...what would be considered an educated individual? I don't know if anyone has done a thread like this before. But just for arguements sake, do you feel it was your education or your personal life experiences that shaped your political thought? Part of the reason I ask this is that there seems to be an awful lot of people on here that rip on a particular group's education level. And for the most part, I find that those on here that consider themselves liberals tend to be the more eloquent in their ability to express their thoughts in type. Somehow, I feel as if this gives them some level of superiority in the way they approach the debates. But just because you can more clearly get your point across, it doesn't necessarily mean that your view is superior. I find that I straddle most issues because 1) I don't feel completed educated on a subject to make a stance and 2) I don't like to align myself completely with one group. Having said that, I consider myself a conservative on most things. Family, finances, lifestyle for the most part. But I also can recognize the value of some liberal viewpoints. I don't dispell nor subsribe either groups ideals wholeheartedly. I am somewhat educated. I am currently pursuing my Bachelor at CMU while trying to be a full time husband and father. Plus being a homeowner that doesn't make enough money to pay people to fix everything, including the cars, I consider myself fairly busy. So busy, that I can't possibly keep up with all of the worlds events. Regardless, I am curious to know your education levels if you're willing to share. The poll is for a shapeshot of this forum. I am curious to see the results. Thank you for your time. Trevor J. Dion
I've got 1st class BA(Hons) degree in Politics and Modern History from the University of Manchester, but I don't consider myself clever. Nor do I think that my education has played a significant role in shaping my political views. In fact I have no idea where I got my beliefs from, I only know what they are and that their right.
This is a totally misleading question. You don't have to be stupid to be conservative - you can also be bigoted, vicious, or sociopathic. That's why the GOP is the Big Tent.
Currently, I had to select liberal with 4-year degree, but I will soon fall into the bottom category....(see sig )
Liberal or Conservative. What about moderate? Most people in this country tend to be in the middle and not at the book ends.
I'm currently applying to Oxford and the Sorbonne, but Harvard is my safety school. I tend to post slightly left of the middle.
Liberal in what context? Conservative in what context? Those are labels that do not fit me well. I'm pretty much to the left of Dubya in every way, so I guess I'll categorize myself as "liberal" for the poll.
That's all I'm looking for. Sometimes the "Conservative" label doesn't fit me too well, either. But so far, I'm seeing the results that I expected.
It's best that way. It makes it easy to define whether your a war mongering right wing facist or an anti-war anti-American radical left winger. It's black or white man.
Well, that's my point. I thought I was more right leaning...until I started visiting the Politics forum on a regular basis. I'm just wondering if there is a direct correlation between a higher education and greater resistence to the PTB.
Missing quite a few choices. (And, yes, my Avatar should give me away...) Unfortunately, the true political landscape isn't polarized B/W, L/R, etc, as one would think. Libertarians and a strange group of folks in the early 20th century (I think they were called progressives then, but nowadays that hardly seems to fit. These were the folks who brought us Prohibition.) throw the whole thing out of whack. The simplest breakdown is in four quadrants: Much or little government regulation in one's private affairs, and much or little government regulation in one's business affairs, and permutations thereof. The ever-popular Left-Right schism, is actually between those who enjoy much personal liberty and tight control on business affairs, and those who enjoy the control of their personal lives with a laissez-faire attitude towards corporate activities. So, where does that put the poor Libertarians? They're not much for government restrictions on people's personal lives (that whole legislating morality bit), or on corporations (that whole Sarbanes-Oxley bit). Are they leftists because they're for a repeal of anti-sodomy laws? Are they rightists because they're for a repeal of the Income tax? Actually, most self-identifying Republicans I've met would fit better with the Libertarians. They could give a rat's ass who or what you do in your bedroom, so long as you stay away from their money. It's a shame: If they could figure out how to get their message across, they'd get all of the "Spoiler" BS we do, except from Republicans...
This poll proves nothing. A lot of post-grads can be reactionary, or even radical. Other post-grads can be fairly moderate. Likewise, those with 2-year degrees can have any kind of political alignment, from liberal to conservative. As for myself, I'm a radical progressive (radical in the "sweeping changes" sense, not the "world revolution" type), and I'm still in HS. Did you even bother to think of undergrads?
Ahh, a couple of new folks here with Assamite and SObearCAL. The right/left split doesn't make any sense at all. Bush is hardly a good conservative, cuz his fiscal policy is "tax-cut and spend", his government policy is intrusive, and his foreign policy is highly adventurous. All attributes that are not traditionally conservative. I find it absolutely bizarre that conservatives like him. He seems more like a Soviet-style leader.
For what it's worth, the poll does prove that we have a higher number of left leaning individuals in this forum that are highly educated. But I was hoping that more people would come forward with how their personal political views were or were not affected by their educations. I can honestly say that when I became a parent and started to pursue my degree (I know they are loosely connected), I began to move away from my hardline conservative stance. But not enough for me to consider myself Libertarian or a Liberal. But your right. Beyond the surface results, this poll doesn't prove anything. Perhaps you can construct something that will give us all a clearer picture as to the demographics of this forum. I apologize to all the Liberatarians in this forum. Your ommission from this poll was not a slight in any way. I just find that this forum has quite a polarizing effect on people and I don't really find Liberatians polarized on any subject. Maybe that's my ignorance. But I appreciate everyones participation. I thought it would be nice break from the purse fights that oman and I get into on occassion.
This is I guess an interesting poll, as long as you take into account that people who hang out at boards like this are more likely to be well educated, and those who respond to a poll in the politics forum are (perhaps) more liberal, seeing as how left-benders seem to be more vocal than their hang-to-the-right bretheren. Perhaps. Me, I have a BA in Theatre Ed, and an MA in Playwriting, and can say without a doubt that my college experience helped shape my left-leaning tendencies. Of course in the 8 years or so since I finished Grad School, and as I'm no longer even remotely associated with the theatre in any way, I've started to slip back right a little. Is that what you wanted to know?