Why there are Always More Conservatives than Liberals?

[Sunstone]

A survey of 13 Gallop polls conducted during 2013 reveals:

38% of Americans identify as Conservatives.

34% of Americans identify as Moderates

23% of Americans identify as Liberals
​

In other words, 2013 was, give or take a point, a pretty typical year in the US. That's to say, there are almost always more conservatives than liberals. But why?

Well, that's like asking why more people buy Toyota Corollas than Mercedes S-Class cars. Or like asking why McDonalds processed grease patties consistently outsell high quality no-hormone, no-antibiotic beef patties. Or why more people tune in Bill O'Reilly than Rachel Maddow. Or why cheap Chinese goods have come to dominate markets worldwide, often driving out of business higher quality goods.

With few exceptions, what the masses think of as "value" is either low or mediocre quality when compared to higher quality goods and services. So, face it, there will always be more conservatives of every stripe -- including libertarians -- than there will be liberals, let alone progressives.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

I see that you have over 51, 000 posts. Most on the forums. Just a random observation.

C'mon, it was right there.

 

[Alceste]

A survey of 13 Gallop polls conducted during 2013 reveals:

38% of Americans identify as Conservatives.

34% of Americans identify as Moderates

23% of Americans identify as Liberals
​

In other words, 2013 was, give or take a point, a pretty typical year in the US. That's to say, there are almost always more conservatives than liberals. But why?

Well, that's like asking why more people buy Toyota Corollas than Mercedes S-Class cars. Or like asking why McDonalds processed grease patties consistently outsell high quality no-hormone, no-antibiotic beef patties. Or why more people tune in Bill O'Reilly than Rachel Maddow. Or why cheap Chinese goods have come to dominate markets worldwide, often driving out of business higher quality goods.

With few exceptions, what the masses think of as "value" is either low or mediocre quality when compared to higher quality goods and services. So, face it, there will always be more conservatives of every stripe -- including libertarians -- than there will be liberals, let alone progressives.

It's because the political right completely controls the debate and vocabulary down there, plus a huge proportion of the media. They've managed to convince Americans that "liberal" is an insult or a slur, like "f*g" or "retard", instead of the value-neutral description of a specific political position.

If I could hazard a guess, I'd say there are way more "liberals" down there than people who are willing to utter the words "I am a political liberal". You can get a better read on the situation by looking at Americans' opinions on individual issues. Should pot be legal? Most Americans say yes. Abortion? Again, most say yes. Do Americans want universal health care? Yep. Would they prefer diplomacy to war? Absolutely. Are they against discrimination based on gender, sexuality or race? They sure are. Will they find a way to believe all these things and still call themselves "conservative" instead of "liberal" - you bet they will! Nobody wants to admit to being a faggy moron.

 

[Sunstone]

I see that you have over 51, 000 posts. Most on the forums. Just a random observation.

C'mon, it was right there.

I have never pretended my posts appeal to more people than anyone else's posts. Only that my posts represent the sterling silver of posts.

 

[freethinker44]

In other words, 2013 was, give or take a point, a pretty typical year in the US. That's to say, there are almost always more conservatives than liberals. But why?

Maybe, in general, people are threatened by change. I've noticed conservatives ten to want things to stay the same or even go back to what they were, while liberals tend to want some aspect of society to change.

 

[Revoltingest]

Liberals are the more adventuresome, the ones who stray from convention & safety.
We die sooner.

 

[Alceste]

Maybe, in general, people are threatened by change. I've noticed conservatives ten to want things to stay the same or even go back to what they were, while liberals tend to want some aspect of society to change.

Seems to me there's been a switcheroo somewhere along the line. Conservatives these days want extremely radical change - they've got at least three constitutional amendments on their agenda. They want to outlaw abortion, outlaw gay marriage, and pass a balanced budget amendment. They want to teach creationism in biology class, rewrite the history books to reflect a more flattering picture of conservative values, and base legislation at every level of government on Biblical values.

Liberals, on the other hand, pretty much want to roll back the clock to Clinton's days. Progressives want to scale it all the way back to Jimmy Carter.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

No contraception, no sex education, no abortions = more babies. More babies destined for the same meticulous attention to staying ignorant.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

With few exceptions, what the masses think of as "value" is either low or mediocre quality when compared to higher quality goods and services. So, face it, there will always be more conservatives of every stripe -- including libertarians -- than there will be liberals, let alone progressives.

Do you find this belief difficult to reconcile with representative democracy?

