# Why so many liberals here? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 8, 2013, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552 "2013-01-08T22:47:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552/61 "2013-01-09T19:01:24Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Conservatives are especially hard working That’s the most generous comment you’ve ever made about conservatives in a decade of posting. Bravo! ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552/62 "2013-01-09T19:03:15Z")
It is a puzzler, I admit. Why on earth would a messageboard explicitly devoted to fighting ignorance tend to skew left? I am clueless. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552/63 "2013-01-09T19:08:46Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Do chimps really jack each other off? Only the liberal ones. Conservative chimps— like their _Homo sapiens_ counterparts— are obsessively self-motivated. ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552/64 "2013-01-09T19:11:02Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Do chimps really jack each other off? Very kind of them if they do. Compassionate Conservatives? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552/65 "2013-01-09T19:12:15Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Conservative chimps— like their _Homo sapiens_ counterparts— are obsessively self-motivated. They work hard for their shit and are not about to “redistribute the poop” by flinging it indiscriminately. ---
**Author:** ![Molesworth\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9dc877/32.png) [@Molesworth\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Molesworth_2)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552/66 "2013-01-09T19:13:56Z")
> [@JerrySTL](#): > > Conservative are too busy actually working? Show me one, just one, citation that shows that conservatives work harder than liberals. This is just another of the bullshit self-aggrandizing fantasies that the US Right has about itself. “Only conservatives have jobs”. “Only conservatives support the troops or serve in the military”. Yeah, right. It’s a joke. Fact is, blue states subsidise the mooching and parasitic red states. The blue states would be far better off if they didn’t have to put up with the conservative rear-end of humanity that is the conservative part of the US. What exactly is it that you think the conservative part of America actually brings to the table? ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552/67 "2013-01-09T20:01:50Z")
> [@MacCat](#): > > Sounds like Conservatives in action. Didn’t read for comprehension, did you? ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552/68 "2013-01-09T20:13:17Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Didn’t read for comprehension, did you? I noted your projection. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552/69 "2013-01-09T20:16:41Z")
Wow. This thread should be in the pit, really. I can’t believe what I’m reading! ---
**Author:** ![Molesworth\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9dc877/32.png) [@Molesworth\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Molesworth_2)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552/70 "2013-01-09T20:21:26Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Didn’t read for comprehension, did you? If you “conservatives” had an argument to bring to the table you’d do it. You don’t, so you just start threads like this one and whine about how awfully you’ve been mistreated. This would be excusable if the underlying premise of conservatism had any kind of moral validity. But it does not. Conservatives are continually telling us all that looking out for oneself is a virtue, and that standing up for selfishness is a form of valor. Defend that shit. Put up or shut up. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552/71 "2013-01-09T20:51:22Z")
EEP! EEP! _\_ ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552/72 "2013-01-09T23:02:18Z")
Was that a “jacking off \<_splortch_\>” or a “poop-flinging \<_splortch_\>”? On second thought, I don’t want to know. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552/73 "2013-01-09T23:27:48Z")
> [@Iggy](#): > > I am not sure how many members on this board first experienced _The Straight Dope_ in print. I first read the column in a distinctly liberal-leaning alternative weekly paper. While I don’t know how many of the other papers the column is syndicated to would be considered, I suspect most are liberal-leaning. > > If liberal-leaning persons are more likely to read alternative newspapers then those of us who came to know Uncle Cecil in newsprint may be a self-selected liberal-leaning bunch. In college I was still pretty conservative and I would pick up DC’s City Paper whenever I could. Mostly for Cecil, Life is Hell and to see who was playing in the area. But I knew about Cecil from the books before that. > [@madmonk28](#): > > I’m not so sure this board is as liberal as people say; I’m always amazed at the number of pro-gun threads about which kind of gun is best, for example. If you read any of those threads you would see its not a conservative/liberal issue despite how the media wants to portray it. Plenty of libs own guns plenty of cons don’t. > [@lavenderviolet](#): > > I think the biggest factor is the “founder effect” of starting off with a population slanted to Dems. > Not only is the Dope originally from an alt newspaper, but it was based out of CHICAGO, which is a very Democratic town. I think when you start off with a population that leans one way, it becomes a reinforcing snowball. because most people don’t want to hang out in a place where they are the minority and everyone just wants to argue with them. So, the conservatives don’t tend to want to hang out here. On the other hand, I could show you a message board of anesthesiologists I visit where there is a very strong conservative slant and most liberals probably wouldn’t stay long for the same reason. > > I don’t think this board is especially young demographically. My observation based on what i’ve seen posted and the polls I’ve seen over the years here is that most Dopers are somewhere around 35-55 years old. When I picture the prototypical Doper, I picture an overweight middle-aged white person from the midwest, honestly. When I started reading the board on AOL I was young. Not so much any more. In the eyes of the board I would be considered generally conservative. But really you would have to go issue by issue. Con on some lib on others. ---
**Author:** ![jharvey963](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/54ee81/32.png) [@jharvey963](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jharvey963)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552/74 "2013-01-09T23:57:43Z")
My two cents: We aren’t primarily interested in Conservatism or Liberalism here. We’re interested in TRUTH. Look at the header to the site: “Fighting Ignorance Since 1973. It’s taking longer than we thought.” Note also that the most frequent response to any posting is “Cite?”. If you’ve got facts to back up your position, you fit in here. If you don’t have facts, you get called on it. It may just be that most of the “Conservative” positions don’t have the facts to back them up, so they get shot down. (“Liberal” positions _also_ get shot down if they don’t have facts to back them up.) That’s why I’m on the board. I’m interested in the truth about things, not someone’s biased wet dream of how they would like it to be. And this is the best place I’ve found on the internet that is truly interested in TRUTH. J. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552/75 "2013-01-10T00:28:39Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > “Reality has a well-known liberal bias.” > > [/obligatory Stephen Colbert quote] Without knowing it was a Colbert line, this was my 1st thought. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552/76 "2013-01-10T01:57:56Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > According to Gallup, as of 2010 conservatives were (and have been) the largest ideological group in the US. 42% of adults surveyed identified as conservative or very conservative, 35% as moderate and only 20% as liberal or very liberal. That statistic only proves that 42% of Americans are easily misled by fancy suits, bad haircuts, fake promises and blatant lies. I’ve met many intelligent conservatives. But not a single one actually makes use of that intellect. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552/77 "2013-01-10T02:02:12Z")
Sorry if this was already mentioned: There are fewer conservatives here because they believe computers are tools of the devil? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552/78 "2013-01-10T02:16:19Z")
Can someone turn on a fan? The smug is getting thick. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552/79 "2013-01-10T03:10:52Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Can someone turn on a fan? The smug is getting thick. When the other side is so relentlessly wrong and evil it’s hard not to be “smug”. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552/80 "2013-01-10T03:21:55Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > When the other side is so relentlessly wrong and evil it’s hard not to be “smug”. You the pot or the kettle? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552.md?page=5)