Author Mark Helprin, quoted in the Washington Post:
“The arts community is generally dominated by liberals because if you are concerned mainly with painting or sculpture, you don’t have time to study how the world works. And if you have no understanding of economics, strategy, history and politics, then naturally you would be a liberal.'”
Well, that’s one explanation…although it reminds me suspiciously of another quote from the other side, to the effect that universities are full of liberals because that’s where all the smart people end up…ah, here it is, from Duke Philosophy Department chair Robert Brandon:
If, as John Stuart Mill said, stupid people are generally conservative, then there are lots of conservatives we will never hire. Mill’s analysis may go some way towards explaining the power of the Republican party in our society and the relative scarcity of Republicans in academia. Players in the NBA tend to be taller than average. There is a good reason for this. Members of academia tend to be a bit smarter than average. There is a good reason for this too.
So…conservatives are stupid, liberals are ignorant.
So when I take a conservative position on, say, the war…and a liberal position on, say, stem cell research…I’m both stupid and ignorant.
Well, at least I have lots of company.
