I don't think that because you are liberal, you are more intelligent than conservatives. Even if statistically this article proved that one was smarter than the other, still doen't prove anything. In my opinion, liberal ideas in Canada are more open minded than Conservatives' one. They are more thinking about comunity than individual. We have reached this present because together we've done actions and decisions (and certainly not always bright). One man could hardly change the world, but a whole powerful country could.
I've seen several studies comparing 'smart' levels of Conservative to Liberals, and they are equal, it just depends on what's asked. Many things Conservative ideology makes conservatives more knowledgeable on, many things on the liberal platform makes liberals more knowledgeable on. There's no way to really measure that.
I'm a libertarian, I don't think 'conservative' should even be a brand of political philosophy, the very word is undefinable, and so is the 'philosophy', it changes over time, as does the 'liberal' philosophy.
At some point intellectuals have to embrace either being a libertarian or socialist, because these other labels mean nothing and are indefensible.
I dont think either group is smarter than the other because there are so many people that are on each side that it most likely balances it. In my personal experiences though i have found my conservative friends to be smarter than my liberal friends.
I am a libertarian, but I'd rather discuss this Liberals vs. Conservatives issue
It's not that liberals are smarter, it's that they are more open-minded compared to a conservative
"Conservatism (Latin: conservare, "to preserve")[1] is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society."
{via wikipedia}
Saying that liberals are smarter than conservatives is like saying that agreeing with Apple's slogan of "Think different" means that you're smarter. It's already been brought up but I agree that the whole association issue with a party is misguiding. If George Washington were to rise from the grave and pwn us all, he would say the same thing as he said it when he was alive.
Still, I definitely can see from a realist point of view that you will never even convince ~99% of people to drop their associations to solve problems so these associations are a necessary evil. I'm a very right winged conservative not because of my financial background, but because of conservative's ability to manage money. I'll ignore unusual cases such as wartime spending of Bush or Clinton's responsibility for causing the housing crisis with allowing banks to give loans without oversight at all. In the long run, if you give congress more money, liberals often will use it toward short sighted goals like bailouts or eternal social programs. Conservatives I feel back the original belief of the country to let capitalism take its course. If a business (or individual) didn't plan for a rainy day, they should fail. Someone will take their place if appropriate. It's laissez faire.
I believe people in the USA believe that they're entitled to more than they deserve. They believe that they're entitled to 99 weeks of unemployment from the government when their business does bad. They believe that during bankruptcy they should still be able to keep their 2008 Mustang that they're still paying for and still go on that Caribbean vacation. (I've seen people on food stamps at my local grocery store drive year 2005+ BMWs).
Though I'll admit that I give liberals a lot of credit. I would have voted for Al Gore in 2000 over Bush had I been old enough to vote then even without knowing what was to come. I'm also for tax hikes on people even in my bracket. Based on where we stand, I can't see any solution other than more tax revenue, less spending to prevent financial collapse. As an Estonian (country south of Finland), I'm very much so against social programs which is the stance in Estonia. Estonia has the record of being the only country to pay back it's debts after WWII as well as being the country with the lowest debt to GDP ratio of ANY first world country (6.7%) compared to most other major countries whose same ratios are >= 100%. Quality of life there is great. If you're laid off, you go live with relatives till you can get back on your feet (no social programs). I have relatives still in Estonia who have done just that and they've gone to become wealthy. My own grandpa came from Estonia to the US with $90 equivalent and worked 2 day jobs, went to night school, raised a family, and became a nuclear engineer and helped build the Port St. Lucie nuclear power plant and retired with his beach front West Palm Beach condo. He did this all without hardly any help from Uncle Sam. He also always voted republican. I'll however pick based on the circumstances.
Maybe my takeaway from this is that as mentioned earlier, your association shouldn't have as big an impact on your life as people would want you to believe. Control your own %@*# finances and prosper. Don't live outside your means even if your friends do. There is hardly any level of income that you can't work off of unless you're born homeless for example and even then it's possible to raise up if you're willing to work.
other stuff:
-Computer science major going back for masters at Georgia Institute of Technology.
-have friends who are liberals.
-filler
-life isn't fair. Shit happens. Deal with it and you will find a way to be happy.
Indeed, these studies tend to be quite generalized, always there exceptions when is about people. =] Well, some people love to categorize everything. I think that the things can't be so.
Last edited by loucamente; 02-22-2012 at 01:42 PM.