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Why are intellectuals overwhelmingly leftist?
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medenaywe View Drop Down
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Posts: 17084 		  Quote medenaywe Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Why are intellectuals overwhelmingly leftist?
    Posted: 11-Nov-2013 at 16:06
probably have not enough money to be anything else.Position is aligned by&with&in status.Big smile
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Posts: 873 		  Quote Mountain Man Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11-Nov-2013 at 16:20
Originally posted by flyingzone

On the eve of the Canadian federal election, I made an informal survey among my colleagues - for which party are you going to vote? I wasn't surprised by the answer - no one was even remotely interested in voting for the Conservatives. And this wasn't just the case in the two departments (psychology and sociology - in sociology, there's actually a Marxist-Leninist) that I belong to. It's the same with anthropology, geography, English, and ESPECIALLY history. Looking at the "profiles" of these individuals, there is nothing in common among them - the oldest are in their 60's and the youngest are in their 20's; male and female (of course); ALL ethnicities ("Anglo"-Canadian, French-Canadian, Jewish, Blacks, Arabs, Asians, Greeks, Italians, and plenty of Americans); mostly straight but one or two gay/bisexual; some religious but mostly not. The only denominator that connects all of us - we all have graduate degrees in various disciplines.

I cannot speak for all North American colleges and universities and I am very sure (1) there are exceptions and (2) there certainly exists some important regional differences, but I have the impression that leftists seem to be disproportionately represented among intellectuals and college/university faculties. Why? Is there a "leftist bug" that can be caught by those who read (and probably think) too much?





What specific proof do you offer to support this contention?
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Posts: 10226 		  Quote red clay Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11-Nov-2013 at 19:39
MM, Flying Zone hasn't been here since 2008. 
"Arguing with someone who hates you or your ideas, is like playing chess with a pigeon. No matter what move you make, your opponent will walk all over the board and scramble the pieces".
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Posts: 22 		  Quote barcelonic Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11-Nov-2013 at 22:41
Originally posted by TheAlaniDragonRising

As for the empathy area, those types who can do so well at times investing are also the same who are prone to lose fortunes over and over again.


What I meant by the investor thing was that traders who have reservations or moral scruples about buying shares in an arms company, for example, or knowingly selling bad shares to clients, won't last for very long before they are out of a job.

I think you're describing the 'gambler's psyche', which will apply to some people and not to others but I'm not sure if that's related to empathy tbh. I would assume though that most Wall Street traders are trained well enough to not take unnecessary risks the way a typical gambler would. Perhaps i'd liken what they do more to poker, a less pure form of gambling, because they have at least some information with which to make a decision.

:)
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Posts: 4620 		  Quote opuslola Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08-Dec-2013 at 18:23
Originally posted by eaglecap

I have often heard that many intellectual geniuses in history were a bit mentally unstable.



Hmm!! why are so many liberal on the higher end of the intellectual scale???


hmmm if being liberal = high rate of intellect and some intellects = mental instability then -

wait I have the answer!!!




keep scrolling!!





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[IMG]http://i12.ebayimg.com/03/c/03/a9/8c/2c_8.JPG">

kidding so don't be offended and laugh!!


But I am not kidding! Michael Savage (stage name) is almost always correct!

Ron (I never met a NY Jew I didn't like!) I actually lived in a nice area of Queens! Rosedale right by JFK!    
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Posts: 4620 		  Quote opuslola Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08-Dec-2013 at 19:21
Originally posted by eaglecap

I have often heard that many intellectual geniuses in history were a bit mentally unstable.



Hmm!! why are so many liberal on the higher end of the intellectual scale???


hmmm if being liberal = high rate of intellect and some intellects = mental instability then -

wait I have the answer!!!




keep scrolling!!





down




further






[IMG]http://i12.ebayimg.com/03/c/03/a9/8c/2c_8.JPG">

kidding so don't be offended and laugh!!


Hey! He is one of my favorites!
http://www.quotationspage.com/subjects/history/
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Posts: 4620 		  Quote opuslola Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08-Dec-2013 at 19:29
Originally posted by medenaywe

probably have not enough money to be anything else.Position is aligned by&with&in status.Big smile


Because, in their circles, they enjoy being "Elitists!" They all have egos the size of Jupiter, and, even if they are as ugly as a hyena's butt, and they think they are beautiful because of their "correct" thought processes, which are at odds with the Evil Nazi, Tea Party, Republican, right wingers! LOL

And, their new, adored leader is pushing the USA into bankruptcy!, and the world into a "Great Depression!"

