focus on the intellectual deficiencies, real or imagined, of certain politicians and their supporters, people should strive to find the best and brightest spokesmen for the opposing side.

Edited April 21, 2014 by F3SS

[Uncle Sam]

I never really understand why we should separate ourselves into categories when in fact, everyone is American and shouldn't have self-interest parties dedicated for only one party. To be an real American, you are neither Liberal or Conservative in the eyes of others, but to focus on what is good for both the nation and the people of the nation. Damn colleges these days are places this concept that should be foreign to us in our minds that we belong to groups which we shouldn't. Only people that belong to groups are in fact the politicians who by the way, try so hard to uphold this concept even though it is faulty.

There are smart conservatives and dumb conservatives as well as there are smart liberals and dumb liberals, no label really defines how smart individuals are in these groups. To try to say it does is ignorant and unwise, meaning you lack the maturity to see them for what they really are. It's the government that should be divided, not the American people who are voting for what they think it is right for American and her people. So really American people are being divided, not the government that is working together on a stage we haven't seen before. An undivided government with an divided nation means the government makes our choices for us, while an divided government with an undivided nation means the people make the choices while the government is incapable of taking over. Think about it...

Edited April 21, 2014 by Uncle Sam

[Yamato]

An undivided government with a divided nation means the government makes our choices for us, while adivided government with an undivided nation means the people make the choices while the government is incapable of taking over. Think about it...

Sounds like wonderful theory, and counterintuitive to what a representative democracy is supposed to be; except that some people want (others) to be controlled by govt, no matter how well govt pretends to be divided (and suckers way too many partisans in the act). Others genuinely don't want to be controlled by govt, and so they prefer the party with the most smack talk that sounds the same.

Politicians move to the middle before an election to unite the most people to their cause. Romney complaining about Obama's spending cuts in the end of his 2012 campaign comes to mind. All the shills already sold on his candidacy didn't care. The divisions were blurred, and people unified on the lesser of two evils enough to win an election.

Saying we should all be unified in a vacuum is nice but we do have differences. How do people address their differences if not through govt? I think that's the question people don't even think deeply enough to get to. They just pick the lesser of two bads, because it's good enough for them, ergo for their country.

Americans are being unified properly, along party lines. But I don't see that limited to coming from the govt the people just hapless dupes going along for the ride. I see partisan divisiveness from non-govt people around here that makes any politician look like a polite bastion of tolerance. "Oh look it's another stupid liberal/conservative!" would immediately destroy the credibility of any politician. Endlessly whining about how much worse some other group is, is one common way to express our differences. Showing how your way is so much better than theirs is quite another. Does unifying at least 51% of the country confer the better results than a million shades of different? Looking at the results, I'm not so sure.

What can we all agree on? What do we all have in common, that we can focus on securing for everyone? Paint the picture for me titled "Everyone is an American."

[Agent0range]

However you'd like to spin it but you cannot identify political beliefs simply by examining spelling and grammar. That is not 100% true in any way, shape or form. Hell, that'd make me a fairly hard leaning lefty since my spelling and grammar are pretty darn good. It's a broad statement and you know it. To not admit you're wrong only solidifies everything said here at the end of your first source.

Why is it so hard for you to accept an actual scientific study? The facts are there. Hard numbers. Does a statistical fact always apply to every single person in a group? Of course not! There will always be anomalies. But, as evidenced by multiple studies, liberals are typically smarter than conservatives. Agreed?

[Yamato]

Why is it so hard for you to accept an actual scientific study? The facts are there. Hard numbers. Does a statistical fact always apply to every single person in a group? Of course not! There will always be anomalies. But, as evidenced by multiple studies, liberals are typically smarter than conservatives. Agreed?

I thought we were all supposed to be equal. But that all depends on the issue apparently.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-405056/Men-intelligent-women-claims-new-study.html

The facts are there. Hard numbers. Now what are you going to do about it? Liberals are smarter. Now what? Show me how to apply your hard facts.

[Agent0range]

So you don't care about others and it's all about getting more for yourself by forcing other people to pay for it. So why should someone else associate with you?

Forcing others to pay for it because I am forced to pay for them when they do need medical care. That 23 year old invincible that gets in a car accident and racks up $500,000 in medical bills? I'm forced to pay for that. So I do care about others. I care about the people contributing and pulling their own weight. I will never care about freeloaders. I also care about equal rights for all. Racism needs to end, and homosexuals need to have the same rights as heterosexuals. So yes, I do care about others.

[Agent0range]

I thought we were all supposed to be equal. But that all depends on the issue apparently.

http://www.dailymail...-new-study.html

The facts are there. Hard numbers. Now what are you going to do about it? Liberals are smarter. Now what? Show me how to apply your hard facts.

All supposed to be equal on an intellectual level? That doesn't even make any sense.

[Yamato]

Forcing others to pay for it because I am forced to pay for them when they do need medical care. That 23 year old invincible that gets in a car accident and racks up $500,000 in medical bills? I'm forced to pay for that. So I do care about others. I care about the people contributing and pulling their own weight. I will never care about freeloaders. I also care about equal rights for all. Racism needs to end, and homosexuals need to have the same rights as heterosexuals. So yes, I do care about others.

So more of the same is the solution for it? Government programs proliferate freeloaders. Stop supporting what you claim to oppose.

All supposed to be equal on an intellectual level? That doesn't even make any sense.

Women being as smart as men doesn't make any sense?

[Agent0range]

So more of the same is the solution for it? Government programs proliferate freeloaders. Stop supporting what you claim to oppose.

Women being as smart as men doesn't make any sense?

