Liberal Snobs?

[NJ Stinks]

I think this guy got a lot of things right in this article. Liberals don't help their cause by alienating so many Americans. Finesse is lacking to put it mildly. Anyway, the article is from the Washington Post website.


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Gerard Alexander: Why are liberals so condescending?



By Gerard Alexander
Sunday, February 7, 2010; B01


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.

It's an odd time for liberals to feel smug. But even with Democratic fortunes on the wane, leading liberals insist that they have almost nothing to learn from conservatives. Many Democrats describe their troubles simply as a PR challenge, a combination of conservative misinformation -- as when Obama charges that critics of health-care reform (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/health-care-reform/) are peddling fake fears of a "Bolshevik plot" (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/29/AR2010012902401.html) -- and the country's failure to grasp great liberal accomplishments. "We were so busy just getting stuff done . . . that I think we lost some of that sense of speaking directly to the American people about what their core values are," the president told ABC's George Stephanopoulos (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/20/AR2010012001935.html) in a recent interview. The benighted public is either uncomprehending or deliberately misinformed (by conservatives).

This condescension is part of a liberal tradition that for generations has impoverished American debates over the economy, society and the functions of government -- and threatens to do so again today, when dialogue would be more valuable than ever.

more at the link below:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/04/AR2010020403698.html?nav=hcmodule&sid=ST2010020403858


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[cj's dad]

The condescending, we know whats best for you, attitude hurts libs quite a bit.

In almost every discussion I have with my liberal friends (yes, I have some), when they start treading water, so to speak, the "we know better then you" attitude surfaces and the conversation goes downhill.

One other observation:

Liberals tend to live in a Utopian world where all would be fine if we would just be nice.

Conservatives live in a world based in reality; that is one in which we know there are those that would harm us, that there is no free lunch, and it is one's moral obligation to be, if possible, a contributing member of society.

[46zilzal]

All the years I moved furniture as a Summer job we could always tell who was well off as compared to those who THOUGHT there were well off just by the way they treated us.

Moved the HFC CEO and the owner of the Hyatt House hotel chain and they were great. The petty .....I am rich and you had better bow to me types... were idiots

PEOPLE and nothing else is what makes interactions with other people not some affiliation to any organization, ideology religion or ethnic group

[boxcar]

PEOPLE and nothing else is what makes interactions with other people not some affiliation to any organization, ideology religion or ethnic group

Is this why so many know-it-alls are liberals? :rolleyes: Know-it-alls always know what is best for someone else. Always! Why do you think progressives want government to intrude into and control virtually every area of our personal lives? Have you so soon forgotten what Larry's King's attitude toward the masses was? Did he not essentially say that if liberals don't tell the masses what to do, who will?

Boxcar
P.S. This is why this Know-it-All mental disease is such a scourge to this planet.

[Tom]

PEOPLE and nothing else is what makes interactions with other people not some affiliation to any organization, ideology religion or ethnic group

So if it is not their ideology, social situation, or background, just what is it about people? Are they hard wired? :rolleyes:

Good way to live: leave me alone and I won't kill you.

[46zilzal]

Is this why so many know-it-alls are liberals? :rolleyes: Know-it-alls always know what is best for someone else. Always! Why do you think progressives want government to intrude into and control virtually every area of our personal lives? Have you so soon forgotten what Larry's King's attitude toward the masses was? Did he not essentially say that if liberals don't tell the masses what to do, who will?

Boxcar
P.S. This is why this Know-it-All mental disease is such a scourge to this planet.
Blanket characterizations just shouts intellectual laziness of the BLACK an WHITE world many of you guys paint it to be, when it is more that my cameras 256 shades between black and white

[boxcar]

Blanket characterizations just shouts intellectual laziness of the BLACK an WHITE world many of you guys paint it to be, when it is more that my cameras 256 shades between black and white

As Tom correctly said, this is how you pinko commies are hardwired. You want the state involved in every areas of our lives because after all...Nanny Knows Best.

