Opinion Talk

By Copyleft

June 5, 2008 7:56 AM | Link to this

This is a classic conservative gripe. The more educated you are, the more likely you are to be liberal.

Confronted with this fact, right-wingers immediately exclaim, “Then there must be something wrong with education!”

Riiigght.

By Educated

June 5, 2008 8:30 AM | Link to this

Duh!

By AH

June 5, 2008 8:35 AM | Link to this

Actually this is a very true bromide. Every Political Science and Philosophy class that I took in college was tainted by extremely bias professors. If you didn’t agree with them politically then it was reflected in their behavior towards you in the class. The best you can hope to do is claim to be a libertarian. I always found it humorous that you would take a short logic test at the start of the semester to test your critical thinking skills. This would always translate into a political ideology test. They you would spend the next week having to justify and defend your beliefs on specific beliefs. And then near the end of the course you would take the same test again to see how much you learned. If your ideology didn’t take a turn to the left you were deemed deficant in critial thinking skills. I do what to reiterate that I never felt that this reflected negatively in my grades but they did make it clear that they frowned upon my beliefs.

For another example look what GA Tech did last year to the young Republicans on campus. Every other group received favorable treatment and financing but the young Reps. were nearly run off campus, especially after they had a very cleaver bake sale to highlight this bias policy.

By Dan

June 5, 2008 8:43 AM | Link to this

Actually it’s more proof of the old axiom, those who can do, those who can’t, teach. or to take it a step further and quote Thomas SowellThe most fundamental fact about the ideas of the political left is that they do not work. Therefore, we should not be surprised to find the left concentrated in institutions where ideas do not have to work in order to survive. Like education, which is why educators work tirelessly to avoid any kind of performance measurement. and by the way when you exclude professional educators, conservatives are overwhelmingly more educated. Think about the demographics that consistently have democratic leadership. Poor, uneducated areas. There may be a few “intellectuals” or idealists. But rational realistic people understand that liberal ideas simply don’t work

By ben

June 5, 2008 8:56 AM | Link to this

At UGA the College Republicans are a more active group than the Young Dems…even in liberal Athens. If colleges were such a brainwashing machine, why isn’t everyone who went to college a liberal? Sonny went to UGA, he isn’t a liberal. W went to Harvard, he sure isn’t a liberal. Bill Kristol has a PHD and AB from Harvard, and he sure isn’t a liberal.

By zeke

June 5, 2008 9:08 AM | Link to this

If those in charge had any common sense or any idea of the foundations of our country they would immediately institute a policy to promote conservatism and downgrade or even ban liberalism!!

By dbm

June 5, 2008 9:10 AM | Link to this

On complication here is that both “liberalism” and “conservatism” tend to be inconsistent, advocating an interventionist, controlling government in one broad area and freedom with limited government in another. Another is that even educated people don’t necessarily understand capitalism very well.

By Daedalus

June 5, 2008 9:13 AM | Link to this

If a college proposed to endow a chair for ‘liberal’ studies conservatives would howl and the Right-wing blatho-sphere would go into hyperdrive.

The antectodal “my professor hated my because he’s a liberal” is used as an excuse — maybe youshouldn’t have gone to college. The world needs ditch-diggers too.

There aren’t any non-partisan studies, objective studies, that have proved the huge liberal bias that right-winger claim exists. Exlude the claims of the right-wing groups like the Heritage Foundation and the Cato Institute — and you find that there is no objective proof of the so-called liberal bias.

Just because most of mainstream America (outside of Georgia) believe in teaching evolution does not mean they are victimizing conservatives. If you want to teach ‘intelligent design’ — fine — do it in philosophy ot religious studies (by the way —those are also called “Liberal Arts” — should we change that too?)

Its funny that conservatives criticize the “I’m a victim” mentality when it comes from blacks, gays or other groups — but they wear it prodly when it suits their purpose.

You want to go to a place where everyone agrees with your conservative views — fine — there’s lots of them, Liberty University, Bob Jones U., and a host of religious schools (no race mixing, please).

Conservatives controlled the U.S. Congress from 1994 until 2006 and the White House from 2001 — the Supreme Court — a lock for right-wingers — six out of nine are GOP appointees.

But go ahead, claim your victimhood status — but its just hypocrisy. The reality is that conservativism doesn’t fare well in the marketplace of ideas — and that’s both funny and ironic.

By Scooter

June 5, 2008 9:16 AM | Link to this

Well, in several college macro-economics classes I tried to write papers about the inflationary pressures of public policy and was denied the opportunity every time. Is it not a valid topic, or is it a topic my professors wanted to keep the class from exploring?

