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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThis Is Why America Keeps Getting More Conservative
Poorer, less educated, more religious... and more conservative.Even with the presidents approval rating showing signs of life and the Republicans busily bashing themselves over the head one is a practicing polygamist and hes not even the Mormon, retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day OConnor recently quipped about her partys two frontrunners America continues to track right, according to polling data released by the Gallup Organization last week.
Americans at this political moment are significantly more likely to identify as conservative than as liberal: conservatives outnumber liberals by nearly two to one. Forty percent identify as conservative, 36 percent as moderate, and 21 percent liberal.
http://www.businessinsider.com/this-is-why-america-keeps-getting-more-conservative-2012-2
CurtEastPoint
(18,552 posts)will yield wacky results. Specific questions on attitudes? Were they asked?
FarCenter
(19,429 posts)Here is the Gallup data http://www.gallup.com/poll/125066/State-States.aspx
It also included "leans Republican" and "leans Democrat". It appears that there is fairly good agreement between "leans Republican" and "conservative". However, "leans Democrat" is generally much higher than "liberal" numbers, so "leans Democrat" must include part of the population that identify themselves as "moderate".
"liberal" only breaks 30% in DC and Massachusetts, and is a majority nowhere.
"conservative" exceeds 40% in a great many states, and is a majority in four.
Here is also a link to the Atlantic article, which the Business Insider article repeats, with graphs showing how conservative identification varies with income, education and religion.
http://www.theatlanticcities.com/politics/2012/02/why-america-keeps-getting-more-conservative/1162/
unblock
(51,974 posts)Avalux
(35,015 posts)and that's exactly what Republicans want. Destroy our public schools; keep our kids from learning science and critical thinking skills......home school everyone to believe creationism is science and we have a nation of stupid idiots who can't think for themselves and believe whatever garbage they're fed.
Yep.
HockeyMom
(14,337 posts)I spent 12 years in Catholic school. We were taught religion, not just Roman Catholic religion, but we had to know about all other religions. I think they call that Compartive Religions. Supposedly, they felt that a Catholic couldn't debate a Non-Catholic/Non-Christian, or promote the faith, if they didn't know what other religions were all about.
Ok, so with all this knowledge would presumably make a person a stronger Catholic? As you said, critical thinking skills! Be careful what you wish for, you just might get what you didn't ask for. If you could critically debate OTHER RELIGIONS, or NONE, you could also critically debate, and QUESTION, you own Catholic faith.
I hear many religious Catholic people say that the Church has failed to "teach" their flock the religion and that is why so many Catholic ignore the church's teachings on birth control, gay marriage, divorce, etc. Oh, I don't think that is so. Certainly not for adults who went to their schools. They KNOW very well, but because they have been taught to THINK, they are IGNORING what the bishops are saying. It doesn't make any SENSE to them.
hughee99
(16,113 posts)I'm sure you'll find them in a repuke stronghold.
lumberjack_jeff
(33,224 posts)I try to conserve resources, prudently steward the property I own, and set a temperate role model for my kids.
But I don't hate. I don't hate the government (especially since I have the wits to recognize that the government is me), I don't hate the <insert minority group here> and I don't hate thinking.
"Conservative" is being turned into a bad word by conservatives.
handmade34
(22,755 posts)in The Atlantic
"...Liberalism, which is stronger in richer, better-educated, more-diverse, and, especially, more prosperous places, is shrinking across the board and has fallen behind conservatism even in its biggest strongholds. This obviously poses big challenges for liberals, the Obama administration, and the Democratic Party moving forward.
But the much bigger, long-term danger is economic rather than political. This ideological state of affairs advantages the policy preferences of poorer, less innovative states over wealthier, more innovative, and productive ones. American politics is increasingly disconnected from its economic engine. And this deepening political divide has become perhaps the biggest bottleneck on the road to long-run prosperity..."
http://books.google.com/books?id=YerA7ZQLYr0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=REd+State+Blue+State+Rich+State+Poor+State&source=bl&ots=XpZ387kSoj&sig=liZJ6b_AjOfuy0UhY43q7P7Ipyc&hl=en&ei=pyrATIb3I8b_lgfS6oj_CQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCAQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=REd%20State%20Blue%20State%20Rich%20State%20Poor%20State&f=false
Swede Atlanta
(3,596 posts)During the 2008 cycle, numerous polls and studies revealed that the population overall was becoming more liberal, especially younger voters that don't align with the social conservative position on things like gay marriage, etc.
Avalux
(35,015 posts)Sometimes I think so-called "studies" and "statistics" are purely made up propoganda, bought and paid for by the GOP.
madrchsod
(58,162 posts)LiberalFighter
(50,504 posts)librechik
(30,663 posts)I'm sure the results would be different. This country has been brainwashed into identifying as conservative when they really don't know what conservatism is, they've just been indoctrinated to believe it is better.