Posted on 07/25/2010 11:01:43 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
So, Barack Obama’s approval rating is falling so quickly that it may soon be journeying to the center of the earth.
So, the economy is in such terrible shape that those supposedly untouchable middle class tax cuts may expire.
So, Florida happens to have three of the most corrupt politicians in the country running for one of its United States Senate seats.
So, what?
Instead of my usual weekly analysis of political happenings across the United States, I have decided to take a different approach with today’s article. A few nights ago, I stumbled across a very interesting study conducted by the American Enterprise Institute. Its purpose was to answer the age-old question of Who is Smarter; A Godless, Elitist Liberal or A Bible-Thumping, Good-Ole-Boy Conservative?
Okay, okay. The study did not include the theatrics, but you get the idea.
I must say that its results did not surprise me in the least. Lazar Stankov, a visiting professor at Singapore’s National Institute of Education, came to the conclusion that per individual, “conservatism scores correlate negatively with SAT, vocabulary, and analogy test scores” while, on a national level, “conservatism scores correlate negatively with measures of education”.
Now, before my leftist readers begin to break out the champagne, it should be noted that Stankov’s definition of conservatism does not apply to free market economics. Essentially, he is referring to extreme social conservatives — the Fine Folks who just love the idea of limited government except when People Who Are Not Just Like Them are added to the equation. At the instant that diversity comes into the picture, well, then all bets are off.
We see these social ultraconservatives jam packing Sarah Palin’s rallies on a daily basis. When interviewed by members of the press, they are more often than not unable to provide a coherent answer to questions regarding major political or cultural issues. They are, however, extremely proud of their “plain” or, more endearingly, “salt of the earth” attitude and outlook on life. Should one wish to waste his or her time and damage a few brain cells in the process, it would be advisable to browse through a few pages of the far right fringe discussion forum Free Republic. It will not be long before the person in question is able to attain a decent understanding of the socially ultraconservative thought process.
It is not a pretty thing, I can tell you that much.
The findings of the AEI’s study give reason as to why I do not describe my political ideology as uniformly “conservative”, but “Americanist” instead. One of the men I admire most in American politics is Nelson Rockefeller, who was Gerald Ford’s vice president and an unabashed capitalist. During his life, he was a strong proponent of Americanism — fiscal and domestic/national security conservatism merged with social centrism — which he recognized as a pragmatic and intelligent school of thought that was capable of bringing a vast majority of Americans together in order to fix the nation’s problems.
While many may decry my assessment of the study as “caving” or “capitulating” to the Left, I am doing nothing of the sort. You see, the study did not determine that leftists are intelligent — but that liberals, on average, were more so than social ultraconservatives.
As any student of American politics knows, there is all the difference in the world between a “liberal” and a “leftist”. Actually, I would say that, when all is said and done, leftists share far more in common with social ultraconservatives than liberals do with Americanists.
After all, both leftists and social ultraconservatives want to control your life — and we all know that the least intelligent of all personality types is a tyrant.
*******
Joseph Cotto is an entrepreneur and current events columnist from Central Florida. His chief interests are in capitalism, politics, journalism and philosophy. He is an Americanist -- one whose fiscal, national security and cultural views are conservative while taking a centrist approach on social matters -- and reflects that in his articles about people, issues and events. For many years, he was an accredited reporter for Wikinews, Wikipedia's news subsidiary. There, he covered major stories such as the 2008 presidential election and interviewed personalities ranging from former U.S. senators to filmmakers. He is currently working on a book about the state of American politics.
Comparing the average IQ of Hussein voters vs that of McCain voters would have us ahead by at least 20 points.
Imagine that. The "fringe" is defined as those of us who don't care for "Rockefeller Republicans." I guess I should hang my head in shame, go for an eyebrow trim, and let my wife out of the basement. I'm sure the self appointed intellectual-set will respect me then.
Exactly what is a social ultraconservative? Is this code for being opposed to gay marriage and the homosexual agenda?
I’m betting you’re answering your own question.
They are our rulers because they were educated in elite universities. Those universities must be elite because their graduates end up being our rulers. See how that works?
Here in Minneapolis the left elite Flavor-Aid drinkers make the Texas “hardshell Baptists” seem like laissez-faire libertarians.
I concur wholeheartedly! As a matter of fact, Free Republic should required reading in all upper level Civics classes.
There is no venue that provides access to a wider range of political, social and scientific thought than this fine web site.
No. In fact, there's anecdotal evidence that the reverse is true.
The problem is, "liberals" generally think they are smarter than others and that their opinions mean more, people should listen to them, and do things that they want done and in the ways they want them done. Thus is born elitism, and the road to fascism.
Liberals are the smartest, most talented people out there. After all, they tell me that all the time.
I’m not a huge fan of the rabid SoCon set either, but this guy is an effing tard. FR has a pretty good mix of participants, but why let that fact get in the way of a good rant? All I need to know about him is that he hearts Rockefellers.
>> The smart set: Are “Liberals” really smarter than “Conservatives”?
“really”, said who?
What tripe. Were Cotto half as smart as he thinks it is, he’d be five times smarter than he sounds.
Joseph Cotto now you ARE famous.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.