By Fix-It

June 5, 2008 9:38 AM | Link to this

Hey Daedalus, you are correct, the democrats will never allow any body to take over their victimhood status. The truth is that most colleges are overwhelmingly liberal, that is just a fact. If it where the other way you would be screaming for equality, why don’t you stand by your principles and make it at least 50/50 when it comes to professors. Or better yet fire any of them who preach either way, schools or universities should be places of learning, not indoctrination to left or right wing idiocy.

By James

June 5, 2008 9:59 AM | Link to this

Let’s be honest here. “Most” people in a career in college education are “touchy feely” types. “Most” people who go into a military career are willing to physically fight for what they believe in. Basically, the sheep (educators) allow the sheepdogs (military and police) to protect them from the wolves so they (the sheep) can continue to have their little tea parties. In other words, they are kept by better men and women than themselves.

By Dan

June 5, 2008 10:02 AM | Link to this

Fix it, you make some valid points but, where you contradict yourself is the proposal to “make it” 50/50, targeting a certain mix and creating rules to enforce it would be a liberal tactic. Mostly because that is the only way liberal ideology gets a foothold. When surviving, in the real world of competition, innovation, supply and demand and survival of the fittest. Liberal ideas invariably fail. When shielded by the safe haven of academia, the failings of liberal dogma are justified away. The real world doesn’t reward idealism and wishful thinking. Libs like to point out that the more educated tend to be liberal. But what they don’t tell you is that for each step in education from elementary through Masters, you are more likely to be conservative (reality does that to you) then when you start counting PHD’s they start to trend back to liberal. What this means is professional doer’s are conservative. Professional students are liberal

By Copyleft

June 5, 2008 10:06 AM | Link to this

And here’s the conservative contempt for education and thought itself, in bright and shiny technicolor.

Thanks for proving my point, conservaduds. Thinking offends and intimidates you, so you try your best to sneer at it.

By John

June 5, 2008 10:13 AM | Link to this

Could it be that most of the faculty at universities are liberal because conservatives by and large don’t make careers in academia? Given that most republicans value capitalism it is likely that they seek the higher salaries that are found in the private sector.

Instead of asking how many members of the faculty are republican I would be interested in knowing how many registered republicans have tried to become members of the faculty at various universities and were denied.

By James

June 5, 2008 10:19 AM | Link to this

To Copyleft:

Ah but you err my friend. That’s why educators like the visual arts (i.e., t.v.) because they don’t have to think. Non-educators prefer debating and talk radio because it necessitates debate and proving your point. Educators like to talke their profession but rarely if ever do they have to get out in the real world and actually “work” for a living. There is a great book that was written by a former very liberal college “criminology” professor who used to constantly chide the police officers in his classes. They finally goaded him into going into a shortened version of the academy and actually going into the “steet” as a full fledge officer. Guess what? When he had to actually do the job her totally changed to their viewpoinit and wrote a book about his experiences. Maybe you should try that.

By The Truth

June 5, 2008 10:35 AM | Link to this

Copyleft, Contempt for education? Really, because I have my MBA from Duke. That makes me VERY educated. Did you actually attend college? And if so, is your fine arts degree serving you well at Starbucks?

By Truth is lying

June 5, 2008 11:06 AM | Link to this

Truth…just fess up. You don’t have a Duke MBA…your just lying.

By The Truth

June 5, 2008 11:13 AM | Link to this

CopyleftTruthislying, I do have an MBA home slice. So suck on that!

By Dan

June 5, 2008 11:30 AM | Link to this

Well copyleft is a perfect example of one who doesn’t even understand his own argument. Conservatives don’t have a contempt for education, as a matter of fact they honor the very concept by using it as a means to an end and applying their education. Libs would rather bask in their “education” instead of applying it to a useful end.

By Willie

June 5, 2008 12:24 PM | Link to this

I do not have that much advance education. I do not make a lot of money. However, I can read and comprehend. I choose conservatism over liberalism. As an empericist, I find liberals are whiners not doers. I have observed liberals have no absolutes..ie murder vs abortion or gay vs normal. Liberals use education to pacify their rages. I will continue to be conservative and I think COPYLEFT is very narrow minded.

By hhhhmmmm

June 5, 2008 12:27 PM | Link to this

Copyleft misunderstands one tenet of our country: free speech for all ideas is what this country’s founded on. College campuses should be mindful that they allow many different arguments to flourish. And many universities do allow non-mainstream groups to gather on campus and for ideas to be discussed in class, even to the detriment of some people’s sensibilities. But to allow only left and far left ideas is counter to the idea of free speech. And to be dismissive of ideas and groups you don’t agree with seems just as closed minded coming from left as it does coming from the right.