 

[Quagmire]

Seems to me there's been a switcheroo somewhere along the line. Conservatives these days want extremely radical change - they've got at least three constitutional amendments on their agenda. They want to outlaw abortion, outlaw gay marriage, and pass a balanced budget amendment. They want to teach creationism in biology class, rewrite the history books to reflect a more flattering picture of conservative values, and base legislation at every level of government on Biblical values.

Liberals, on the other hand, pretty much want to roll back the clock to Clinton's days. Progressives want to scale it all the way back to Jimmy Carter.

And apparently conservatives still like Ike. :yes:

 

[Alceste]

And apparently conservatives still like Ike. :yes:

Was he also a religious fanatic who wanted Bible-based laws? Don't know much about him.

 

[esmith]

Was he also a religious fanatic who wanted Bible-based laws? Don't know much about him.

No Dwight David Eisenhower was the Supreme Commander of Allied forces in the European theater of WWII and was elected the 34th president in 1952 and served two terms. He took 54.7% and 57.4% of the Popular vote. It appears that in both elections "Ike" was the popular choice. He was a moderate conservative. Which in today's political world would be considered a centrist by some and slightly left of center to others.



Wikipedia here: Dwight D. Eisenhower - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Penumbra]

Was he also a religious fanatic who wanted Bible-based laws? Don't know much about him.

Eisenhower's political positions as a Republican were more liberal than what would be considered standard in the Democratic party today.

Top tax brackets were higher back then than they are now, he was a moderate on entitlements/benefits, he warned against the military industrial complex (from a position as having been the Supreme Allied Commander in WW2), and he signed the bill that was the largest American public works project ever- the interstate highway system. So today he'd basically be called a socialist by conservatives, all that government money for domestic purposes and progressive taxation.

 

[Alceste]

Eisenhower's political positions as a Republican were more liberal than what would be considered standard in the Democratic party today.

Top tax brackets were higher back then than they are now, he was a moderate on entitlements/benefits, he warned against the military industrial complex (from a position as having been the Supreme Allied Commander in WW2), and he signed the bill that was the largest American public works project ever- the interstate highway system. So today he'd basically be called a socialist by conservatives, all that government money for domestic purposes and progressive taxation.

I guess they don't want to go back to Ike, then. Sounds like Ike would be considered a raging commie socialist heathen by today's crowd of conservatives.

Just affirms my opinion that they don't want to stay the same or go back. They want to move forward in a radical new direction - theocratic plutocracy.

 

[Revoltingest]

Alcohol depletes the ranks of liberals....
Study: Liberals drink more alcohol than conservatives - The Week
I'll wager that much cheese is also consumed at their soirees.

 

[Quagmire]

Was he also a religious fanatic who wanted Bible-based laws? Don't know much about him.

I guess they don't want to go back to Ike, then. Sounds like Ike would be considered a raging commie socialist heathen by today's crowd of conservatives.

Just affirms my opinion that they don't want to stay the same or go back. They want to move forward in a radical new direction - theocratic plutocracy.

I was just saying that it seems like a lot of people on the far right would like to go back to the America of 1950's: prayer in school, abortion illegal, gay marriage pretty much unthinkable, . . .

Not Eisenhower's fault. He did alright considering what he had to work with at the time.

 

[Alceste]

I was just saying that it seems like a lot of people on the far right would like to go back to the America of 1950's: prayer in school, abortion illegal, gay marriage pretty much unthinkable, . . .

Not Eisenhower's fault. He did alright considering what he had to work with at the time.

Ah, I see. They want to go back to a time when Leave it to Beaver wasn't just a TV show.

 

[Alceste]

It's because the political right completely controls the debate and vocabulary down there, plus a huge proportion of the media. They've managed to convince Americans that "liberal" is an insult or a slur, like "f*g" or "retard", instead of the value-neutral description of a specific political position.

If I could hazard a guess, I'd say there are way more "liberals" down there than people who are willing to utter the words "I am a political liberal". You can get a better read on the situation by looking at Americans' opinions on individual issues. Should pot be legal? Most Americans say yes. Abortion? Again, most say yes. Do Americans want universal health care? Yep. Would they prefer diplomacy to war? Absolutely. Are they against discrimination based on gender, sexuality or race? They sure are. Will they find a way to believe all these things and still call themselves "conservative" instead of "liberal" - you bet they will! Nobody wants to admit to being a faggy moron.

Just want to throw in a graphic supplied by Dirty Penguin in another thread to back up this point...

Looks like even your conservatives are more "liberal" than your government!

 

[McBell]

Why there are Always More Conservatives than Liberals?

Poe's Law

 

[dawny0826]

Poe's Law

Pretty much.