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Among the Intellectualoids: Liberal Obsolescence
Copyright 2005, The American Spectator ^ | Published 10/26/2005 12:07:11 AM | James Bowman

Posted on 10/26/2005 7:50:45 AM PDT by Behind Liberal Lines

John Tierney in the New York Times took up that old favorite question of why university professors are so liberal.

...the profs do read the New York Times, so they were glad to write in to Mr. Tierney suggesting some possible explanations for the lack of conservatives in the academy. In his column he shared them with us. They are as follows:

1. Conservatives do not value knowledge for its own sake. 2. Conservatives do not care about the social good. 3. Conservatives are too greedy to work for professors' wages. 4. Conservatives are too dumb to get tenure.

Tentatively, Tierney provided an alternative to the above -- namely the explanation that the more liberals there are, the more there tend to be, since without any intentional bias they will naturally tend to hire other people who think like themselves.

This is what he calls "the false consensus effect" -- or the tendency of any group to gravitate to the "conviction that its opinions are the norm. Liberals on campus have become so used to hearing their opinions reinforced that they have a hard time imagining there are intelligent people with different views, either on campus or in politics."

(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Editorial; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: campus; cornell; deconstruction; fire; intellectualoids; ithaca; jamesbowman; johntierney; leftism; pc
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1 posted on 10/26/2005 7:50:46 AM PDT by Behind Liberal Lines
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To: governsleastgovernsbest; bentfeather; gaspar; NativeNewYorker; drjimmy; Atticus; John Valentine; ...
While about Columbia U, much of what the author writes here could apply to Cornell and Ithaca, the City of Evil.


2 posted on 10/26/2005 7:52:00 AM PDT by Behind Liberal Lines
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To: Behind Liberal Lines
1. Conservatives do not value knowledge for its own sake.
2. Conservatives do not care about the social good.
3. Conservatives are too greedy to work for professors' wages.
4. Conservatives are too dumb to get tenure.

Elitism, greedy, stupidity, lack of knowledge and grotesque immaturity are the hallmarks of liberalism.
3 posted on 10/26/2005 7:55:29 AM PDT by nmh (Intelligent people recognize Intelligent Design (God).)
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To: Behind Liberal Lines
3. Conservatives are too greedy to work for professors' wages

I find that laughable.

4 posted on 10/26/2005 7:55:30 AM PDT by RockinRight (I am beginning to think conservatism is buried somewhere under New Orleans' mud...)
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To: Behind Liberal Lines
John Tierney in the New York Times took up that old favorite question of why university professors are so liberal.

And when do we get to know why the press is so liberal? What are their excuses?

5 posted on 10/26/2005 7:55:48 AM PDT by GOPJ (Protest a democrat -- light your hair on fire -- and the MSM still won't take your picture.)
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To: RockinRight

Isn't that the truth!!!

Liberals don't want to do squat and EXPECT that people fund them for this.


6 posted on 10/26/2005 7:56:19 AM PDT by nmh (Intelligent people recognize Intelligent Design (God).)
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To: GOPJ

"And when do we get to know why the press is so liberal? What are their excuses?"

Probably the same "reasons".

Liberals tend to reject ALL boundaries EXCEPT if they are NOT to the LEFT of what is normal and good. Liberalism IS a MENTAL and EMOTIONAL disease.


7 posted on 10/26/2005 7:58:12 AM PDT by nmh (Intelligent people recognize Intelligent Design (God).)
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To: Behind Liberal Lines

Enthusiastic bump.

Great article!

"But after a generation of debunking, their own students must find the memories of that tradition, as such, growing dimmer all the time. In order to feel oppressed by it, and therefore called on to "deconstruct" it, you must have it more clearly in view than the younger profs do anymore. Otherwise, that motivating anger will tend to fade too. A few more years of going through the motions of exposing the shameful political assumptions behind the monuments of Western culture and the effort will hardly seem worth making anymore."

IMHO, we are approaching that point now. As far as I can tell, everyone is increasingly bored by PC and deconstructionism. Even those practicing it don't really believe in it anymore.

Bring on the child who is willing to say out loud that the Emperor is really naked!


8 posted on 10/26/2005 8:01:55 AM PDT by Restorer (Illegitimati non carborundum)
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To: Behind Liberal Lines
1. Conservatives do not value knowledge for its own sake. 2. Conservatives do not care about the social good. 3. Conservatives are too greedy to work for professors' wages. 4. Conservatives are too dumb to get tenure.

More likely is:

1.Professors have tenure and do not have to learn anything new about the world. They can live in isolation with their stupid liberal ideas 2. Liberal Professors at college like to pretend to care about the social good, but mostly do nothing about it, and blame other people for not doing anything either. They are too emotionally frail to venture too far from college, where the social problems are minimal and into the real world. 3. Liberal Professors like the security of tenure and work for low wages because in the real world, they would probably get fired for their lack of performance. 4. Liberal professors only get tenure because of the liberal tenured professors already there.