Wait and see?
Ron



Edited by opuslola - 08-Dec-2013 at 19:34
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Posts: 17084 		  Quote medenaywe Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03-Feb-2014 at 14:05
Do you wait call from Obama,Ron?!?LOL
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Posts: 925 		  Quote beorna Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03-Feb-2014 at 15:21
Left is simply beautiful. Left is where the heart beats. That's all :D
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Posts: 4620 		  Quote opuslola Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03-Feb-2014 at 16:49
Most of us on the Right, merely want to be Left alone! Smile!

So all of you social leftists please leave the people alone!

Heck Hitler was a type of Social Democrat, he merely called it National Socialism, and that was surely a good idea at the time. frown

Regards, Ron (from S. Mississippi, USA)

PS, and yes! The Prez calls me every week for advice.   Why does he not take it?   I merely ask him to resign the office!! He then always says the same two words--Joe Biden! LOL


Edited by opuslola - 03-Feb-2014 at 16:52
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Posts: 925 		  Quote beorna Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03-Feb-2014 at 17:15
Originally posted by opuslola

Most of us on the Right, merely want to be Left alone! Smile!

So all of you social leftists please leave the people alone!

Heck Hitler was a type of Social Democrat, he merely called it National Socialism, and that was surely a good idea at the time. frown

Regards, Ron (from S. Mississippi, USA)

PS, and yes! The Prez calls me every week for advice.   Why does he not take it?   I merely ask him to resign the office!! He then always says the same two words--Joe Biden! LOL

Hitler let Social Democrats execute or sended them to KZs. It is not funny to call him some type of Social Democrat.
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Posts: 4620 		  Quote opuslola Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03-Feb-2014 at 19:12
Originally posted by gcle2003

Where does this idea that economists swing to the right come from? Not in my world, they don't.


Granted there are some right-wing economists, the majority it seems to me (and I'm an ex-economics lecturer myself) are to the left. $


Quite apart from Marx and Engels, Keynes and his whole school are socialist to social-democratic: I'm sure Joan Robinson would be horrified to see herself described as rightist.


Unfortunately the twaddle-purveyors like Friedman and Hayek get too much attention, and of course right-wing politicians dream up their own 'economic' doctrines (like 'trickle-down') to suit their political agendas. But I'm talking serious, empirical economists as well as the 'welfare economists' and the socialist ones.


 



And with beliefs like you hold, you need to stay suspended!

But my regards always,
Ron
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Posts: 387 		  Quote toyomotor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03-Feb-2014 at 20:34
Cywr:   "That's precisely the point, furthermore sometimes just having a degree gets you to the front of the cue for a job, even if that degree has no baring on the job itself."

That's a very good point. A man I know was employed as Disaster Planner (no, not how to plan a disaster-plan for the eventuality) in our equivalent of FEMA. His background was a degree in Linguistics!!

Was he employed because of his "obvious intelligence" or, having gained a degree, he knew how to research a topic?

I don't know, but it certainly doesn't work in all cases.

But to answer the original question, perhaps it starts in university where students become radicalised and conform the "student norm" of rebellion against all authority. Most grow out of this after a few years, but there are those who can still be seen wearing Che Guevara berets and badges. I can't really say if any particular faculty is more leftists than others.

In some cases, perhaps many, aligning ones self with a particular "movement" gives the individual a sense of belonging.

There's a real opening for a Psychology Thesis here!





Edited by toyomotor - 03-Feb-2014 at 20:44
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Posts: 4620 		  Quote opuslola Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03-Feb-2014 at 21:46
Originally posted by toyomotor

Cywr:   "That's precisely the point, furthermore sometimes just having a degree gets you to the front of the cue for a job, even if that degree has no baring on the job itself."

That's a very good point. A man I know was employed as Disaster Planner (no, not how to plan a disaster-plan for the eventuality) in our equivalent of FEMA. His background was a degree in Linguistics!!

Was he employed because of his "obvious intelligence" or, having gained a degree, he knew how to research a topic?

I don't know, but it certainly doesn't work in all cases.

But to answer the original question, perhaps it starts in university where students become radicalised and conform the "student norm" of rebellion against all authority. Most grow out of this after a few years, but there are those who can still be seen wearing Che Guevara berets and badges. I can't really say if any particular faculty is more leftists than others.

In some cases, perhaps many, aligning ones self with a particular "movement" gives the individual a sense of belonging.

There's a real opening for a Psychology Thesis here!





And I agree with Ian above! It is mostly a social display by the young!

Za vas! Ron
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Posts: 387 		  Quote toyomotor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04-Feb-2014 at 04:05
Ron: Some folks are so far left of centre that they'd wear out two pairs of boots walking back. ;)
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