Posted on 07/25/2010 11:01:43 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
So, Barack Obama’s approval rating is falling so quickly that it may soon be journeying to the center of the earth.
So, the economy is in such terrible shape that those supposedly untouchable middle class tax cuts may expire.
So, Florida happens to have three of the most corrupt politicians in the country running for one of its United States Senate seats.
So, what?
Instead of my usual weekly analysis of political happenings across the United States, I have decided to take a different approach with today’s article. A few nights ago, I stumbled across a very interesting study conducted by the American Enterprise Institute. Its purpose was to answer the age-old question of Who is Smarter; A Godless, Elitist Liberal or A Bible-Thumping, Good-Ole-Boy Conservative?
Okay, okay. The study did not include the theatrics, but you get the idea.
I must say that its results did not surprise me in the least. Lazar Stankov, a visiting professor at Singapore’s National Institute of Education, came to the conclusion that per individual, “conservatism scores correlate negatively with SAT, vocabulary, and analogy test scores” while, on a national level, “conservatism scores correlate negatively with measures of education”.
Now, before my leftist readers begin to break out the champagne, it should be noted that Stankov’s definition of conservatism does not apply to free market economics. Essentially, he is referring to extreme social conservatives — the Fine Folks who just love the idea of limited government except when People Who Are Not Just Like Them are added to the equation. At the instant that diversity comes into the picture, well, then all bets are off.
We see these social ultraconservatives jam packing Sarah Palin’s rallies on a daily basis. When interviewed by members of the press, they are more often than not unable to provide a coherent answer to questions regarding major political or cultural issues. They are, however, extremely proud of their “plain” or, more endearingly, “salt of the earth” attitude and outlook on life. Should one wish to waste his or her time and damage a few brain cells in the process, it would be advisable to browse through a few pages of the far right fringe discussion forum Free Republic. It will not be long before the person in question is able to attain a decent understanding of the socially ultraconservative thought process.
It is not a pretty thing, I can tell you that much.
The findings of the AEI’s study give reason as to why I do not describe my political ideology as uniformly “conservative”, but “Americanist” instead. One of the men I admire most in American politics is Nelson Rockefeller, who was Gerald Ford’s vice president and an unabashed capitalist. During his life, he was a strong proponent of Americanism — fiscal and domestic/national security conservatism merged with social centrism — which he recognized as a pragmatic and intelligent school of thought that was capable of bringing a vast majority of Americans together in order to fix the nation’s problems.
While many may decry my assessment of the study as “caving” or “capitulating” to the Left, I am doing nothing of the sort. You see, the study did not determine that leftists are intelligent — but that liberals, on average, were more so than social ultraconservatives.
As any student of American politics knows, there is all the difference in the world between a “liberal” and a “leftist”. Actually, I would say that, when all is said and done, leftists share far more in common with social ultraconservatives than liberals do with Americanists.
After all, both leftists and social ultraconservatives want to control your life — and we all know that the least intelligent of all personality types is a tyrant.
*******
Joseph Cotto is an entrepreneur and current events columnist from Central Florida. His chief interests are in capitalism, politics, journalism and philosophy. He is an Americanist -- one whose fiscal, national security and cultural views are conservative while taking a centrist approach on social matters -- and reflects that in his articles about people, issues and events. For many years, he was an accredited reporter for Wikinews, Wikipedia's news subsidiary. There, he covered major stories such as the 2008 presidential election and interviewed personalities ranging from former U.S. senators to filmmakers. He is currently working on a book about the state of American politics.
Comparing the average IQ of Hussein voters vs that of McCain voters would have us ahead by at least 20 points.
Imagine that. The "fringe" is defined as those of us who don't care for "Rockefeller Republicans." I guess I should hang my head in shame, go for an eyebrow trim, and let my wife out of the basement. I'm sure the self appointed intellectual-set will respect me then.
Exactly what is a social ultraconservative? Is this code for being opposed to gay marriage and the homosexual agenda?
I’m betting you’re answering your own question.
They are our rulers because they were educated in elite universities. Those universities must be elite because their graduates end up being our rulers. See how that works?
Here in Minneapolis the left elite Flavor-Aid drinkers make the Texas “hardshell Baptists” seem like laissez-faire libertarians.
I concur wholeheartedly! As a matter of fact, Free Republic should required reading in all upper level Civics classes.
There is no venue that provides access to a wider range of political, social and scientific thought than this fine web site.
