Why are so many uneducated people so hateful?

[LiberalLoner]

I've noticed that so many of the teabaggers can't spell worth a darn and in interviews, they appear to be poorly educated.

In my life, I've noticed people who never went to college (and some who never went to high school) have real hatred towards those of us who have had an education.

They literally hate people who are well-educated and literate. They hate people who willingly read books.

I've seen it again and again in my life, and have never met an illiterate person who did NOT hate those who have an education.

I really think the teabaggers hate President Obama not just because of racism (which is obviously a motive for them) but also because he is so well-educated and well-read and intelligent.

I wonder why people without a good education, who never read books, hate those of us who were lucky enough to have an education and who do like to read? Any thoughts on this? What have your experiences been in life with these people?

P.S. I am hopeful that these people will be far fewer in number as the older people die off. There were unfortunately a large number of the children of the Great Depression who were cheated of a good education, and they paid all their lives long for that lack of education. I think (I hope) we are doing better for our children these days.

[Taverner]

1. Good question - kind of debunks the "ignorance is bliss" meme

[grantcart]

2. their ignorance makes them fear what they do not understand.

Fear is the breeding ground of hate.

[LiberalLoner]

5. That makes sense. Thank you! :)

[happy_liberal]

174. yes, and our government knows how easy it is to control ignorant people with fear

It has been working out really well for them.

[Stinky The Clown]

3. Some educated critical thought will probably noodle up an answer for ya.

[immoderate]

161. Nothing escapes your gaze.

Right through the heart. LOL.

--imm

[lpbk2713]

4. You've answered your own question -- they're ignorant.

And that makes them easily beguiled and misled by the RW Media Hatemongers.

They are putty in the hands of the likes of Limbaugh, Beck and Hannity.

[LiberalLoner]

10. That's true. They never seem to evaluate what they are told. They never

seem to stop and think what the effect would be on the nation if we outlawed other religions and forced all American children to pray to Jeebus. They never seem to realize that would lead to a theocracy like they have in Saudi Arabia.

They seem unable to think beyond the swallowed and regurgitated talking points of the day.

[Dr Morbius]

6. Education leads to enlightenment.

The more we learn, the more obvious it becomes to us that each of us is part of a greater whole, that the best way to improve my life is to improve the world in which I live. So when education is absent or scant, enlightenment is less likely to be found, and a greater egocentricity is the rule of the day. Ignorance breeds hatred, and who better to hate than those who have chosen to correct their own ignorance?

[Ganja Ninja]

86. Tell that to that doctor in Florida that told his patients to go elsewhere if they voted for Obama.

[LiberalLoner]

89. Oh that doctor makes me so mad! n/t

[Maru Kitteh]

99. Not really.

Education can create an opportunity for enlightenment but it provides no guarantee to the correction of ignorance.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

7. Sorry

plenty of hate to go around among the educated. Plenty. Intolerance does not necessarily dissipate with knowledge. It should but, it doesn't always.

[blueworld]

196. Excellent response. Thanks. n/t

[Hannah Bell]

8. same reason so many educated people are. additionally, because

of "educated" people treating them like they're stupid lesser beings.

[LiberalLoner]

15. Oh, sure, there are hateful educated people as well. I was just curious what would make those

who haven't had an education, hate those of us who do. Even if they have never met us personally, they hate us in the abstract. My mother refused to be friends with any neighbors who read books and I never understood that attitude.

[cherokeeprogressive]

30. Keep reading post #8. Read it until it makes sense to you.

Then read it again. You'll get it sooner or later.

You're doing it yourself. For you, it's US, and THEM. For "them", it's the same way. From their perspective, it's US, and THEM. You're doing nothing more than what the poster stated in #8.

I've known highly educated people who couldn't think their way over a five foot wall. I used to teach with an english lit major who couldn't think her way out of an open paper bag. On the other hand, I know a successful contractor in So. Cal. who does all the math necessary to bid on multi-million dollar jobs in his head in practically the blink of an eye.

I'm curious what would make those who have an education pidgeonhole those that don't.

[LiberalLoner]

36. It's just what I've seen in my life, with my older relatives....n/t

[LiberalLoner]

54. And you might be right, I might be being elitist. I DO think that I'm better than the teabaggers ro

who spit on Congressmen and use epithets against them. I guess the old saying is true, when you point one finger at others, more fingers are pointing back at you. It IS elitist of me to think I'm better than the teabaggers. I own it.

[Xenotime]

178. HERE! HERE!!

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

61. Uneducated people are lesser beings in comparison with educated people.

:shrug:

[LiberalLoner]

63. No...I don't think so...I'm sure they are equal. But it's been hard to understand why some hated me

for reading. It's been hard for me to understand why some men in the Army hated me for being a woman.

[lumberjack_jeff]

171. Exhibit #1 in elitism. n/t

[snooper2]

69. ROFL....

You should watch this video

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaxECcTjCuw

[LiberalLoner]

72. Yeah, it was interesting. rop

I can see how she is thinking, but I think her conclusions are flawed because she's only being given just so much information and no more by Fox news and other sources. I can see fear of "other" in her distrust of someone with a name she isn't used to. Her feelings probably would be different than that, if she had known more people from different cultures and traveled more and been exposed to different ideas.

[Posteritatis]

147. Interesting how that works, isn't it? (nt)

[onehandle]

9. They've also driven conservative thinkers out of the Republican Party.

Believe it or not, they used to have their fair share of intelligencia.

But thanks to their idiot base, they're left with the Bachmanns and Palins.

This is good for us on some levels, but it will make it dangerous if the right-wing ever takes back power.

[LiberalLoner]

14. I agree completely. Scary thought. n/t

[cally]

11. I honestly don't know but I have experienced this

I suspect you will be trashed on this thread but some definitely do hate well educated folks, well read, or thoughtful people. It doesn't seem to matter if learned people are self taught or have multiple degrees. What seems to matter is that folks have made an effort to see beyond their narrow world and learn about other cultures and beliefs. I think that is what is threatening because it implies a questioning of beliefs they hold.

[LiberalLoner]

20. Yeah, I expect to be trashed. For the record, I barely have any education - only

a BA from a no-name state school - and I don't qualify as a smart person, and don't see myself that way. But I do like to read, and I never understood why some people would hate me just because I liked to read.

The answers to this post help me understand this better. It's something I've wondered about for decades.

[cally]

I don't equate degrees with education

I think anyone who reads, learns, and thinks is learned.

[seabeyond]

12. i see just as much hateful in the eduated. hate seems to infest.... and grow, and feed.

just sayin

[YOY]

26. John Yoo seems to be an excellent example of this...Babs Bush too.

Educated people hate differently. Not as vocally. Far more clandestinely and they use their education against what education was intended to do.

[LiberalLoner]

28. Oh, that's true! Great examples! n/t

[seabeyond]

58. oh, i see plenty on du. stemming from such a lack of tolerance.

some boy that wants to stop the cussing. i am all for cussing. i cuss all the time. but there really are places that people should be grown up enough to not do it. at a microphone, addressing the nation, on tv is one place, oh i dont know. lol

i dont know any of the kids story. but on the thread i sure did see a lot of hateful.... to a kid. wtf.

it is everywhere

and i agree, if the hateful is the repug and their behavior of late, just not the same. much more aggressive, potentially violent, and violent.

but the thing

i remember i use to be so proud of the dems that we worked hard at not getting ugly, intolerant, and even on du. and about 2006 i saw we were being conditioned with the same intolerance and short fuse. and the ugly. and here on du

today, it is just a free for all in intolerance. and ugly. and disrespect.

anonymous does its job in feeding it.

going to my "zin" today.... lol.

