Brainwashing 101

Off Topic Politics & World Issues
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[quote]vroom wrote:
However, economics is not the only social science going, and the concept of communism divided the world in two and to this day is a source of division between nations.

To hammer on this further. The nonsense between the USA and the USSR led to pissing matches all over the Middle East, which has led us to the state of war today. That is pretty freaking impactful.

The nonsense which may or may not occur between the USA and China, as well as the USA and Cuba, are also based on Marx and his non-impactful little theories.

Hell, I might take my answer back and change it…[/quote]

I think the subsequent power vaccuum that occured once the Soviet Union collapsed is a huge contributor to the problems in the middle east.

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[quote]Zap Branigan wrote:
I think the subsequent power vaccuum that occured once the Soviet Union collapsed is a huge contributor to the problems in the middle east.[/quote]

Because the middle east was known for being so tranquil and free from violence before the cold war… right?

(and yes, I agree that the collapse was a contributor, as you point out… but I’m more of the “drop in the bucket” school of thought)

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I am a life-long republican and can properly be called a conservative.

Having been through two colleges and grad school, and having put two kids through college as well, I’m not particularly troubled by the liberal bias of our universities. I think that it is the inevitable result of an education that teaches us to think for ourselves and question conventional wisdom. Without this, we would still be living in the dark ages.

Sure, some professors are loons who couldn’t survive in the real world. But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t something valuable to be learned by seeing the world through their eyes for a while.

I don’t know anyone who has been permanently damaged by being exposed to flaming liberalism in college. Learning is a life-long process. Any lessons from college that don’t work in the real world are quickly discarded. Those that remain may just have some merit.

My oldest has turned into a “save the world” granolla head. I’m not worried. Every time that we have (sometimes heated) discussions about social issues I always finish with the suggestion that we should revisit this discussion after she starts paying taxes. [It really pisses her off.]

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[quote]nephorm wrote:
Zap Branigan wrote:
I think the subsequent power vaccuum that occured once the Soviet Union collapsed is a huge contributor to the problems in the middle east.

Because the middle east was known for being so tranquil and free from violence before the cold war… right?

(and yes, I agree that the collapse was a contributor, as you point out… but I’m more of the “drop in the bucket” school of thought)[/quote]

Of course it was peaceful. Up until that cartoonist made fun of Mohammed.

125

[quote]vroom wrote:
Of the two, who would you say has had a bigger influence on American political and economic thought?

lbrtrn,

Who has had a bigger influence on Western political and economic thought?

Obvious people like Smith or Keynes will have more relevance to the economics of current Western nations.

However, economics is not the only social science going, and the concept of communism divided the world in two and to this day is a source of division between nations.[/quote]

First, I know economics isn’t the only social science going but Adam Smith and the philosophy behind his economics is every bit as important as Marx and his philosophy. My point is that if I took a poll of my college I can guaranty you that people are far more familiar with Marx than they are with Smith. Is it a bad thing people are familiar with Marx? hell no! Is it a bad thing people know almost nothing of Adam Smith? hell yes!

Granted this is only anecdotal but during my freshman year I took an intro to western philosophy course. Marx and Smith were discussed back to back and we spent maybe a day or two on Smith and almost a week on Marx (not on the effect of his philosophy but on the philosophy itself). The prof made it clear that she thought Smith’s ideas were archaic and intellectually inferior to Marx. While she never came out and endorsed Marx she certainly created an atmosphere that made an honest debate impossible.

Like I said earlier, I don’t really have a problem with this per se, but that’s because I knew enough about Smith proir to taking that course to make up my own mind. However, many don’t and it’s hard for an 18 year old fresh out of highschool to listen to a person with a PhD in a position of authority and not believe everything said.

[quote]
If you open your viewpoint up beyond your own borders (which is another type of brainwashing that your educational system perpetrates) you’ll see that.[/quote]

I hope you are using “your” in the general sense and are not referring to me personally because that would be more than a little presumptuous of you. How do you know anything about our education system? At least at the collegiate level (which is what we are talking about) a majority of the history, humanities, and philosophy courses I have taken focused on Europe, the Middle East/ N. Africa, and Asia.

Furthermore, Smith and the philosophy behind his economics are hardly American in their origins.

No shit, who said otherwise?

Which is exactly why I think it would do the students at my college some good to learn about Adam Smith…wouldn’t you agree?

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I did a lot of economics in my day, but I’d have to do some reading to argue realistically about Smith and his philosophy.

Yes, I was bashing your K-12 system in general. I spent a fair amount of time living and working in the US, so I’ve had the chance to observe or talk about many issues while there.

My views could certainly be out of date though.