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Even the intellectual left is drawn to conspiracy theories about the right. Resist them.
Vox ^ | July 14, 2017 | Henry Farrell and Steven Teles

Posted on 07/14/2017 4:35:15 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

It’s always hard in politics for people to take their opponents’ views seriously, but it has become ever harder in Trump’s America. People are more engaged with politics, but only because they want to beat the other side, not understand it. This means scholars have a greater responsibility than ever to help ordinary citizens understand how the people with whom they disagree think, and what their political opponents are actually doing.

Most scholars get this. For example, political scientists and historians, who tend to range from the political center to the left wing, have written extensively about the origins and development of American conservatism. Rick Perlstein, the left-wing historian, has written intelligently and sensitively about the Barry Goldwater movement and the rise of the modern US right. Jefferson Decker at Rutgers University has carefully tracked how reaction against the role of the federal government in Western public lands gave rise to conservative public interest law.

Angus Burgin has thoroughly dug into the history of the Mont Pelerin Society, founded by Friedrich Hayek in 1947, showing how a transnational network of free market thinkers helped change the global conversation on political economy. One of us (Teles) devoted years to making sense of how conservative foundations helped shape the academic discipline of law and economics, build the Federalist Society, and, more recently, support criminal justice reform. And this barely scratches the surface of high-quality scholarship across multiple disciplines on conservatism.

This kind of work is not just important because it involves scholarly objectivity and generosity — although that is true. It’s also important because even when it doesn’t promote agreement, it promotes smarter politics. Intelligent partisans want to understand what truly motivates their opponents.....

(Excerpt) Read more at vox.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Government; Philosophy; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: buchanan; conservatism; conspiracytheories; economics; liberalism; theleft

1 posted on 07/14/2017 4:35:15 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Sorry, but “i tellectual left” is an oxymoron.


2 posted on 07/14/2017 4:39:53 PM PDT by Da Coyote
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

If those “scholars” wanted to get a clue, all they have to do is read the Constitution as written.

Not the way they wish it was written.


3 posted on 07/14/2017 4:48:02 PM PDT by Lurkinanloomin (Natural Born Citizen Means Born Here Of Citizen Parents - Know Islam, No Peace -No Islam, Know Peace)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

“Intellectual left”? Ha! Liberals act on emotion, not logic. If they operated on logic, they would know that socialism ultimately cannot and will not work.


4 posted on 07/14/2017 5:10:33 PM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (Conservatives love America for what it is. Liberals hate America for the same reason.)
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To: Blood of Tyrants

Bingo.


5 posted on 07/14/2017 5:13:18 PM PDT by RushIsMyTeddyBear
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Intellectual- Someone who can’t DO anything of value, so he talks a lot and expects to get paid for it.


6 posted on 07/14/2017 5:22:04 PM PDT by JimRed ( TERM LIMITS, NOW! Building the Wall! TRUTH is the new HATE SPEECH.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

The “intellectual left” moved into the libertarian (small l) wing of the conservative sector. The Left is now entirely totalitarian and completely devoid of actual liberalism.

The terms have been redefined. The sad thing is that these lefties are clueless of their own belief system and are incapable of seeing the inevitable results of their ideas if left unopposed. They believe that slavery is freedom. Where did I read that before?


7 posted on 07/14/2017 5:36:23 PM PDT by Seruzawa (FABOL)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
#Fake alt-left intellect.

 

8 posted on 07/14/2017 5:46:35 PM PDT by Bronzewound (2016 GOP. A Timid Little Division Of The Democrat Party.)
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