Somerville Graffiti: Re-Elect Bush in 2008?
See on a pay phone in front of Taqueria La Mexicana in Union Square:
As John Stuart Mills once said: “While it’s not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservative.”
December 28th, 2006 at 10:34 am
It is also true that statement like yours above are the reason why conservatives think liberals are intellectual snobs who are out of touch with every day Americans. That’s an incredibly offensive and ridiculous quote, and it just gives them what they want.
December 28th, 2006 at 2:25 pm
IT’s factually true. Have you seen th IQ chart in relation to a state’s political leanings? The most liberal states have the highest IQs.
December 28th, 2006 at 5:51 pm
Haven’t seen it, though it sounds like and incredibly accurate and scientific study.
December 31st, 2006 at 6:41 am
It’s a simple statement of fact and conservatives had better start paying some attention to it. Conservatism insists on simple answers to complex questions, usually answers that can be boiled down to simple-minded black-and-white slogans and phrases: “No New Taxes”, “Love It or Leave It”, “Welfare Queens”, “Stay the Course”, etc etc etc. Simple-minded politics attracts stupid people because they don’t have to think about what’s behind the slogans. They can just repeat them. Look at Rush Limbaugh, who said a few years ago on his radio show, “You can think about this or you can trust me. It’s simpler just to trust me.” Which is where “Dittohead” came from.
By contrast, liberal politics requires people to do a little work. They need to listen, respond, mull over, think through a number of options and decide where they stand and why. Conservatives prefer to assert their beliefs as if they were facts and then refuse to explain them - an open door for stupid people who couldn’t explain anything if their lives depended on it. Stupid people don’t last three minutes in a room full of progressives because they don’t know anything. In a room full of conservatives, all they’re required to do is cheer whatever the leader says. Even stupid people can do that. It’s about all they can do.
All of this was true even in Mills’ day. In fact, it’s been true all the way back to the Roman Empire. If conservatives want to change that perception, they’re going to have to stop all their behaviors that have such a strong appeal for stupid people.