[LiberalLoner]

64. Yes, I see it too! You are right! I think we are becoming a more hateful society and it scares me.

To be honest I mostly just stay to myself except for the internet because the world out there scares me anymore.

[seabeyond]

75. i am not in an area or place

to be fearful. i dont like it though.

i stay to self though.... cause i like it, lol. it is getting harder and harder for me to be in groups and around people.... maybe it is a getting old thing.

[Donnachaidh]

77. yet you make broadbrush comments about people who lived thru the Great Drepression

And automatically class them all as *hateful*.

Newsflash -- those folks know and understand the problems with living through a Depression. My grandfather had a third grade education, but continued to learn on his own throughout his life. He would be the *last* person to judge others, and one of the first to *help*.

The ones having the problems are the later generations - the ones who got the goodies from the parents who went through the Depression. Each succeeding generation is less *educated* (in terms of learning how the world works and basic manners) and far more judgmental and intolerant - due to their ignorance. They are self-involved to the point of delusion, and will be the ones who will suffer the most from this downturn because they won't be able to indulge themselves as much as in the past.

Personally, I'd rather go through this with a boatload of people who went through the Great Depression than with a bunch of selfish kids. :shrug:

[LiberalLoner]

81. I must have misstated what I wanted to say about the Great Depression. rop

What I meant to say is that many people who were children during the Great Depression weren't given a chance to have a good education because so many of them (like all my older relatives) got pulled out of school to go to work to try to help the family survive. They got cheated of an opportunity I was lucky to have.

Now, my relatives do happen to have some of the traits I was talking about, but that doesn't mean all people who survived the Great Depression do. I didn't mean to say that.

What I meant to say is that I am glad kids today more often get to stay in school instead of having to be pulled out to work. And I'm hoping that public education never goes away, and that kids will always have a chance to have a decent education.

Anyway that is what I meant to say - I'm sorry if I didn't write that clearly enough.

[Spike89]

140. It's always been hateful, maybe worse

but a couple factors have come together to make it seem worse (though it isn't). Most hate comes toward those that are different and even though we're far from equally blended throughout society, we aren't as segregated/isolated as we were in the past. This makes it easier to see hate in action, but ironically, it also tends to lower the hate levels (because the "difference" diminishes). The second factor is that there is an abundance of "news coverage" available that grabs ratings through sensationalizing violence and hate...that is not something you saw overtly displayed in the local paper ages ago. Even in my life, I've seen local news shows go from total bans on showing any kind of blood or really any implication of bodily harm to "live, on the scene" carnage during the dinner hour. For better or worse, we hear a lot more of the bad news than we used to. That doesn't mean there is more bad news.

[Cirque du So-What]

13. When you keep yourself ignorant

your frame of reference in the world is limited, and so is your range of emotional responses. Things don't go your way? Ug must smash!

[LiberalLoner]

22. LOL n/t

[marybourg]

16. When you don't understand the workings of the world around you,

you're easily manipulated by people with an agenda, you feel powerless (and you really are), and you don't know how to go about improving your situation. Cure: read, ask questions, read.

[LiberalLoner]

24. Makes sense. n/t

[EFerrari]

112. You made me think of another aspect. The media target people

with some education in their ads and those ads are everywhere. So, if you have no education, you're constantly reminded of it in a hundred different ways every day by the media talking right over your head.

That must evoke massive resentment in some folks.

I've met several illiterate people who weren't in any way hateful. They were undocumented workers and not only didn't speak English, they barely read or wrote Spanish. But in their case, they expected to be excluded by the corporate media culture so they didn't have that investment or resentment. Does that make sense?

/oops

[Iggo]

17. People are hateful. Uneducated people jus' do it differ'nt. (n/t)

[kestrel91316]

18. They bought into the whole lie that the bible is the only book you need to read,

and that it is literally true - every word.

When you believe this, you not only guarantee that you will not learn yourself, but will have contempt for those who ARE learned, because they clearly don't follow the bible and only the bible.

[LiberalLoner]

25. Oh, thanks! That's an idea I hadn't thought about before! n/t

[Warpy]

19. They're frightened

because they know their lack of education puts them at a disadvantage in all aspects of life.

They don't like being frightened (who does?) and that makes them strike back at the people they blame for it, people who have the advantage.

Thus, hate.

[LiberalLoner]

27. Oh, that makes sense. I feel bad for them now, it must be an awful feeling to be in that position.

I just had thought, my reading a book doesn't hurt anyone, why do they hate me for it? But if my habit of reading gives me advantages in life they don't have, then there would be jealousy, and jealousy leads to hate for sure.

[CountAllVotes]

60. hate and fear

I do believe you nailed it (throw in envy and jealousy and wow, you've really got it defined).

:kick:

[JerseygirlCT]

154. There you go. That's what I tried to say below

You said it better, I think.

[QC]

21. Lots of educated people are mean as hell.

DU reminds us of that every day.

[OHdem10]

23. They are aware of their own "inadquacies" and feel threatened by

anything or anyone different from themselves. These feelings
of inferiority(which they can never admit or disclose) drives
them to lash out at those whom they perceive as different.

IMO, in certain areas Politicians have perpetuated this
by pandering to them rather than taking the time to diplomatically
try to bring all groups (educated and not so educated together)
How many Politicians and Pundits right now poke fun at the
educated by joking about the "eggheads"? How many Politicians
and pundits wax eloquently about the "authentic" candidate
implying an educated person can never be authentic???
(Remember John Kerry)

It is called Divide and Conquer. Use a Dark Populism (Wedge
Issues and Hate)--keep the ignorant ignorant and win elections.

[LiberalLoner]

33. Thanks for this reply! Makes sense. I have always wondered why

politicians and some other people put down people who had an education. I didn't see why it should be a bad thing to go to school and to try to learn. In fact I think a lot of times it's a good thing. I'd rather go to a doctor who has gone to medical school than one who dropped out of school in the 6th grade and never picked up a book beyond that.

I just never understood why learning was a bad thing. And when I'd ask my relatives why learning was something to be made fun of, they'd just ignore my question. And then I'd ask, if learning is so bad, why do you whip me if I don't get good grades in school? And they wouldn't answer that one either.

So it's been something I've been wondering about for such a long time, nearly all my life.

Divide and conquer, fear, and jealousy. It makes sense to me now.

[HughMoran]

29. Anti-intellectual populism taking advantage of their feeling of powerlessness and jealousy

It's manipulation of the low-information voter masses at it's finest, disguised as a grass roots movement. I think it's also known as 'astroturf' ;)

[Walk away]

31. I have met many wonderful people without formal educations.

My younger brother has a PhD from one of the best schools in the country and every Sunday he plays checkers and talks with a gentleman he met while volunteering at a soup kitchen in Trenton. He has become a good friend to our entire family and despite never getting past the sixth grade, he is wise and kind and a great story teller. He has seen life from a perspective that my pre teen nieces have learned so much from. His reading and spelling skills may not compare to yours but then my brother's make mine look rudimentary.

[LiberalLoner]

38. He sounds like a wonderful person! n/t

[eShirl]

41. +1

[Jamastiene]

32. By thinking that way, I think you are limiting yourself.

My grandmother only had a sixth grade education and she was definitely not hateful. She was well read and had more intelligence than you would expect. If she was alive today, she would lay waste of your argument in no time flat and she would do it with a smile. You would still like her when she finished too.

Actually, you would like her even more after she finished. She just had that way about her. She was a lifelong Democrat and accepted and loved my gay aunt when she came out way back in the 1950s in the rural south. She was definitely before her time. She barely made $350 a month in the 1980s. Yet, she still found a way to feed any poor, hungry kids, regardless of race, in the neighborhood if she noticed them.

