Know a book?

[blue pen]

I am a student and I'm looking for help with a paper. My thesis is an examination of the transition of class ideology in America and its effects on the nations political spectrum. By this I mean for the tendency of poor, less educated rural Americans to vote against what appears to be in there economic best interest (Republican), and conversely, why the educated professional class votes Democratic and thus imposes higher taxes upon themselves. I am contrasting this with the populist era of the early 1900s, when the rural poor were strong redistributionist and skeptical of the eastern "money-power".

I have read "Whats the Matter with Kanasas?", and it does a good job examining the Republican transition, but I need more on liberal transition. How did the left wing elites of the 1930s target the "scions of wealth" and turn the media, education systems, university's, etc. into enclaves of liberalism? If anyone know a good book or has suggestion, I'm all ears

[ColonialMarine0431]

Is this for a Master's Thesis? That's a big undertaking. I take it you're trying to compare and contrast modern politics with early 20th century politics. If you have a student advisor I would consult them. Your subject could fill volumes of books.

[Gonzo67]

By this I mean for the tendency of poor, less educated rural Americans to vote against what appears to be in there economic best interest (Republican)


That's easy. Because the Democratic party promises them "money for nothing". Of course, they never actually deliver, because the Democratic party HAS no money to give them, so they are given YOUR money. But the poor are not made aware of this. They are simply told that THEY are poor because the REPUBLICANS WANT them to be poor and stay poor. So, they are "OWED" this "help". They are the victims, the people that work for a living are the ones victimizing them.

You tell a child what he wants to hear, he smiles. You tell him how it really is, he cries. It works with adults and the uneducated as well.


why the educated professional class votes Democratic and thus imposes higher taxes upon themselves.


Another easy one to explain. Because of the EDUCATION the "educated professional class" receive.

They are not "Educated". They are INDOCTRINATED. The college they attended has informed them that they MUST be followers. They MUST abandon all original thought. Creativity and Imagination are anchors that will weigh you down. It's much more efficient to go along with the crowd. Choose a car to drive because it's the car your PEERS say is "cool" this month. Wear what your PEERS are wearing, so you're always "in style" and you fit in. When your peers latch on to and "adopt" a fad or trend, you must ALSO participate in the over use of that fad or trend. This is why we have little white boys and girls running around college campuses and in our schools and streets with their pants hanging down off their asses. They saw a black person do it, and the black person was cool, so THEY need to drop trau to be as cool as him! And of course, their FRIENDS now see how "cool" they are, so down come more pants.

Our colleges are full of idiotic, retarded little ass-hats who utter phrases like "I'm gonna vote for Hilary because I think it would be cool to have a woman president!"

Never mind the fact that the PRIMARIES haven't happened, and Hilary is not actually the Nominated Candidate... this little fukhead doesn't even have a clue that he might not have the opportunity to vote for Hilary. But his vote is locked in. Not because she has a strong stand on the issues, NOT because she would make a good president, and certainly NOT because she's the "model American". His vote is based on the all important issue of "it would be COOL to have a woman president".

Well, I personally think it would be COOL to have a friggin Cartoon President! That's NEVER been done before... so I think Peter Griffin from Family Guy gets MY vote this go-round.

We are raising a nation of Zombie Sheep. They only know how to walk in a line. Nose inserted firmly into the ass of the Zombie Sheep walking in front of him. No thought. No need to choose their own direction. No need to decide when to march, when to halt, when to eat, when to shit, when to sleep. Those are all petty details that someone will decide FOR them. They are the Bio-Batteries of the Matrix world. Keep your eyes closed, live in the dream, ignore the reality, it doesn't concern you.

My friends, today, you are witnessing history. But NOT the history that the Democrats are shoving down your throats. Not a Black Presidential candidate, or a Female Presidential Candidate. Not even the fact that one of them, a black man, or a white woman will be our next president. That is NOT the history you are witnessing. Those are merely "foot notes" to the larger story.

You are witnessing what our older generation LEARNED in school back when learning was still part of the curriculum. You are witnessing history repeating itself. You are witnessing the truth in the words that "Empires that rise, will one day fall".

You learned in School about the fall of the Roman Empire. A nation so great reduced to nothing. And you are witnessing the beginning of that very same event. But it's not the Romans. It's the Americans. You have front row seats to the very beginning of the end of what some brave men started many years ago.

