Anti-Intellectual? Hardly....

So there is a particular theme that seems to be circulating around the Internet that being conservative somehow equates to being ignorant, unlearned, or, dare I say "anti-intellectual."  This seems to be the PERFECT graphic that liberals want to use to pummel us poor hicks who have conservative political, economic, and social views.
Now, I had to contemplate this little quote a bit to try and understand its purpose.  And, as one of my favorite movies quotes goes-"You keep using that word, I do not think it means what you think it means."  So what does your friendly Grouchy Historian mean by this?  Well lets start with an actual definition of who an anti-intellectual actually is-- "a person who scorns intellectuals and their views and methods."  Which, of course, leads me to wonder what an "intellect" actually is--"the faculty of reasoning and understanding objectively, esp. with regard to abstract or academic matters."

This of course, leads to the first piece of logical breakdown for liberals...i.e., the notion of objective truth...which by and large liberals hattttttee...how many times have I heard, "Well that may be YOUR truth, but it isn't mine."  I heard a brilliant quote from a young lady the other night, "You can chose between good and evil, but you don't get to determine good and evil." WOW, is that awesome or what?

 I find the idea that simply because someone graduated from college, or should I say the RIGHT KIND of college, i.e., Ivy League or with an approved major, i.e., women's studies, or a major in film they are worthy of being considered more "intellectual" than someone from a state college.  More educated? Maybe.  More intelligent? Possibly.  Someone with higher moral integrity?  Not necessarily.  As my daddy used to say, "There's book learning, and there's common sense, and they aren't necessarily the same."  True enough.  SO, do I consider someone who is an Ivy Leaguer my better or consider their opinions as more informed or superior to mine?  I don't think so.  I do find it amusing that the so-called "intellectuals" of the left consider it silly, at best, that Americans are studying the Constitution, Founding Fathers, American History and our Christian heritage.  OF COURSE, if everyone was reading Howard Zinn or another approved Communist historian, well, that would be just fine.

So, to continue with that notion of OBJECTIVE truth, this of course, is a major stumbling block for modern secular liberals who intensely hate organized religion, particularly their FAVORITE evil empire, the Roman Catholic Church.

SO, let's break down the crises du jour of contraception and the current poster child of the liberal left---Sandra Fluke.  I personally believe, subjectively speaking, that this deliberate deception plan by the Democratic Party is going to come back on them like the George Bush National Guard sabotage plot came back to bite Dan Rather in the behind.  The media landscape has changed dramatically and the liberal media industrial complex can longer control the story.  As more details begin to come out, I don't think this is going to reflect well on the narrative that "Republicans want to take birth control away from women", wherever the hell that story came from, since there is CLEARLY no move by an politician or even clergyman to outlaw contraception or abortion.  Does the Catholic Church believe both of these are wrong? Yes.  Do they want to provide, subsidize or be associated with them via their medical institutions or health insurance plans?  No.  Are the Bishops advocating to outlaw them?  Not that I have seen.

NOW, I am going to go out on a limb here...I think that this is just the first stage of the complete destruction of the Catholic Health Care System.  It is not too much of a stretch to see a fully implemented Obamacare MANDATING that ALL hospital systems receiving Medicare, Medicaid, or for whatever reason they can devise must offer abortions on demand.  YUP, it's a fairly linear progression to foresee the time when ALL abortions are federally funded, or part of a mandatory insurance plan, with NO religious or conscience exemption. Think I'm crazy?  We'll see.

OR, there's the other mantra of the liberal left, global warming.   Now, I personally don't believe in MAN MADE global warming, although, like most intellectuals (yup, I said it), I do know that the climate does change, mostly due to ocean currents like El Nino, sunspots and other natural phenomenon.  AND, being an intellectual, I find it difficult to accept a SCIENTIFIC explanation for man made global warming when it has come to light that some much data has been forged or intentionally misinterpreted.

To summarize, are conservatives anti-intellectual?  Some are, I suppose.  Are liberals anti-intellectual?  Some also are, I'm sure.  I have observed ONE major difference between liberals and conservatives when having an intellectual discussion or argument, as it were.  Liberals have become intellectual Pharisees, SO sure of their own righteousness and certainty of their opinion as FACT that conservatives can only be hicks, heretics, or homophobic, racist, misogynist, ignorant peasants that should clearly acknowledge their intellectual superiors and their RIGHT AND TRUE opinions.

Herein lies the rub.  Most people, of all political stripes, don't generally like being talked down to or looked down upon because they didn't go to Harvard or Yale.  So, does that create a bit of a backlash when REALLY smart people like Barack Obama and his intellectual cronies can't seem to understand basic economics like the law of supply and demand or the Laffer Curve on taxation.  Sure does.  As my daddy says, some people just have a lot of 'horse sense' (I love that term) and can figure things out by experience, i.e. the ol' school of hard knocks. 

And some people should just listen to Ronald Reagan:
"It isn't that Liberals are ignorant. It's just that they know so much that isn't so."

Or there's Winston Churchill:
"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject." 

Comments