Why do neocons dislike intellectuals?

Question

I see it almost every time I log in now. Some neoconservative dismisses something he disagrees with by saying, "I bet your college professor told you that", or words to that effect. Clearly this implies that the person making this statement believes that no educator or intellectual can be a reliable source of information. Why do you suppose they feel this way?

I find it fascinating that some people automatically assume that I'm a liberal just because I asked this question. As a matter of fact I've never been overly fond of either party and always considered myself to be middle of the road. I've always hoped that we might someday have a truly viable independent candidate for President, but I'm afraid it's not likely to happen in my lifetime.

trc_6111, my IQ is over 150. Would you like to share yours with us? This was first confirmed at the age of 6, so I don't attribute it to what I learned in school, but I certainly don't regret being educated. My political views were formed not by the courses I took, but by observation of the system in action. The book that had the most profound effect on my thinking was not a textbook, but George Orwell's 1984. This great novel describes in a non-partisan way everything we must avoid to remain free.

By the way, trc_6111, you punctuated the sentence about Flash Gordon incorrectly. That should have been a semicolon instead of a comma. Have a nice day! :)

While we're on the subject, Hemingway is spelled with only one "m" and the sentence beginning with "probably" is grammatically incorrect. I promised myself I'd keep this impersonal, but it's hard to resist such an easy target who's just begging for it. I'll try to behave myself from now on.

Answer 1

Most conservatives and Republicans make believe there is a massive conspiracy against them from the media and educational institutions because these are the two that offer alot of criticism against the current administration. Instead of admitting that maybe these people have a point with all their education, facts, and evidence, most Republicans would rather construct a delusional scenario where all those that disagree with their ideology are apart of some massive conspiracy. This is why they have different facts from the rest of the world, they have been reduced to getting their news from media that has a definite right wing slant wheras the rest of the world relies on regular media. It is hard to try and convince someone who gets their news from different outlets than the rest of the world. They are much like the Islamic fascists who don't believe the holocaust happened, or the N.Koreans who believe they are the richest country in the world. It is sad that Americans have shut themselves off so much from reality that they are comparable to foreigners in totalitarian states. Very sad and dangerous.

Answer 2

This is pretty amusing. Probably because the vast majority of leftist freaks... that's cruel, I'm sorry... LIBERALS are mentally ill. The delusion of being "educated" or part of an "elite" is a quite common symptom of dementia, and often is associated with people who become hard core stalkers or serial killers. The other part of it is probably based on the fact that 90% of the liberal idiots who spout pseudo-intellectual crap misspell words, use poor grammar, can't complete or punctuate a sentence, and can't tell the difference between your and you're to save their lives... Nobody reads 4th grade english papers expecting to find the next Hemmingway, and nobody gives a crap about alleged intellectuals who can't spell or otherwise write their way out of a paper bag.

The reason nobody buys the alleged fact that someone is an intellectual is because it's not believable. Watch a 1950's "Flash Gordon" TV show on TV Land, you can see the strings on the rocket ship. Same thing here, your strings are showing...

Answer 3

Neo-Cons are todays fake conservatives who when younger were classic liberal minded believers in the Romantic American endevours towards Global Tycoonship. Idealists who changed attitude into this new beast simply because that social agenda was never realized. The switch to neoconservativism specifically focused on needs and Middle East pacification and the acceptance of Israel and its change agents. Those arguments seperated the world into good and bad guys and the formidable construction of supreme American economic and military power. Their 1st crazy was Ronald Reagan whose TV experience and image was tapped to project a guy next door without the problem of complications or a complex life. A nice guy but a little out of his league, the delegator and story teller. Americans tuned into the fantasy world of Reagan sat back and let his 'people' handle things. Don't mess with Daddy Reagans plans is now re-copied by the same crowd for Bush league gov't. Anti-intellectualism is a standard for the cronies doing the dirty work of realizing the failed agenda of the original liberals now in their late years. The hippies didn't lose they changed stripes and now are in charge!

Answer 4

Not all educators are intellectuals, far from it. The social sciences are headed by left wingers, so conservatives do not like them. I am not a "neocon" but I don't like them either.
I love how the left always somehow implies that they are more intellectual.

Did you know Kerry's GPA , that he did not disclose, that was in his service record, was slightly lower than GWB?!

The left is sooooooooooo smart, but not smart enough to get their people to vote and defeat GWB, so what does that say?

I am not a big fan of GW, I just think the liberals are warped in their logic, and truly, contrary to what they think, even more so out of touch with the people.

Answer 5

I think there is this feeling among neocons that colleges are dominated by liberal professors who brainwash their students with their leftist ideas. Whether this is rooted in fact is up to debate. I personally think the liberal bias of classrooms is exaggerated.

If the president is any indication, there is a certain emphasis on feeling and gut instinct over intellect and scholarship.

Answer 6

Obviously, Neocons believe that have a monopoly on truth, justice, and the American way. When one demonstrates enough intelligence to poke whole threw the flawed Neocon arguments, then deflect it, change the subject, and/or attack the person who has shown the Neocon is full of crap. Neocons do not want independently thinking people because we are a threat to their fragile hold on their power.

Answer 7

What said neo-con is trying to tell you is that Americas colleges are run by ex-hippie liberals. The neo-con(s) in question believe that todays students could not possibly do their own research and come to their own conclusions. They seem to think that college students are all a bunch of mindless zombified sheep.

Answer 8

Maybe they are speaking from experience or have read informed books exposing some of the dufus intellectual misfits we have in our university system. To call some of them intellectuals is simply a fraud.

http://www.eagleforum.org/educate/2006/july06/book.html

Answer 9

Because they never finish...or read the whole question, and assume a different point which normally has no validity at all. In other words they can't answer the questions with their mentality.

Answer 10

What's really funny is when they set one of their own up as an intellectual, some pseudoscientist who says that evolution is bunk, that the planet Earth is only 10,000 years old, and that everything happened exactly as the Bible says.