Conservatives are just the opposite; for we don't seek to tell other people how to live their lives. Unlike you libs, we figure we have enough handling our own, thank you, so we're not into sticking our noses and fingers into places they don't belong. You should try it sometime. The fresh air of Freedom will do you good!

Boxcar

[johnhannibalsmith]

The condescending crap comes from never making a mistake, never doing any harm. The assumption is that if you convince yourself that you are always acting in the interest of the masses, the downtrodden, you are morally superior. If you are morally superior, logic doesn't really matter. You simply cannot be thinking incorrectly because your motives are always pure. Conversely, the opposing view must be rooted in nefarious motives, because they disagree and thus, they are clearly wrong.

Justification is heavily rooted in motives rather than logic and regardless of what the outside sees when it looks in, a true liberal always can convince himself that his motives are 99.9% Ivory.

[JustRalph]

The condescending, we know whats best for you, attitude hurts libs quite a bit.

In almost every discussion I have with my liberal friends (yes, I have some), when they start treading water, so to speak, the "we know better then you" attitude surfaces and the conversation goes downhill.

One other observation:

Liberals tend to live in a Utopian world where all would be fine if we would just be nice.

Conservatives live in a world based in reality; that is one in which we know there are those that would harm us, that there is no free lunch, and it is one's moral obligation to be, if possible, a contributing member of society.

Succint, Accurate and well stated. Perfect summation..........nice post! :ThmbUp:

Hey 46......the fact that I tip the moving guys and buy them lunch must defy logic to you............ :lol:

[sandpit]

The condescending crap comes from never making a mistake, never doing any harm. The assumption is that if you convince yourself that you are always acting in the interest of the masses, the downtrodden, you are morally superior. If you are morally superior, logic doesn't really matter. You simply cannot be thinking incorrectly because your motives are always pure. Conversely, the opposing view must be rooted in nefarious motives, because they disagree and thus, they are clearly wrong.

Justification is heavily rooted in motives rather than logic and regardless of what the outside sees when it looks in, a true liberal always can convince himself that his motives are 99.9% Ivory.

Ironically enough, this sounds exactly like the religious right. Maybe they are much more liberal than they realize.

[johnhannibalsmith]

Ironically enough, this sounds exactly like the religious right. Maybe they are much more liberal than they realize.

It really isn't ironic - when personal beliefs are formed less based upon logic then on an unwavering self-righteousness... well, there isn't a lot of difference in how conclusions are formed, which isn't to say that the conclusions are identical or even similar - but I'm not sure that qualifies as irony.

[skate]

PEOPLE and nothing else is what makes interactions with other people not some affiliation to any organization, ideology religion or ethnic group


Good point there Zilly.

Neo-libs go from "i just want Nice", give-nice-get-nice attitude, to the more mature findings, and then we refer to them as... grown ups:eek: .

Not hiccups, no no no, it's grown ups.:kiss:

[Dave Schwartz]

I have posted this link before. It is a long video (and they recently have made it longer). The good news is that it is entertaining (at least to a non-liberal).

I believe that this video hits the "capital L" liberal right on the head. When I say "capital L" I mean just the know-it-all guys you are talking about.

However, not all liberals are of the "L" variety just as not all conservatives are of the "C" type. I am no joking when I say that some of my best friends are liberals. And I have learned from them at times.

There really is a difference between the C's, L's and the rest of us and it is measured in openness. Are they (we?) open enough to logical discussion on a topic that they (we?) might actually change change their (our) mind?

Please do not think for a minute that the L's have cornered the market on closed mindedness. Why, just the other I met a guy that was so narrow-minded he could have looked through a telescope with both eyes.

Ba-da-bump.


Anyway, the first thirty minutes of this video are both entertaining and enlightening, then it turns into Q & A and loses me.

Modern Liberalism
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaE98w1KZ-c


Regards,
Dave Schwartz