# Stupid Ideas Generally Held by Liberals **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 6, 2014, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-ideas-generally-held-by-liberals/690210 "2014-06-06T16:45:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-ideas-generally-held-by-liberals/690210/61 "2014-06-07T02:55:48Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > . . . Try to buy a Little Black Sambo book sometime. . . . Technically, what you pointed to wasn’t censorship, but public pressure (a First Amendment right) to try to persuade publishers to withdraw publications. Liberals make use of pressure, letter-writing, petitions, and boycotts a little less than conservatives. It isn’t a standard liberal mind-set. The Dixie Chicks could tell you more about this. Yes, there are books liberals don’t like, and they will protest against them vigorously. On the other hand, liberals are more likely than conservatives to be supporters of libraries and the annual “Banned Books Month” exhibit. Liberals are less likely to try to get books removed from libraries. As for actual outright government censorship, liberals are very strong in their opposition. Conservatives…somewhat less. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Nylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mr.Nylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Nylock)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-ideas-generally-held-by-liberals/690210/62 "2014-06-07T02:57:04Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > That is false on an individual scale as well as an abstract one. If you need someone to save your life and possibly even sacrifice their own life for yours, you need a military member, a firefighter or clergy from a non-corrupt organization (all of those groups tend to be heavily conservative just like people in my life-saving job are; you just get stuff done and don’t care who you offend in the process; lives are at stake). Meanwhile, liberals will be carrying signs in the streets asking for reforms on fire alarms or gun control. > > Both tactics have their place but it is patently false to say that social conservatives (and I am not one at all) don’t care about individual people and won’t go to great measures to help them. That is a big part of the divide. Conservatives tend to think that individual people should help other people directly while liberals tend to think that government should handle it and the best that they can do is to lobby for government reforms. > > All of this is a gross generalization but I believe it is generally true. If I am ever in a life threatening situation for me or my family, I want a conservative person to be there rather than a liberal that wants to lobby for societal reforms after the damage is done. You are not understanding what I am saying - but I believe I am at fault for the lack of clarity. What I am saying is that the belief that they are more tolerant and compassionate than non-liberals is a stupid idea held by liberals; i.e. I do not believe liberals are more tolerant or compassionate. We are in agreement. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-ideas-generally-held-by-liberals/690210/63 "2014-06-07T04:06:35Z")
> [@Mr.Nylock](#): > > You are not understanding what I am saying - but I believe I am at fault for the lack of clarity. What I am saying is that the belief that they are more tolerant and compassionate than non-liberals is a stupid idea held by liberals; i.e. I do not believe liberals are more tolerant or compassionate. We are in agreement. Agreed. I am not a conventional conservative or a general liberal but my decades of personal experience has led me to believe that you want someone that classifies themselves as a conservative if you want a critical job done like saving your life or the life of a loved one. Engineers and IT professionals tend to be a strange breed of conservative and we do a great job of making the world go round. I know that does not include the whole world though, Each side needs to know their strengths and weaknesses and act accordingly but that is rarely done. However, I don’t want to be too hard on liberals although I find their mindset hard to understand. They are better at long term social goals even though they may take a whole lot of missteps in the process. It would be much better if we could segregate people based on their strengths like a football team and let them vote accordingly but that isn’t possible. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-ideas-generally-held-by-liberals/690210/64 "2014-06-07T06:29:42Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > It’s because very recently, the Boy Scouts have practically been taken over by the Mormon Church, and the Scouts have very homophobic policies regarding gay scoutmasters, and gay scouts themselves. They have also excluded boys who are openly atheist. > > This doesn’t mean that there may be individual troops where they have bucked the system, and have a gay or atheist scoutmaster, but you can bet they hope no one tells headquarters. See this is the problem with liberals. They believe any shit they read. You know nothing about the Boy Scouts except what some leftist board has told you. Where do you get this shit? I am NOT Mormon! My son’s scout troop is affiliated with a Jewish synagogue. And what is this crap about the group being a bunch of homophobic atheists? Do you even know the Scout oath? On my honor I will do my best To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; To help other people at all times; To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight. Or the Scout Law? A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent. Oh gee, what a rotten, terrible bunch of haters they are! Call me weird but that sounds like some pretty good values to follow. I guess we should just teach our kids to smoke pot all day and fuck everything they see right! Yes the oath mentions God but as a higher power, not an actual figurehead. What it comes down to is the freakin liberals cannot STAND to not have mind control over every damn group in the country. Hell, we should just all start wearing red neckerchiefs. What the hell ever happened to being open minded and free speech? And again, I am NOT Mormon. Where do you get this shit? ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-ideas-generally-held-by-liberals/690210/65 "2014-06-07T06:31:30Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > On the other hand, liberals are more likely than conservatives to be supporters of libraries and the annual “Banned Books Month” exhibit. Liberals are less likely to try to get books removed from libraries. I’m sorry but I have seen “banned book” exhibits and they seldom show a book banned by liberals. ---
