Is the "Culture War" Really Just "The Education Gap"?

[luckyshot]

There as been a lot made of the "culture war" between the left and the right. There has also been a fortune spent trying to explain and predict (often unsuccessfully) how different demographics will interact with our two political parties and, therefore, how various states will vote.

All of this belies the fact that one variable seems to predict a state's culture-- at least electorally-- very accurately. That variable is post high school education.

These are the places that rank highest in percentage of population attaining post-high school degrees:
1. Washington D.C.
2. Massachusetts
3. Maryland
4. Connecticut
5. Virginia
6. New York
7. Vermont
8. New Jersey
9. Colorado
10. New Hampshire
11. Illinois
12. Delaware
13. Washington
14. California
15.Oregon
16. New Mexico
17. Minnesota
18. Pennsylvania
19. Kansas
20. Georgia

I think the pattern is pretty clear: the top 17 states in educational attainment ALL vote reliably Democratic in every single national election.

This is an incredible correlation that cannot merely be a coincidence or an accident. It makes me wonder: is the "culture war" really an overblown idea? Might it more accurately be described simply as "the education gap?"

It also suggests the question: "Does more education make someone more liberal, or are liberals just more likely to seek out more education?"

Let's say we had free college-- like many countries-- would that create a more liberal population? Could that be one of the reasons Republicans are so dead set on fighting it?

Btw, statistics suggest that the more education someone has, the more likely they are to be liberal regardless of what field that education is in. So, while I know a lot of conservatives will be tempted to explain away this trend by blaming the supposed "indoctrination" that happens in women's studies, or anthropology, or the humanities in general, this argument doesn't hold a lot of water; since, degrees in mathematics or the hard sciences are also correlate with more liberal views.

 

[Benjamin Burton]

No that just means colleges are indoctrinating people into liberal ideologies.

Look into the political leanings of surgeons and engineers and fields that don't rely solely on rote memorization.

 

[Zazen]

Their policies suck so they need to come up with something to attract voters.

The DNC needs to work on making themselves the people of the working class. Why the fuck did Biden barely bring up his 15 dollar wage?

Until the DNC comes up with better messaging people will still keep voting for the culture war nonsense.

 

[ElijahWood]

No. There's tons of dipshits who support your side too.

It's funny how you guys call out people like Ben Shapiro for only engaging with the dummies on the left while simultaneously ignoring people like Thomas Sowell and focusing on the Stephen Crowders of the world.

 

[Zazen]

No. There's tons of dipshits who support your side too.

It's funny how you guys call out people like Ben Shapiro for only engaging with the dummies on the left while simultaneously ignoring people like Thomas Sowell and focusing on the Stephen Crowders of the world.

What's so great about Thomas Sowell? The right obsesses over the guy. What sets him apart?

 

[ElijahWood]

Also, you're using 'begs the question' wrong, Mr. Educated.

https://www.logical-fallacy.com/articles/begging-the-question/

 

[ElijahWood]

What's so great about Thomas Sowell? The right obsesses over the guy. What sets him apart?

He's very good at taking complex ideas and breaking them down in a way the layman can understand. This is actually a sign of very high intelligence.

Plenty of very smart people can understand complex ideas, but can't explain them well. They then blame the listener for not being 'smart enough'
to understand them, when really they just aren't quite smart enough to break the concepts down for the audience.

 

[luckyshot]

No that just means colleges are indoctrinating people into liberal ideologies.

Look into the political leanings of surgeons and engineers and fields that don't rely solely on rote memorization.

Not only are you wrong, but you are wrong in exactly the way I said you'd be wrong at the bottom of the OP. Let me ask, if you don't mind, what is the level of your educational attainment?

When Scientists Donate To Politicians, It’s Usually To Democrats

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/when-scientists-donate-to-politicians-its-usually-to-democrats/

Only Six Percent Of Scientists Are Republicans: Pew Poll
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/only-six-percent-of-scien_n_229382

Most scientists in this country are Democrats.
https://slate.com/technology/2010/1...s-country-are-democrats-that-s-a-problem.html

No. There's tons of dipshits who support your side too.

It's funny how you guys call out people like Ben Shapiro for only engaging with the dummies on the left while simultaneously ignoring people like Thomas Sowell and focusing on the Stephen Crowders of the world.

No one is saying that there are not some smart conservatives (although I don't find Ben Shapiro to be particularly so).

But 17 for 17 is a pretty interesting correlation when it comes to the most educated state populations and national political preferences.

Why are you ignoring that when it is clearly the center piece of my argument?

 

[Gunny]

Right, because all those inner city democrat voters are so well educated...

