The Liberal Blind Spot

[Garnier Fructis]

I don't know why people associate climate change with politics

I think it's pretty clear why. Mitigation efforts require action by virtually every country in the world and directly threaten an industry whose product is vital to most of the world's economies. That's pretty political, and one manifestation of this political struggle is the turning of climate science into a political thing.

[Atrea]

I didn't read the thread contents, I just came here to gripe about the fact that MMO-Champion has very low quality control standards. I refer specifically to the fact that people post articles without any sort of opinion of their own. The original post in this thread is just a copy & paste of the article itself.

Why share an article if you have nothing to add? I don't get it.

Why is this not explicitly prohibited?

[Endus]

I think it's pretty clear why. Mitigation efforts require action by virtually every country in the world and directly threaten an industry whose product is vital to most of the world's economies. That's pretty political, and one manifestation of this political struggle is the turning of climate science into a political thing.

It's really only a "political thing" in the USA. Climate change denial is considered the equivalent of holocaust denial or Illuminati theories pretty much everywhere else in the world. Sure, you'll find the occasional guy who believes it, but nobody takes them seriously.

[Nadiru]

I've went to college for four years, and have yet to see any hint of this left leaning ideology people love to stereotype it as, not even any hint of politics itself.

I've been to college for four years as well and it was all over the place.

[Garnier Fructis]

I've been to college for four years as well and it was all over the place.

What's your major? I suspect that's a pretty important factor in whether or not you'll see a lot of politics.

[jdbond592]

I've been to college for four years as well and it was all over the place.

Have been? Just how long do you intend to stay there?

[Nadiru]

What's your major? I suspect that's a pretty important factor in whether or not you'll see a lot of politics.

Political Science, and this is something of a good point: When I was taking my non-specialized requirements for PoliSci, you had people with really...let's call them "fringe" political ideas to be polite, all very radical far-left. When I took my specialist courses in IR and Security, those people had completely dropped off the radar. That said, because these fringe political people exist in general requirement courses, everybody gets exposed to them on some level. If you're lucky, they exist as students or as professors who know how to divorce their opinions from their coursework. If you're unlucky...

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Have been? Just how long do you intend to stay there?

After bouncing from two different majors and taking a year off academics to save up enough money to finish the degree, it took me six years to get a four-year degree.

[Garnier Fructis]

Political Science, and this is something of a good point: When I was taking my non-specialized requirements for PoliSci, you had people with really...let's call them "fringe" political ideas to be polite, all very radical far-left. When I took my specialist courses in IR and Security, those people had completely dropped off the radar. That said, because these fringe political people exist in general requirement courses, everybody gets exposed to them on some level. If you're lucky, they exist as students or as professors who know how to divorce their opinions from their coursework. If you're unlucky...

I largely circumvented this by going to community college. I did have a really awesome English professor at community though, who would give me an A on an essay and write comments like 'I don't agree with your ideas, but your argument was coherent and you supported it well.'

[xChurch]

It's because facts have a liberal bias.

[Akani]

What's your major? I suspect that's a pretty important factor in whether or not you'll see a lot of politics.

I think his political affiliation is more important to understanding why he saw a lot of left-leaning ideology or not. The right tends to think that evolution and climate change are left-leaning ideology whereas moderates and liberals just see a biology class and a climatology class. I'd assume perspective makes a huge difference.

[Mormolyce]

Institute of higher learning prejudiced against ideology based on misinformation, lies and half-truths. News at 11.

[Eliseus]

Snip

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.

[Mormolyce]

I think it's pretty clear why. Mitigation efforts require action by virtually every country in the world and directly threaten an industry whose product is vital to most of the world's economies. That's pretty political, and one manifestation of this political struggle is the turning of climate science into a political thing.

Or in simpler terms, it would require regulating companies with powerful lobby groups.

[Osmeric]

It's because facts have a liberal bias.

Well, except for things like the heritability of intelligence.

[Jimmy Woods]

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.

[RickJamesLich]

The author is spot on but this isn't even real news anymore. Many on the left have literally never heard the opposing view points before, and a big part of that is because college tries to keep them ignorant. Colleges may not be the right word though, this is just a case of long time members of the left keeping younger people in the dark. For example if a black person is a conservative, the go to response is that they are an "Uncle Tom" or a "House Nigger", without even listening to their arguments or trying to hear their points.

No doubt there are assholes on both sides, and the right hand side has their own folks, the big picture is that each person should have the opportunity to hear opposing views though, and these days colleges are almost fearful of that happening.

[Cricket22]

"Conservatives" don't go to school unless it is a bible college. I went to college, grad school/PHD and I never noticed this "persecution". Then again, high-school drops out don't go to college.

Huh??? Do you actually believe what you just wrote? I don't know what kind of conservatives you know, but most of the ones I know are capitalists, and go to college for the sole purpose of earning professional credentials to maximize our earning potential. Not much money in theology, so what would be the point of attending a bible college?

But talking about discrimination in hiring, well, I work with a number of different companies, and one of the services I provide is assisting employers with hiring decisions, as well as training personnel departments on various types of software.

In addition to running all the standard background, criminal and credit checks, many companies now also perform an in depth internet search, utilizing professional "deep web" software that cross references email addresses, hundreds of social media sites, and even digs deep in the archives for deleted info, to dig up everything imaginable on prospective employees, including everything they've ever posted, anywhere on the Internet. I do it all the time, and never cease to be amazed by what I find.

Anything I find that is weird, bizarre, or nasty, about anything or anyone at all, is regarded as a giant red hiring flag. It doesn't matter whether you bashed liberals or conservatives, Christians or atheists, or even just people you ridiculed as stupid morons. No cares why you did it or when. The only thing they think is "if that's how you behave on the Internet, then why should they expect you to treat other employees you don't agree with, any better? "

You know something else? You will never, ever, be told the real truth about why you weren't hired either. What they will tell you is they selected a more qualified applicant, and that is all they will tell you. Personnel departments are perfectly aware that if they admitted the real reason your application was rejected, you might sue the company. So that will never happen.

Most companies don't care about your religious beliefs or political viewpoints. They do care about the potential risk an applicant might pose, of creating a hostile work environment and/or costing their company a lawsuit.

The good news is that running a comprehensive background is time consuming/costly, so it's not normally performed for entry level/minimum wage jobs, but rather reserved for the more desirable, better paying positions.

[Pangean]

He literally claimed that women had less aptitude than men did. That is explicitly misogynistic, and it is not backed up by any "facts" whatsoever.

Also was taking flak for shielding a fellow Harvard economist from a lawsuit, which your own source makes clear, so don't pretend that he was facing pressure just over the misogyny.

Actually Summers acknowledged he was spouting shit.

"The issue of gender difference is far more complex than comes through in my comments, and my remarks about variability went beyond what the research has established."

[Mahourai]

Universities aren't becoming more liberal or leftist.

If anything the reason universities are catering to things like American liberal ideology is because the act of going to university has become more commodified. The student has become a customer whose tuition entitles them to a desired environment or experience. There are similarly universities who cater to conservative and Republican constituencies. The "market" of higher education has shaped this, not leftist ideology.

[Oktoberfest]

Look a this crazy shit going on in colleges now.