stephanie
09-22-2007, 01:16 PM
:smoke:
To reassure themselves that liberals are smart, left-wing social scientists periodically conduct research that proves conservatives are Neanderthals. Their latest foray, by New York University researchers squandering $1.2 million in federal grants, concluded the usual stuff — conservatives are simpleminded, less adaptive to change, etc. — plus Ronald Reagan's brain worked like Adolf Hitler's and conservative drivers have difficulty finding their way home when faced with a detour. Their conclusions were based on research subjects' responses to reflexive tests, as if their ability to answer an either-or question correctly in a fraction of a second is predictive of their ability to think analytically.
Liberals, meanwhile, were found to be "relatively disorganized, indecisive and perhaps overly drawn to ambiguity" but "more responsive to informational complexity, ambiguity and novelty." In another context, liberals would condemn stereotypes as racist, sexist or homophobic. But when sweeping generalities reflect poorly on conservatism, well, then they must be true.
But if liberals sort facts better and are good at discarding failed ideas, explain the War on Poverty. Talk about quagmires. This one has lasted more than 40 years and consumed $11 trillion without coming close to its promise to eradicate poverty. Despite irrefutable evidence that their calcified positions are destructive if not deadly, why do liberals also cling to "progressive" policies that chain people to their government, restrict gun ownership, kill unborn children and destroy families?
These and other liberal positions are consistent with the socialist world view, and socialism has failed every time it's been tried: Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Castro, The New Deal, The Great Society, universal health care, etc. Today, the new darling of socialism, Hugo Chavez, is shuttering schools in Venezuela that refuse to use government-approved textbooks.
The dangers of socialism were manifest when economist and political philosopher Friedrich Hayek published "The Road to Serfdom" in 1944. Socialism, he wrote, exchanges individual liberty for state-dictated "fairness," which always conflicts the unalienable rights of free people. Even tentative steps toward central planning, redistribution of wealth and economic control inevitably lead to totalitarianism. "There can be no doubt that the promise of greater freedom has become one of the most effective weapons of socialist propaganda. But it only would heighten the tragedy if it should prove that what was promised to us as the Road to Freedom was in fact the High Road to Servitude."
His words are truer today than ever, yet liberals seem intellectually incapable of seeing the truth. That says a lot more about how their brains function than any contrived laboratory experiment ever will.
http://www.rep-am.com/articles/2007/09/22/opinion/285997.txt
To reassure themselves that liberals are smart, left-wing social scientists periodically conduct research that proves conservatives are Neanderthals. Their latest foray, by New York University researchers squandering $1.2 million in federal grants, concluded the usual stuff — conservatives are simpleminded, less adaptive to change, etc. — plus Ronald Reagan's brain worked like Adolf Hitler's and conservative drivers have difficulty finding their way home when faced with a detour. Their conclusions were based on research subjects' responses to reflexive tests, as if their ability to answer an either-or question correctly in a fraction of a second is predictive of their ability to think analytically.
Liberals, meanwhile, were found to be "relatively disorganized, indecisive and perhaps overly drawn to ambiguity" but "more responsive to informational complexity, ambiguity and novelty." In another context, liberals would condemn stereotypes as racist, sexist or homophobic. But when sweeping generalities reflect poorly on conservatism, well, then they must be true.
But if liberals sort facts better and are good at discarding failed ideas, explain the War on Poverty. Talk about quagmires. This one has lasted more than 40 years and consumed $11 trillion without coming close to its promise to eradicate poverty. Despite irrefutable evidence that their calcified positions are destructive if not deadly, why do liberals also cling to "progressive" policies that chain people to their government, restrict gun ownership, kill unborn children and destroy families?
These and other liberal positions are consistent with the socialist world view, and socialism has failed every time it's been tried: Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Castro, The New Deal, The Great Society, universal health care, etc. Today, the new darling of socialism, Hugo Chavez, is shuttering schools in Venezuela that refuse to use government-approved textbooks.
The dangers of socialism were manifest when economist and political philosopher Friedrich Hayek published "The Road to Serfdom" in 1944. Socialism, he wrote, exchanges individual liberty for state-dictated "fairness," which always conflicts the unalienable rights of free people. Even tentative steps toward central planning, redistribution of wealth and economic control inevitably lead to totalitarianism. "There can be no doubt that the promise of greater freedom has become one of the most effective weapons of socialist propaganda. But it only would heighten the tragedy if it should prove that what was promised to us as the Road to Freedom was in fact the High Road to Servitude."
His words are truer today than ever, yet liberals seem intellectually incapable of seeing the truth. That says a lot more about how their brains function than any contrived laboratory experiment ever will.
http://www.rep-am.com/articles/2007/09/22/opinion/285997.txt