 

[grimballer]

No that just means colleges are indoctrinating people into liberal ideologies.

Look into the political leanings of surgeons and engineers and fields that don't rely solely on rote memorization.

how dare you suggest women’s studies major isn’t as good as those other fields?

 

[luckyshot]

No. There's tons of dipshits who support your side too.

It's funny how you guys call out people like Ben Shapiro for only engaging with the dummies on the left while simultaneously ignoring people like Thomas Sowell and focusing on the Stephen Crowders of the world.

Edited. Although I used it in a way that is idiomatically common if not technically correct.

Right, because all those inner city democrat voters are so well educated...

Are you simply hand-waiving the 17 for 17 correlation away, then? Or are you suggesting that educated people tend to cluster around urban centers (which is also true)?

 

[Benjamin Burton]

Not only are you wrong, but you are wrong in exactly the way I said you'd be wrong at the bottom of the OP. Let me ask, if you don't mind, what is the level of your educational attainment?

When Scientists Donate To Politicians, It’s Usually To Democrats

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/when-scientists-donate-to-politicians-its-usually-to-democrats/

Only Six Percent Of Scientists Are Republicans: Pew Poll
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/only-six-percent-of-scien_n_229382

Most scientists in this country are Democrats.
https://slate.com/technology/2010/1...s-country-are-democrats-that-s-a-problem.html


No one is saying that there are not some smart conservatives (although I don't find Ben Shapiro to be particularly so).

But 17 for 17 is a pretty interesting correlation when it comes to the most educated state populations and national political preferences.

Why are you ignoring that when it is clearly the center piece of my argument?

Who are you trying to convince? Your sources are all left leaning.

I have masters degree in a health related field and I work with surgeons. Now you tell me your background?

 

[AZ103]

I actually love this subject. My wife and I are of the opinion that the culture war isnt a difference in education but has been shifted by education and is being shifted now. "Check your privlege" which is mostly used to shame white people used to be "count your blessings" which applies to everyone. CRT and trans gender anti bullying programs are also divisive and sevre up a bunch of non science. Classic manners work better, the golden rule, not judging a book by its cover, not asking rude personal questions. They all fix the problems that these new programs seek to fix.


What im saying is the culture war is real. And its being fought in schools but "more education" is only as good of the quality of education and quality is going out the window for new age unproven garbage.

 

[HereticBD]

"Abolish prisons and police!"

- Highly Educated Liberal

 

[HydraCap3]

No. Liberals are not more cultured by virtues of allegedly being more educated. They're simply more gullible and more easily manipulated by hucksters and con-artists.

 

[D 1 Wrestler]

No. Liberals are not more cultured by virtues of allegedly being more educated. They're simply more gullible and more easily manipulated by hucksters and con-artists.

Yet Russia influenced the 2016 election by getting low IQ right wing voters to vote trump

 

[Cuauhtemoc]

It's a correlation, it's hard to find somebody with a college degree that will really believe QAnon, "hydroxy" as a treatment for COVID-19, or that the main problem afflicting the world is the prevalence of abortion.
On the other hand, in the US at least, you will also find the least educated groups, racial minorities including some that do not even speak English, voting reliably democrat. Washington D.C, for example, is overwhelmingly Democrat thanks to, among other things, it's black population–they are not composed of PhDs.
You can also find some professions that are mostly Republican.
Extrapolating these results as some kind of law where people who spent some years at a college will vote for Liberals or Progressives is too bold. If you go some years back it wasn't weird to see large cities filled with well educated people voting for Nixon or Reagan.
It's just that the Republican party has adopted these people:

 

[Gunny]

Edited. Although I used it in a way that is idiomatically common if not technically correct.


Are you simply hand-waiving the 17 for 17 correlation away, then? Or are you suggesting that educated people tend to cluster around urban centers (which is also true)?

I’m pointing out that the left side of the culture war is just as reliant on the lowest educated voters in the country as they are some of the highest. To the extent that you can identify a broader pattern it’s that the right side is mostly made up of people who fall in between the extremes.

 

[Sano]

Correlation isn't causation, but it certainly would explain why the GOP is so anti-science. It's a pattern that you simply can't ignore. Interesting observation btw.

No. Liberals are not more cultured by virtues of allegedly being more educated. They're simply more gullible and more easily manipulated by hucksters and con-artists.

Wait, liberals are easily manipulated by hucksters and con-artists? I think that applies to both sides equally, if I'm being generous.

 

[Trotsky]

No. Liberals are not more cultured by virtues of allegedly being more educated. They're simply more gullible and more easily manipulated by hucksters and con-artists.

Holy shit, the lack of self awareness here is fucking stunning.