More evidence...

[gfejunkie]

More evidence that "Liberalism is a Mental Disorder"...

http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/was...are-right-wing

Have a happy Fourth of July weekend!

gfe

[Munchmasterman]

Originally Posted by gfejunkie

More evidence that "Liberalism is a Mental Disorder"...

http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/was...are-right-wing

Have a happy Fourth of July weekend!

gfe

More? In what way does that study back that conclusion? What prior evidence do you have?
Like you ever believed a Harvard Study before this.

[F-Sharp]

"The Hypothesis explains why conservatives are correct in their complaints. Liberals do control the media, or the show business, or the academia, among other institutions, because, apart from a few areas in life (such as business) where countervailing circumstances may prevail, liberals control all institutions. They control the institutions because liberals are on average more intelligent than conservatives and thus they are more likely to attain the highest status in any area of (evolutionarily novel) modern life."

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/...-conservatives

[theaustinescorts]

It's true that progressives are more intellectual, and even have higher IQs, than conservatives as a generality.

However progressives still are not intelligent enough to overcome common problems in thinking which mold their opinons and beliefs. They are just as prone as conservatives to cognative rigidity, doctrinaire assumptions, parochialism, and many other mental hazards.

In the future many of the assumptions the Left consider as truth will be overturned, even as in my own experience I've had to re-consider most of the ideas I learned in acedemics in the light of bitter personal experience.

Both the left and the right are mistaken in their beliefs.

The truth as best as it may be known may lie elsewhere.

Originally Posted by F-Sharp

"The Hypothesis explains why conservatives are correct in their complaints. Liberals do control the media, or the show business, or the academia, among other institutions, because, apart from a few areas in life (such as business) where countervailing circumstances may prevail, liberals control all institutions. They control the institutions because liberals are on average more intelligent than conservatives and thus they are more likely to attain the highest status in any area of (evolutionarily novel) modern life."

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/...-conservatives

[budman33]

The truth and politics rarely collide. both sides are morally corrupt becasue they tell us time and again they are working for us but their number one priority is to keep their job. Normally I would feel the same way except they all have to be rich in order to decide they cant make it fast enough and politics pops up on their radar.

Then they usually pick a D or an R based on their odds and how much we hate the previous sonnava bitch and not on being an American.

[WyldemanATX]

Originally Posted by budman33

The truth and politics rarely collide. both sides are morally corrupt becasue they tell us time and again they are working for us but their number one priority is to keep their job. Normally I would feel the same way except they all have to be rich in order to decide they cant make it fast enough and politics pops up on their radar.

Then they usually pick a D or an R based on their odds and how much we hate the previous sonnava bitch and not on being an American.

Wow something we agree on... I think some going into office do have good intentions and then are turned to corruption by government power.

[budman33]

Originally Posted by Wyldeman30

Wow something we agree on... I think some going into office do have good intentions and then are turned to corruption by government power.

lets grab a beer together .. quick! lol

[Munchmasterman]

Originally Posted by theaustinescorts

It's true that progressives are more intellectual, and even have higher IQs, than conservatives as a generality.

However progressives still are not intelligent enough to overcome common problems in thinking which mold their opinons and beliefs. They are just as prone as conservatives to cognative rigidity, doctrinaire assumptions, parochialism, and many other mental hazards.

In the future many of the assumptions the Left consider as truth will be overturned, even as in my own experience I've had to re-consider most of the ideas I learned in acedemics in the light of bitter personal experience.

Both the left and the right are mistaken in their beliefs.

The truth as best as it may be known may lie elsewhere.

I disagree on several points but let's keep it simple.

Conservatives keep to the status quo. They like things the way they are and feel change is usually for the worst. These are the rigid thinkers.

Progressives look for "improvements" to the status quo. These people tend to be more flexible thinkers.

And of course there are flexible conservatives as well as rigid progressives.

