2006-10-11 05:21:10 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Politics
Psychologists say conservatism
is a mental illness...
A study funded by the US government has concluded that conservatism can be explained psychologically as a set of neuroses rooted in "fear and aggression, dogmatism and the intolerance of ambiguity".
As if that was not enough to get Republican blood boiling, the report's four authors linked Hitler, Mussolini, Ronald Reagan and the right wing talk show host, Rush Limbaugh, arguing they all suffered from the same affliction.
All of them "preached a return to an idealized past and condoned inequality".
The authors also peer into the psyche of President George Bush, who turns out to be a textbook case. The telltale signs are his preference for moral certainty and frequently expressed dislike of nuance.
"This intolerance of ambiguity can lead people to cling to the familiar, to arrive at premature conclusions, and to impose simplistic cliches and stereotypes," the authors argue in the Psychological Bulletin.
One of the psychologists behind the study, Jack Glaser, said the aversion to shades of Grey and the need for "closure" could explain the fact that the Bush administration ignored intelligence that contradicted its beliefs about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
2006-10-11 05:54:16 · answer #1 · answered by MSJP 4 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Conservative philosophy is the belief in government control of the masses and taxation. There are many different degrees of conservatism. The Republican party in America believes in limitations on the size of the bureaucracy in government but more control in individual lives. The Democratic party, which is actually a social conservative party, looks at larger bureaucracy and less control in individual lives.
This fork in conservative logic has been most often referred to as the right and the left sides. Both the right and left have value in their beliefs, but there are dangers as well. Movement too far right becomes oppression. Movement too far left becomes chaos.
2006-10-11 12:59:25 · answer #2 · answered by Overt Operative 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I go with the dictionary for definitions.
Relying on advice of strangers to define the English language is categorically High Risk.
Go big Red Go
2006-10-11 12:34:01 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
Conservatism is a political philosophy that necessitates a defense of established values or the status quo. The term derives from to conserve; from Latin conservÄre, "to keep, guard, observe". While not in itself an ideology, it is a political philosophy that is determined almost entirely by its context. Defined in part as an emphasis on tradition as a source of wisdom that goes beyond what can be demonstrated or even explicitly stated.
2006-10-11 12:24:44 · answer #4 · answered by courage 6 · 3⤊ 2⤋
A conservative is one who wants to conserve everything, though some of that may be useless and not worth conserving; so a conservative may be considered as out of touch with political, economic and social realities!
2006-10-11 12:34:57 · answer #5 · answered by Sami V 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Loves the United States and the people who live here, supports the president in a time of war, have morals, religious hard working people who believe people can take care of themselves without creating social programs.
2006-10-11 12:27:57 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 6⤋
The disposition to preserve tradition and resist change.
2006-10-11 12:24:47 · answer #7 · answered by notme 5 · 4⤊ 2⤋
Smart and realistic. A person with morals and values, and love for their country.
2006-10-11 12:23:34 · answer #8 · answered by NecropolisXR 6 · 1⤊ 8⤋
very old-fashioned, traditional, primitive..
2006-10-11 12:23:47 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 4⤋