Low IQ & Conservative Beliefs Linked to Prejudice

[_EAllusion]

I see that BCSpace still hasn't apologized for plagiarizing.

Any chance BCSpace is going to show some sign that he actually follows the religion he purports to believe in and display some contrition yet?

[_LittleNipper]

It is all a matter of what one considers prejudicial and how one applies that term. A smart person likely has a "rational" explanation of his/her own bias (not considering it prejudice at all). The simple logic (being a conservative myself and not very intelligent) is that lumping groups of people into classes of conservative and liberal is rather bias in and of itself.

[Guest]

There's no gentle way to put it: People who give in to racism and prejudice may simply be dumb, according to a new study that is bound to stir public controversy.

You would have made a wonderful Soviet Commissar, Bluff. People's Deputy Vice General Undersecretary of Intelletual Hygiene would have been a nice title for you, in your management of the Soviet psychiatric gulag.

So, right at the outset, we would, by your own argument here, have to place Karl Marx squarely within the classification "dumb." and of distinctly low IQ. We would also clearly have to place any number of leading 20th century leftist intellectuals, among which would most certainly have to be Edward Said, Norman Finkelstien, Noam Chomsky, Bell Hooks, Leonard Jefferies, Derrick Bell, Nicholas De Genova, Lawrence Davidson, Miriam Cooke, Jesse Jackson, Howard Zinn, Rashid Khalidi, Spike Lee, John Singleton, Juan Cole, Ward Churchill, Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture), Al-Amin Jamil Abdullah (H. Rap Brown), John Esposito, Michael Lerner, Jennifer Loewenstein, David F. Noble, John Petrovato, Al Sharpton, Desmond Tutu, and I mean, really, I could go on and on and on and on with a delineation of noted and distinguished leftist intellectuals, academics, and activists, over a long span of time, who are hardly "dumb" but who have long trafficked in bigotry, racism, racialism, and in ethnic/racial/gender/tribalist balkanism.

Indeed, I could compose a very extensive list of most notable leftist intellectuals, academics, activists, and political figures who, among other things, are most notable for their relentless anti-intellectual bigotry against any ideas, worldviews, and philosophies other than their own. Indeed, this attitude has come to be so closely associated with the Left that it has, for all intents, come to define it and - precisely - differentiate it from the Right.

This dynamic has been most concentrated and unrelenting with the humanities and social sciences within American academe, to the point of having turned a large number of American academic institutions, from the state level to the Ivy League, into islands of repression, indoctrination, and totalitarian collectivist conformity within an otherwise open and free society.

Indeed, Bluffalo may have herd of a doctrine and ideology known as muliculturalism, an ideology composed entirely of such concepts and attitudes and which arose and has been maintained, particularly within academia, solely by the cultural Left.

I don't see any real reason to deconstruct this kind of psuedo-social science (first attempted by Adorno but mimicked on occasion since his time) as the sheer, inherent anti-intellectualism of the typical leftist mind (which is not a genetic but a cultivated psychological orientation) will not bear light and truth.

Indeed, it was Lenin and his disciples who first determined that anyone who disagrees with them is either stupid, mad, or wicked, and must be dealt with accordingly. The modern Left - across its various manifestations, still retains this fundamental view of anyone - no matter how intelligent or educated - who's disagrees with their vision of a "better world."

[_Gunnar]

What I understand least of all about extreme conservatives is their visceral hatred of the idea of "multiculturalism." How is it a bad thing to learn about other people's cultures and traditions and languages? I, for one, have enjoyed learning about other people's traditions, folklore, history, mythology and cuisine. What better way is there than that to foster understanding between people and reduce prejudice, hatred and hurtful misunderstanding and unintentional insults and/or slights? This visceral objection to "multiculturalism" does more to belie their denials of bigotry on their part than almost anything I can imagine! Humankind's cultural diversity is something to be celebrated--not disparaged or condemned!

[_Droopy]

What I understand least of all about extreme conservatives is their visceral hatred of the idea of "multiculturalism."

Because we - and all intellectually and morally normal adults - object strenuously to intellectual national socialism, or socialism of any kind, be it national, class, ethnic, racial, tribal, in whatever guise.

How is it a bad thing to learn about other people's cultures and traditions and languages?

This has nothing whatsoever to do with "multiculturalism." You are either speaking from a position of extreme naïveté and ignorance, or you are being knowingly deceptive.

As with all such situations, I will go with the first possibility until you prove that the second is the case.

