"Intellectually retarded?"
Liberal or Leftist? Conservative or far right-wing?
Look, my fellow Bear — this isn’t going to be fun today!
While I loathe allowing my cubs to stew in political distractions (I made that clear, many times on the blog, like here and here)…
I, inversely, adore anyone willing to dive into the muck of the mind; the bowels of the brain that just may not be ticking in a way that actually serves its human soul. As in those times when the ego dives into a maze so clever, it can’t find its way back to sanity and rationale-thinking.
On a highly-trafficked Substack thread, someone felt the desire to just dump this romper-room one-liner on the participants:
“I think that both leftists and liberals are intellectually retarded. (I enjoy using politically incorrect words.)” - Gary S.
The issue that I have with Gary’s pigeonholed, grade-school statement is that it gives no depth of reasoning and no interest to actually distinguish those two labels.
Yes, there is a BIG difference between someone calling themselves a Leftist and someone who resonates with the Liberal label.
For instance, as reported by Dennis Prager, When the writers of Superman were classic Liberals, Superman was a proud American whose very motto was Truth, Justice and the American Way!
That all changed a few years ago when Left-wing writers took over the comic strip and had Superman renounce his American Citizenship to be a Citizen of the World.
Yup, the left has contempt for Nationalism, seeing it as the road to Fascism (Yet, 90% of 'em couldn't even tell you the correct definition in the first place)
🐻 Here are some other key differences between leftism and classical liberalism
Economic System:
Classical liberalism strongly supports free market capitalism and minimal government intervention in the economy. It advocates for laissez-faire economics, free trade, and limited regulation.
Leftism is generally anti-capitalist and favors more government control or collective ownership of the economy. Many leftists support socialism or other alternative economic systems.
Role of Government:
Classical liberalism believes in limited government and individual liberty. It emphasizes personal freedoms and autonomy from state control.
Leftism typically advocates for a stronger, more interventionist government role, especially in the economy and social programs. Leftists often support extensive welfare systems and government services.
Equality:
Classical liberalism focuses on equality of opportunity and individual rights.
Leftism emphasizes equality of outcome and collective rights. It aims to reduce economic inequality through redistribution of wealth.
Property Rights:
Classical liberalism strongly defends private property rights.
Many leftist ideologies challenge or reject private ownership of the means of production.
Social Issues:
While both may support civil liberties, leftists often take more radical stances on social justice issues and are more willing to use government power to enforce social change.
Historical Origins:
Classical liberalism emerged from Enlightenment-era thinking.
Leftist ideologies often trace their roots to critiques of capitalism and classical liberalism that emerged in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Or, from a behavioral standpoint… I once remember a friend saying it like this:
“I don’t agree with what you are saying, but I will defend your right to say it.”
- Classical Liberal“I don’t agree with what you say and I will do my best to smear you, destroy your life and censor you to the fullest extent.” - Leftist
Years ago, as I reported on inside the above-mentioned thread, there was a well-known multipart study that absolutely did analyze the brains between extreme leftism and extreme conservatism (i.e., far-right ideology). I can’t pinpoint the study, but I do remember that it showed the disparity between learning what to think as opposed to learning how to think. Also, emotion vs logic came into play.
A commenter, who simply has a Substack handle of RU, made a few eloquent points on the matter. While the labels might be slightly boxed-in, I still want to pass along his entire reply to you, here:
In my experience, it's just being able to think of oneself as having agency, being self-responsible, and therefore capable of self-conducting root cause analysis and determining 2nd, 3rd order effects of actions.
Most conservatives can do this almost instinctually. It's something they seem to have been taught at an early age. I think it comes from having dealt more with the real world, physical things, manual labor, skilled trades, businesses, entrepreneurial endeavors, etc. Where actions have consequences and you learn by experience in real time.
Today's liberals operate by what makes them feel good/superior in the moment, which is driven by what they were told are the "correct" views to hold. They see themselves as good little boys and girls, following teacher's orders. It's a sort of programming that's hard to undo. Liberals therefore cannot do the root cause and effect analysis unless instructed by a teacher - and even then, they need to be brought to the "correct" conclusions. It's dangerous to them to do the analysis on their own b/c they might come to the "wrong" conclusions, like that terrible "right wing" stuff. I see this mentality at work all the time.
(As an aside, this is also the problem with all academic journals. It's why they never generate a new idea, get everything wrong, and are filled with groupthink, and ultimately, propaganda. Being able to understand root causes and effects allows for calculated risk taking and innovation. No risk, no innovation.)
E.g., modern liberals' views on immigration, where they think it makes them kind and compassionate if they advocate for an open border policy. They're not thinking through the root causes of WHY those people are coming here. It's factually incorrect to say they are seeking asylum; they are not. "Seeking a better life" is not a good enough reason. As we all know, we can't just pack up and declare ourselves citizens of some other country b/c we think we'll like it more.
Liberals don't think through even 1st order effects, like: they broke the law in being here; so, what does that say about their regard for this country? What does that mean for their own well-being as humans? What's the effect on communities, especially the poor ones where these criminals will now live and take resources from natural born poor citizens?
Or, 2nd order effects like: now we have millions of literal criminals spread across the country, we don't have room for them, we can't afford them, and they are changing the culture of many places, in some cases 100s of years of culture is being wiped out. Then there's the 3rd order effects of what does that mean for the future of the country? National security? Social cohesion? The economy? Productivity? Etc. Liberals do not think of any of these things. They just repeat the talking points they were given by teachers/mentors b/c those make them feel superior and give them the warm fuzzies. It's their identity, in a very real way.
Leftists, on the other hand, do think through these things. It's just that their logic is terrible and incorrect, so they come to the wrong conclusions. They are the people who utterly failed logic class. They tend to come to insanely wrong conclusions like "if some A are B, then all A are B." (A good example of this is the trans issue where they think: some people never outgrow their mental illness of dysmorphia, therefore we must treat all children who ever express even a hint of it to the maximum degree. It's just really bad, incorrect logic.).
And then the entire chain of conclusions they come to rests upon that one core thing they got horribly wrong. They're dumb, but in a different way. However, b/c they "thought about it" they are 100% convinced they are correct and consider it a moral violation to disagree with their conclusion.
Unfortunately, academic leftists are often the source of academic liberals' ideas, which then become the dominant views of everyday liberals.
🎗️REMEMBER: Much of what you’ve read from RU above is about mental self-awareness, behavioral responsibility and a cultural view that values extreme ownership. So, labels really don’t mean jack sh*t! Behaviors and results do, however.
Still, in the words of Jon Odsather, if you have ever wondered what side of the fence you sit on, this just may be a great test! (Note: more conflating of the term Leftist with Liberal, however. See above):
If a conservative doesn't like guns, he doesn't buy one.
If a liberal doesn't like guns, he wants all guns outlawed.
If a conservative is a vegetarian, he doesn't eat meat.
If a liberal is a vegetarian, he wants all meat products banned for everyone.
If a conservative is down-and-out, he thinks about how to better his situation.
A liberal wonders who is going to take care of him.
If a conservative doesn't like a talk show host, he switches channels.
Liberals demand that those they don't like be shut down.
If a conservative is a non-believer, he doesn't go to church.
A liberal non-believer wants any mention of God and Jesus silenced.
If a conservative decides he needs health care, he goes about shopping for it, or may choose a job that provides it… A liberal demands that the rest of us pay for his.
If a conservative reads this, he'll post it.
A liberal will delete it because he's "offended."
I’m confused just trying to figure out what you’re talking about. 😘