No. In fact, there's anecdotal evidence that the reverse is true.
The problem is, "liberals" generally think they are smarter than others and that their opinions mean more, people should listen to them, and do things that they want done and in the ways they want them done. Thus is born elitism, and the road to fascism.
Liberals are the smartest, most talented people out there. After all, they tell me that all the time.
I’m not a huge fan of the rabid SoCon set either, but this guy is an effing tard. FR has a pretty good mix of participants, but why let that fact get in the way of a good rant? All I need to know about him is that he hearts Rockefellers.
>> The smart set: Are “Liberals” really smarter than “Conservatives”?
“really”, said who?
What tripe. Were Cotto half as smart as he thinks it is, he’d be five times smarter than he sounds.
Joseph Cotto now you ARE famous.
Good Lord! Take a little browse through the postings at DU if you want to see a true waste of education.
These people are so conflicted it is stunning.
The kind of people that would swerve headlong into oncoming traffic to avoid hitting a squirrel.
The Liberals are the Ruling Class because they organize. We’re more like the ants (Proverbs 6:6) and have no visible leader, but we work together.
On the day our leader become visible, the Liberals will scurry for cover like ants, only He will find them anyway.
Excuse me MR intellectual ***hole, I know of no conservatives who would not allow the same liberties to all classes of humanity.
For instance, I think the guy who lives in the doublewide has just as much right to keep and bear arms as the guy who lives on the hill.
Bless his heart.
Free Republic scores over 1 million unique visitors per month. Msnbc.com scores 2 million. Not bad for a "finge" site.
Wow, so I guess if I would only be more like Joe and ditch all those outdated, backwards concepts of right and wrong I’ll pick up what.......maybe a good 20 points on the ol’ IQ meter? And then I could get off this fringe, far right lunatic website and get my own life, and I’d be just like Joe. And I’d be more understanding, and people would actually like me and then I could lecture everyone about what real conservatism really is and I could make fun of all those backwoods, uneducated hicks and rubes who are the ones responsibile for all our ills because they want everybody to be just like them. And I know it’s all true because Joe told me so.
What an absolute joke. This guy thinks he’s a conservative but he’s nothing more than a parody of the left which pretty much defines these faux conservatives. They need to just get it over with, stop soiling conservatism and finally identify with the rest of the left.
The lights are on but there is no one at home LoL!
Speaking of FReepers..........does anyone else notice that news comes out on FR way before it even comes out on Fox? Even Michael Savage reads FR before or during his show. This tells me that FR is so far ahead of the media, it isn’t even funny any longer. Not only that, data on FR seems to be much more acurate. Sure, mis-statements are made occasionally but it’s far and few between.
I wonder: What kind of pretty things does Mr. Cotto like?
How smart can liberals/progressives/socialists be if they choose a path that has ALWAYS failed since the beginning of mankind?
How smart can liberals/progressives/socialists be if they choose a path that has ALWAYS failed since the beginning of mankind?
...and killed 200 million in the 20th century?
The writer uses an old tool of the desperate for attention; write something outragious. Negative attention is easily obtainable, even by the marginal.
I hope he finds a job soon.
Another idiot:
Inside (Or At Least, Uncomfortably Near) The Right-Wing Hate Machine
http://chronicle.com/blogPost/Inside-Or-At-Least/25769/
This is garbage.
The question is stupid on the face of it.
It is interesting that only poor uneducated whites are slammed for not liking People Who Are Not Just Like Them. Somehow the ignorance and xenophobia of poor rural Blacks and Hispanics--no matter how poorly educated or full of popular prejudices and stereotypes they may be--never enters the picture. They're not even faulted for being religious fundamentalists. It's like they're not complete human beings but exist merely as a "test" for poor uneducated whites.
Liberals seem to be the last remaining population that believes in the "white man's burden."
The only reason intelligence may trend left now is because it is a conveinent position. When most schools of higher learning are openly and tyrannicaly liberal an intelligent person soon finds it advantageous to align themselves with what is advantageous to their advancement. Another study recently discovered that this is the case given that more people who self describe themselves as moderate or liberal are really far more conservative when examined on subsets of issues and beliefs. The reason they don’t describe themselves as conservative is because of the perceived negative association of their peer groups.
The writer of this article proves himself not nearly as smart as he clearly believes himself to be by accepting what is clearly a simpleton analysis that is not much different than was applied to blacks concerning standardized tests.
