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Liberal Versus Conservative Mind Sets

May 26, 2016
by Caroline Miller
Bernie Sanders, fiscal outcomes of Sander's economic proposals, how the mind chooses leaders, liberal discrimination against conservatives, Tax Policy Center and the Urban Institute
2 Comments

New York Times writer, Nocholas Kristof identified an inconvenient truth, recently, about the liberal mindset. Progressives have great empathy for war victims in other countries, for the poor and even abused chickens, but show little tolerance for conservatives. (Click)   As proof, he points out, Republicans, make up 6 to 11 percent of professors in the  humanities and social scientists.  Defending this form of discrimination, one professor quipped, ”If you want diversity, why not hire idiots?”

Apparently, some people don’t want to be bothered with an open mind.  When the non-partisan Tax Policy Center and the Urban Institute issued a study of Bernie Sander’s budget proposals — which includes a single payer health plan and a free college education for every child — his supporters raged against its conclusions. (Click)  To carry out his plan, the  report calculated the government would have to raise $33 trillion over 10 years of which only $15 trillion could be raised by taxing the rich.  

Sander's fiscal plan

Courtesy of tadandid.blogspot.com

The Sanders camp fired back.  (Click)  Unfortunately, their support is short on facts.  The underlying assumption is that  if government puts money in the public’s pocket, the public will spend it, creating  jobs and stimulating the economy, thereby. (See Blog May 25, 2016).  Left out of the equation is the rising inflation that would follow, adding to the debt as the country attempted to spend its way out the budget imbalance. How far would that debt climb before the ship of state began to right itself, if it did?   No mention of that.  People don’t question what they want to believe.   It’s that simple.

Am I being cynical?  Consider what Robert Sapolsky of the Los Angeles Times shares about recent scientific discoveries concerning our unconscious minds.  “… voters place an outsize emphasis on appearances and gut feelings.” (“How voters actually make choices,” by Robert Sapolsky, excerpted from the L. A. Times in The Week, May 2016,  pg. 12) In tests, candidates who looked competent were judged to be competent.  The same results persisted in other countries.  Most telling were tests among children who were asked to identify candidates they thought would make good leaders. When their gut responses were compared to election outcomes, the  kids chose the winning candidates 71% of the time. (Ibid pg. 12.)

Moral of the story?  Our politics may be more the outcome of our madness than our reason.

 

 

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2 Comments
  1. Sydney Stevens May 26, 2016 at 7:14 am Reply
    And who are the children choosing this time around?
    • Caroline Miller May 26, 2016 at 9:31 am Reply
      You pose a scary question.

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Contact Caroline at

carolinemiller11@yahoo.com

Portland, Oregon author Caroline Miller had distinguished careers as an educator, union president, elected official and artist/advocate.

Her play, Woman on the Scarlet Beast, was performed at the Post5 Theatre, Portland, OR, January/February 2015

Caroline published a serialized novelette, Marie Eau-Claire, on the website, The Colored Lens.  She also published the story Gustav Pavel,  a parable about ordinary lives, choice and alternate potential, on the website Fixional.co.

Caroline has published four novels

  • Ballet Noir
  • Trompe l’Oeil
  • Gothic Spring
  • Heart Land

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