**Author:** ![DaphneBlack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daphneblack/32/5389_2.png) [@DaphneBlack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaphneBlack)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-ideas-generally-held-by-liberals/690210/66 "2014-06-07T06:50:03Z")
I notice more belief that everyone should make fairly drastic changes to accommodate individuals or even potential individuals in liberals. Peanut-free schools eg. Or constantly checking to make sure that everyone is explicitly included in any general statement – fussing about traditional gendered language, etc. banning “freshman” instead insisting on “first-year student” and so on. It’s not stupid to want to be inclusive, but the way it is often attempted by liberals can be cringeworthy. “He” being the default pronoun is not sexist, unless you think all languages with gender are automatically sexist. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-ideas-generally-held-by-liberals/690210/67 "2014-06-07T07:27:12Z")
> [@phouka](#): > > As for stupid liberal ideas, I’ll submit the following: > > - nuclear power is bad. > - GMO food is bad. > - all corporations are evil. > - we must protect our children from every single risk in existence. > - there is no legitimate reason to own a gun. > > Obviously, not all liberals hold these ideas. I’m a liberal, and I don’t hold any of them. I do, however, encounter them frequently. As a big flaming liberal, I heartily endorse this list. It covers all the major stupid “liberal” ideas (they aren’t really liberal as I see it, but many so-called liberals believe them). ---
**Author:** ![DaphneBlack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daphneblack/32/5389_2.png) [@DaphneBlack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaphneBlack)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-ideas-generally-held-by-liberals/690210/68 "2014-06-07T07:44:37Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > As a big flaming liberal, I heartily endorse this list. It covers all the major stupid “liberal” ideas (they aren’t really liberal as I see it, but many so-called liberals believe them). I meant to say, I also endorse **phouka** ’s list. The anti-GMO thing in particular is stupid and dangerous to believe. ---
**Author:** ![here\_and\_there](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f07891/32.png) [@here\_and\_there](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/here_and_there)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-ideas-generally-held-by-liberals/690210/69 "2014-06-07T10:37:25Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Just how long do you need? So… if one kind of mushrooms is not poisonous… all kinds of mushrooms are not poisonous! ---
**Author:** ![here\_and\_there](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f07891/32.png) [@here\_and\_there](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/here_and_there)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-ideas-generally-held-by-liberals/690210/70 "2014-06-07T10:40:30Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > And why do liberals hate the Boy Scouts so much? I’ve seen them labeled as “right wing hate groups” by lefties and they do everything to stop recruiting, keep them out of parks, and just do everything to slam and undermine them. Really, what the hell is their problem? Because it started as a “movement” in the British Empire to create the soldiers needed for it’s expansion? But anyway… there is something militaristic about it… ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-ideas-generally-held-by-liberals/690210/71 "2014-06-07T11:05:31Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > It’s because very recently, the Boy Scouts have practically been taken over by the Mormon Church, and the Scouts have very homophobic policies regarding gay scoutmasters, and gay scouts themselves. They have also excluded boys who are openly atheist. So the part where the LDS openly endorsed the BSA lifting its ban on gay youth kinda escaped your notice, did it? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-ideas-generally-held-by-liberals/690210/72 "2014-06-07T11:10:51Z")
> [@here\_and\_there](#): > > So… if one kind of mushrooms is not poisonous… all kinds of mushrooms are not poisonous! Let’s see some examples of GMO foods being _proven_ dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-ideas-generally-held-by-liberals/690210/73 "2014-06-07T11:17:35Z")
The Boy Scouts thing isn’t a mystery. They didn’t allow gay scouts until there was massive public pressure, and it looks like they still will kick out troop leaders that are gay. That’s all there is to it. P ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-ideas-generally-held-by-liberals/690210/74 "2014-06-07T11:38:54Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > The Boy Scouts thing isn’t a mystery. They didn’t allow gay scouts until there was massive public pressure, and it looks like they still will kick out troop leaders that are gay. > > That’s all there is to it. P Well, not _all_. As an organization, they aren’t exactly friendly to atheist kids. (It’s the “reverent” thing, it’s on that list of 12 things that starts with “A Scout is…”) They’ve self-identified as a religious organization in court in order to be able to kick them out. My own experience with Scouting (which I enjoyed, btw) was that any religiosity was incidental. FWIW, a lot of Scout troops are sponsored by churches (including enough of the conservative ones, such as Mormons and Southern Baptists) who were probably threatening to make a stink and pull out of Scouting if the Scouts didn’t exclude atheists. (And yes, they have somewhere else to go: conservative Christians have created a more conservative Scouting-like organization. So organizationally, the Boy Scouts of America does have reason to worry about defections from their right flank.) ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-ideas-generally-held-by-liberals/690210/75 "2014-06-07T11:43:36Z")
