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I wonder what the education level of your typical freeper is

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Swede Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-05-03 01:26 AM
Original message
I wonder what the education level of your typical freeper is
seriously. Is there any stats.
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BBradley Donating Member (645 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-05-03 01:27 AM
Response to Original message
1. ohh the irony (n/t)
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monobrau Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-05-03 01:30 AM
Response to Reply #1
2. Yeah - not off to a good start here
-nt
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lebkuchen Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-05-03 01:47 AM
Response to Reply #2
9. Americans are fossilizing Bush's grammar errors
Edited on Sun Oct-05-03 01:48 AM by lebkuchen
Bush has not created peace and harmony in the world, but we can credit him with a new dialect.

http://www.startribune.com/stories/561/4130790.html

"There's leaks at the executive branch; there's leaks in the legislative branch. There's just too many leaks."



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jiacinto Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-05-03 01:36 AM
Response to Original message
3. You'd be surprised
You really would be.
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Swede Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-05-03 01:40 AM
Response to Reply #3
5. The hatemail DU gets is probably
written with crayon.
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Dagaz Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-05-03 01:43 AM
Response to Reply #3
7. agreed
The poor aren't for tax cuts.
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Clark Can WIN Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-05-03 01:39 AM
Response to Original message
4. Education
Edited on Sun Oct-05-03 01:41 AM by Clark Can WIN
does not equal knowledge.



Just ask Pickles.
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Friar Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-05-03 02:39 AM
Response to Reply #4
16. Education is similar to knowledge
Edited on Sun Oct-05-03 02:39 AM by Friar
but has nothing to do with wisdom.
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schultzee Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-05-03 02:56 AM
Response to Reply #16
19. Most liberals either have liberal arts educations or read a lot of
come from a background where their parents were liberal. Most freepers I know are either uneducated or tech types or people who do not read.
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punpirate Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-05-03 01:42 AM
Response to Original message
6. I doubt that anyone's done a careful study...
... after all, there are better ways to employ science.

But, I would hazard this guess, based on the recent analysis done by education and political perceptions and comparing those to where people predominantly get their news.

The average freeper is probably not average, in the sense that the membership is at least two-tiered. There's likely a fairly broad blue-collar bottom without a great deal of education, and an upper tier of reasonably well-educated people who believe in the libertarian side of the right's arguments. No taxes, individual responsibility, strong belief in social Darwinism--those are arguments the better-educated could somehow embrace because there's a resemblance to fact behind them.

There was a study released recently about conservatives and their tendencies, but I'm not sure it was statistically broken down by education level.

The other issue is certainly a scientific one--what is meant by "freeper?" Dyed-in-the-wool rampant survivalist, or the person in a Brooks Brothers suit and a good job who also happens to believe everything the John Birch Society tells him?

One can't do any statistical sampling without defining the sample.

Cheers.

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Swede Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-05-03 01:46 AM
Response to Reply #6
8. Well us posters at DU are far from monolithic
but we don't ignore the 800 lb gorilla in the room like the freepers do.
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schultzee Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-05-03 03:00 AM
Response to Reply #6
20. What do you think of the authortarian personality type that has been
connected with conservative thought?
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punpirate Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-05-03 03:37 AM
Response to Reply #20
21. I haven't read the entire study...
... so I can't speak to it, except the results which have been published (and that is the study I reference in my post).

Have I met people with those characteristics that were conservatives? Certainly, as must have you.

But, trying to tie an ill-defined set of opinions and beliefs of the "freeper" to educational level is probably difficult, as I mentioned. Clarence Thomas is a devotee of Rush Limbaugh, as are freepers. Are they all racists because they listen to the gasbag? Possibly not. Do they all fall into a general level of education because they're conservative as hell? Certainly not. David Duke is reasonably well-educated, and by no means stupid, but, he's clearly a racist.

Trying to pin the problem on lack of education isn't a fruitful avenue to explore. I think there's a galaxy of traits that incline someone to become a fascist personality--either as a leader or a follower.

If you really want to understand the mind of the freeper, my advice is to read Eric Hoffer's _The True Believer_. I don't think that statistics on education will help much in that understanding, nor will a study tying conservatism to authoritarian personality traits... after all, we all know that truth already in a general sense from personal experience.

Cheers.

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lebkuchen Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-05-03 01:49 AM
Response to Original message
10. All freepers I personally know are racists
Ignorance goes hand in hand...
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Tom Kitten Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-05-03 01:53 AM
Response to Original message
11. As a friend, I'd suggest editing your post...
"Is there any stats" should be written as "Are there any stats"...

After all, isn't Bush the one who we claim say "is your children learning well?"...

I hope I haven't offended you.
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Swede Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-05-03 01:59 AM
Response to Reply #11
13. Your grammar is atrocious.
It are?
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Journeyman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-05-03 02:01 AM
Response to Reply #11
14. I believe that's the point of Posts 1 & 2. . .
n/t
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Swede Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-05-03 02:55 AM
Response to Reply #14
18. You are Canadian,not you are?
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Friar Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-05-03 02:41 AM
Response to Reply #11
17. I thought he was making a joke...n/t
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Gringo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-05-03 01:58 AM
Response to Original message
12. I dunno, but...
Dumbya proves that one can attend Yale and Harvard, and still be a blithering idiot (if somewhat cunning in certain ways)

They're probably not far off from average in credentials, but in actual learning and comprehension, they are pathetic, obviously.
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Swede Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-05-03 02:32 AM
Response to Original message
15. One freeper posted
How much honor Bush brought to the whitehouse. They must be able to read the local paper surely.
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