Quote of the day—Emmett Rensin

The wages of smug is Trump.

Nothing is more confounding to the smug style than the fact that the average Republican is better educated and has a higher IQ than the average Democrat. That for every overpowered study finding superior liberal open-mindedness and intellect and knowledge, there is one to suggest that Republicans have the better of these qualities.

Most damning, perhaps, to the fancy liberal self-conception: Republicans score higher in susceptibility to persuasion. They are willing to change their minds more often.

The Republican coalition tends toward the center: educated enough, smart enough, informed enough.

Emmett Rensin
Deputy First Person editor at Vox
April 21, 2016
The smug style in American liberalism
[This is from Vox!

H/T Kevin Baker.

We live in interesting times.—Joe]

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3 thoughts on “Quote of the day—Emmett Rensin

  1. Yes, well if you have more wealth, you stole the wealth. If you have more culture, you stole the culture. If you have more knowledge, you stole the knowledge, and so on. No advantage can be seen as legitimate, and so it must be taken away from those who have it. So if you have more intelligence, one can only assume that you stole that too, or that the IQ tests are skewed in your favor. No matter the cause, it is “unfair”. It is inequitable, and we are to hate “unfairness” and “inequality”.

    Regardless; none of that matters. What matters is right and wrong, the authoritarian system verses liberty and justice for all.

    Would you rather be surrounded by dumb, uneducated yet principled libertarians, or by evil geniuses?

    So we can fight over who’s smarter or better educated, or who’s ideas produce the more desirable results (in who’s opinion?), or we can discuss the principles of right and wrong (or love and hate). Those are two different subjects.

    Certainly a brilliant, prosperous, relatively happy society will be hated and attacked, and probably blamed for all the ills of the world including bad weather. Maybe that would be a good subject for discussion. I’ll start;
    Cain killed Able
    Salieri hated Mozart
    Communists and dictators have always hated the United States
    Plain-looking women are more prepared to hate physically attractive women

    In each case there’s plenty to hate I’m sure, if that’s what one is looking for, but that’s not why they’re hated. Reasons to hate them are sought, and found. There’s a motivation to hate. Forming a list of accomplishments or virtues on one side of a spreadsheet and a list of grievances or shortfalls on the other, trying to judge people or groups mathematically, would be to miss the point.

    If there’s a motivation to hate, then hate it will be. You can point to a system which produces great prosperity and happiness, and you already know from experience that it will be maligned and attacked. Some people see humans as vermin, and so of course they’ll never be swayed by proof of success, prosperity as a result of hard work and inspiration, or arguments for human rights, or any of that.

  2. There are actually some parts of the left, that are starting to realize they helped create the monster. You can only call a portion of the population, mouth breathing, cousin humping, ignorant redneck racists based on political disagreement for so long before they find someone who won’t take your $%!^ without fighing back to rally behind…

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