Posted on 12/21/2005 1:56:42 AM PST by mal
Many conservatives are absolutely perplexed by the question of what motivates liberals to take the patently wrong political positions they do. It’s difficult to explain it without believing such obviously wrong ideas like “liberals are just stupid”, or “they want to destroy our country”, but sometimes we resort to those explanations out of pure frustration.
But what is the explanation? Why do seemingly good, intelligent people take positions that cause so much harm in the face of all the facts? I’ve finally stumbled upon the answer, and it’s so stunningly simple, yet profound in its implications, that it’s absolutely mind-boggling. Liberalism isn’t a political ideology; it’s a psychology - the psychology of self-satisfaction to be precise.
A liberal (or a leftist; I use the terms interchangeably), is a person who only cares about politics to the extent that doing so makes him or her feel good, or avoid feeling bad, due both to external and internal factors. Their motivations can include things like a desire to feel intelligent, moral, noble, or unique, as well as a desire for peer acceptance or reverence, and aversion to being ostracized, among many other things.
Now, before I go any further, I have to draw a distinction between liberals and the people who agree with them. Liberals, the people I’m referring to throughout, are the activists and ideologues; the people who truly believe in their leftist ideas and who fight for them.
(Excerpt) Read more at opinioneditorials.com ...
Liberalism is a Psychology
Liberalism is a Mental Disorder
Shortened version: Libs are Psycho!
An excellent link to an excellent piece. Bravo on the find.
I think resentment drives a lot of liberals. Scratch a liberal, you'll find an antisemite, btw.
But the major part of the thesis is correct, no other activity allows one to feel so smugly superior without achievement, sacrifice, merit or any other discernable cause. The Barbara Joan Streisand effect.
Fascinating. I've always wondered what makes a liberal tick. This explanation makes a lot of sense. Not so much a "pyschology" as a mental disorder.
Liberalism is a Psychology
Liberalism is a Mental Disorder
*The chronic effects of either Brainwashing or Egoistic Perversity. "Liberalism" is not the perverse orthodoxy of a political party; true "liberalism" is philosophical.
Leftist socio-political ideology is ego-centric.
Also, our own leftist politicos act out their irrational rapture.
Good article!
(Vanity) Hint: We can only speculate as to how many fathers of the fifties generation and beyond, would become the psychological whipping posts for the nation-destroying fools of today.
And all because they simply did what they thought was right.
George Orwell nailed it.
Orwell: "The problem with all you lefties, is that you're just mad at your daddys".
The positions they take may seem political, but they're really all about their own sense of moral superiority. For instance, they hate the war (good) but support the troops (good, also). They love justice (good) but support world-type courts (good, also). They are patriotic (good) but European culture is really very sophisticated and civilized (good, also).
If you disagree with any of their premises, you're not only less good, but hard-hearted (bad), insensitive (bad), uncultured (bad), and a real backwoods yahoo, to boot (bad).
My liberal correspondents really hate the voice of the people. In particular, Free Republic. They are quite disturbed that the peasants now have a voice through the internet. Therefore, they have to denigrate conservative sites.
They'll cherry-pick a few of the shall-we-say more "exuberant" posts on a long FR thread to prove their point that FR is populated by thugs, potty-mouths, unfeeling country-club types, manic right-wingers and the like.
In other words, freepers and other conservatives, Free Republic and other conservative forums are unforgiveably beneath the strata of rarified air found in the liberal eastern elite salons, high exclusive political and diplomatic circles, the world of leftists-only acadamia and the incestuous networkings of the various MSM outlets.
A liberal's worst nightmare is picturing the pitchforks and torches of neanderthal American peasants swarming across the moats and disrupting the smug, egotistical and holier-than-thou occupants of the baronial manors or ivy-covered ivory towers in this country's centers of power.
Leni
I agree with the divisions of Liberals and leftest hangers-on. Liberals want the world to be a place its not; peaceful, safe, free of polution, where everyone has an income and they don't have to work too hard to get it.
Hangers-on are people like Jesse Jackson who just feel they are better off supporting this cause because they directly benefit from it, not because they believe in it at all.
The same is true of republicans of course. There are some that just hold on because they are financially better off; not because its the right thing to do, or the practical thing to do.
The price of admission of course, is renunciation of one's American-ness, and the embrace of anti-capitalism. Once paid, you get all sorts of peer-group accolades, and a tremendous sense of BELONGING. Unlike the conservative camp, which is composed of individuals, liberals are TRIBAL, replete with all the trappings of primitive tribalism; ceremony, mythology, and powerful symbolism all play a role in maintenance of the tribe's ideological and psychological underpinnings. They are CONNECTED by their own embrace of victimhood, or that of others, and the narcissistic dopamine rush such an embrace provides.
I cannot deny the author's assertion that being a liberal fills certain inner voids. This is why young people succumb to liberalism's allure in such great magnitude.
When I began to question liberal tenets openly, I found out how quickly they will dispense with you. This is a very revealing defense mechanism. REASON is like kryptonite to them, try to inject it, and they will toss you with dispatch.
Excellent!
"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery."
Winston Churchill
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