9 posted on 10/26/2005 8:11:48 AM PDT by staytrue
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To: nmh
P.J. said it all and said it best:

"At the core of liberalism is the spoiled child - miserable, as all spoiled children are, unsatisfied, demanding, ill-disciplined, despotic and useless. Liberalism is a philosphy of sniveling brats." -- P.J. O'Rourke

10 posted on 10/26/2005 8:12:19 AM PDT by Eagles Talon IV
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To: Behind Liberal Lines
Whereas the love of knowledge is common to all political persuasions, this bitter pleasure in exposing and debunking that which generations have been taught to revere is a distinctively left-wing phenomenon.

Well said.

11 posted on 10/26/2005 8:13:38 AM PDT by GOPJ (Protest a democrat -- light your hair on fire -- and the MSM still won't take your picture.)
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To: Behind Liberal Lines

The New York Times....wow...I used to read that...when *I* lived in the City Of Evil.


12 posted on 10/26/2005 8:22:03 AM PDT by NativeNewYorker
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To: Behind Liberal Lines

Their answers actually confirm the caricature.
These effete intellectuals seriously think they are smarter than everyone else.
What kind of people are these?
Of course, we know they are people who've never had to do real work. Who live in their own little echo-chamber devoid of any kind of reality. Who are able to espouse their "wisdom" unquestioned to people less than half their age.
Imagine one of these silly little people having to compete in the marketplace.


13 posted on 10/26/2005 8:29:59 AM PDT by threeleftsmakearight
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To: Behind Liberal Lines

Perhaps liberals hide on college campus because it offers the best isolation from reality?

Off campus, there idiocy is brutally exposed. That doesn't need to happen often for the feeble minded dreamers to set chasing back to their haven.

Out here where the people live, there are consequences for being a duh-mass. At school you can be wrong all day and pay no price.


14 posted on 10/26/2005 8:34:48 AM PDT by getitright (There's no peace in appeasement.)
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To: Eagles Talon IV

"At the core of liberalism is the spoiled child - miserable, as all spoiled children are, unsatisfied, demanding, ill-disciplined, despotic and useless. Liberalism is a philosphy of sniveling brats." -- P.J. O'Rourke


That's a keeper!!!


15 posted on 10/26/2005 8:38:27 AM PDT by nmh (Intelligent people recognize Intelligent Design (God).)
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To: RockinRight

"Tentatively, Tierney provided an alternative to the above -- namely the explanation that the more liberals there are, the more there tend to be, since without any intentional bias they will naturally tend to hire other people who think like themselves. "

Basically, those who can't do, teach. Liberals are failures in a capitalist society and that is why they embrace marxist values. They truly believe that the intelligentsia should govern.

Unfortunetaly they forget history in that they would be the first to be slaughtered in a Marxist coup. Businesses may be taken over by the state, but they would still need people working in them.



16 posted on 10/26/2005 8:48:05 AM PDT by EQAndyBuzz (Liberal Talking Point - Bush = Hitler ... Republican Talking Point - Let the Liberals Talk)
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To: RockinRight

"Tentatively, Tierney provided an alternative to the above -- namely the explanation that the more liberals there are, the more there tend to be, since without any intentional bias they will naturally tend to hire other people who think like themselves. "

Basically, those who can't do, teach. Liberals are failures in a capitalist society and that is why they embrace marxist values. They truly believe that the intelligentsia should govern.

Unfortunetaly they forget history in that they would be the first to be slaughtered in a Marxist coup. Businesses may be taken over by the state, but they would still need people working in them.



17 posted on 10/26/2005 8:48:05 AM PDT by EQAndyBuzz (Liberal Talking Point - Bush = Hitler ... Republican Talking Point - Let the Liberals Talk)
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To: nmh

Esp. considering many profs make a lot more than I do!


18 posted on 10/26/2005 8:51:11 AM PDT by RockinRight (I am beginning to think conservatism is buried somewhere under New Orleans' mud...)
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To: Behind Liberal Lines

Oh, yeah. Conservatives are dumb. And rich. Somehow, in ultra-brainy Liberal Land being a moron means you roll in cash while geniuses go homeless.


19 posted on 10/26/2005 8:52:52 AM PDT by Reactionary
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To: Behind Liberal Lines
Mr Tierney oughta read the Cat's quoted tagline. It explains everything.

P.S. I'll buy him lunch if he correctly identifies the source of the quote.

20 posted on 10/26/2005 8:53:35 AM PDT by Revolting cat! ("In the end, nothing explains anything.")
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