Arthur C. Brooks dispells oh-so-comfortable notions

[Aristophanes]

So-called 'right-wingers' and 'conservatives' get a lot of flack for being selfish and uncaring, so we flinty-hearted ogres always get a certain sense of satisfaction when our fuzzy-wuzzy, caring & sharing ideological nemeses are shown up.[N.B. I'm not a conservative or 'right wing' but people flatter themselves that I am]

Arthur C. Brooks new book "Who Cares: The Surprising Truth about Who Is Charitable, Who Isn't, and Why it Matters for America" smashes a few of the comfortable notions so-called 'progressives'[i don't consider them such] and 'liberals' have held near their hearts: namely that they aren't the founts of unselfish secular righteousness they claim they are.

They like to give...other people's money.

Excerpt:

Let's dispense with righteous rhetoric and look at what really counts: behavior, starting at the level of heart in personal relationships. Consider two groups of people under age 30: those who say they are liberal or extremely liberal, and those who say they are conservative or extremely conservative. According to General Social Survey in 2004, liberal young Americans are significantly less likely than the young conservatives to express a willingness to sacrifice for their loved ones. For example, progressives under 30 are significantly less likely than young right-wingers to say they would prefer to suffer rather than let the one they love suffer, that they are not happy unless the loved one is happy, or that they would sacrifice their own wishes for the one they love. (The practical implication of this is that you might want your daughter to marry a Republican.)

This pattern persists at the community level. Young liberals in 2004 belonged to one-third fewer organizations in their communities than young conservatives. In 2002, they were 12 percent less likely to give money to charities, and one-third less likely to give blood. These differences were not due to demographics such as age or education. Imagine that you picked two people, both under 30, from the American population. Imagine they had the same education level, same household income, and were of the same race and gender. The only difference was that one was a self-described liberal, and the other a conservative. Based on nationwide data collected in the year 2000, the young conservative would donate nearly $400 more per year to charity than the young liberal.

Of course, there are many other ways to measure heart, some of which probably favor young liberals over conservatives. But the evidence here suggests that leftist youth don't have any clear cardiogenic surplus after all. They do, however, appear to possess something of an advantage when it comes to the head — or at least to education. In 2000, a young liberal was much more likely than a young conservative to possess a college or graduate degree, even after correcting for all other relevant demographic forces. Taken all together, this suggests that the old saying about heads and hearts is actually backwards, when it comes to youth on the modern American left.

Full article here

Of course, we all know just how many of those university degrees are in useful, non-politicized subjects.
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Hmm, I would have thought this was discussion-worthy. "THERE'S AN ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM, LET'S HOPE NO ONE NOTICES." There is a ****ing elephant in this goddamn room.

[Last Roman]

you're surprised that there's hypocrites on the left? every political ideology/side/faction/party etc has them.

[Da Skinna]

Terrible propaganda!

Liberals, of any calibre, are the most level-headed, clear-thinking people in this country and the world. I have never known a liberal that was crazy or considered "up-in-the-clouds" as those nutty conservatives.

Liberals are not hypocrites, religious nutjobs are, liberals don't lie, fundamentalist conservatives do, liberals don't even pass air! Republicans are full of hot, smelly air.

Don't lie to us, Aristophones, cuz we'll know you are conservative if you do.

[Atheist Peace]

Terrible propaganda!

Liberals, of any calibre, are the most level-headed, clear-thinking people in this country and the world. I have never known a liberal that was crazy or considered "up-in-the-clouds" as those nutty conservatives.

Liberals are not hypocrites, religious nutjobs are, liberals don't lie, fundamentalist conservatives do, liberals don't even pass air! Republicans are full of hot, smelly air.

Don't lie to us, Aristophones, cuz we'll know you are conservative if you do.

Ehh, come on man, that wasn't really very good satire. I'm sure you can do better than that.

[Da Skinna]

Yeah, I was looking at it thinking I could drag it on for like another two paragraphs about Liberal this and Conservative that but I was under a time constraint...

err... I mean, what satire?