this post was submitted on 05 Apr 2024
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politics

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[–] Burn_The_Right 78 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (6 children)

Is it a coincidence that every nation's least intelligent people tend to be conservatives? And that the less intelligent they are, the more conservative they are?

[–] surewhynotlem 30 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Fear of the things you don't understand leads to fear of change. That's it. That's the entire thing.

[–] aceshigh 2 points 7 months ago

You just solved a problem I’ve been working on for a while. Many thanks!

[–] Aeri 30 points 7 months ago (3 children)

You know I genuinely noticed something quite alarming about politics: Conservatives' stances are eerily close to my first draft uneducated analysis of a situation... when I was still a child.

When I was the age to get "The talk" I inquired as to why people who didn't want to get pregnant didn't just not have sex, and it was calmly explained to me why that was dumb as hell.

We're dealing with people who have the political leaning of a child with no compassionate education.

[–] RGB3x3 14 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

They're all just reactionary. They see a headline that says "algae farms being used to fight climate change" and think "dumb liberals using algae to do what algae does and thinking it's going to save the planet." That's as far as they go with their analysis.

Or they see headlines about DEI programs and think "that's actually racist against white people by giving minorities an advantage" without considering the underlying problems of inherent minority disadvantage in the numerous interconnected socioeconomic systems.

Conservatives are reactionary, not smart enough to be analytical, and unwilling to learn. Problems are literally too complicated for them to understand.

[–] aceshigh 2 points 7 months ago

a child

It’s full of people who throw temper tantrums

[–] Burn_The_Right 2 points 7 months ago

I can definitely see that. Good observation!

[–] captainlezbian 17 points 7 months ago (4 children)

No it’s a conspiracy. They’re putting lead in the water that’s turning the conservatives stupid and violent

[–] [email protected] 7 points 7 months ago (1 children)

These people legitimately believe that shooting 1000 rounds of shit surplus ammo per week is perfectly normal. These people are very likely contaminating their entire lives with lead residue unless they are taking precautions, which we all know they are not.

[–] captainlezbian 3 points 7 months ago

Idk about lead exposure from shooting, but I do know that lead exposure makes you prefer guns to other shooting sports.

[–] dirthawker0 5 points 7 months ago (1 children)
[–] aceshigh 2 points 7 months ago

Of course not. Why would they? Just cost extra money. Fuck the lives of our citizens.

[–] mojo_raisin 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

My new conspiracy is that the popularity of fishing and hunting in right wing areas exposes the youth to lead in fishing weights and projectiles. The double whammy of lead from the environment due to gas in past decades (which mostly affected everyone but poor people even more) combined with lead from fishing and hunting exposure caused whole regions to have lower intelligence.

Then because of how dumb and backwards the area is, pretty much anyone with a head on their shoulders wants out ASAP exacerbating the problem and we end up with whole regions ripe for activating into an idiot army. This fact is taken advantage of by Republicans (not the dumb ones, the grifter ones that were rich and not exposed as much) with the way the U.S. senate works giving power to land instead of people. Republicans then keep those regions dumb and scared to help them keep their grasp on power.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Dude if when you get hunted or fished meat and it has lead in it, take it back and get a refund. Bullet fragmentation is a well known factor and if someone is losing enough fishing weights that its increasing lead exposure they need to stop fishing.

These are probably some of the lowest on the totem factors ya could bring up which is rather impressive since fishing and hunting may have an effect, problem is that said effect is cultural. People have been hunting with lead projectiles since the fucking bronze age if not earlier, you can handle lead perfectly safely, just dont lick it, aerosolize it, smelt it, or fucking drink it and you should be fine.

Fuck if you said mercury poisoning from eating too much fish was a factor you may have been fucken onto something.

[–] mojo_raisin 1 points 7 months ago

Dude if when you get hunted or fished meat and it has lead in it, take it back and get a refund.

I'm talking about regions where it's not uncommon to hunt and eat what you shot, not going to Albertsons.

you can handle lead perfectly safely, just dont lick it, aerosolize it, smelt it, or fucking drink it and you should be fine.

  • Or eat a sandwich without washing your hands after setting up your fishing rig.

How many people wash their hands immediately after handling fishing gear or projectiles and then go on to itch their eye, pick their nose, etc. There are many vectors for lead in your hand to get into your body. And if you do this often and are young, it could conceivably have an effect.

[–] Burn_The_Right 0 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)
[–] Etterra 7 points 7 months ago

I read once that the most accurate definition of their mindset boils down to "You don't get to tell me what to do; I get to tell you what to do."

[–] UnderpantsWeevil 5 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Is it a coincidence that every nation’s least intelligent people tend to be conservatives?

Its more often that media likes to fixate on the biggest freaks. Flip over to some Ben Shapiro ass news coverage and you'll get plenty of "Blue Haired College Student Literally Shits Herself On Camera When Asked To Define The Word Woman".

Should be noted that the Alex Jones gang used to be a 9/11 Truthers and a anti-surveillance libertarians. They had more in common with the Austinite Fruits-and-Nuts liberals than Trump conservatives. But old liberal Austin money dried up and new right-wing tech billionaire money flooded the state, so Jones (and a bunch of others like New Atheist Sam Harris and journalist Glenn Greenwald) made the jump to follow the money.

Conservatives dominate conspiracy theories for the same reason they dominate terrestrial radio and cable news and country music and Twitter. That's literally just where you go to get paid.

[–] aceshigh 3 points 7 months ago

The empathy factor..