The Liberal Blind Spot

[darkwarrior42]

Great post. Thanks for sharing!

It's disgusting how hypocritical a lot of Liberals have become. On the other-hand. I just go to a religious university where we don't have to deal with this nonsense.

When I as going to a community college many of us just ignored them because we have better things to do then worry about a minor group of people trying to be the voice for the planet.

His post was also a great deal of fear-mongering.... particularly since he's still using 50's style "COMMUNISM IS EVIL". Every ideology has good elements and bad elements. He accurately described which segments of the population tend to favor certain political stances, but couches it all in rather inflammatory language.

Yes, the symbol for North Korea invokes the Hammer, Sickle, and Pen. Want to know another possible explanation for that? Those three areas of society together comprise almost the entirety of society. The only elements it doesn't really include, as far as how society functions, are family (which is found within all aspects of society), criminals (which are, again, found everywhere), and leaders. So saying that "if you control the workers, the farmers, and the thinkers, you control society" is perfectly true, but ultimately meaningless because all you're saying there is "if you control everyone, you control everyone". It's a thinly disguised tautology, and nothing to be shocked by or worried about.



My problem has for a long time been this: The ultimate goal of most sane liberals I see is to let people live as they like, so long as they're not hurting others. The ultimate goal of most sane conservatives I see is to make sure everyone lives the "right" way (aka their way), regardless of whether or not they're hurting others, by citing tradition and past values not as things to learn from, but as binds with which to ties us down forevermore. (I am deliberately ignoring the extremists on both sides here; every faction has nuts, and I'll not judge a side by their extremist components unless and until the extremists form a clear majority.)

[Oktoberfest]

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/...d-further-left

Survey finds notable increase in proportion of professors who identify as "far left" or liberal, and declines for all other groups.

The data come from the University of California at Los Angeles Higher Education Research Institute, which surveys faculty members nationwide every three years on a range of attitudes.

[Eliseus]

His post was also a great deal of fear-mongering.... particularly since he's still using 50's style "COMMUNISM IS EVIL". Every ideology has good elements and bad elements. He accurately described which segments of the population tend to favor certain political stances, but couches it all in rather inflammatory language.

Yes, the symbol for North Korea invokes the Hammer, Sickle, and Pen. Want to know another possible explanation for that? Those three areas of society together comprise almost the entirety of society. The only elements it doesn't really include, as far as how society functions, are family (which is found within all aspects of society), criminals (which are, again, found everywhere), and leaders. So saying that "if you control the workers, the farmers, and the thinkers, you control society" is perfectly true, but ultimately meaningless because all you're saying there is "if you control everyone, you control everyone". It's a thinly disguised tautology, and nothing to be shocked by or worried about.



My problem has for a long time been this: The ultimate goal of most sane liberals I see is to let people live as they like, so long as they're not hurting others. The ultimate goal of most sane conservatives I see is to make sure everyone lives the "right" way (aka their way), regardless of whether or not they're hurting others, by citing tradition and past values not as things to learn from, but as binds with which to ties us down forevermore. (I am deliberately ignoring the extremists on both sides here; every faction has nuts, and I'll not judge a side by their extremist components unless and until the extremists form a clear majority.)

Your views seem completely biased on your..... Views. For example many Christian religions believe in free agency. You can easily look up what this is. Now if we also aren't using extremists you would know that a lot of these same religions ask if you want to hear their gospel, not force it upon you.

[Oktoberfest]

Just putting this out there

http://www.nhs.uk/news/2014/02Februa...ent-sizes.aspx

It is well established that males and females have different predispositions towards developing different mental health conditions. For example, conditions such as autism spectrum disorder and dyslexia are more common in men, while depression and anxiety are more common in women. New research has pooled the results of 126 studies examining the differences in brain size between men and women to see if structural differences are part of the explanation.

It found that on average men had larger overall brain volumes than women. They also found differences between men and women in the volume of many different regions. These included regions previously associated with different mental health conditions. For example, men tended to have larger volumes in brain regions associated with survival instincts, memory and learning, while women tended to have larger volumes in areas of the brain dealing with language and emotions.

[spinner981]

I find it bizarre that the right has taken to comparing "discrimination" against ideas/thoughts/actions to actual discrimination against race/gender/religion/sexual preference/etc.

People's actions and ideologies are the thing we're supposed to judge by.

What we are 'supposed' to judge by is a standard entirely set by the current culture, and nothing else (if you aren't religious that is).

[Venaliter]

As I see it, we are hypocritical: We welcome people who don’t look like us, as long as they think like us.

The knee-jerk impulse to protest campus speakers from the right has grown so much that even Democrats like Madeleine Albright, the first female secretary of state, have been targeted.

