Conservatism Vs Liberal Socialism? No Contest

Open Thread | Crooks And Liars

Conservatism Vs Liberal Socialism? No Contest

What drive me nuts about the ongoing debate over the relative merits of conservatism Vs liberals, is why there's any debate on the subject... at all! Because when we look at the sociological sciences for some insight into who is who and which personality traits are hurting the culture and country, we see this from a study that the Oklahoma justice department set up to determine the same thing: "It appears that conservatism has pathological dimensions manifested in violence and distorted psycho-sexual development" (Boshier,1983). This is supported by a study conducted by Walker, Rowe, and Quincey (1993)in which there was a direct correlation between authoritarianism and sexually aggressive behavior. An investigation done by Muehlenhard (1988) revealed that rape justification and aggression toward subordinate individuals was much higher in traditional conservative personality than non-traditional persons.

And if that wasn't enough, they add "Conservatism is not the doctrine of the intellectual elite or of the more intelligent segments of the population, but the reverse. By every measure available to us, conservative beliefs are found most frequently among the uniformed, the poorly educated, and the less intelligent".

Well!.... That about covers everything that one could possibly say positive about conservatives, no? What about the conservative desire to fight terrorism? Let's skip over to Maryland U (College Park) where DHS has empaneled a group of sociologists to determine where the next terrorist attack is likely to come from based on a populations political/ideological views. From their reports it becomes immediately obvious that conservatives are the focal point of their research as well. "Basic social, cognitive, and motivational differences may also explain why extreme right-wing movements are typically obsessed with purity, cleanliness, hygiene, structure, and order( ) and why religious fundamentalism is so attractive to right-wing parties and followers in just about every nation stretching from North America to the Middle East."

And speaking of American conservatives specifically, we get this: "We now take it for granted that political conservatives tend to be for law and order but not gun control, against welfare but generous to corporations, protective of cultural traditions but antagonistic toward contemporary art and music, and wary of government but eager to weaken the separation of church and state. They are committed to freedom and individualism but perennially opposed to extending rights and liberties to disadvantaged minorities and others who blur traditional boundaries. There is no obvious political thread that runs through these diverse positions and no logical principle that renders them all consistent."

So...what are we supposed to be arguing anymore? Apparently everyone from the penal system to Homeland Security is aware of the shortcoming (to put it mildly) of conservatism. It's not an ideology. It's not just a different way of looking at things...no better, no worse than all the others. It is in fact a strong indication of an aggressive, simple-minded lout who means to make the rest of the world behave as stupidly as they.

That's not an opinion. That's the fact of the matter.

So that argument is over. Now all we have to do is make the journalism crowd get up to speed with the intellectual crowd so that we can start marginalizing these people where-ever they are found. That we still elect these misfits should be a strong signal that mankind is still in puberty and has a lot of growing up to do if we are ever to think of ourselves as a wise and noble species.