You are close to right in a way though, because the problem with those hateful people you are talking about is willful ignorance. Their education level can be anywhere from no formal training to a doctorate. The difference is that the hateful ones refuse to learn anything they do not agree with.

They are willfully ignorant and proud of it.

They are just looking for an enemy. They have problems in their lives. So, like many people, they blame entire groups of people they barely know for their problems.

It is a classic divide and conquer strategy that has been used by rulers for centuries. Keep the citizenry fighting amongst themselves and they won't fight the rulers.

Why do you think any government form you ever fill out asks about your race, gender, age, hair color, eye color, and various other differentiating factors?

We are merely numbers to them, but they want us to constantly keep thinking about what divides us as opposed to what brings us together. It keeps us from going after them in any effective way when the corruption gets too widespread in our government. It has always worked and it still continues to work.

So, it wouldn't hurt you to think about this in a different way. It is not the education level. It is the willful ignorance that is the problem.

[LiberalLoner]

40. Wow, this post gives me a lot to think about! I think you are right on the mark. rop

Your grandmother sounds like such a wonderful person. I know that God will have high rewards in heaven for her, for all she has done to bring love and light into the world! :)

[Mopar151]

106. You said it very well.

The third and fourth paragraphs clearly express the lessons your grandmother taught you. I was talking to my friend about common sense the other day. The way I explained it:"Common sense is common to you because you were raised with it. You were brought up by parents who understood logic and how to use it, even if they did'nt know all the fancy names for it. If you were brought up by people who were only trying to win arguments, by any logic they could piece together , then you would be as dumb as_____ _______."

[FedUpWithIt All]

115. Your grandmother would be proud.

Very nicely put.

[Dora]

136. Thank you for saying this. Well put! nt

[Prism]

179. +1

Perfectly stated.

[damntexdem]

34. They may be educated, but they didn't learn anything.

And that made them hateful.

Or maybe hateful people are resistant to being educated.

[eShirl]

35. Do they hate GWB?

technically, a well-educated man

[LiberalLoner]

42. That's true. No, they like him. I don't get it.. n/t

[CountAllVotes]

37. jealousy; envy, etc.

that is what a lot of it is I believe. I remember going to my "new" job after I got out of graduate school. I had more education than anyone working in the place and that included my boss.

They hated me right straight off because I have this education which took me years to obtain and no one can take away from me.

Not only were they jealous and envious of me, they were also afraid of me - afraid that I might take their job away from them should cuts happen in the future.

That said, I wish I'd never taken that crappy job. I suffered a lot of personal grief because I had more to offer than the others working there plain and simple and they knew it and they couldn't stand that fact!

They were a bunch of ignorant fools is what they were in hindsight. However, at the time it was a living hell. :(

:dem:

[LiberalLoner]

44. I'm sorry you went through that. :( That's what I meant by my post, not understanding why someone

would hate me right from the start just because I like to read. I'm average and not especially well-educated but just because I like to read, some people hate me. And I never used to understand that.

[CountAllVotes]

53. believe me it was awful

I never felt hated in the work place before I had this degree. The job I had before the one I mention was the same thing - I had just obtained said degree while working at a part-time job that paid about $700.00 a month.

They hated me there too. I never thought that the education would buy me something called hate, envy and jealousy all rolled up into one neat little package. It really did suck and I am glad that I no longer have to work these types of jobs to simply exist.

I obtained my education because I wanted it plain and simple. I wasn't expecting to get some big hot job right away although the hope was there. I was almost 40 years old by the time I got into that job I mention and I was told I was "too old" to move up in the workplace.

I swear, can't win it seems. When I was young, I was too young and had no education. Now I am too old and have too much. :shrug:

:dem: :kick:

[LiberalLoner]

57. Life is so dam* hard. :( I always wish for better. I'm glad you don't have to

be in those places anymore.

I understand a little bit because I was treated badly by a few men while I was in uniform (raped by one fellow LT for instance.) Not all the soldiers were like that, but a few people like that can sure ruin your day.

[CountAllVotes]

65. me too

I'm glad I don't have to be in places like that anymore too.

However, the card I was dealt to replace it with is far worse, but it is the only card I have left in the deck it seems.

That card is one called poor health. I wonder if they are still jealous? I couldn't imagine rejoicing over the fact that a co-worker gets diagnosed with a horrific illness, however they seemed like they were happy about it as their great THREAT was suddenly gone! :grr:

It just proves that ignorance really is bliss. :puke:

:dem:

[LiberalLoner]

67. Oh, man, I'm so sorry. Said a prayer for your health. How awful that they were glad. I

don't understand how a person can be glad over another person's misfortune.

No, strike that. There was a girl who was my step-Aunt for a year, who bullied me mercilessly physically and mentally (we were both 17) and when I found out later she had had a pretty hard life in some ways (due to her mean personality) I felt glad when I heard it. So I guess I have that hatefulness in me, too.

But I don't understand having hate for someone who never hurt me. But I guess that's what people on this thread are trying to show me, that some of the people think that because we like to read, we ARE hurting them.

I'm just sorry for what you went through and I'm sorry for your health problems. Mother nature sucks if you ask me. :(

[Manifestor_of_Light]

188. You go to school to improve yourself and they hold it against you.

I hear you.

People are afraid of someone who worked hard in school and got a college education. It takes discipline and study. Even if it was in an "easy" major, it probably took a lot of work (with the possible exception of education degrees--the people I have seen with education degrees, including Ed.D.s, struck me as quite stupid).

So I got a BA in a difficult science discipline and got a Juris Doctor, a law degree, which is basically 90 semester hours of PURE HELL. It's about three times harder than college, which is saying something. I got both my degrees from highly regarded private schools that were difficult.

So did either degree ever get me a job??? No. Not one single job. That's 10 years of college wasted, as far as economic benefit. I'm glad I went because of the things I learned.

I got a grand total of ONE job interview to be a legal assistant in 2 and a half years of looking, with a J.D. I have spent my entire working career in the legal profession as a legal secretary and court reporter (another difficult job that completely fried my brain and made me hate the legal profession).

No, a court reporter who has a bachelor's degree is a threat. And one who has a law degree is really to be shunned as trying to be better than just a secretary.

I'm so glad I said FUCK THE JOB MARKET and was able to retire and spend my time gardening. It keeps me sane.

[Oregone]

39. Education is not a panacea

There are plenty of people out there with MBAs who impart far more malignant effects on the world than ignorant weekend teabaggers. We are just dealing with a bunch of confused generalizations here.

Why do some pursue higher education in the arts? Are they different types of people to begin with, who seek further enrichment? Or does some type of accidental enrichment instantly change them into accepting people? Chicken, or egg?

In the meantime, posts like this come off as elitist

[LiberalLoner]

45. Hmmm...good points....n/t

[The2ndWheel]

43. That's diversity for you

It can be quite messy.

[OnyxCollie]

46. Their ignorance makes them highly susceptible to propaganda.

The propaganda convinces them that those who speak against the goals stated in the propaganda are wrong and will cause them harm.

[LiberalLoner]

50. That makes sense. It's normal to hate someone you think will harm you. n/t

[OnyxCollie]

56. Sure. Take "socialism," for example.

Could any teabagger coherently explain socialism? No. They're terrified of it, though.

Why is that? Because there is no prominent socialist party in the US to tell them what socialism is. There's plenty of capitalist enablers on television, radio, and in newspapers to convince them it's bad, however.