Browsing the article it seems pretty legitimate and even gives a reason. Men have larger brains, and larger bodies, which means they have more neurons. It also stated other British studies came to the same conclusion. So, yes, the evidence says that men, on average, are smarter than women.

[Yamato]

Browsing the article it seems pretty legitimate and even gives a reason. Men have larger brains, and larger bodies, which means they have more neurons. It also stated other British studies came to the same conclusion. So, yes, the evidence says that men, on average, are smarter than women.

So maybe men get paid more on average because they're smarter than women on average? Why isn't that a legitimate reason for paying them more?

What are you gonna do about it? What's the point of this "smarter than you" mentality as it applies to conservatives vs. liberals?

[F3SS]

So maybe men get paid more on average because they're smarter than women on average? Why isn't that a legitimate reason for paying them more?

What are you gonna do about it? What's the point of this "smarter than you" mentality as it applies to conservatives vs. liberals?

I think the point is simply to have this argument. I have yet to get a chance to look into agents scientific studies which were the whole point of this thread and weren't even linked in the op.

It probably doesn't matter. If we are talking book smarts, than it's probably true. Universities fool and guilt their students into becoming or believing they're liberal. So when you take a study about who is most educated the result will obviously get that skew. The implication of this thread is that righties lack intelligence, outright, as in non-existent, which is just filled with hubris.

Now, agent calls me, I presume, an anomaly. That's absurd. I know lots of people just like me who are anything but lacking in intelligence. Book smarts are great don't get me wrong. Nothing wrong with education. At the same time there is nothing wrong with being well versed in general knowledge. I'm certainly a general knowledge kind of guy. The big difference between myself and friends of mine who went to universities is that all they know is their job, literally. Other than that they couldn't wipe their own butts without a manual for direction. They often lack common sense, compassion and any ability to problem solve anything if it doesn't involve crunching numbers. In most cases their parents also paid for their education. I truly feel far more accomplished in my life than I would of I'd haven taken their path. The things I've built, fixed, solved, taken on, completed, ect; is far more satisfying than achieving a degree in one single aspect of life that if not for first world living would be utterly useless. While I could potentially broaden my horizons into a different line of work all these guys with degrees are stuck to find one job in basically one field if things went south for them.

[F3SS]

Sorry, maybe a bit of a rant. Let me shorten that. IQ's don't equate to success usefulness.

[Beany]

You can find a "study" to support almost any point of view on the internet.

Yes, you can. That's why looking at the sources are important.

[Beany]

No you're not conservative. You don't care about anyone but yourself. Liberals champion the collective but they set rules for other people to love by rather than themselves. You are a bigot though and that's a trait belonging more and more to the left these days. You, like the left, are completely intolerant and non-accepting of anyone and anything outside of your view. On a daily basis you are rude and insulting more than you are conversational. Those things define a bigot.

Let's not indulge ourselves with leveling personal attacks at one another. Please see the forum rules of behavior if you have any doubts or questions about your posts, and please review them before posting. I'm not singling anyone out, this just seemed like a good place to insert this. I love everyone's passion, surely it can be contained within the forum rules?

[Beany]

Well I just saw this post. A double space before IQ? You place two spaces at the end of a sentence, I am pretty sure they teach that by the third grade. Pelling? Clearly a typo, which is very different from not knowing how to spell something. Analyze strictly? That is used correctly there. Almost guarantee is also acceptable.

For the 100th time...I posted a study with actual data. The study was not based off of opinion, but hard numbers. Until you can link a scientific, peer reviewed study disputing my information, my study stands.

Not everyone is familiar with the latest MS style; please keep your comments on topic and off of spelling or typo errors.

[Beany]

No you're not conservative. You don't care about anyone but yourself. Liberals champion the collective but they set rules for other people to love by rather than themselves. You are a bigot though and that's a trait belonging more and more to the left these days. You, like the left, are completely intolerant and non-accepting of anyone and anything outside of your view. On a daily basis you are rude and insulting more than you are conversational. Those things define a bigot.

Ix-nay the name calling, please.

[F3SS]

Jets cooled.

[MiskatonicGrad]

IMHO anyone that reads any study critiquing the "intelligence" of one group or another should question the intelligence of the people performing the study.

"we could get a pile of grant money and solve some important problems, but since we only have hamster-like intellect let's study who's smarter us or them."

[No Censorship]

I posted articles highlighting MULTIPLE scientific studies showing hard numbers that conservatives aren't very smart.

Did Ben Carson participate in any of these studies? I didn't think so.

[Thelaw1]

If your objective is to classify liberals as smarter than conservatives, then your objective is not only demeaning, it is dangerous. You are basically stating that liberals are better human beings than conservatives because a study indicates that liberals are smarter than conservatives. First, do me a favor everyone, and quit labeling people. The truth of the matter is that everyone falls on a spectrum of political ideology. When does a conservative become a moderate and a moderate a liberal. Point is, there are different shades of conservatism and liberalism and to flat out state that liberals are smarter than conservatives is misleading. Second, I am skeptical about this "study". For example, I hate I.Q. tests because so many variables play into these intellectual studies. There are societal variables, diet, access to education, access to healthcare, and still a plethora of variables that determine one's intellect.

But hey, I will play along with your labeling game. If you equate sophistication with intellect, then yes, liberals would be smarter than conservatives. Liberals can enjoy their cocktail parties. I will enjoy my football tailgating parties.

Edit: This is why I hate political parties and political ideology. When will we realize that we all want the same thing? We all want to be prosperous and live a good, happy, fulfilling life. It is human nature to classify and label things and groups for expediency's sake but please stop.

Edited April 22, 2014 by Thelaw1