By Publius

June 5, 2008 1:13 PM | Link to this

Daedalus made the necessary points.

Why would we interested in creating partisan categories in places that should not be limited by party politics? Endow a conservative chair position? You might as well require a left-handed chair. In universities and colleges unaffiliated with religion or corporations, good professors rise to their position through achievement, not by preaching personal belief systems. There are plenty of conservative profs. Students are young and fickle, and should not get upset by those who do not share their beliefs. Encounters with others is part of well-rounded education - we should be learning from each other every day of our lives.

All of this talk about the innate differences between Left and Right, liberal and conservative, doer vs consumer, worker vs. thinker is dredged from more of the same partisan identifications causing this division. Liberal and conservative are nothing more than categorical ways of interpreting the Constitution. How one works or what one prefers has nothing to do with it.

The “disdain for education” mentioned so often above is consequential to G. W. Bush and the recent congresses active assault on the intelligence of the population they claim to represent. No child left behind left every child behind, intelligent design is neither intelligent or design, abstinence only, etc.

By Copyleft

June 5, 2008 2:18 PM | Link to this

Hmm, I’ve never said that discussion or argument should be outlawed in colleges… just that the most intelligent arguments always seem to come from the liberal side. (For some strange reason.)

Conservatives are welcome to debate their ideas, as long as they can do so intelligently. But I believe Mr. Buckley is dead. Who else ya got?

By The Truth

June 5, 2008 2:26 PM | Link to this

Copyleft, Who do we have? Who do you have? All libs have are left over communist from the cold war. I can name several prominent conservative voices yet I remember them getting kicked off of campuses for their views. David Horowitz, Ann Coulter, Thomas Sowell, Clarence Thomas, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Jonah Goldberg, Glenn Beck etc…I can keep going.

By RealityKing

June 5, 2008 3:19 PM | Link to this

32 out of 800!!??

Obviously diversified thought no longer exists in the University of Colorado…

By THE CATHOLIC HAMMER

June 5, 2008 3:49 PM | Link to this

American conservatives have been few and far between. As a matter of fact, I can run down a list of almost every single leading American conservative very quickly:

John Adams John C Calhoun Grover Cleveland Russell Kirk

That is about it…

America is REVOLUTIONARY not conservative. Most Americans don’t consider GW Bush a liberal because they are so far to the left themselves.

By Political Foreskin

June 5, 2008 6:12 PM | Link to this

Conservatism is dead. Sen. Craig sounded taps, with his flag at half mast.

‘muff said.

By donaldg7

June 5, 2008 6:58 PM | Link to this

So, “The Truth” has an MBA from Duke! Very impressive. Do Duke a favor, give it back because every conservative you mentioned is a kook! I went to Clemson, a “real bastion” of liberalism! And what about Bob Jones, another real “liberal” school along with Stanford, Auburn, George Mason, Alabama, etc. Conservatives, stop your incessant whining! Most of my professors at Clemson were Reagan conservatives and from what I remember in the late 1970s, liberals on my campus were few and far between.

Conservatives time and time again continue to look for the “boogie men” to scapegoat becuase their 30 year reich has failed. Look in the mirror and see yourselves for wahy you reall are - a bunch of sinveling, grovelling idiots! You so-called ideas never worked because they were bankrupt frm the very beginning. Now you want to play the “victim” role to hide your utter failures. Go cry on someone else’s shoulder!!

By The Truth

June 5, 2008 10:10 PM | Link to this

donaldg7, Wow. You went to Clemson. Give my MBA back? Nah, I’m doing quite well with it. I really can’t think of anything good to say about Clemson. Crappy campus, sucky sports teams, South Carolina etc…

By donald

June 5, 2008 10:26 PM | Link to this

Sucky sports teams!? We beat your butt in the ACC basketball semis this year and there are mid-tier HS football teams that can rout the Blue Devils in football. Good you doing quite well with your MBA, companies get suckered everyday hiring dweebs like you!

By .

June 6, 2008 1:44 AM | Link to this

An MBA is worth about a hatful of horse s**. They’re EASY to get as an education degree…and they’re as plentiful as entry level positions. And it doesn’t matter WHERE you got it.

I have a Masters in Math. Hard to get. Not a whole lot of us around who don’t speak Chinese. And….it doesn’t matter WHERE you get it.

The only time it matters what school you went to is when the guy conducting the interview went to the same damn school.

Get over yourself.

By ceatonjr@bellsouth.net

June 6, 2008 7:25 AM | Link to this

“The more educated you are, the more likely you are to be liberal.”

Surely if we went to a basic test for voting, with questions like “Name the Vice President”, “Name one of your Senators”, “How many States are in the Union”, etc.., it would not have a great effect for Democrats.