Is Political Conservatism a Mild Form of Insanity?

Death Fear (among other unsavory attributes) Predicts Republicanism

Published on September 6, 2008 by William Todd Schultz, PhD in Genius and Madness

A Political article review - This was a strange article, and I did not know exactly what to make of it. On the one hand, some interesting points are made, undeniably. As someone who tends towards a more "liberal" perspective, there is, admittedly, some comfort in hearing or reading some thoughts that I myself have felt for some times, even if I never fully expressed it. There were definitely things that I could agree with in this article, such as the tendency of so-called conservatives of the present age to be a little to comfortable with the language of "hate". Like Mr. Shultz, the author of this particular article, suggest, there seems to be a long list of people that they find reasons not to like. So long is this list, in fact, that you wonder how short the list of people that they do like tends to be.

He cites an article (you can find more information in his article, which makes the proper citations, presumably), in which scientists did some research and concluded that, indeed, conservatism is a mild form of insanity. Here is the conclusion that they drew, summed up with his words and a quote:

"The researchers conclude, a little chillingly, that “the core ideology of conservatism stresses resistance to change and a justification of inequality.”"

While it may be tempting, being French and feeling well-educated, and undeniably tending towards what are generally considered more "liberal" positions, to so dismiss the conservative mindset.

That said, I think this article tends to gravitate towards finger pointing and attempting to single out what is wrong with the inevitable "them", as opposed to coming out with a creative alternative solution. It is, in other words, more partisan. Far from being an example of rational and dignified behavior and mindsets, it seems, on many levels, to be a childish, although this is disguised in college-level language and research. He focuses exclusively on the negatives, and does not lend any credibility to any other viewpoint than apparently his own, although s bit puzzling to me was that he does credit President Obama for being able to do so.

I am not a conservative, much less a Republican. However, it seems that there are some legitimate points that conservatives tend to promote. I do not believe that I would personally be offended with a conservative in the mode of Dwight Eisenhower, let's say, as I am with a conservative in the mode of George W. Bush. In this day and age, FOX news is representative, evidently, of the conservative mindset, or at least proclaims to be loudly enough that this has become accepted. In that regard, I agree with the author, because the irrationality of that network of hype and phobias definitely at least borders at times on some measure of insanity and irrationality, if not downright immorality. There, he might have an argument. But more moderate levels of conservatism, that is to say, those that do not gravitate towards such extremes that have become so common as to be accepted as the norm in this day and age, I can definitely respect, if not always agree with. Like with everything else, "all things in moderation" seems like a worthy lesson that this country, and indeed this world, can learn from. It is precisely this tendency towards extremism that leads to hatred, something that I think both the left and the right tend to be guilty of, that is coming closer and closer to being justly defined as insanity, and is contributing to the increasingly seeming insanity that this country, and indeed this world, is falling under.