The very core of liberalism is a belief that the vast majority of people are too stupid to make the most fundamental decisions in their lives and must have liberal elites and big government make those decisions for them.
I would say you just hit the nail directly on the head!!
Joseph Cotto - GOP Extra Lite Rockerfeller fan.
Part of the problem, not the solution.
- JP
Quite the contrary—Liberals aren’t smarter, they just have bigger mouths.
His cultural views are conservative, but his social views are moderate? Arent they the same thing?
Also, why is it that when people have “modern liberal” social views, they describe the views as moderate?
Could not make out any coherent argument in this “highly intelligent” leftist’s rant.
Yeah, those generations “graduating” from those super-tough urban public schools are lot smarter than we poor conservatives
And much more productive too, right?
and the Ladies on the front porch down south sippen sweet-tea would say; ‘Pour Thang.’
Exactly. That is what libs dont get about us. We dont need a leader. We can live our own life. That is why there is no “Conservative Movement” leader and it is why the media keep trying to find one.
I dont do what Rush tells me. I don do what Palin tells me. I do what I do, and Rush and Palin agree with me. It is that freedom of action that the left hates.
2 days ahead of fox and weeks ahead of the others.
What are described as today's "conservatives" are much more likely to be enlightened about their nation's founding principles of liberty than are their counterparts. In the 1830's, the Frenchman, Tocqueville, had a much more informed opinion of the American citizenry, even in the "backwoods," than does this writer. The Founders' views of education are described in the following essay from "Our Ageless Constitution", along with Tocqueville's assessment of American citizens:
"Although all men are born free, slavery has been the general lot of the human race. Ignorant - they have been cheated; asleep - they have been surprised; divided - the yoke has been forced upon them. But what is the lesson? ...the people ought to be enlightened, to be awakened, to be united, that after establishing a government they should watch over it.... It is universally admitted that a well-instructed people alone can be permanently free." James Madison
America's Constitution is the means by which knowledgeable and free people, capable of self-government, can bind and control their elected representatives in government. In order to remain free, the Founders said, the people themselves must clearly understand the ideas and principles upon which their Constitutional government is based. Through such understanding, they will be able to prevent those in power from eroding their Constitutional protections.
The Founders established schools and seminaries for the distinct purpose of instilling in youth the lessons of history and the ideas of liberty. And, in their day, they were successful. Tocqueville, eminent French jurist, traveled America and in his 1830's work, DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA, wrote:
". . .every citizen ... is taught . the doctrines and the evidences of his religion, the history of his country, and the leading features of its Constitution ... it is extremely rare to find a man imperfectly acquainted with all these things, and a person wholly ignorant of them is a sort of phenomenon."
On the frontier, he noted that "...no sort of comparison can be drawn between the pioneer and the dwelling that shelters him.... He wears the dress and speaks the language of the cities; he is acquainted with the past, curious about the future, and ready for argument about the present.... I do not think that so much intellectual activity exists in the most enlightened and populous districts of France' " He continued, "It cannot be doubted that in the United States the instruction of the people powerfully contributes to the support of the democratic republic; and such must always be the case...where the instruction which enlightens the understanding is not separated from the moral education...."
Possessing a clear understanding of the failure of previous civilizations to achieve and sustain freedom for individuals, our forefathers discovered some timeless truths about human nature, the struggle for individual liberty, the human tendency toward abuse of power, and the means for curbing that tendency through Constitutional self-government. Jefferson's Bill For The More General Diffusion Of Knowledge For Virginia declared:
"...experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms (of government), those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny; and it is believed that the most effectual means of preventing this would be, to illuminate...the minds of the people...to give them knowledge of those facts, which history exhibiteth. History, by apprizing them of the past, will enable them to judge of the future...it will qualify them judges of the actions and designs of men; it will enable them to know ambition under every disguise it may assume; and knowing it, to defeat its views...."
Education was not perceived by the Founders to be a mere process for teaching basic skills. It was much, much more. Education included the very process by which the people of America would understand and be able to preserve their liberty and secure their Creator-endowed rights. Understanding the nature and origin of their rights and the means of preserving them, the people would be capable of self government, for they would recognize any threats to liberty and "nip the shoots of arbitrary power in the bud." (Adams)
Footnote: Our Ageless Constitution, W. David Stedman & La Vaughn G. Lewis, Editors (Asheboro, NC, W. David Stedman Associates, 1987) Part III: ISBN 0-937047-01-5
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