The Insidious Political Bifurcation of America

That is nice if you are going to only let 5% of the democrats vote.

 

I'm just amazed that so many people, regardless of education, seem to be unaware that the seasons are caused by the Earth being tilted on its axis.

 

Studies always show that the more educated one is, the more likely one is to be a strong liberal. However other studies suggest that liberals are more likely to pursue higher education.

 

An educated person would first define "liberal". For example, the classical liberals believed in individual liberties, hence the name "liberal" which means liberty,

hint: this is the opposite of democrats.

 

That was true 50 years ago now it is more a measure of ones political reliability to the increasingly totalitarian left.

That of course is because education has a had a growing left ward tilt since the sixties radicals began to assume control of the college campus. Since the we do damn little education outside of stem that isn't more akin to indoctrination than education.

 

I still don't quite get why you fixate on this study from 2012 that shows Fox viewers are even less knowledgable than those who access no news source whatsoever.

It has no bearing upon the correlation between a state's political preference and it's level of academic attainment -

EDUCATIONAL RANKING
1 Massachusetts
2 Maryland
3 Vermont
4 Connecticut
5 Colorado
6 Virginia
7 New Hampshire
8 Minnesota
9 Utah
10 Washington...
41 Tennessee
42 South Carolina
43 Oklahoma
44 Nevada
45 Kentucky
46 Alabama
47 Arkansas
48 Louisiana
49 West Virginia
50 Mississippi

Nor upon last year's survey reported by the conservative Washington Times: "Democrats now more educated than Republicans, Pew survey finds."



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The vast majority of those republicans in 2012 are most likely republicans today. There is no reason to believe there has been some massive change in voter loyalty.

That study makes a point. In spite of the stats that say democrats are more highly educated, the republicans were better informed. Education is a poor indication of intelligence.

 

Your subjective assessment of media is noted. I do not generalize about "the media" as do some whose political biases compel them to condemn all main stream reportage. Each media source needs to be impartially evaluated on its own merits. Obviously, there are some that profit be gearing their bias for a niche market, but most seem to feel their corporate success is predicated upon being accurate and impartial. There is no vast conspiracy by "the media,"

As a practical matter, what is the alternative to a discriminating attitude toward "the media" as a source of information? A mindless acceptance of the gassy exudations of a self-promoting politician?

 

If you need to cling to your survey of 2012 that established that Fox News viewers were, at that time, even less knowledgable than those who accessed no news sources whatsoever, you can, of course.

It has no bearing upon the correlation between a state's level of academic attainment and its party preference, not the recent finding, unlike those of the past (since such things do, obviously, change), "Democrats now more educated than Republicans, Pew survey finds."

 

It is hard to take you serious, when just about everything you post is a dig at others, and usually expressing less than honest right ring memes in the process. It might just be the emotional nature of conservative thought at play.

 

I don't care about their opinion of Fox News. The democrats may be better educated, but they were not better informed. Given the choice between better educated and better informed, I would prefer better informed.

Just a couple of notes, in case you did not read the study carefully. They did not ask the question of whether a person used only a particular news source. They came to that conclusion with an "analysis". However, they based the study on people who use a specific news source exclusively I find it strange that in spite of the republicans favoring Fox News and scoring better on the test than democrats, they say Fox News was a poor news source. Whatever, their source, republicans did better.

 

That is not what happened. In an effort to come to power, the right wingers in the Republican Party began to court the Evangelical crowd. They even went to preachers like Jerry Falwell, and made deals with them. Financial support, for a slight change in his sermons. Bring the flock on board.

As the Republican Party more and more embraced conservative Christianity, and began to reject science, it became hostile towards intellectuals and academics, most of whom have always been liberals. It was the purging of the Republîcan Party, that caused intellectuals and academics to take up residency in the Democratic Party. Kind of like how the intellectuals fled Germany when the Nazis came to power. Or in Iran, when the Ayatollah came to power.

 

Everyday, here in Political Forum, there are conservative posters who regularly post things that pretty much contradict your claims.

 

People on both sides say stupid things. However, my claim is that study showed that republicans were better informed than democrats. Prove otherwise.

 

Utter BS. First, what you know about Christians that is accurate would fit in a gnats navel with room left for a set of encyclopaedias. I've yet to attend a church that didn't have it's fair share doctors lawyers accountants teachers and other degrees people. One is not required to check either one's mind or curiosity at the door.

 

Right wing media is opinion and propaganda. Even MSNBC and CNN are mostly opinion. It is why cable news is bad news.

Locally, I can get news from the local ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX affiliates. The ABC affiliate is owned by Sinclair, a right wing company, and has been caught telling stories that were knowingly not true. So I never watch them. Both the NBC and FOX stations both have good newscasts. But then that is network FOX and not FOX News FOX. As for news, mostly I just listen to OPB (Oregon's NPR station) in the morning as I get ready. Then on Sundays I watch Meet the Press and Sunday Morning with Chris Wallace. I'll watch the local news if something is happening, but usually not as OPB usually covers everything.

I know you keep avoiding it, but the one study you keep mentioning, did rank NPR listeners as being better informed, by like 4 times as much as cable news viewers. I've seen other studies that show similar results.

The problem with these types of arguments, is that, most people are on the dumb side, on both sides of the political divide. 80% of Americans lack the intelligence to get into a good college.

Have you ever watched one of those clips where they ask random people in the street, what should be simple questions. And then person after person giving the dumbest responses. You can stand outside a Trump rally or a Bernie Sanders rally get the same dumb looks.

 

What per cent of them do you think could identify the Coriolis effect?

 

More educated or more indoctrinated?

 

Funny you should say that, about checking one's mind at the door. That is exactly what I used to think, as my parents drug me off to church. As a kid I used to think that I would have to reduce my brain capacity, to fall for such silliness. I don't know, but basing one's life philosophy on things that aren't there, doesn't seem, to me, to be a desirable trait.

 

As I mentioned before, even though they claimed that people who watched NPR exclusively, they never asked the respondents that question whether they used a specific news source exclusively. They concluded that with a study. I know of no one that gets their news exclusively from one source.

Personally, I don't give a crap about their news source. Republicans were better informed and that is what counts. Whether they used NPR, Fox and counted craters on the moon, they were better informed.

 

The educational rankings of states almost lines up with economic rankings. Showing that there is a correlation between education attainment and economic well being.

 

Meh, much ado about nothing. I would think you would find a better use for your 2 dollar words.

 

If Republicans are better informed, then why haven't they read the transcripts that detail all the dirty little business that Trump has been up to? Why do Republicans deny global warming, often giving the most hair brained arguments. And let us not get into how the antifascists, have been blown all out of proportion in conservative minds.

You know Trump used hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars in an effort to force the Ukrainian government to assist Trump in his reelection efforts. All accross the country Republicans are saying the darndest things. Making all manner of wild accusations.

Yet all the testimony, so far collaborates the whistle blower's claims. And Trump's excuse keeps changing. He and Mulvaney have ignorantly admitted to wrong doing, on national television, and then have been walking it back ever since.

I don't know, but from my perspective, I don't find conservatives, in general to be well informed at all, but rather misinformed. It is why so many conservatives try to characterize liberals in ways that don't square with reality. If you expect to tell me that you are more knowledge than me, then don't try telling me that I am different than I am, just to fit your narrative.

 

I looked at one objective study. Not a bunch of opinions. In that study, republicans were better informed. Prove me wrong.