conservatives: liberal = smart?

memories of law school: considering the large number of John Olin Chairs at various law schools, the proliferation of "law and economics" curricula, the near-veneration of folks like richard posner, the presence of active federalist society branches at EVERY law school, the fact that most law grads CREAM at the prospect of going to work for $100s at some BigLaw, the innate stodginess of the legal profession, legal reasoning and law school curricula, and the heavy-handedness of administrators = NOT AN ENTIRELY HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT FOR RIGHT-WINGERS.

so whachoo wingnuts talkin' 'bout?!?

(xpost)

and i love how the radical conservative stereotype of university life never seems to include what, say, engineering professors are like, or the Howard Phillips/libertarian-worshipping econ/business school guys that my brother had to grimace his way thru.

then again, it's a stereotype. it's an image created to use to bolster one's agenda among one's own kind. whether it resembles anything in actual daily life or not is beside the point.

But that's the thing. Most people in this country are not currently college students, so if you tell them the campuses are all being run as Maoist re-education camps, I guess it's an easy sell.

yup. set up a framing, set up a narrative that plays to a lack of understanding and actual consideration, then use all your energy in pushing it for years. you'll be surprised how much mileage you get out of it.

conversely, half a century ago, political allegiances of military officers was split 50-50. gee, which is a bigger "problem"? (i don't remeber where i read this)

um xpost

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/05/opinion/05krugman.html?n=Top%2fOpinion%2fEditorials%20and%20Op%2dEd%2fOp%2dEd%2fColumnists%2fPaul%20Krugman

second, this hilarious piece by a guy at stanford...really takes the issue to a whole nother level imo

http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/001588

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/weird/Scientists-May-Have-IDd-Liberal-Gene-105917218.html

Researchers have determined that genetics could matter when it comes to some adults' political leanings.

According to scientists at UC San Diego and Harvard University, "ideology is affected not just by social factors, but also by a dopamine receptor gene called DRD4." That and how many friends you had during high school.

The study was led by UCSD's James Fowler and focused on 2,000 subjects from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Scientists matched the subjects' genetic information with "maps" of their social networks. According to researchers, they determined that people "with a specific variant of the DRD4 gene were more likely to be liberal as adults." However, the, subjects were only more likely to have leanings to the left if they were also socially active during adolescence.

"It is the crucial interaction of two factors -- the genetic predisposition and the environmental condition of having many friends in adolescence -- that is associated with being more liberal,” according to the study.

According to scientists at UC San Diego and Harvard University, "ideology is affected not just by social factors, but also by a dopamine receptor gene called DRD4." That and how many friends you had during high school.

The study was led by UCSD's James Fowler and focused on 2,000 subjects from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Scientists matched the subjects' genetic information with "maps" of their social networks. According to researchers, they determined that people "with a specific variant of the DRD4 gene were more likely to be liberal as adults." However, the, subjects were only more likely to have leanings to the left if they were also socially active during adolescence.

"It is the crucial interaction of two factors -- the genetic predisposition and the environmental condition of having many friends in adolescence -- that is associated with being more liberal,” according to the study.

"These findings suggest that political affiliation is not based solely on the kind of social environment people experience,” said Fowler, who is a professor of political science and medical genetics.

The researchers also said their findings held true no matter what the ethnicity, culture, sex or age of the subjects were.

What's so funny about the "many friends in high school = future liberal" statistic is that, no matter what the outcome of that study was, both liberals and conservatives will easily spin the conclusion to match their own notions about themselves and "the other side"

e.g.

Option 1: "Study says having a lot of friends in high school makes you a liberal"

conservatives: yeah no kidding, the left is all about following "the in crowd," and never thinking for themselves. Never change, Libtards.

liberals: when you have a lot of friends from different backgrounds you are more likely to be tolerant and see things from someone eles's perspective all your life. diversity is our strength etc

Option 2: (but if the study had said) "study says having few friends in high school makes you a liberal"

conservatives: no wonder! liberals are anti-social grievance mongers and are composed of societies freaks and weirdos. they can't make friends, they're too busy being angry complainers! never change, libtards.

liberals: this is because we liberals are the underdogs, the downtrodden, the repressed in society. we are used to being outsiders looking in...

And it's not too hard to figure out what the rhetoric would be for "not many friends in high school = conservative" and vice versa.easily,