Why Universities tend to be liberal

Discussion in 'Political Discussions' started by Tom57, Dec 3, 2004.

Loading...
  1. Tom57

    Tom57 Member

  2. Khan

    Khan New Member

    So the conservatives want the government to intervene. Not exactly a classic conservative answer. Won't the market take care of it? (he said snidely)
     
  3. BillDayson

    BillDayson New Member

    University campuses were expandng in the 60's and 70's, when the radical Vietnam-era "movement" was at its peak. Many baby boomers positively loved the campus subculture (and their draft deferments), so they stayed on, earning graduate degrees. And that guided them into university teaching at a time when lots of faculty positions were open to take them. Then a baby-bust cycle hit, and hiring kind of dried up.

    If you look at university faculties today, especially at senior professors with tenure, you find them heavily weighted with that particular age cohort.

    (University faculties sometimes seem like a late 60's-early 70's time warp.) And these are the people who currently control faculty hiring.

    It will be interesting to see whether the left-dominated politics of university faculties becomes a little less extreme as these radical professors retire.
     
  4. kansasbaptist

    kansasbaptist New Member

    I was really enjoying this article right up to this statement.

    I agree that conservatives flock towards careers that reward hard work, competition, entrepreneurship, agrression in the markets, and winning. BUT I don't know any that celebrate the destruction of others (I work for the second largest privately held company in the US, so I know alot of these guys).

    Another question, is the article trying to convince me that college professors (liberals) are not motiviated by competition, aggression, and victory? The competition on college campuses to publish and gain grants is every bit as vehement as the drive in industry to win competitive markets.
     
  5. grgrwll

    grgrwll New Member

    Let's see... the majority of high school drop outs are Republicans. The majority of graduate degree holders are Democrats.

    The most common explanation offered by Republicans is: "Shut up, you commie."
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 3, 2004
  6. marty

    marty New Member

    those who can......

    A formal edumacation is not always indicative of innate intelligence.
     
  7. Splas

    Splas New Member

    That is not fair at all, this guy is full of himself and his cause (whatever that is). He no more wants to hire more conservative faculty than he wants to shoot himself in the head.

    Ohhhhh hes so right, conservatives are hate filled, small, closed minded, bullies who are fortunate that the caring and loving liberals are on this planet to clean up the mess the conservatives make. Har har.

    If you are a free thinking republican, go and try to get into these "diverse in thought" university schools of political science and see if they greet you with open arms (good luck).

    They only care about racial diversity, diversity of thought (meaning anything other than liberal) will not be tolerated and that candidate will be viewed as "less intelligent" as the liberal ones. :rolleyes:
     
  8. agingBetter

    agingBetter New Member

    Doesn't it stand to reason that the socially Darwinistic thinkers would gravitate toward careers of material reward, and stay away from low paying academia?

    This is my one problem with conservatives: I sense there may be some hypocrisy in that it is okay to have a society that rewards the survival of the fittest; that fitness is decided by material wealth and self-sufficiency; HOWEVER, the conservatives seem to want a society that embraces the family and rejects the fruit of extreme competition.

    So if indeed "winning" the game and being fit for living is outside of their (inconsistent) value system, then you haven't really "won", you've "cheated".

    To me, capitalism at its base is rather parasitic. I think it is okay to set legal limits on say, porn sales, prostitution, and drugs. On the other hand....if we do not allow everyone to play the game as it stands, then we must provide social safety nets.

    Conservatives would play the game to win, but leave behind those they deem "not fit" to play.

    Well, fine, but you have to pay a higher price to have an exclusive game.

    I think university professors and faculty have their own game of survival, of course, but this is a subset of the whole, and not representative of the whole.

    In summary, it is hypocritical to live by survival of the fittest, set up churches that prescribe the rules and dictate our laws, and then when you win the game and have your little fiefdoms all set up, you eliminate those who do not believe as you do and seek to win the game their way.

    (I am referring to the extremes of the neo-conservatives that control our federal government.)
     
  9. agingBetter

    agingBetter New Member

    By "fruit of extreme competition" I mean the money generated by gray area businesses such as porn videos.

    But then, no matter Christian, conservative, or not, there are many examples of people who purport to be conservatives and support "family values" yet make money on illicit or borderline illicit activities.

    So confusing.
     
  10. Orson

    Orson New Member

    THIS falsely describes the relvant reality....


    This is misleading and a selective look at the relevant evidence. A more comprehensive look at how education and party affiliation relate is provided by Professor Bainbridge, UCLA Law (Cadozo):

    "[The] data from the widely used General Social Survey (GSS) consistently show that Republicans are better educated than Democrats (on average, they have more than half a year more education and hold a higher final degree). In addition, Republicans score better than Democrats on two tests included in the GSS."
    http://www.techcentralstation.com/120804C.html

    -Orson
     

Share This Page