The Independent Whig
Liberalism
Liberalism Is Anti-Science Magical Thinking
See the discussion of how Obama’s “Pollyannaish belief in historical predetermination seems to substitute for action” in the article Blinded by Banalities by Victor Davis Hanson at National Review online. I believe that the thought process Obama demonstrates is characteristic of the three-foundation brain type. It is dangerously disconnected from the realities of human nature and it … Continue reading
How To Better Articulate Conservatism (and Liberalism too)
As he began his tenure as president of The Heritage Foundation Jim DeMint said that “Conservatives need to better articulate their message if they are to prevail in the war of ideas.” (1) In The Washington Post he wrote, “Conservative policies have proved their worth time and time again. If we’re not communicating in a … Continue reading
The Liberal Elephant
Haidt’s work has shown that the liberal morality is built mostly on the foundation of care. Humans are mammals, and as such we spend a great deal of our lives rearing and caring for our young. We have an innate predisposition to care for others and to prevent one another from coming to harm. To … Continue reading
What is Liberalism?
(This post is an excerpt, with some minor updating, from the longer essay in the post What Is Rick Perry Talking About? ) What is Liberalism? Liberalism is the morality which is built on the two moral foundations of Care/Harm and Proportionality/Cheating (i.e. fairness), and eschews the others – as illustrated in this 19 minute … Continue reading
Conservatism and Liberalism in a Nutshell
When there’s food on the table there are many problems. When there’s no food on the table there is only one problem. The seven-foundation (including ownership) conservative morality gained freedom from an oppressive regime, and it created a new form of government designed to prevent such oppression from ever happening again. The new nation, thus … Continue reading
Why Rep. Carson Thinks the Tea Party is Racist
Democratic Rep. Andre Carson told a Miami crowd last week that the Tea Party movement would “love” to see black Americans “hanging on a tree.” (1) He is not alone among liberals in depicting the Tea Party as racist. Janeane Garofalo attributed the Tea Party to “racism, straight up,” (2) and Keith Olberman agreed with … Continue reading
What is Rick Perry Talking About?
One of the most quoted passages from Rick Perry’s book Fed Up!: Our Fight to Save America from Washington is this: We are tired of being told how much salt to put on our food, what kind of cars we can drive, what kind of guns we can own (and) what kind of prayers we are … Continue reading
I Support Viewpoint Diversity
A politically diverse group of social scientists, natural scientists, humanists, and other scholars who want to improve our academic disciplines and universities. We share a concern about a growing problem: the loss or lack of “viewpoint diversity.” When nearly everyone in a field shares the same political orientation, certain ideas become orthodoxy, dissent is discouraged, and errors can go unchallenged.
Venn Diagram of Liberal and Conservative Traits and Moral Foundations and
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