A nice piece in Vox sets out the theme (go here). "There is a smug style in American liberalism. It has been growing these
past decades. It is a way of conducting politics, predicated on the
belief that American life is not divided by moral difference or policy
divergence — not really — but by the failure of half the country to know
what's good for them." Traditional Democratic voters went Republican in the latter half of the twentieth century. The consequence was a shift in liberalism's intellectual center of
gravity. A movement once fleshed out in union halls and little magazines
shifted into universities and major press, from the center of the
country to its cities and elite enclaves. Minority voters remained, but
bereft of the material and social capital required to dominate elite
decision-making, they were largely excluded from an agenda driven by the
new Democratic core: the educated, the coastal, and the professional.
Great article.
I think this article hits on a lot of good points, and I have definitely seen this smugness in liberals. But I went to high school in a small, conservative town outside of a super liberal, college town. So I've gotten to see the same smugness rise from the conservative people from my hometown, as well as the conservative members of my largely southern family.
ReplyDeleteThe term "libtard" is used frequently. There is an anecdote I've seen numerous times, "arguing with liberals is like playing chess with a pigeon. No matter how good you are at chess, the pigeon is just going to knock over the pieces, crap on the board, and strut around like it won." It goes along with this general attitude that is essentially, liberal people mean well, but they just don't think things all the way through.
For example: "sure welfare sounds nice, giving money to people in need, but in actuality it's going to end up hurting them by making them dependent on it and not allowing the economy to develop fully." which they then add "and liberals just will never understand that, because conservatives are the only people to think it all the way through."
Maybe the smugness problem is worse among liberals, that is certainly possible, but I personally believe it is a part of general society. Thanks to the internet and instant access to so many people who completely agree with you, you can stay isolated in your own intellectual bubble, crafting arguments among yourselves which convince you how right you are without ever engaging in actual debate.