Difference between revisions of "Essay:Liberal Intellectualism"
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*[[John Kerry]] | *[[John Kerry]] | ||
| + | :*privileged youth, weak student at [[Yale]], no original work | ||
*[[Al Gore]] | *[[Al Gore]] | ||
| + | :*privileged youth, poor graduate student, tried to claim credit for the [[internet]] | ||
*[[Bill Clinton]] | *[[Bill Clinton]] | ||
| + | :*may have flunked out of pre-med at [[Georgetown]], never released his grades, no original work or ideas | ||
*[[Richard Dawkins]] | *[[Richard Dawkins]] | ||
| + | :* | ||
*[[Stephen Jay Gould]] | *[[Stephen Jay Gould]] | ||
| + | :*[[Antioch College]] graduate (geology major), his work is riddled with contradictions | ||
*[[Laurence Tribe]] | *[[Laurence Tribe]] | ||
| + | :*dropped out of math program, passed over initially for Law Review, plagiarism found in his work | ||
*[[Robert McNamara]] | *[[Robert McNamara]] | ||
| + | :*described as a "whiz kid," he wrote or did nothing of significance, mishandled [[Vietnam War]] | ||
*[[Henry Kissinger]] | *[[Henry Kissinger]] | ||
| + | :*speaks very few languages well for a diplomat, had no insights or noteworthy work, mishandled [[Vietnam War]] and [[Soviet Union]] | ||
*[[J. Robert Oppenheimer]] | *[[J. Robert Oppenheimer]] | ||
| + | :*repeatedly passed over for the [[Nobel Prize]] due to a lack of achievement, allowed multiple leaks from [[Los Alamos]] | ||
*[[Jon Stewart]] | *[[Jon Stewart]] | ||
*[[Noam Chomsky]] | *[[Noam Chomsky]] | ||
Revision as of 17:38, September 6, 2007
It is interesting to observe how the liberal ideology, and liberal arguments, appeal most to educated, informed persons who are short on intellectual achievements of their own. Put another way, the biggest advocates of liberal arguments are the intellectual wannabees or pseudo-intellectuals.
Examples of not-quite-intellectuals who promote liberal arguments include:
- privileged youth, weak student at Yale, no original work
- privileged youth, poor graduate student, tried to claim credit for the internet
- may have flunked out of pre-med at Georgetown, never released his grades, no original work or ideas
- Antioch College graduate (geology major), his work is riddled with contradictions
- dropped out of math program, passed over initially for Law Review, plagiarism found in his work
- described as a "whiz kid," he wrote or did nothing of significance, mishandled Vietnam War
- speaks very few languages well for a diplomat, had no insights or noteworthy work, mishandled Vietnam War and Soviet Union
- repeatedly passed over for the Nobel Prize due to a lack of achievement, allowed multiple leaks from Los Alamos
Please add other examples.
Motivation
There are two primary motivations for the liberal advocacy by pseudo-intellectuals:
- it is easier for them to obtain acclaim from the liberal press than from real intellectuals
- they genuinely fail to understand certain abstractions, such as:
- how cutting taxes often increases government revenue (Laffer Curve)
- how guns save more lives through deterrence and prevention than they harm
- how childbirth has a positive effect on health, and thus abortion harms health
- how cease-fires always help a determined opponent in war
- how arms limitations treaties always helps a dishonest adversary
- they expect superficial, flawed logic to persuade others, such as:
- claiming that inequality in outcome implies discrimination
- demanding equal treatment for genders in all situations
- claiming that the gay agenda is like the civil rights struggle by African Americans
- insisting that government can reduce poverty with more programs
Please add to these lists.