I have been waiting to trot out the fact the left likes to call Trump Drumpf, even though his name has been legally changed. I can't imagine the screams of rage if someone from the right called a transgender by their birth name; like for example someone who changed their name from Anthony to Anne.

Yet they all too willingly call him Drumpf. Same with the Donald Trump rallies the left universally pointed too and said "This is what will happen if Drumpf is elected!" even though it was the LEFT causing the problems.

Hypocrites of the highest order indeed.

One last thing: As a Canadian, I would say ALL of your choices for president are absolutely atrocious. What happened to your once-great country?

[Deleted]

Anyone wanna ignore all this shit and join my group?

Chaotic Neutral Nihilists.

I was already voting Cthulhu before you were born.

I also remember the catchphrase: "Why choose the lesser evil?"

Good times.

[Deleted]

It really amazes me how Americans hate on their "left side" politics, when America really doesn't have a "left side" of politics to begin with. Its like calling Germany an "eastern country" because its located to the east of Great Britten.

[Endus]

It really amazes me how Americans hate on their "left side" politics, when America really doesn't have a "left side" of politics to begin with. Its like calling Germany an "eastern country" because its located to the east of Great Britten.

That's my issue with the study that's claiming to show an ideological shift among professors over time. Both parties in the USA have been shifting to the right; I could pull out a dozen different statements or positions held by Ronald Reagan during his Presidency that would get the man labelled a RINO today. It's hardly surprising that a professor whose ideological views haven't really changed might have changed how they self-identify in the past 30 years, as what used to be a moderately conservative Republican position has now become a centrist Democratic one.

[Emjay18]

It's funny how everyone who isn't a conservative is automatically a liberal. Half the country doesn't even vote, how can they then be pigeon holed into a political spectrum? The poorest people, who commit the most crimes, have the lowest voter turn out rates, yet are liberal by decree of their skin color or what generation American they may be. The "us vs them" mentality is what's causing the divisions IMO. The special snowflake right-wingers need to be coddled all the time with feel good "us vs them" stories on the news. In order to fill the audience cravings they turn to higher education for a meal. If you look at the list of the most dis-invited speakers on college campuses they all share something in common... they all had a part to play in the Iraq war, but of course the snowflakes don't want to hear that the Iraq War was bad (right-wing news spent YEARS saying how AWESOME it was), they want to hear that their guys were good and the liberal colleges are blocking them from speaking and expressing their views.


On a personal note when I was in University (early 2000's) I recall discussing whether or not Darwin should be the one getting all the credit for the Theory of Evolution not whether Creationism was a valid alternative. That to me seems like a reasonable debate to have in University. However, I did have a long and unhealthy debate about Intelligent Design vs Evolution on a message board a few years later where I learned facts don't matter to some people. Once they have it instilled in their mind that Intelligent Design was different from creationism and watches and eyeballs and shit, you can't reason with them... But that's the internet. Everyone has a safe space to find other similar minded people to reinforce their world beliefs. And when they wonder why their beliefs aren't being taught at institutions of higher learning they get to use some mental gymnastics to conclude it must be because of some liberal conspiracy because if they aren't of similar belief they must be liberal.

This.

Not teaching creationism in college isn't solidifying communism, it's getting rid of stupid shit. Also, why does the right wing hate freedom ; why are they denying the right for people to speak as they please and invite who they want?

[spinner981]

That's my issue with the study that's claiming to show an ideological shift among professors over time. Both parties in the USA have been shifting to the right; I could pull out a dozen different statements or positions held by Ronald Reagan during his Presidency that would get the man labelled a RINO today. It's hardly surprising that a professor whose ideological views haven't really changed might have changed how they self-identify in the past 30 years, as what used to be a moderately conservative Republican position has now become a centrist Democratic one.

Even if the political scene is shifting more right in terms of basically anything but the social scene, that is pretty much irrelevant to the kind of shift towards progressivism that many universities appear to be adapting. 'Safe places' are one example. I also remember a recent speaking event where Milo Yiannopoulos was speaking, and students came up onto the stage and took the microphone and starting get angry at him, and one even threatened to assault him. When the campus police arrived they didn't even try to stop them. The general rejection of ideas that aren't politically correct are what this shift is usually referring to.

[Garnier Fructis]

Even if the political scene is shifting more right in terms of basically anything but the social scene, that is pretty much irrelevant to the kind of shift towards progressivism that many universities appear to be adapting. 'Safe places' are one example. I also remember a recent speaking event where Milo Yiannopoulos was speaking, and students came up onto the stage and took the microphone and starting get angry at him, and one even threatened to assault him. When the campus police arrived they didn't even try to stop them. The general rejection of ideas that aren't politically correct are what this shift is usually referring to.