[LiberalLoner]

47. I guess what I never understood before was why some people decide ahead of time to hate

whole groups of people. I never understood why my Godfather hates all blacks and Jews and really anyone who is not a WASP male. I never understood why some men in the Army hated me just because I was a woman in uniform. And I never understood why some people hated me because I liked to read.

[northoftheborder]

48. ignorant/lack of education characteristics

I have noticed over the years that people who have not gone past high school (generally) are more interested with gossip, trivialities, and are easily swayed by demagoguery. The rigor of reading and studying material that is new, some perhaps that is boring to an individual, but necessary to know for a complete education, they have not experienced. In college, especially if a student goes out of state, and perhaps has an opportunity to travel out of the country, is going to have a broader view of the world, and of the complications of opinion. There are always some people who are smart, and for various reasons do not have the privilege of a higher education, but nevertheless who continue to read, to think, to find out things to enlarge their base of knowledge. But generally, in my experience, those of lesser education are preoccupied with their immediate group and community, and are easily swayed by people such as Limbaugh, Palin, religious leaders, who are passionate, but not grounded in facts, who are idealogues. And their minds just absorb what they hear, because they have not learned the discipline of assessing the facts.

Not everyone is able to go to higher institutions, and not all should, but all should be challenged in high school with intellectual arguments. Our public schools, and private, are really falling down on their jobs in not teaching even the subject matter, but also logical thought and argument.

[la_chupa]

49. people fear what they don't understand

and they also feel like if you have an education then you think you're better than they are.

Maybe the hate is preemptive.

I think that the intelligentsia makes the mistake of discounting those without a formal education though. My grandfather forgot more than I'll ever know about making things grow. He was a farmer who would be ashamed of what I call my plant cemetery. Damnitall this is THE year I get enough tomatoes to can, I'm just sure of it.

What confuses me is that people like the teabagger set will buy hook, line, and sinker as it were the total BS coming from the likes of Limburger and the other hacks on wide right talk radio but then be so so suspicious of facts that are slapping them in the face.

[LiberalLoner]

52. Yes, that is what confuses me too! They hate regular doctors for instance (my relatives I mean)

but believe with religious fervor in any quack that comes along with any preposterous theory.

Growing up I just figured there was something wrong with me because I wasn't like my parents. I thought maybe I was insane or stupid because I didn't see things as they did.

[la_chupa]

my dad spent some crazy amount of money for pomegranate juice

It was supposed to be some magic cure-all.

oh but global warming is a myth

jeez

[LiberalLoner]

93. Yeah, sounds like my older relatives. Maybe they like that stuff because the quacks

tell them what they want to hear - that if they just do this or that, they will never get sick or die. I can understand about wanting something other than what reality provides. I do that myself sometimes. I always want better than what the world gives.

[opihimoimoi]

51. Hate is a good escape for this group....its so easy to Bait and Hate

lacking cognizant skills in civics, they undermine Progress and stifle opposing views while clinging to Bullyesque ways...such as INTIMIDATION ANGER aand OBSTRUCTUREISM

They will be TOAST in NOV

[AuntPatsy]

55. Because they are told to, your right in that many of them have problems with reading comprehension

which is why the media was bought by the criminals, this ensures their crimes never become visible to the average citizen, they have become nothing more than a source of propaganda and sadly it is not only the media that is being used to ensure people with reading comprehension problems never understand the full truth of what is exactly going on in our country today but Church's and their leaders are in my opinion just as guilty for using the same technique which ensures people remain ignorant of the truth...

And your right, it is not only about racism and yet racism is far to huge a lure in society still today to simply ignore its usage when attempting to ensure such a vast take over of a countries wealth and it's people, after all, to honestly prosper one finds slaves to be more than beneficial and as history has proven in the past slaves were never meant to prosper with the chosen ones since those chosen honestly have no wish to share..

the problem becomes who exactly are the chosen ones and whom does the chosing...when people have time to wonder than that is when revolts become a threat, and how to stop revolts from the slaves? Well, put fear into them through the means of loud and memorizing individuals and ensure they forever lack the means and intelligence needed to realize that they are fearing the wrong people and in doing so are ensuring they forever remain the slaves of the very ones who are the true threat to their very existance...

Far too many simply do not have the time or want to read the news that matters, it becomes boring and repetitive to the average citizen, we in effect have been programmed to thrive on drama like settings and their is nothing quite so dramatic in watching court room settings of our law makers pretending to do the job they were hired to do...

How many people honestly would sit for hours and listen to the senate, congress and those that decide our everyday lives without changing the channel? And in doing so, by changing that channel, they fail to hear exactly what was being said, they failed to hear the truth, so they figure they will simply turn on the news later and get a bit of update on what when on when in fact, the media will never give them what they need to hear...

Many known this already and just don't care...that is the real problem...until they themselves feel a hit or begin to hurt they will ignore those that have already felt the cold dead reality of a government attempting to become a dictatorship where the wealth remains with the top then while the bottom ninety are left with nothing more than a few mere crumbs to be split up, and that is when they fighting begins, most people just hate to share...

They don't hate you for having had a good education, most could care less, most survive just fine without having gone to college and the like, they hate because they are told to hate , they hate you because someone told them that you took more than your share of the crumbs they have been living off for some time, they don't want to share and someone told them that you took more than your share all the while forgetting that we no longer live in a country where royalty will always have the larger share...

Programming is far easier than one might realize, you can be programmed to think, feel and act a certain way without even realizing that it has happened to you...the cure? Do not count on the media talking heads, your local church leaders, your local and or national government leading personal to ever be honest with you that in the end..they want what you have..and they want you to give it to them willingly, they want to ensure you believe that you have no other choice but to give while they sit back and continue to take take take...

Its all about role playing...and in the end...it's about deciding who has won the certain roles, will yours be one of the major players or will you become nothing more than a background prop....

we do have choices..if more people made the right ones perhaps the media would return to real news reporting instead of focusing on the sensationalism which works to keep the eyes of the people focused on the front door while the criminals continue to take the loot out the back door in effect ensuring this countries downfall is not only a threat but a reality as well....

[LiberalLoner]

62. The fight is always between the haves who want everything and the have nots who want to survive...

I'm always on the side of the have-nots. It's a weird feeling to think maybe some of the have-nots would be seeing me as one of the haves. I guess I never thought of myself as a have. Most of my life I've been so poor, worked more than one job usually. I did okay in the Army but even then I was working pretty hard, 12 hour days were the norm. I never felt like a have, I always felt like a have-not trying to get some crumbs.

[AuntPatsy]

95. Its strange but for the average citizen they are used to seeing the haves have it all,

what it boils down to is that a few in this country, the have nots are fighting the only ones they can get close to, and I have no doubt some see you as one who has regardless of how you got what you have and as you are not a star, a celebrity, a television personality you become their target simply because your easier to access, your easier to get angry at and your easier to shower that anger on..

we have become a country of people who have lost the ability to realize what is more important....too many have become lost in the need to have the latest tech-no toy in their home arsenal instead of trying to find a way to use your time and energies in a more personal way like perhaps donating not only your funds but your time as well in helping the less fortunate......

But then again, who has time these days?

They are winning this war and it was easier than they thought it would be....

[madmom]

59. Um, I am a high school graduate (nothing more), my hubby quite school in 11 grade,

my mother and father both didn't go beyond 8th grade. We are ALL staunch democrats and humanitarians. On the other hand, I have several nieces and nephews who are college educated and are the most right wing, "I got mine fuck you" people in the world. So it goes to show everyone, broad brushing makes your argument week!