[_Gunnar]

Because we - and all intellectually and morally normal adults

Thanks for that bit of insight! I understand your problem now. You suffer from the delusion that only those who subscribe to your extreme views qualify as "intellectually and morally normal adults."

[_ldsfaqs]

Yep Droopy....

The fact that he either doesn't know or is intentionally being deceptive of what "Multiculturalism" is, and then creates a STRAWMAN "as if" we are against learning about other cultures, etc. shows clearly the depth of liberal intellectual and moral vacuousness.

Gunnar is apparently not familiar with the difference between the "childs" version of Multiculturalism which is the "feel good" learning of and living with others and their differences in harmony etc., and the Political Philosophy of Multiculturalism which is a liberal political and social ideology which is what conservatives condemn, since we are after all talking about "political" things here.

[_beastie]

Yep Droopy....

The fact that he either doesn't know or is intentionally being deceptive of what "Multiculturalism" is, and then creates a STRAWMAN "as if" we are against learning about other cultures, etc. shows clearly the depth of liberal intellectual and moral vacuousness.

Gunnar is apparently not familiar with the difference between the "childs" version of Multiculturalism which is the "feel good" learning of and living with others and their differences in harmony etc., and the Political Philosophy of Multiculturalism which is a liberal political and social ideology which is what conservatives condemn, since we are after all talking about "political" things here.

Hey, I've been waiting for you to answer my question.

Have you or your family ever received government aid? I remember you discussing this on Z, so I thought it was all right to ask.

[_Droopy]

Have you or your family ever received government aid? I remember you discussing this on Z, so I thought it was all right to ask.

Don't fall for this, Faqs. Its just another manifestation of the old leftist "chicken hawk" argument used to circumvent critical debate with supporters of the war on terrorism.

In 25 to 30 years, I spent approximately 2-3 years, intermittently, on federal welfare programs. I received a significant education at that time in what they were, the kind of mentality and incentives they created, and the "underclass" culture generated by long term dependency (my first wife and I lived in a HUD apartment complex between 1982 and 1984).

This was well before I even developed, to any significant degree, my present political philosophy. I have an insider and intellectual/philosophical outsider-looking-in perspective. There are far, far, far better ways to construct, manage, and utilize a "safety net" for those who need help than the Great Society, which represents, according to all serous empirical, theoretical, and moral critiques of its history, an abject failure of both economic and moral capital.

The gospel - providing the Lord's way - is that pattern and way, but the secular society will never learn that lesson because the "welfare state" isn't really so much about welfare as it is about power.

[_beastie]

Have you or your family ever received government aid? I remember you discussing this on Z, so I thought it was all right to ask.

Don't fall for this, Faqs. Its just another manifestation of the old leftist "chicken hawk" argument used to circumvent critical debate with supporters of the war on terrorism.

In 25 to 30 years, I spent approximately 2-3 years, intermittently, on federal welfare programs. I received a significant education at that time in what they were, the kind of mentality and incentives they created, and the "underclass" culture generated by long term dependency (my first wife and I lived in a HUD apartment complex between 1982 and 1984).

This was well before I even developed, to any significant degree, my present political philosophy. I have an insider and intellectual/philosophical outsider-looking-in perspective. There are far, far, far better ways to construct, manage, and utilize a "safety net" for those who need help than the Great Society, which represents, according to all serous empirical, theoretical, and moral critiques of its history, an abject failure of both economic and moral capital.

The gospel - providing the Lord's way - is that pattern and way, but the secular society will never learn that lesson because the "welfare state" isn't really so much about welfare as it is about power.

LDSfaq was just as much as a right-wing extremist on ZLMB as he is today. It's also when he, without being forced, shared private information about his economic difficulties, joblessness, and need for aid. So it is relevant. He didn't undergo some dramatic "born again" political change.

I don't think there's anything wrong with getting help when you need it. I'm not asking him to 'fess up to humiliate him. I'm doing so to demonstrate that there are times when people need help, and that doesn't mean they're "those people" who see themselves as "victims" and refuse to care for their lives.

I just find it interesting that two of the most extreme right-wingers on this board also benefited from the "welfare state" they claim to abhor.

by the way, his refusal to answer the question has already answered the question. And I wouldn't be surprised at all if his children still benefited from the "welfare state". Divorced, at least four children If I recall correctly, periods of joblessness.... that usually adds up to, at the very least, free or reduced school lunches, possibly medicaid, possibly food stamps. It would be quite unusual for his family to overcome these sort of difficulties in a short period of time. Not impossible, but unusual, particularly given these economic times.