Thread: College turns kids liberal?

I did not watch the fox segment but I will point out that I personally know of several individiuals who attend state colleges who are attacked on a regular basis for having conservative views. This happens in class by professors and students. One instance was a philosophy class where the professor said "if you don't agree with my... (liberal political views)... you're stupid and you can leave my class". This is obviously an attempt to shut down academic discourse and reproduce students who hold the same political views as the professor.

There needs to be a clear distinction between classical liberalism and what today we call liberal world view. Classical liberalism is the view that people are free to think for themselves, can govern thier own lives and that society should provide freedom for ideals such as "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness". Liberal/leftist worldview doesn't allow for free thinking and says that government and intellectual elites should do the thinking for the masses. THIS is what is being taught in our institutions of "higher learning" that have consertives concerned.

I have a degree from a liberal arts university that was connected to a Christian denomination and I was taught to think, not just parrot what professors think. In fact some parents complained that professors tried to push students away from the faith because they taught us to analyze what we believe so carefully. They taught both sides of the issues and not just the one they agree with and I am very thankful that I chose that college.

And as far as FOX news is concerned, they may not get it right all the time but at least there is ONE network out there that has the guts to tell the truth and take on the union of state run media and out of control government! FOX ROCKS!!!

I think it was Churchill who said "If you're not a liberal when you're young, you have no heart. If you're not a conservative when you're older, you have no brain."

And here's where everything gets all screwed up, because "liberal" and "conservative" in modern American (and global) society have been so perverted as to be totally meaningless.

Modern liberalism is on the bleeding edge of what it's trendy to think. Some of it's good, some of it is brain-bleedingly ridiculous. No one ever thinks about that though, because the point is that it's the trendy new thing to believe. Modern liberalism is so caught up in its hipster-dom that despite the fact that it's the mark of the highly education, there is almost no thought put into it.

Modern conservatism is the idea that no one has the right to tell anyone what to do, except you. Parading under a false guise of liberty, modern conservatives are the rich, the socially sheltered, and the control freaks. When realized for this, it becomes apparent they aren't so freedom-minded after all. What they are is self-minded.

I don't honestly believe the majority of people fit into either category.

But when I watch that clip, what I see is the worst of the conservatives having a freak-out about the worst of the liberals. As much as I want to take an Howitzer to the Fox News HQ, I also can't honestly support the institution that teaches, better than any other, extreme PC - in my opinion the biggest threat to the intellect since Abba.

The idea that modern liberalism OR modern conservatism have anything to do with their names is, to me, laughable.

These are both titles based on dogma. They have no basis at all in reasoned debate or though. I have driven myself to the brink of insanity trying to debate with either side about the inconsistencies and conflicting ideas of their political worldview.

The conservatives don't want me - I'm pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, and pro-universal health care.

The liberals don't want me - I'm pro-gun, anti-PC, and against current incarnations of Affirmative Action and Title 9.

I wind up feeling rather left out.

I also wind up feeling really frustrated with the whole debate.

I mean, it's a given that Fox News is ridiculous, and probably insane. We all knew that.

But you know it's bad when you find yourself unable to deal with either side without getting a headache.

Well Carrie, so what if you don't fit neatly into either pure modern political consertive or liberal thought? At least you know what you believe rather than drinking the kool aid from either camp.

Of course what do I know? I'm a knuckle dragging NRA Life Member and adoptive parent of two opposed to abortion on demand.

Originally Posted by MistressNomad

I don't honestly believe the majority of people fit into either category.

See above.

But what's stupid is that we still perpetuate the fallacy onto each other night and day - Fox news is one of the worst and most accessible for it, in the conservative camp.

I have my thoughts on the NRA - they don't approach the issue in a way I can personally support, but conceptually, I'm with you.

Good on you for being an adoptive parent. It is truly one of the nobler things a person can do in this world. As for abortion... you're free to your opinion, but the moment you try to impose it on me, or any other woman, I'm out. I can't respect someone who clearly doesn't respect me.

Originally Posted by Stubear

I think it was Churchill who said "If you're not a liberal when you're young, you have no heart. If you're not a conservative when you're older, you have no brain."

Yeah I think it was.

Been a life NRA member since 1976 when it was a whopping $125.00 to get that distinction. Tell me about the value of a dollar now compared to then.

I agree whole heartedly with MistressNomad. My peg is neither square nor round. A good friend of mine is a conservative and a libertarian. He sees the left as totalitarian and he is right. The trouble is he doesn't see that the right is a mirror image and just as bad.

Where is Timothy Leary now that we really need him ?

Originally Posted by 59caddy

since the channel is such a disaster, why does it have the highest rating of any news network?
Cable News Ratings: Fox News Still Tops - 2009-02-24 23:06:41 | Broadcasting & Cable

Maybe you have a problem there

Maybe for some it is nice to have someone or something to tell how to think about the world and how things should be or what should be done to get things back in good old line.

I personally try have at least some amount of criticism when listening to media or any authorities telling me such things. I hope i will never get into state of mind when i would start to outsource my thinking into anyone without criticism, be that any politician, president, political party or news media.

And no i do not have any university degree. Only some amount of military studies + ship engine technician.

Originally Posted by treydampier

Exactly! Why would you think about the truth? I mean there is no such thing as truth among people these days. Let's see, there are roughly 15K visitors and members on this site, so lets quadruple that number and that makes 60K users of straights. Now, there are a few more (only a few more) than 60K men in the US and I bet most of them(that do shave) shave with something other than a straight and I would even bet further that some of them are educated (not me of course).
Exactly, why think of the obvious truth when its soo much easier to be naive.

LOL....you really need to calm down.

I was asking him about this comment:

Originally Posted by 59caddy

i would bet most with college educations would not dream of straight shaving.

I wasn't asking why he thought more people with higher education shave with Gillette. I thought that was pretty obvious. I guess I'm naive to think you could have figured that out.

Originally Posted by NYCshaver

LOL....you really need to calm down.

I was asking him about this comment:



I wasn't asking why he thought more people with higher education shave with Gillette. I thought that was pretty obvious. I guess I'm naive to think you could have figured that out.

Naive would not be the word I would use to describe you or your views .