Rigid or flexible doesn't mean stupid or misguided. Individuals are stupid. It is obvious that trying new methods is going to result in some failures. That is how the world has advanced in most areas of human endeavor. The failures are not a reason to stop trying. It's also obvious it is easy to say "I told you so" when you don't try new things. In 50 years from now I think you will find both sides got some things right and wrong.

Remember that the Founding Fathers were progressives and the loyalists and Tories were the conservatives. Jefferson and the gang did a pretty good job with the "Hope and Change" thing.

[Munchmasterman]

Originally Posted by budman33

The truth and politics rarely collide. both sides are morally corrupt becasue they tell us time and again they are working for us but their number one priority is to keep their job. Normally I would feel the same way except they all have to be rich in order to decide they cant make it fast enough and politics pops up on their radar.

Then they usually pick a D or an R based on their odds and how much we hate the previous sonnava bitch and not on being an American.

Originally Posted by Wyldeman30

Wow something we agree on... I think some going into office do have good intentions and then are turned to corruption by government power.

I agree with both of you but I wouldn't use the word "corruption" because to me it implies something illegal.
"Captured by the system" sounds more like what happens to an honorable person. If you have seen the movie "Truman", it's like having to use Boss Whatshisname's concrete to build the road system (FM roads) that will greatly benefit the farmers. Don't use his concrete, no votes for the road.

I think most people who run have good intentions. I think the act of winning the election is a huge part of the problem. Can't piss off large donors, your party, your peers. Just thinking you are special because you got 200,000 votes has to have an impact.

[theaustinescorts]

The problem I have with the Right is that they're not so much interested in preserving the Status Quo as they are in deceiving the public into the agendas of elites. They prey on the gulability of people who want to believe in their God and country in order to dupe them. A case in point - the Bush tax cuts.
Personally I think government spends too much and taxes too much, but the Bush tax cuts are not the answer. The reason for the fiscal crisis is this item alone, as 3.7 trillon dollars in revenue is lost over ten years due to it. It only exists because of the political notion [not even a single conservative economist believes in it] that cutting taxes increases government revenues. Even Ronald Reagan reversed his "Laffer-curve" tax cuts of 1981 when they failed to produce even one dollar in new revenues. The "conservatives" actully know that the Bush tax cuts will create no new wealth or increased revenues. They know it will cost the government 3.7 trillion. But they LIE to the public in order to reduce their personal tax burdons.

The problem I have with the Left is that even though they're well meaning and not sinister as the Right is, they don't understand what makes for a happy life. They are COMPLICATORS who look at the social ills people create for themselves and look to government as a benevolent master to tell everyone what to do and how to do it - and if they don't do what's good for them according to the State then you'll have to go to jail.

[F-Sharp]

Originally Posted by theaustinescorts

The problem I have with the Right is that they're not so much interested in preserving the Status Quo as they are in deceiving the public into the agendas of elites. They prey on the gulability of people who want to believe in their God and country in order to dupe them. A case in point - the Bush tax cuts.
Personally I think government spends too much and taxes too much, but the Bush tax cuts are not the answer. The reason for the fiscal crisis is this item alone, as 3.7 trillon dollars in revenue is lost over ten years due to it. It only exists because of the political notion [not even a single conservative economist believes in it] that cutting taxes increases government revenues. Even Ronald Reagan reversed his "Laffer-curve" tax cuts of 1981 when they failed to produce even one dollar in new revenues. The "conservatives" actully know that the Bush tax cuts will create no new wealth or increased revenues. They know it will cost the government 3.7 trillion. But they LIE to the public in order to reduce their personal tax burdons.

The problem I have with the Left is that even though they're well meaning and not sinister as the Right is, they don't understand what makes for a happy life. They are COMPLICATORS who look at the social ills people create for themselves and look to government as a benevolent master to tell everyone what to do and how to do it - and if they don't do what's good for them according to the State then you'll have to go to jail.

You've finally said something I actually agree with. It's truly amazing how the GOP manages to get their supporters to vote against their own social and economic interests.