> [@DaphneBlack](#): > > The anti-GMO thing in particular is stupid and dangerous to believe. Reiterating from earlier, there’s “believe” and _believe_. Obviously, a shitload of people _say_ they believe GMO food is bad for you, but most people who “believe” that, believe it to about the same degree that someone who reads their daily horoscope, then goes on with their day the same as they otherwise would, “believes” in astrology. It doesn’t actually impact anything they _do_, so it can’t be _dangerous_ for them. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-ideas-generally-held-by-liberals/690210/76 "2014-06-07T12:48:58Z")
Liberals always seem to want to go the distance to protect public schools. Its hard to get therm to admit when problems exist. Their idea is to keep throwing more and more money into them. Then, what is the real kicker, its amazing how many liberals send their own kids to private schools. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-ideas-generally-held-by-liberals/690210/77 "2014-06-07T13:23:37Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Liberals always seem to want to go the distance to protect public schools. Its hard to get therm to admit when problems exist. Their idea is to keep throwing more and more money into them. > > Then, what is the real kicker, its amazing how many liberals send their own kids to private schools. Do liberals send their kids to private schools more than conservatives? Around here, nearly all the private schools are Christian schools, and aside from the Catholic schools, they tend to be attached to very fundamentalist denominations, like Pentecostals, independent Baptists, or independent Churches of Christ. Now, the 7th Day Adventists have a private elementary school, and they tend to be conservatives on a lot of issues, but liberals on some social issues, and there is also a Talmud Torah, and it’s hard to say what Orthodox Jews are. A lot of the ones I know don’t vote, but the ones who do vote Democrat, because they find the efforts of the Republican party to make the US a “Christian” nation frightening. There’s only one non-religious private school that I can think of, and it’s a Montessori school, so it probably is liberal. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-ideas-generally-held-by-liberals/690210/78 "2014-06-07T13:56:44Z")
I love these Social Security Trust Fund debates because I think in keeping with the spirit of the thread, it is an insane liberal idea. When you owe money to yourself, you don’t have an asset. Even if you are a really, really good credit risk. You will pay yourself back through future earnings, which is exactly the same way you get more money anyways. There is no asset. Scenario: Wife earns $20. She “loans” it to her husband to go buy whiskey and cigarettes. Her husband signs an IOU to wife for $20 which she puts in the safe deposit box. Husband has an 820 credit score. Tomorrow after the whiskey and cigs are gone, can the family fairly say that the $20 IOU in the safe deposit box is an asset? Remember, the husband’s credit is as good as gold and he will, with certainty, redeem the bond. Husband goes to work on Monday and is paid $100. He puts $80 in checking and redeems the bond for $20. Family worth is $100. What if the wife never issued the IOU in the first place? Husband goes to work on Monday and is paid $100. Family worth is $100. Where is the functional difference? Would anyone in the above scenario actually suggest that wife’s $20 IOU bond has any value at all? ---
**Author:** ![DaphneBlack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daphneblack/32/5389_2.png) [@DaphneBlack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaphneBlack)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-ideas-generally-held-by-liberals/690210/79 "2014-06-07T18:10:14Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Reiterating from earlier, there’s “believe” and _believe_. Obviously, a shitload of people _say_ they believe GMO food is bad for you, but most people who “believe” that, believe it to about the same degree that someone who reads their daily horoscope, then goes on with their day the same as they otherwise would, “believes” in astrology. > > It doesn’t actually impact anything they _do_, so it can’t be _dangerous_ for them. It’s not dangerous for _them_. It’s dangerous for the people who need the food but won’t get it because people are scared of it. But yes, it won’t impact the people themselves in any way, so it is safe “belief” to hold. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-ideas-generally-held-by-liberals/690210/80 "2014-06-07T21:37:17Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > See this is the problem with liberals. They believe any shit they read. You mean shit [like this?](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/21/seattle-church-gay-boy-scouts_n_5186974.html) The story there is a church-sponsored Scout group had an openly gay Scout Master. Word of this got back to the national office, and they fired him. The church that was sponsoring the Scout troop refused to replace him. So the national office pulled their franchise: they kicked the entire church out of the organization, because they refused to discriminate against gays. If you read that story, **Urbanredneck** , and thought the church was getting a raw deal, then you have exactly the same problem with the Boy Scouts of America as the average liberal. Because that’s exactly what the liberal objection to them is: high-handed and openly bigoted policies from the national leadership being forced on local troops regardless of how they feel about it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-ideas-generally-held-by-liberals/690210.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-ideas-generally-held-by-liberals/690210.md?page=5)