Why are liberals so condescending? [Washington Post article]

[soccerballtux]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy...AR2010020403698.html?hpid=opinionsbox1&sub=AR

Every political community includes some members who insist that their side has all the answers and that their adversaries are idiots. But American liberals, to a degree far surpassing conservatives, appear committed to the proposition that their views are correct, self-evident, and based on fact and reason, while conservative positions are not just wrong but illegitimate, ideological and unworthy of serious consideration. Indeed, all the appeals to bipartisanship notwithstanding, President Obama and other leading liberal voices have joined in a chorus of intellectual condescension.

Sums up my thoughts about the lib posters here. A nasty crowd of villainy and scum the likes of which the internet has never seen before.

 

[sandorski]

It just appears that way.

 

[MotF Bane]

Troll thread?

 

[stateofbeasley]

I consider myself a right-leaning libertarian.

The "liberals" are condescending precisely because the "conservatives" behave like narcissistic spoiled children and use appeals to people's worst emotions (fear and hatred) to spread lies.

Nasty crowd of "scum and villainy"? Look in the mirror. You look just like the "liberals".

When I look at P&N, I see a group of angry and/or depressed people with deep psychological issues, who are terribly afraid of the future and use P&N as a platform to lash out and bully others. I will be the first to admit that I am extremely angry at society and the lies perpetrated by people in power over the years.

 

[JEDIYoda]

nice troll thread.....

but one possible answer could be that Bush was just so very wrong in so many ways.....

 

[soccerballtux]

I consider myself a right-leaning libertarian.

The "liberals" are condescending precisely because the "conservatives" behave like narcissistic spoiled children and use appeals to people's worst emotions (fear and hatred) to spread lies.

Nasty crowd of "scum and villainy"? Look in the mirror. You look just like the "liberals".

Like when? 9-11? I never really succumbed to much.

 

[Lemon law]

I somewhat attribute it to conservatives who are behaving in exactly the same way.

As both sides lose the ability to talk rationally to each other, it becomes a two way street. As liberals take solace with liberals and conservatives take solace with conservatives, any dialog between is lost, and winning the snit of the day becomes the only criteria. And any outrageous tactic becomes justified with any semblance of good governance no longer a criteria.

 

[mizzou]

This is an unfounded stereotype. I find that conservatives do just the same amount of down-talking

 

[Vette73]

 

[stateofbeasley]

Like when? 9-11? I never really succumbed to much.

The mass hysteria over the mythical "death panels" comes to mind. Cries of "socialist" and "rationing". I mean, give me a fucking break. We already have faceless suits at HMOs telling our doctors what they can and cannot do. Why aren't people complaining about the real problems instead running away from bogey men?

 

[CallMeJoe]

...Sums up my thoughts about the lib posters here. A nasty crowd of villainy and scum the likes of which the internet has never seen before.

soccerballtux appears to lack a sense of irony to accompany his condescending attitude toward "libs".

 

[Descartes]

I think it's pretty obvious why some are perceived that way. You can make no mistake that liberals appeal more to non-emotional/religious authorities and thus consider themselves more rooted in logic, reason, etc. Conservatives, especially more of the religious right, appeal more to emotions (especially fear) and a higher authority whose ideals can't be questioned.

In essence, liberals are right because their rational (to them) thought process tells them they are. Conservatives are right because the authorities say so.

In the end, faulty reasoning and a failure to moderate thinking based on facts is just as insidious as no reasoning and an appeal to a false authority. The end result is both sides holding onto their sense of truth.

 

[Robor]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy...AR2010020403698.html?hpid=opinionsbox1&sub=AR



Sums up my thoughts about the lib posters here. A nasty crowd of villainy and scum the likes of which the internet has never seen before.

I'm guessing your quote in sig says most (including me) don't care about your thoughts. Thanks for the nested quote thing though.

 

[MJinZ]

Moral high-ground. It's physically impossible not to be.

 

[Moonbeam]

All I can say is that whatever it is with liberals seems to be going around like some sort of contagious disease and Conservatives are only one group to be suffering from it.

I was listening in to a nest of cockroaches in the wall last night and they were complaining bitterly about exterminators, in almost the same language i heard at a recent vulture convention. The skunks are up in arms about poison chicken left out for them, and rats are really pissed at condescending traps. All manner of vermin scum and vicious predators seem to be defensive these days as if somehow they weren't any longer welcome.