As for your examination of the left, can you provide some examples of this? The only thing I can think of is perhaps recent healthcare legislation, though I don't believe that particular example fits the bill. Forcing people to have medical insurance doesn't benefit the people that have it as much as it does the people that are forced to pay for their care when they don't have it. Same goes for auto insurance. Give us some examples of what you feel are social ills people create for themselves.

[WorknMan]

Originally Posted by F-Sharp

Give us some examples of what you feel are social ills people create for themselves.

I think it's harder to think of examples of people who haven't. Of course, there are always rare exceptions of those who were born with down syndrome or some debilitating health issues. But more often than not, people are where they are in this country because of a series of choices that they made along the way.

Take my mom and stepdad for example... they spent the majority of their adult lives boozing it up and living the party lifestyle. Now they're in their early 60s, with health so bad that they can barely walk, and hardly a penny to their name, sans whatever paltry amount they get from the government. In a moment of sincere honesty, my stepdad admitted to me that 'we never thought about the future, and now look at us.' And yet they shake their fists and complain the government should be doing more to help them. As a family member, I hate the position that they are now in. But as a neutral observer, I can hardly feel sorry for them. You make your own bed, and you have to lie in it.

And I think the left caters to these people by telling them they are victims, instead of convincing them to take responsibility for their own lives. I don't think that the left has anything but sincere intentions, but at a certain point, you have to stop blaming everybody else for your lot in life and expecting that the government is going to fix it, and start owning it.

[F-Sharp]

Originally Posted by WorknMan

And I think the left caters to these people by telling them they are victims, instead of convincing them to take responsibility for their own lives. I don't think that the left has anything but sincere intentions, but at a certain point, you have to stop blaming everybody else for your lot in life and expecting that the government is going to fix it, and start owning it.

I think there's a whole lotta conjecture and opinion here. How do you think the Left caters to people such as your parents? I've been on this planet over 40 years and never once heard a liberal politician refer to boozers and partiers who pissed their life savings away as victims. In fact, I challenge you to present one single piece of legislation that was passed in the last one hundred years that was written specifically to support people such as you parents. I think this is some myth the Right has of liberals and I am curious where it stems from. I would love to hear someone back it up with something.

[WorknMan]

Originally Posted by F-Sharp

I think there's a whole lotta conjecture and opinion here. How do you think the Left caters to people such as your parents? I've been on this planet over 40 years and never once heard a liberal politician refer to boozers and partiers who pissed their life savings away as victims.

Well, I will assume that we can count you among the liberals. That being the case, give us your thoughts on the poor in this country and what can/should be done to help them, keeping in mind that my mom/stepdad are also part of this demographic, and have been for most of their lives, except when they were mooching off somebody else. And no doubt, there are thousands (and probably hundreds of thousands) who are in the same predicament as they are, for many of the same reasons.

[F-Sharp]

Originally Posted by WorknMan

Well, I will assume that we can count you among the liberals. That being the case, give us your thoughts on the poor in this country and what can/should be done to help them, keeping in mind that my mom/stepdad are also part of this demographic, and have been for most of their lives, except when they were mooching off somebody else. And no doubt, there are thousands (and probably hundreds of thousands) who are in the same predicament as they are, for many of the same reasons.

Can we take your dodging the question as an affirmative to my assumption that this is nothing more than another myth and that your opinion is perhaps completely unfounded? As for me, I consider myself a social liberal, but a fiscal conservative.

I still want to understand why you think the Left caters to boozers and partiers. The whole prospect of it is baffling to me. If you have some shred of proof of this I would love to hear it.

If you really want my opinion on the subject, tell me what you consider "poor" to be, or do you prefer I used figures already documented? Considering 54% of households in this country survive on less than $50,000 a year currently (which I would consider poor for a family of three or four people), what you're asking is a pretty tall order for a great swath of people. I think there's a huge difference as to what to do about people making 50k a year compared to the 14% making 22k a year or less.