3 ms·
In my view, liberalism equates to a view that most people are trustworthy, and will do good things. Authoritarianism assumes people are bad and need to be contr
by fredley 10y ago
In my view, liberalism equates to a view that most people are trustworthy, and will do good things. Authoritarianism assumes people are bad and need to be controlled. Liberal/Authoritarian is somewhat independent of left/right, politically.
Highly educated people spend more time around other highly educated, and likely richer people, creating an environment where you view almost everyone as inherently good, and trustworthy.
Less educated people spend more time around other less well educated, and likely poorer people, creating an environment where you view more people as potentially dangerous.
I've been watching The Century of the Self recently. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Century_of_the_Self https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Century_of_the_Self
- WkndTriathlete 10y agoI think that part of the problem - with the article, and with the perception by most of society in general - is that the words "liberal" and "conservative" are now heavily overloaded and may have either positive or negative connotations, depending on the current audience. As a result, I think both words are largely devoid of any real meaning today except as a compliment or an epithet. My political leanings tend to be pretty moderate. I used to think of "liberal" as someone for changing society faster than a "conservative", but with the two major political parties in the US today using fast legal changes to inflict the most damage on the party not in power my definitions of those two words do not hold, either. I do not think that either major political party in the US represents my interests, nor I do not expect that to change anytime soon.