Reply #21: I haven't read the entire study... [View All]

[punpirate]

... so I can't speak to it, except the results which have been published (and that is the study I reference in my post).

Have I met people with those characteristics that were conservatives? Certainly, as must have you.

But, trying to tie an ill-defined set of opinions and beliefs of the "freeper" to educational level is probably difficult, as I mentioned. Clarence Thomas is a devotee of Rush Limbaugh, as are freepers. Are they all racists because they listen to the gasbag? Possibly not. Do they all fall into a general level of education because they're conservative as hell? Certainly not. David Duke is reasonably well-educated, and by no means stupid, but, he's clearly a racist.

Trying to pin the problem on lack of education isn't a fruitful avenue to explore. I think there's a galaxy of traits that incline someone to become a fascist personality--either as a leader or a follower.

If you really want to understand the mind of the freeper, my advice is to read Eric Hoffer's _The True Believer_. I don't think that statistics on education will help much in that understanding, nor will a study tying conservatism to authoritarian personality traits... after all, we all know that truth already in a general sense from personal experience.

Cheers.