Future generations will open their new history books to find that the Roman Empire is no longer discussed. The books will now tell the story of the "Rise and Fall of the American Empire". Maybe some day, someone will dig down and find the foundation of your house. Find whats left of your "ancient plasma television set" encased in centuries of sediment and rock, and they'll chip it out, and slowly piece your "life" back together. A few of us may receive the honor of having our mummified remains displayed in the futures version of the Smithsonian.

No telling how any of it will turn out.

But one thing is for certain. You are witnessing the beginning of the end.

Enjoy the rest of the show.

[DesertFox]

Moved to Members Lounge.

[ThomasMore]

blue pen, welcome!

I will propose one book to you below, but let me take care of some housekeeping first.

I hope you will stick around and lurk, and post as you wish. You don't have to be conservative to present ideas and opinions here. We welcome most viewpoints (a few things, such as sedition or racism, are off limits), but regardless of what arguments you make, be prepared to defend them with facts and good reasoning.

Make sure you review the Board Policy (http://www.freeconservatives.com/index.php?page=policy) and the FAQ (http://www.freeconservatives.com/vb/faq.php); they provide you the lay of the land and the limits of what is acceptable discourse.

---

As for resources about what makes people vote the way they do, that is a subject that every single politician would like to understand fully. Obviously, your view of the world and your priorities in life, and the way individual politicians answer or fail to answer them, have much to do with this.

Thomas Sowell, a professor of economics, formerly Marxist and now conservative, has done substantial social studies on what motivates people. His A Conflict of Visions (http://www.amazon.com/Conflict-Visions-Ideological-Political-Struggles/dp/0465002056/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1204932404&sr=8-1) addresses the fundamentally different world views between the American "left" and "right," and he is careful to isolate his own preferences from his analysis: it is clear and neutrally presented.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41ZNSQTKWZL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_OU01_AA240_SH20_.jpg

There are other authors and many other works I can refer you to, but I cannot point you to a single source that will answer your question as directly as that work will.

Good luck and best wishes with your study.

---

As you work on your project, and after you have completed it, stick around, and mix it up with us. You will find the discussions (and arguments) challenging and enlightening.

[Eagle1]

By this I mean for the tendency of poor, less educated rural Americans to vote against what appears to be in there economic best interest (Republican)s

recently I had an instructor pose that very question. The answer is simple. They are not thieves. They still believe in America and want to make something of themselves. They have values and teach them to their children. A handout is no way to live for someone with self respect.

As to the book. Don't really know of any. But there are several journals that have relevant articles. Try searching with EBSCO or JSTOR is you have access through your school. Sometimes google will have academic articles as well.

[Naturalized-Texan]

I haven't read What's the Matter with Kansas?, but from everything I've read about it, it's heavily biased toward the left. If that is so, you are not getting the truth. I would go a little further than ThomasMore and recommend reading almost anything by Thomas Sowell. I've read his The Vision of the Anointed and Basic Economics - both excellent.

[ThomasMore]

I haven't read What's the Matter with Kansas?, but from everything I've read about it, it's heavily biased toward the left. If that is so, you are not getting the truth. I would go a little further than ThomasMore and recommend reading almost anything by Thomas Sowell. I've read his The Vision of the Anointed and Basic Economics - both excellent.

I have heard the same. Given the title alone, which insinuates that there is something wrong with Kansas, I would not be surprised.

I went to the Amazon page for "What's the matter with Kansas? (http://www.amazon.com/Whats-Matter-Kansas-Conservatives-America/dp/B000FTWB3K/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1204935488&sr=8-1)" Their review shows that it is hardly an unbiased, evenhanded presentation:

The largely blue collar citizens of Kansas can be counted upon to be a "red" state...This, according to author Thomas Frank, is a pretty self-defeating phenomenon...the conservative establishment has tricked Kansans...But Frank, a native Kansan...the founding editor of The Baffler and a contributor to Harper's and The Nation...makes his book more credible than the elites of either the left and right who claim to understand Kansas.

Just so you are aware, blue pen, When a book starts out with the premise that one side has conned the public, it might be right or wrong, but it is not evenhanded. As a point of perspective, The Nation is further left than National Review is right. If you want a polemic from one side, you have found it in that book. If you want something that will illuminate both perspectives fairly, you have not.