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“...since they WILL NOT or CANNOT think about their underlying contradictory assumptions...”

This is the point in a nutshell. Liberals have invested so much in their stance, that it is impossible for them to admit they’re wrong. They don’t have the emotional maturity to do so.

“Tell your son that the reason you were pulled over by a policeman was that black men constitute about 6% of the United States population and commit close to 45% of all aggravated assault. Therefore if a policeman pulls over a black man, he has about an 800% greater chance of stopping a criminal then pulling over an 80-year-old woman.” You should also tell your son that if he and the majority of black youth grow up like you did and have very responsible jobs, that racial profiling will disappear.”

Amazing answer.

The reason liberalism thrives is that it gives expression to society's misgivings about itself. Lots of people have reservations about capitalism and feel that it really is too Darwinian and has the power to corrupt the society through unchecked consumerism and greed. Even many conservatives feel this way. Lots of people, including conservatives, worry about spoiling the environment. Lots of people worry about the poor and the downtrodden and the disadvantaged. Even regarding religion, lots of people see hypocrisy in religious people and their leaders. Even some conservatives do.

Liberalism gives passionate, angry expression to all of these and proposes solutions that are irrational and vengeance seeking, which appeals to a lot of people. Liberalism is like a surreal dream where nothing makes sense but everything is compelling. Liberalism takes legitimate concerns and moral feelings, and then goes too far. Liberalism is moral anxiety untempered by wisdom.

Liberal tactics are about breaking the rules, causing a ruckus, polarizing, playing the victim, playing one group off another, dividing and conquering.

Postmodernist liberals approach to restructuring society calls for”challenging power on a day-to-day level.” Lyotard suggests we “gnaw away at the great institutionalized narrative apparatuses... by increasing the number of disruptive skirmishes that take place on the sidelines." Such as:

pick a quarrel with your conservative neighbor;
refuse to buy a certain brand of condensed milk;
surf the net at work;
deface billboards;
sell pirated copies of CDs;
buy fake designer labels;
celebrate fragmentation, diversity, and deviancy;
teach a “safe sex” course in church or school;
turn vices into virtues;
make the abnormal normal;
legalize sodomy;
decriminalize marijuana;
legalize same-sex marriage;
praise the concept of a “living” Constitution;
subscribe to MTV;
attend art exhibits by Andy Warhol, a Madonna concert, a performance of the V-Monologues;
view X-rated movies;
protest Christian prayer in government schools;
support the A.C. L.U;
defend NAMBLA;
label Christians and conservatives as right-wing religious fanatics or Fascists;
support the Green Party;
protest “under God”in the Pledge;
remove “In God We Trust” from U.S. money;
support all tax increases;
publicly burn your fur coat;
drink French wine;
help an illegal alien across the border;
keep Intelligent Design out of the schools;
join the anti-globilization protests;>

These can all be viewed as valuable as disruptive skirmishes in the social system by postmodernist liberals.

Good thread and thanks for posting.

There is indeed some hypocrisy among conservatives, as evidenced some on FR, and that we all practice in some ways. For my money conservatism is rationally assuming, and insisting on, personal responsibility to the most comprehensive levels, e.g. behavior, respect for others, health care, retirement, blah, blah.

In that light Leftism is clearly exposed.

The drug thing is a nice issue for discussing such.