I don't understand it. It just doesn't seem fair. Even Bubba down at the local prison isn't feeling welcome and he's as close to a Conservative as you can get. Who knows, maybe your average Joe is getting tired of being fucked in the ass.

 

[stateofbeasley]

I don't have contempt for people because they are "liberal" or "conservative". I do have contempt for people who are willfully retarded or blind basic things that they should have learned in elementary school.

Here is one example:

Food Stamp Thread

We had morons in the above thread claiming that a person could feed themselves on packs of ramen, despite the undisputed FACT (with supporting links to nutritional data posted) that ramen contains few nutrients, and a high amount of sodium.

My problem is that people don't take any personal responsibility for their education, and instead choose to spout the most ridiculous of lies.

 

[Moonbeam]

I don't have contempt for people because they are "liberal" or "conservative". I do have contempt for people who are willfully retarded or blind basic things that they should have learned in elementary school.

Here is one example:

Food Stamp Thread

We had morons in the above thread claiming that a person could feed themselves on packs of ramen, despite the undisputed FACT (with supporting links to nutritional data posted) that ramen contains few nutrients, and a high amount of sodium.

My problem is that people don't take any personal responsibility for their education, and instead choose to spout the most ridiculous of lies.

Would you shut up. I was hoping those idiots would become unemployed and die of malnutrition in six months, but no, you gotta chime in with your stupid heads up.

 

[Greenman]

I always assumed that libs simply hated anyone that disagreed with them. It's certainly what turned me away from the progressive movement.

 

[Carmen813]

I don't have contempt for people because they are "liberal" or "conservative". I do have contempt for people who are willfully retarded or blind basic things that they should have learned in elementary school.

Here is one example:

Food Stamp Thread

We had morons in the above thread claiming that a person could feed themselves on packs of ramen, despite the undisputed FACT (with supporting links to nutritional data posted) that ramen contains few nutrients, and a high amount of sodium.

My problem is that people don't take any personal responsibility for their education, and instead choose to spout the most ridiculous of lies.

You said retard, I'm telling Sarah Palin.

Liberals are often labeled as unpatriotic, socialists, communists, unAmerican, or not part of "real" America. They get upset for the same reasons that Conservatives do when they are called poor-hating, corporatist, war mongering, unethical, silver-spooned religious zealots.

I don't think liberals sound any more smug than conservatives overall. It's like comparing the taste of a tangerine to a mandarin orange.

 

[Moonbeam]

I think it's pretty obvious why some are perceived that way. You can make no mistake that liberals appeal more to non-emotional/religious authorities and thus consider themselves more rooted in logic, reason, etc. Conservatives, especially more of the religious right, appeal more to emotions (especially fear) and a higher authority whose ideals can't be questioned.

In essence, liberals are right because their rational (to them) thought process tells them they are. Conservatives are right because the authorities say so.

In the end, faulty reasoning and a failure to moderate thinking based on facts is just as insidious as no reasoning and an appeal to a false authority. The end result is both sides holding onto their sense of truth.

Are you saying that liberals appeal to science and conservatives to religion and that therefore both are wrong?

 

[caddlad]

Sums up my thoughts about the lib posters here. A nasty crowd of villainy and scum the likes of which the internet has never seen before.

What kind of douchebaggery is this?

 

[Carmen813]

Are you saying that liberals appeal to science and conservatives to religion and that therefore both are wrong?

A lot of liberals appeal to science without understanding that science is continuously changing. What is true today might be found to be irrelevant tomorrow. It's similar to those who blindly believe in whatever the Church tells them while ignoring the fact that what the Church says has changed over the past 1500 years.

What we need is some healthy skepticism...

 

[First]

The real question you have to ask yourself is if it's a coincidence that 80% of teachers at every single level of education (grade school, middle school, high school, undergrad, and graduate) are overwhelming liberal, progressive and/or left-center in their political leanings. At some point you have to come to terms with the overwhelming reality that maybe, just maybe, you're wrong based on the evidence.

 

[cubeless]

The real question you have to ask yourself is if it's a coincidence that 80% of teachers at every single level of education (grade school, middle school, high school, undergrad, and graduate) are overwhelming liberal, progressive and/or left-center in their political leanings. At some point you have to come to terms with the overwhelming reality that maybe, just maybe, you're wrong based on the evidence.

maybe because they like having a captive audience to be condescending, etc... to???

 

[Carmen813]

maybe because they like having a captive audience to be condescending, etc... to???

Most of them encourage a debate. I've had a grand total of one in seven years of college education who didn't.