[CountAllVotes]

66. broad brushing makes your argument week

N/T

[LiberalLoner]

68. No, I should know better than to generalize. It was wrong of me. I know there are

so many people who haven't been able to go to school, who are wonderful people. I can see from the threads people have written, that many people without a formal education have the light in them, and love, and spread that in the world for the benefit of us all.

I just...I was talking about the experiences I had with my family of origin. But I grew up in a sort of defective family with lots of addiction problems. That probably gave me a very skewed perspective on the world in many ways. And when I see teabaggers on TV and on the internet with some of those hateful signs I just think they are like my relatives. And I was trying to figure out why some people are that way.

I was wrong to broad-brush this. I see that now. I should have just asked, why are my relatives like this? It would have been better for me to say it that way.

[madmom]

101. I respect you reasoning, I too have relatives that are like that. I see it a lot. But I

just wanted to point out all is not what it seems on the outside.:toast:

[LiberalLoner]

113. Thank you. :) That's how I know I'm not very smart, because most of the time

I don't see my own blind spots until someone points them out and alot of times I don't know what I don't know until someone points it out to me.

A lot of the world around me confuses me, and always has. I could never understand why my parents would keep drinking when every morning they were so sick from drinking. It never made sense to me. Now I've learned some things about addiction, and I always watch Intervention because I'm hungry to understand more about what I grew up seeing, but even so I'm still kind of confused by it. And so many things are like that for me. I look around me and there are a lot of things I don't understand.

[madmom]

164. It is when we stop questioning and stop trying to understand, that we

become one of those who think they are the superior ones. There are never stupid questions, only stupid answers. ;)

[FedUpWithIt All]

111. Thank you for this.

It is difficult when one has struggles in life that have led to a less than stellar education. It becomes even more difficult when lack of an education is unblinkingly grouped with intolerance, violence, covetousness and narrow or even backward thinking. It happens everyday.

Cruel and closed minded people come from all walks of life and tolerant kind souls do as well.

I appreciate your clarification here.

[Codeine]

83. Douchey response. nt

[madmom]

102. I realized I made a spelling error but my edit time was up. I was also

trying to fix lunch and a few other things while typing. So I'm not perfect. Makes my point for me.:shrug:

[CountAllVotes]

103. never mind

my apologies. :)

[madmom]

107. Accepted, thank you!

:pals:

[CountAllVotes]

192. ...

:blush: :hug: :D

[The Straight Story]

145. You mean 'weak'? ;) (nt)

[madmom]

158. Thank you, yes I saw that and was to late to edit.

[The Straight Story]

160. You mean 'too late'?

:rofl: just having fun :)

[madmom]

169. LOL duh! I usually get on my kids for these stupid mistakes, just goes to show

you everyone has a bad (spelling) day. ;-)

LOL.. OMG.... I spelled spelling wrong! I quit.

[JerseygirlCT]

155. I think the modern conservatives might be split there

there's the "I got mine" GOP, and the paranoid tea partiers. The GOP is absolutely trying to use them, and the TPs have absolutely infiltrated the old guard of the Republican party. But I think they really differ in outlook.

[Igel]

70. There are good reasons.

Oddly most "critical thinkers" above seem to settle on reasons that say, essentially, "They're bad, evil, stupid, immoral, inferior, unthinking cretins who blindly hate good, righteous, intelligent, moral, superior, thinking Brights like myself."

Thus showing that stupidity and ignorance isn't just for the stupid and ignorant.

Here are some.

Education is tied to income. Most of us can understand envying people better off. Many of us want to tax, humiliate, and even imprison people that we think have ill-gotten riches. (But we have the real, apparently true Scottish, reasons that justify that envy.)

Education is often tied to social acceptance. I've seen people that were fairly well off with little formal education. As soon as it's out that they don't have a degree, society splits: the boot-strappers applaud him, but those with education, esp. Ivy Leagers and top-tier graduates assume it's all a horrible mistake. (*They* should have the money and acclaim.) Some things, like sports and music, are allowed to have idiots. Or used to be. Now musicians, like actors, are nearly holy philosophers when they echo what we already know.

Education, like money, is tied to arrogance. Many people with lots of degrees (like many people with lots of money) are arrogant. They know better. They're superior. They're Enlightened and Wise and Knowing. Hence, when they patronize and are condescending to the lesser beings that they need to interact with, who can blame them? Of course, there are the Blessed Victims (for those on the left). You can be an absolute dolt but if you're in a protected class you're blessed. It's rather like being an endangered species--you're a pet, of sorts, or make enigmatic pronouncements to be properly interpreted as saying how good the Enlightened are, or at least how bad the enemies of the Enlightened are.

Along with that arrogance goes a modified version of divine right to rule. If you're educated, you not only can properly order your own affairs, but are in a unique position to properly order others' affairs. In fact, it's a kind of right. Many object when one like themselves dares to actually achieve power. They don't have the received wisdom necessary, and really and properly need to turn to us. Yes, it's arrogance, but arrogance in a corner is much less offensive than arrogance that pats the top of your head, and that, in turn, is less offensive than the arrogance that requires you live your life in a certain way.

Now, conservatives of yore were no less of a problem. They just had different bases for their divine right. Instead of resting one's claim to govern on letters after your name and years spent in school they rested their claim to control people's lives on some sort of posited morality (however defined). On average they were no less totalitarian, no less intrusive, no less arrogant, and no less stupid, and no more democratic or republican than any other kind of wannabe despots. They were just different.

Of course, this kind of moral relativism says that essentially we hate them for just about the same kinds of reasons (mutandis mutandum) they hate us.

What's really appalling is when you get some kid in a sociology program college assuming that he goven from a throne consisting of his future laurels, or even somebody whose reading of a few blogs and adoption of the correct cant provides a sufficient dais.

[LiberalLoner]

74. I see what you are saying, I think. I see it in myself, that I DO look down on the

people who are the teabaggers holding those signs. And you're right, I never thought of it before, but my attitude is just as hateful and wrong. This has been a good thread for me to learn a few things.

[NeedleCast]

71. Fear

They fear what is not like them.

[4lbs]

73. It's a pretty linear path.

Being uneducated means you are less knowledgeable about many things.

Not knowing of something that well leads to fear of the unknown.

Fear of the unknown leads to hatred and anger.

Stressful events cause the hatred and anger to be amplified and occur more quickly. Such as a deep recession where there is large unemployment and foreclosures, coupled with steep losses in retirement accounts.

If President Obama had been elected during the boom 90's, most of those teabaggers would be too busy browsing through their IKEA catalogs and living out their "single-serving" lives to notice.




That last tidbit was a nod to "Fight Club". ;)

[LiberalLoner]

It makes sense that hard times brings out more fear and hate. I remember reading about

the Weimar Republic and the economic problems the Germans had between the end of WWI and the start of WWII. The economic distress and the humiliation of losing a war were part of the reasons Hitler rose to power. That and the abusive child-rearing practices of that time that apparently led to a higher percentage of high-authoritarian people in the population.
I don't have a good feeling about the future. I think things will get much harder over the next few decades or so. I worry we might have a nightmare like they did in Germany.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

189. There are some very true statements in Fight Club.

My kid made me watch it and at first I didn't understand it. Now I realize it's about nihilism and realizing that buying stuff at IKEA is not fulfilling.

Also, the equation about the cost of a dead person in a plane crash versus the cost of keeping the plane maintained is an eye-opener, if you don't work in the legal profession (like I did).

[Arkansas Granny]

76. They don't necessarily hate people with an education, they just seem to hate

anyone who doesn't agree with their narrow, bigotted opinions. An educated, well-read individual is more likely to have a liberal mindset, which makes them perfect targets for the scorn of teabaggers.

