The conservative mind .... musings of a party goer

[Stinky The Clown]

Some friends give a New Year's Day Night party every New Years Day Night. Lots of well educated people in attendance. In fact, all well educated people, many of them retired. University types, now retired, were from, among other places, Harvard, Berkley, MIT, Johns Hopkins. Careers included scientist, professor, software development, university administrator, teacher, artist, more than a few engineers.

Here are some snippets from two of the better conversations:

"I don't want the government involved in health care. I don't want to pay for welfare people who are too lazy to work." When asked if he had Medicare, he said sure he did. He thinks its great. Except he resents paying taxes on it and his social security. That's why they moved to a state with no income tax. He gets his pension and his wife gets hers. Both are from local governments. He saw no irony in his statements. He's a phD in some science/engineering field and worked for a university's lab developing high tech systems for the feds, including weaponry.

"I think Joe McCarthy was on the right track. Most of those hollywood types really were in bed with the commies." This person has an MBA, grew up in, and indeed later graduated from, Berkley in the early 60s. This person is now a retired university administrator. This person went on to suggest that Obama was a Muslim who has no American birth certificate. He stalked off to another room when more than a few people laughed out loud at that, thinking he *had* to be kidding. He wasn't.

Interestingly, not one person in the room spoke well of Idiot Son, even as the Berkley guy answered with a straight face and complete honesty that he felt Palin was qualified to be president, but agreed that Quayle was not.

:wtf:

[geckosfeet]

1. How do these people manage to convince themselves that their success is

completely a result of their hard work, brilliance and sparkling personalities? Are their egos really that huge that they cannot conceive of how without society, without the work done by the backs of the "welfare people who are too lazy to work" that they would not enjoy their lives of privilege? They would not have their fabulous careers without the rest of humanity that consumes their services.

Clearly they are intelligent. Clearly they are educated. How can they be so blind to the world around them? Perhaps we need an economic cataclysm that renders their educations and careers moot. A complete collapse of the social structure that has bestowed riches and prestige upon them. Perhaps they need to lose everything to reclaim some small measure of their humanity.

[Stinky The Clown]

2. In my mind, the common thread is bigoty ..... overt or covert, intentional or not.

Bigotry.

[spanone]

3. education does not equal intelligence

[StarfarerBill]

4. Aye. There are intellectuals who are truly removed from, and contemptuous of, the working classes.