The New York Times magazine had an interesting interview with playwright David Mamet, who explained his “intellectual” shift to the far right. Here is how he became a right-winger:
“I went to a consultant a few years back, and he said, ‘You want to make your life better?’ I said, ‘Yeah, sure.’ He said, ‘stop drinking and don’t read the newspapers.’ So I did both.”
Well, there you go. The steps to becoming conservative are:
1) Give up having fun
2) Stop paying attention to the world and mentally check-out. That way you can rely on ignorance-based opinions and be unaware of facts.
I think Mamet has the formula down.
SO THAT’S HOW THEY DO IT!
that explains it if you are a f*cking retard leftist with his head in the sand
^ trollolololol ^
If one goes from right to left, it is because he or she started reading newspapers. If one goes from left to right, it is because he or she gives up newspapers.
It is never the other way around because liberalism = knowledge. Modern conservatism looks for easy answers and seeks to roll back the enlightenment. It is more about avoiding knowledge, and when confronted with facts, twisting them to fit an ignorant worldview.
@Knowsmorethanyou- you’re not supposed to use the R word anymore, it’s offensive to mentally challenged people and their families. I have to admit I like the word fucktard, but since it’s offensive, I don’t use it.
ps…@KnowsLESSthanyou— I just re-read your comment and I’m not surprised that a wingnut would say something so crass and unoriginal.
Conservatives are destroying our nation. It all began with rabid anti-gay activist Anita Bryant in the 70s and almost ended with the financial meltdown in 2008. Now, they are just finishing up the work needed to sell out our nation to the Corporations.
i once read that conservatives were in general “happier” than liberals because they were less upset that other people were suffering and felt that they had no responsibility to do anything about it – meaning it’s a great political philosophy for those who want to put themselves first and just ignore anybody else.
seriously, if that’s the reason, can you respect the man? he’s picking a political ideology based on what makes him *feel better* meaning “complacent and self-satisfied, and bothered by nothing.” yeah, i’d probably be pretty happy if i was totally indifferent to whatever happened to anyone else, but i’d also be a pretty lousy human being.
i’m sure sociopaths are pretty happy too. does that make it an ideal? i would rather be a bit depressed over the state of affairs in the world but at least know i had a moral compass which wasn’t centered around my own selfish *a*s*
And in Mamet’s case he can become even more of a sexist jerk then he was when he was a liberal.
How much of a liberal was he to begin with?
In my opinion, the modern conservative movement in the United States, at least as I understand it, is based on the two following things: fear of change and a “return” to a “purer” state of society which either never really existed or was not as good as they think it was.
Gay marriage is a prime example. Many conservatives are prejudiced against homosexuality, but they cloak their prejudice in words like “we want protect the family,” as though allowing gay people to form families would somehow hurt traditional family values.
Some of the more ignorant conservatives will use agruments like, “we’ve never had gay marraige before!” and “if we allow it, then that means we saction polyamory, pedophillia and sex with animals!” All of these arguments are based on fear and ignorace, and are internally inconsistant, not to mention ridiculous.
The fact the Donald Trump, a man with no moral conviction beyond promoting himself and who has gone through a series of younger wives, is considered a contender for the Republican presidency becuase he champions “traditional family values” speaks to the hypocracy of the movement, or at least the Republican Party.