[LiberalLoner]

84. Oh, that's true! n/t

[paparush]

78. Maybe anger is the physical manifestation of underlying fear?

The Repubs are fear masters. Instilling fear and saying NO is really all they do.

[LiberalLoner]

85. It does seem like they promote fear on Faux news, for sure. n/t

[salguine]

79. It's self-hatred turned outward.

[LiberalLoner]

88. That's an interesting idea...rop

My father was always awful around small children. Abusive to them, beating them, molesting them, lots of emotional abuse. I could never understand what I did as a kid to deserve that. And no matter how hard I tried to be a good kid and make him happy, I couldn't avoid the abuse.

But he was abused horribly and not given what he needed food-wise etc. as a small child. I finally figured out he hates children because he hated his own powerlessness as a child.

It helped me to understand him better. It still sucked to grow up with that crap though.

[dembotoz]

80. people live in fear

If you don't have much you can become afraid someone will take what they have away.
This recession has not been kind to a whole buch of people.
Folks lose their jobs, homes, way of life.

Saw an earlier post that cited some study that said ecconomic downturns produce backlash like groups
like the teabaggers.

If you are low on money you do not want to share anything.
To share is the basis of progressive thought
Feed the hungry
shelter the homeless
care for the sick.

[LiberalLoner]

90. They are scared they will have stuff taken from them. But I always think progressives want to make

life better for people who don't have much. I guess they don't think progressives will do that.

[Ganja Ninja]

82. I'm more puzzled at how people with professional degrees like doctors and engineers can ...

become teabaggers. You would think the highly educated couldn't be sucked in by idiots like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh yet I see it every day.

[LiberalLoner]

92. Oh, we have some friends like that, I don't understand that at all either! The only thing I can

think is that they identify with billionaires. I think deep down they think they ARE rich or WILL BE rich and so they identify with the ruling party.

But I think, anyone who works for a living will probably never be part of the ruling class.

[Codeine]

87. Plenty of ignorance on view across the political spectrum.

Look at any science-oriented thread here at DU and you'll see that.

There are also a great many less-educated folks on this board who have rhetorical and logic skills far surpassing your own. A college education is not indicative of anything beyond just that -- a college education. One can have a degree and still be sub-literate and dumber than dogshit, just as one can be a high school dropout with a wide knowledge base and a keen, inquisitive intellect.

[LiberalLoner]

97. That's true! Oh, I know there are many smarter people here than me, believe me, LOL. Maybe you

didn't see my reply where I said I only had a BA and have never seen myself as a smart person.

[tammywammy]

123. + 1 n/t

[stanwyck]

91. I'm an education bigot.

And I don't mean formal education exclusively. Plenty of people who didn't go to college educate themselves beyond those with formal education. The difference is frame of reference. Those with narrow frames of reference: haven't traveled much, don't know people of different races, religions, and haven't read much, haven't been exposed to diverse literature and art, and tend to be more rigid. IF the media is "liberal" (and that is debatable), ask yourself "why"? And why are professors viewed as liberal? Or entertainers? Or artists? Maybe because their frame of reference is much wider -- their life experiences.
And, conservatives, please explain WHY blue states score so much higher on standardized tests? yes, I know standardized tests aren't the end all of intelligence or education. However, they are AN indicator.

And, no, it's not race or private education (explanations I've been told). The top states are urban and diverse. More so than the "red" western states.

I mean, look at this chart! And explain to this education bigot the error of my ways.

Thanks.


http://chrisevans3d.com/files/iq.htm

[Orsino]

94. Real education involves walking at least a quarter-mile in others' shoes...

...thereby reducing or eliminating hatreds.

[skygazer]

96. Maybe because of people who make sweeping generalizations about them?

Assuming that because they lack education or a skilled job, they are ignorant and not worthy of being listened to. Maybe because some of the educated divide people into "us" and "them" categories and poke fun at their poor grammar, or lack of spelling skills, or their dress. Maybe because educated people on message boards post "funny" pictures featuring barefoot people in ragged clothes with few teeth having shotgun weddings.

I don't defend the teabaggers' notions but it has always disturbed me to see the bias accorded to the poor or uneducated on this board. Until the fortunate educated elite accept the poor, uneducated and downtrodden as fellow human beings worthy of being embraced in society rather than ridiculed and scorned, there will be a huge schism between the classes that will play out in hate and fear.

I don't see that happening any time soon.

[hugo_from_TN]

98. Why are people that aren't rich so hateful & jealous toward rich people.

The reasons are similar.

[LiberalLoner]

100. It was easy for me to understand that, because I could see early on that

a lot of people were never going to be able to get that big fancy house or live like the rich and famous do. I could understand envy.

I just never understood why people would be mad or envious of someone picking up a book and reading when they could pick up a book too if they wanted to.

It just confused me a lot when I was growing up because they told me to stay in school and study hard but at the same time my relatives always put down college professors and even grade school teachers, just anyone who like to read it seemed to me. And it didn't make any sense to me why they'd say on the one hand that learning was bad and to be made fun of, but still insist that I go to school.

[NNN0LHI]

104. I know many college educated hateful people

They are book smart but when it goes beyond that they tend to be about as smart as a bag of hammers.

Don

[haele]

105. Uneducated or willfully ignorant? big difference. Ignorance isolates.

People who are ignorant by choice (either through inclination or priority) tend to fear what they don't know or are jealous of what they feel they can't acheive - or don't have the opportunity to acheive. Both feelings tend to lead to hateful or spiteful behavior based on the precieved isolation of the person who is ignorant - another reason why ignorant people try to insure those around them remain ignorant.
YMMV, but for most people, it takes a lot of courage and positive re-enforcmentto overcome that sort of fear and jealousy.
Haele

[NM_hemilover]

108. I've read thru a lot of the responses to your post,

as well as the responses you have offered back.

I'm not sure reading books is the reason some people hate you. Read the P.S. of your post, essentially saying that the world will be a better place when the un-educated die off, and that it's unfortunate all those uneducated simpletons have muddied the waters for those of us with an education.

I really don't know if you are as educated as you would like people to believe, but I can relay a life experience. I have my papers from ASU, (93') along with some wonderful memories of friends still in my life as well as some I haven't seen in years, and may never see again.

Friends from my areas of study, as well as a fair diversity from other interests. I also remember a sufficient number of, holier than thou douche bags, and fellow students who were destined to be adult versions of collegiate butt-holes. A college degree doesn't guarantee a socially educated person. The world is full of educated and uneducated idiots pointing fingers at each other.

[LiberalLoner]

114. I know there are good people who haven't gone to school, but yes I will be glad when the racists die

and the people who hate women and the people who think children are only good for raping. I will be glad if we ever have a world free of those people.

No, not all uneducated people are like that.

[LiberalLoner]

116. Not all uneducated people are like that...but

the ones I knew in my family were. And I'll say it right here, again - I will be glad when those people are dead.

Some of them are already dead. And yes I was glad to see them go.

Does that make me hateful? I guess it does.

[LiberalLoner]

119. And when I see the teabaggers with racist signs, I think

"those people are just like my family." It's an assumption I shouldn't have made, but, I made it.

[LiberalLoner]

121. Oh, and no one has actually told ME they resent my reading. What I've seen

has been when I am with friends of my family who assume I am like them and don't read. Because they think I am just like they are, they feel free to make fun of people who read books and who have gone to school.

I sit there and don't say a word in defense of my own reading habit. I just smile and nod. Just like I do when they make racist, misogynistic, homophobic statements. Or when they make statements about how much they hate Democrats. I just sit there and let them think I am one of them, because I don't like conflict. Just like I give my Dad and brother a big hug and smile and don't say one word about them having raped me repeatedly as a young child. I play "nice" you understand.