The real issue here is that people are inviting Milo to make the conservative case instead of someone who can actually make a reasoned argument.

[Deleted]

Even if the political scene is shifting more right in terms of basically anything but the social scene, that is pretty much irrelevant to the kind of shift towards progressivism that many universities appear to be adapting. 'Safe places' are one example. I also remember a recent speaking event where Milo Yiannopoulos was speaking, and students came up onto the stage and took the microphone and starting get angry at him, and one even threatened to assault him. When the campus police arrived they didn't even try to stop them. The general rejection of ideas that aren't politically correct are what this shift is usually referring to.

And what exactly is "progressive" about "safe spaces"? I mean, if something is to be called progressive then it ought to be so that it would improve the majority, and not just some special snowflakes. It seems to me that you are confusing "the left" with "authoritarian" here.

[Garnier Fructis]

Even if the political scene is shifting more right in terms of basically anything but the social scene, that is pretty much irrelevant to the kind of shift towards progressivism that many universities appear to be adapting. 'Safe places' are one example. I also remember a recent speaking event where Milo Yiannopoulos was speaking, and students came up onto the stage and took the microphone and starting get angry at him, and one even threatened to assault him. When the campus police arrived they didn't even try to stop them. The general rejection of ideas that aren't politically correct are what this shift is usually referring to.

The real issue here is that people are inviting Milo to make the conservative case instead of someone who can actually make a reasoned argument. He's speaking at a university near me sometime in the future as part of his 'Dangerous Faggot Tour,' and I'd go watch this trainwreck happen if they weren't charging for admission.

[Oktoberfest]

It really amazes me how Americans hate on their "left side" politics, when America really doesn't have a "left side" of politics to begin with. Its like calling Germany an "eastern country" because its located to the east of Great Britten.

Give me a break. That is not true at all. If half of em go anymore Left they will be calling themselves Soviets. They are already about there. Doesnt anyone actually read history books anymore? I dont mean the shit some fucking idiot college professor spews either. I mean actual history books from the past. For fucks sake go look up the damn Soviet Constitutions and read them some. No wait. Fuck that. Forget I said that.

[Garnier Fructis]

Give me a break. That is not true at all. If half of em go anymore Left they will be calling themselves Soviets. They are already about there. Doesnt anyone actually read history books anymore? I dont mean the shit some fucking idiot college professor spews either. I mean actual history books from the past. For fucks sake go look up the damn Soviet Constitutions and read them some. No wait. Fuck that. Forget I said that.

Historical documents are not history books.

And besides, reading historical documents is part of any history program. You're lamenting that people don't read historical documents in their education when they actually do.

[Deleted]

Give me a break. That is not true at all. If half of em go anymore Left they will be calling themselves Soviets. They are already about there. Doesnt anyone actually read history books anymore? I dont mean the shit some fucking idiot college professor spews either. I mean actual history books from the past. For fucks sake go look up the damn Soviet Constitutions and read them some. No wait. Fuck that. Forget I said that.

Not true at all!? Yea, that really showed me!! Just because you do not understand what "left" means doesnt mean that everything is "left" all of a sudden.

[Venaliter]

That's my issue with the study that's claiming to show an ideological shift among professors over time. Both parties in the USA have been shifting to the right; I could pull out a dozen different statements or positions held by Ronald Reagan during his Presidency that would get the man labelled a RINO today. It's hardly surprising that a professor whose ideological views haven't really changed might have changed how they self-identify in the past 30 years, as what used to be a moderately conservative Republican position has now become a centrist Democratic one.

Absolutely false. Well, mostly false. It is true BOTH parties are becoming less centralist and more...polar, however. It is interesting to look back at 1940s Republican platform. You would think you were looking at a Democratic one.

[spinner981]

The real issue here is that people are inviting Milo to make the conservative case instead of someone who can actually make a reasoned argument.

The issue is that the best way to make a case is to just show up at these places and let them make your point for you; which is exactly what has happened multiple times with Milo specifically. Christina Hoff Sommers was trying to make a reasoned argument at umass (which is now infamous), but that didn't stop the people in the audience from screaming and calling her racist the whole time to the point where she couldn't even hear herself speak.

They don't want reasoned arguments. That's the point. Milo is just so deliberately offensive when he says things that this outrage against reason and logic becomes even more pronounced.

[Deleted]

Absolutely false. Well, mostly false. It is true BOTH parties are becoming less centralist and more...polar, however. It is interesting to look back at 1940s Republican platform. You would think you were looking at a Democratic one.

Does this not contradict your previous statement that both parties have been shifting to the right? If the 1940's Republican platform looks more like the Democratic one today isn't that them both shifting to the right?