What Makes You Conservative or Liberal?
We're about six weeks away from one of the biggest mid-term elections in decades. And everyone with a publisher (and lots of folks without one) want to tell us what will decide the election. Some say it will be a referendum on Bush, others that anger over the Iraq war will lead the Democrats to victory. The USA Today had a fascinating article that show that a persons view of God had more bearing on their political position than any other factor.
Today's issue of that Augustine (that's my new favorite word, thank you "Studio 60") newspaper, actually has two conflicting (somewhat) stands on the question. The front page has an article that holds that marriage is the best indicator of political party affiliation. While Page 4 holds the presence (or lack) of children in a home is the best sign. All of them make good points (and even have research to back those points up).
For years we've heard how education levels are tied to political orientation (and belief in God for that matter). The very poorly educated tend to be conservative, a high school diploma or Bachelor's Degree tends to steer you more liberal and even more so for those that achieve Master's Degree. Then at the Professional degree level the trend reverses, and people tend to be more Conservative again. So if you are stupid or very smart you are likely Conservative, if you are educated but not overly so, you are likely more liberal. The real question here is whether the economic conditions associated with these different education levels or the education itself is the real reason behind the political affiliation.
If you ask me (and you did come to my blog) it's the dollar bills that lead us to the left or right politically. While the average American with his middle class income has more important things to worry about than gay marriage and abortion, he is very focused on government programs and expenditures, and whether or not his son is going to war somewhere. The CEO on the other hand wants two things, more of his money at the end of the day, and a stable country in which to spend that money. This (and the wish to use his money as influence) causes (limited) activism in the social arena. Not too much though, because that might alienate consumers.
The almighty dollar is also (again, just my opinion) responsible for the U.S. being more Conservative overall than European nations (especially fiscally). Blame it on the American Dream my friends. We all expect to be rich, so we hesitate to tax the rich too much, because we want to keep our own money when we finally get some. Good for the Republicans, not so good for the concept of socialized medicine.
So are you married with two kids, and a PhD but still a flaming pinko Commie? Or are you a single, Union employee with a Master's in English that watches Pat Robertson and campaigned for Pat Buchanan? Well, you're special. But both of you should vote. You'll offset each other and allow sane people like me to decide our leaders.
Today's issue of that Augustine (that's my new favorite word, thank you "Studio 60") newspaper, actually has two conflicting (somewhat) stands on the question. The front page has an article that holds that marriage is the best indicator of political party affiliation. While Page 4 holds the presence (or lack) of children in a home is the best sign. All of them make good points (and even have research to back those points up).
For years we've heard how education levels are tied to political orientation (and belief in God for that matter). The very poorly educated tend to be conservative, a high school diploma or Bachelor's Degree tends to steer you more liberal and even more so for those that achieve Master's Degree. Then at the Professional degree level the trend reverses, and people tend to be more Conservative again. So if you are stupid or very smart you are likely Conservative, if you are educated but not overly so, you are likely more liberal. The real question here is whether the economic conditions associated with these different education levels or the education itself is the real reason behind the political affiliation.
If you ask me (and you did come to my blog) it's the dollar bills that lead us to the left or right politically. While the average American with his middle class income has more important things to worry about than gay marriage and abortion, he is very focused on government programs and expenditures, and whether or not his son is going to war somewhere. The CEO on the other hand wants two things, more of his money at the end of the day, and a stable country in which to spend that money. This (and the wish to use his money as influence) causes (limited) activism in the social arena. Not too much though, because that might alienate consumers.
The almighty dollar is also (again, just my opinion) responsible for the U.S. being more Conservative overall than European nations (especially fiscally). Blame it on the American Dream my friends. We all expect to be rich, so we hesitate to tax the rich too much, because we want to keep our own money when we finally get some. Good for the Republicans, not so good for the concept of socialized medicine.
So are you married with two kids, and a PhD but still a flaming pinko Commie? Or are you a single, Union employee with a Master's in English that watches Pat Robertson and campaigned for Pat Buchanan? Well, you're special. But both of you should vote. You'll offset each other and allow sane people like me to decide our leaders.
posted by Daddy Rogue at 4:21 PM
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