But I walk away always wondering WHY they hate those groups of people.

Today I learned a few reasons why.

And I haven't actually run into any of those people outside my alcholic family and their alcoholic friends, who sit around in the bars in Montana having these kinds of conversations.

None of the military families I know disparage education or reading. In fact, the Army is pretty strongly supportive of learning in all its forms.

So I guess the only people I've seen like this have been my family, their drinking buddies back in Montana, and, from what I can tell, many of the teabaggers on TV.

[LiberalLoner]

124. And this thread is old, so I'm talking to myself, and you'll never see my replies.

That's okay. Doesn't matter.

[raccoon]

194. I'm sorry that happened to you.

I suspect if you & I were to compare notes, we'd find our childhoods were similar in lots of ways.

:hug:

[lumberjack_jeff]

183. You need to work on your own bigotry. n/t

[NM_hemilover]

125. Let me see if I follow,

you went from asking why un-educated people seem to hate educated, book reading people, to being glad when child rapers, women haters and racists die ?

You missed my point. But I can agree with you that child rapers deserve to die,...... however women haters and racists only deserve hard labor in my opinion.

[LiberalLoner]

129. I re-read my posts and I think I see what you picked up on...

there is a whole lot of anger and hate in that post of mine. And I'll tell you, it's not against all people without a degree...it's really against my family of origin. I carry anger inside every day because of what they did to me for so many years. There's so much anger in me sometimes I really used to think I'd end up one of those crazy people who was a suicide bomber or something. It's anger that doesn't have any place to go, so it just burns inside.

And when I see people who remind me of my family of orgin - and the teabaggers I've seen on TV remind me of them, as do the child molesters on TV, the wife beaters on the Cops shows, etc. - I see red. I get so mad I feel as if I could kill someone or lots of someones. I think I'm not completely sane. In fact I know I'm not, I've been diagnosed with severe PTSD from what I went through as a kid. I'll never be well.

Anyway I see what you are saying, that anger and hatefulness came out in the post. Because when I see the teabaggers, the signs that have been posted on the internet, I see my family. Then all that anger and hate come out.

But no one could know that, they'd read my post and think I'm just a hateful person who looks down on people who didn't go to college. I'm not, I mean I don't look down on people just because of that, but I am hateful when I see people that remind me of my family. I don't see them anymore - I see my family instead of them.

So I can see why people were pretty mad at me for the post. I keep doing that, I keep fighting the same fight over and over and I can never win because the fight is in the past.

But I do carry that anger and hate inside of me. I guess it came out in the posts here.

I want you to know though that I try not to be hateful person. I don't always succeed I guess.

[LiberalLoner]

131. Anyway I'm sorry. I shouldn't have posted the way I did. And I know

there are good people of my parent's generation who don't hurt children and don't drink all the time. Sometimes I just forget the whole world isn't like them. I really came across as a snot in my posts and I'm sorry.

[NM_hemilover]

151. No need to be sorry ;)

I don't have any life altering trauma in my past, so I don't want to sound preachy about things I know nothing about. There are good and bad people of every generation, there always will be.

However
I am obnoxious enough to suggest that you think a little deeper before you spit out "why do the uneducated hate the educated".
"Life is a garden, .....dig it" Joe Dirt

[LiberalLoner]

152. Yeah, I posted without thinking. :( n/t

[NM_hemilover]

156. Something that will help take your mind off troubles ?

BECOME A GIANTS FAN !!!!!!!!!!!! GO BIG BLUE !!!!!!!!!!!

We will need all the help we can get ! ;) take care

[LiberalLoner]

157. LOL :) I like the Giants. I don't follow sports much, I guess because I'm not

good at sports myself. I read somewhere that people tend to like sports more when they have some ability at that sport. Plus a lot of times professional athletes get injured and I hate that, I always think people should never get injured just because of a game. I can't watch boxing at all because of that. It makes me wince.

[lumberjack_jeff]

182. uneducated < > racist.

Fail.

You make the disclaimer that not all uneducated people are like that, but obviously enough to validate the broad stereotype.

Ted Kazynski was a PhD.

[CBR]

109. Having a degree doesn't make you special. Not having

a degree doesn't either. People who love to place either group on a pedestal are annoying.

[LiberalLoner]

118. I agree. n/t

[Lydia Leftcoast]

110. They are the mean kids from high school grown up

I've long felt that the reason high school bullies abuse the smart kids is that deep down, they know, that high school is the high point of their lives.

It galls them to see the smart kids that they used to beat up not only succeeding but also using big words.

[Forkboy]

117. I don't know, and that pisses me off!

[nickinSTL]

120. I think it's an inability to think critically

but, I suspect it's not just a matter of education - education can help offset the hate, but that's not the whole story.

In my group of friends (8 people), one has a PhD, one (me) has an MS, two have BAs, the rest have some college, though one of them never officially graduated HS. And we're a highly tolerant, educated group, nonetheless.

However, I have talked with other people - acquaintances - some of whom had college degrees, but who lacked the ability to think critically.

The vague example I can come up with is that they can't distinguish opinion from fact. If they have an idea, and you come along and provide factual evidence to the contrary - rather than doing what I would do, and examine the facts and determine whether the facts do, in fact, contravene my position, and if so, I would change my position.

They seem unable to go through this process. Instead, they don't see the facts as being any more valid than their opinion. Instead of evaluating the facts to determine if they are valid, if you tell them they are wrong, they feel like they're being personally attacked, and that you believe your opinion is more important than theirs.

I suspect it is this same kind of failure to engage in critical thinking that allows so many people to accept whatever is told to them, whether by their churches or FoxNews.

Is it a matter of education? Perhaps in some cases, but there are educated people who also do not have the ability to think critically, so that's not the entire answer.

[LiberalLoner]

122. Thank you for this - I've seen this, too! And with people with various

levels of education, just like you have seen. I wonder what causes people to be unable to go through the process you describe? I wonder if they are punished as children for questioning opinions from their elders, or something like that?

[happy_liberal]

175. nailed it!!

:applause:

[kgnu_fan]

126. This country create "class" division - it is called Capitalism which feeds on hate

It all works out for the rich and educated. For the educated and not so rich (or educated and rich but with conscience) have to decide which side they stand for. Classic dilemma.

[LiberalLoner]

135. I think I hate capitalism. n/t

[tammywammy]

127. Why are so many educated people elite know it alls?

BTW, broad brush statements make you look like a dumbass, regardless of your education level.

[LiberalLoner]

132. Yeah, they do. I screwed up in my thinking there. n/t

[glinda]

128. Anger at anything that challenges their only bit of values left.

[Cal Carpenter]

130. Why are so many educated people so arrogant?

ROFL.

Just because one's hatred is masked in patronizing condescension rather than cuss words doesn't make it less hateful :shrug:

[treestar]

133. People who don't have an education and realize it are always sensitive

about it. They are angry that they did not choose to be educated, or could not afford it. They are envious and resent the credit an education may give people.

Then there is mistrust. If they think they are dealing with someone who knows more than they do, there is a risk they can be fooled.

[kgnu_fan]

134. Education does not mean very much in this country - ethic does

[LiberalLoner]

137. Sometimes I think the key to success is just being part of the "in" group and who you know - if you

are born to a wealthy family, I think you have a big advantage over people who are born to the working classes like probably most of us here were.

[kgnu_fan]

139. That is called "Class" but most American people do not know it exists

No, we were taught that there is no "class" in the USA!!!!!!!

[DailyGrind51]

138. Why do ignorant bullies pick on much smarter "nerds"?

People resent what they they don't have and will never achieve.

[dorkulon]

141. It's called an inferiority complex.

Jealousy, resentment. Smart people make stupid people feel stupid. People don't like feeling stupid. It's fairly simple, really.

[AnArmyVeteran]

If ignorance is bliss, why are tea baggers so damned unhappy, angry and violent?

[LiberalLoner]

143. That's how I should have phrased my question. I deserve the flames I got. rop

I should have asked, why are the teabaggers like that, why do they hate experts/education/science, and why is my family and their fellow alcoholics like that? Now I don't mean all alcoholics are like that, I just mean the ones that are friends with my family of origin.

I should have phrased it that way because that's really what I've been wondering.

[AnArmyVeteran]

142. If ignorance is bliss, why are tea baggers so damned unhappy, angry and violent?

[underseasurveyor]

144. Ignorance feeds fear

Education fills that void so that fear of the unknown is replaced with knowledge. Those without educations, I'm guessing, are jealous and/or just plain lazy.

Much easier to sit around and drink Bud and watch cars go around in circles. Oh wait... those cars never go anywhere either. Go fast, turn left. Go fast, turn left:spray:

[LiberalLoner]

146. You know what I don't like about Nascar? rop

I get the feeling most people are watching just because they hope to see a car crash. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's the feeling I get from the people I know who like car racing.

[underseasurveyor]

150. What I call the 'Thunderdome' Mentality

"Two men enter, one man leaves."
Waiting and hoping for mayhem and destruction. I think you're right that that is part of it if not most of it.

Yea sounds like fun to me too./sigh

[kgnu_fan]

148. We need good public education and medical system so that we don't bleed these ignorance

[Posteritatis]

149. I imagine things like your P.S. are part of the cause. (nt)

[JerseygirlCT]

153. My guess would be that some of them at least, fear

that education. They have a sense that someone might be pulling something over on them. They're suspicious and distrustful of people who are not "like them".

Not all, but any means, but I suspect the most out there, vocal and photographed ones fit this...

[shanti]

159. a son of mine

was chastised for going to college to make something of himself, by his (ex) gf's family, instead of working at burger king to support their child. none of her family has an education higher than hs, some less. :(

[LiberalLoner]

163. See, that's the kind of thing that confused me. Couldn't understand it when I saw it, but

now thanks to the DU posters, it makes a little more sense to me now.

[tabasco]

162. Because they are gullible and believe propaganda

that says "it's all THEIR fault!" whoever the object of scorn is for that day, usually liberals.

[GreenTea]

165. Fear -

Republicans talking heads - Limbaugh, Beck, Fox, etc. pound it into them daily, relentlessly.

Republicans constantly feed them the bullshit that Democrats are going to away your guns, minorities are going to take your jobs, illegal aliens are going to be living & getting health care off your taxes, and on & on you know the republicans manipulations.

The uneducated, uninformed people are easy to cater to and believe every word told to them because they are told by the republicans exactly what they want to hear, they are so full of fear - the republican are masters at lying and creating & using that fear....Divide & conquer is how the republican party has always existed.

Republicans the party of elitist the rich and corporations - the republicans despise these same uneducated ignorant peasants they cater to these workers peons will believe every word of FEAR the republican spew out.

Fear = Hate - To the uneducated - the unknown, keep them frightened and they'll do anything you tell them...They are indeed ignorant, stupid & gullible...never researching facts for themselves....they get it from right-wing TV and radio who play into their fears perfectly.

[Gormy Cuss]

166. Maybe it's a direct response to many years taking orders from educated people.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

167. Let me tell you what happened in my little town.

They are bible beaters and probably have an inadequate high school education.

One white woman, neighbor, got the 50 cent tour of my and DH's house.

In the front room I have my old upright piano, my grandmother's Hammond organ and an electronic Kurzweil synthesizer.

So I flip open the lid on the old upright and rip into some Chopin from memory. I took 12 years of piano lessons and 8 years of violin lessons and 2 years of voice lessons.

So what reaction do I get to my spontaneous piano playing???

YOU SHOW OFF!!! :banghead: If she has no respect for the amount of work and patience it takes to become a competent musician, I have no use for her.

I also showed her my Medicine Buddha statue and my Kwan Yin statue on my ancestor altar.
Her reaction was to hold up her forearms in a cross and say "Buddha that's VOODOO!!".
I gave her a five minute lecture about how Buddhism was an ancient and dignified religion, and that Buddha was an enlightened MAN and NOT a God.

Well, she has not been invited back and doesn't know why. She knows she said something wrong but we aren't gonna tell her. We also put up a six foot wooden fence between our lot and hers.
She has a six foot tall wooden cross in her yard. The other day it had a towel on it, and we decided maybe Jesus took a shower and needed some shampoo with "EXTRA BODY".


Another woman who has done some work for us has called me a "smarty-pants" and yet my husband (BS/MS 45 college hours of math) has had to help her oldest kid with Algebra I cuz he doesn't understand it. Seems the whole class is flunking.

If she calls me a smarty-pants again, I am going to confront her about it and ask her what her sons see as her attitude towards educated people, if they hear her call me or my DH that.

[KonaKane]

168. Suspicion of education and intellectualism is central to budding authoritarianism

History is replete with examples. When folksy rightwing movements take over, one of the first groups they go after are them "long hair intellectual types". The irony of this, of course, is that the frightened, undereducated teabaggers say they are anti-authoritarian.

Sure.

[LiberalLoner]

186. True, seems like every dictator always wants to get rid of educated people and education in general

[lumberjack_jeff]

170. Because many educated people are elitists.

Present company excluded... of course.

[KonaKane]

172. What does that mean, exactly?

I've noticed the term "elitist" is bandied around alot as an insult, but not many people know what it means or at least they are not using it contextually. Elitist in what? Their taste in music? Wines? Sports cars?

[lumberjack_jeff]

173. Well for example...

... the belief that uneducated people are lesser beings would qualify as elitist.

But this, apparently, is one of the kinds of -isms that are embraced on DU.

[KonaKane]

176. That's elitist? I'd just call that ignorant.

In order for it to be elitist, the author would have had to believe us reg'lar ol' humans are an elite. It sounded to me like they were lamenting the uneducateds for being "below" the norm.

[lumberjack_jeff]

181. The words? Clearly english.

Perhaps you could rephrase that.

How can it be construed any other way than elitism?

[LiberalLoner]

185. I had assumed the person who posted that was being sarcastic. Maybe I'm mistaken, dunno.

I mean who on earth would believe that people who don't have a degree are lesser just because of that?

[lumberjack_jeff]

191. My history with the poster makes speculation problematic.

I don't know where asshole ends and snark begins.

[LiberalLoner]

187. Sounds like you need to work on YOUR bigotry too. n/t

[lumberjack_jeff]

190. You're arguing that none are?

The difference between you and I is that I don't try to explain my ambivalence toward education snobs as related to my hope that child rapists die.

... but of course not every single educated person is Ted Kazynski. That would be unfair. :eyes:

[Naturalist111]

177. Some of the most notorious killers were highly educated.

[lumberjack_jeff]

180. Heh. Ted Kazinski, Math PhD n/t

[SoCalDem]

184. They prefer word-of-mouth, transferred fears

over actual research & education for themselves.

It's "easier" to just believe something "someone told you", than it is to actually think for yourself.

This is why mythology & religion are so inviting to uneducated people:(

[Echo In Light]

193. Violence is a last resort of an inability, perceived or actual, to communicate

[Rhythm]

195. I think Alan Menken and Howard Ashman had it right in "The Mob Song"

From Beauty and the Beast:

We don't like what we don't...
understand and in fact it scares us.../i]