Reason is not automatic. Those who deny it cannot be conquered by it. Do not count on them. Leave them alone.
Ayn Rand

Insecurity. Lack of confidence. Fear. All things being infused into young American children throughout their school years and reinforced by media daily. Fundamentally its destroying self-reliance and confidence and is the only true way to bring America down.

Reminds me of this (and is eerily reflect in contemporary society in many ways these days)
"When an opponent declares, “I will not come over to your side,” I calmly say, “Your child belongs to us already… What are you? You will pass on. Your descendants, however, now stand in the new camp. In a short time they will know nothing else but this new community.”
Adolf Hitler

Because the looters and moochers refuse to think. They deny that A = A.

Thanks to all that replied, I have had all these thoughts from time to time as well. Edification or lack of it has to be a big part o the matter. Not teaching the founding documents or the reason for the American Revolution, History has been revised to avoid any conflicts with the nanny state. The courts ave been packed with jurists happy to ignore the law. And then the bureaucrats dug in like ticks bleeding the host dry.
Finally the "News media" I call them Democrats with cameras.
If one only gets information from te mainstream and I include Fox oter than a couple of shows it is impossible to reach valid conclusions.

AR said a thousand times " Check your premises" Garbage in garbage out. Gobles, Trotsky Engels Alinsky showed the way and the NYT is now the paper of record. Bugger me

I view the Left and the Right as concepts like Mother and Father... In a Traditional Sense...
I believe it is NATURE and a bunch of NURTURE (it is pushed into them).

This is a Generalization... Do not attack me, there are clearly lefty males and righty females and all of that... [That I have to say this, LOL]

For example, Women/Mothers/Leftists VALUE
- Fairness
- Equality (of outcome)
- Equality (of access... All kids should get to play)
- Nurturing and Coddling the WEAK
- Thinking People are GOOD, or WANT to be, we just have to love them enough
- People make mistakes, don't hold them against them!
- White Lies
- Feelings

Then, Men/Fathers/Conservatives VALUE
- Ability
- Desire
- Action (My dad could care less that I was acing my classes, he was concerned I was not trying to do BETTER than what was EASY, and not acing EVERY Class)
- Outcomes/Results
- Equality of Access
- Differentiation (Who is First, Second, Third)
- Relative Progress (yes son, you are on a last place team. But at the beginning of the season, you NEVER scored a point. Now you score 2-3 each game)
- Helping others WHO TAKE Responsibility
- AVOIDING Leeches
- Not Coddling
- Honesty
- Not Feelings... FACTS.

Follow Jordan Peterson. He makes it clear that WE NEED BOTH to thrive as society.
But we have let the Left take over. 90%+ of K-5 teachers are all women. They are the ones pushing "everything is normal", "everyone is a winner". BS!
And that is when it starts. I watched it with my daughter, she got a participation trophy for soccer... And looked at me and made a face and said "we sucked!"
LOL The kids know better than the Leftists.

Love and Coddling have a place with an infant. Even with a small child.
But that has to switch to competition, facts, truth, EFFORT, and accepting your own limitations and strengths!

And SHAME on the parents who let their kids take on $100,000 in debt to get a degree for a job that pays $30K or for a degree that has ZERO Hiring Prospects.

Anyways, this is how intelligent people can see things so differently. Values and Beliefs.
If you Value equality for everyone, you always feel bad for the kid in last place. You WANT to help him.
But think about the two ways to help him
1) Leftist: Hold Everyone else back so he has a "Fair" chance to win
2) Conservative: Help him train

And finally, WHY help him... Maybe he doesn't want to win AT THIS?

Hello upston,
George Carlin — 'Never argue with an idiot. They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience.'
Respectfully,
OA

Never underestimate the power of FREE. I've watched any number of my co-workers get intoxicated if there is a free bar. I manage to avoid that, but the free buffet brings me down.

Most of us will stand in line for free stuff.

"smart" people....that is the wrong assumption...they are very ignorant and choose to speak with emotions rather that rational thought...when you challenge them with facts, they then claim their "opinion" is just as valid as yours...

rule #1...don't argue with a crazy person...

Genetic markers.

What makes "normal" people go along with statist ideas?
Because they are compelling and true on a personal level!! We as humans DO want to help and care for those we love - children, etc.
Yet, that does not imply that the government should do it.
Most people refuse to differentiate.
So, I too have banged my head against a wall for years and have next to nothing to show for it. Yet I carry on.
Keep at it.

Guilt, in a word. A refusal to believe they could have earned their success, in large part because it admits the less successful have not done so and passes responsibility for that failure to others.

Intellectual shallowness seems to be the common thread. Many so called intelligent people are only given the descriptive because they can repeat back what has been shoved into their little pea brains. Actual perception and understanding is the missing element.

My brother in law has a PhD in a highly technical area, and is a dyed-in-the-wool progressive. My discovery of his actual limited intellectual capacity came not from a political discussion, but from a technical one. He asked me about a space activity that he didn't understand, and I proceeded to make the link between what puzzled him and the general physics principles involved that connected to his area of expertise. To my shock, he said he never paid much attention to principles, so long as the numbers in his equations gave the right answer.

My conclusion from this exchange was that he, like many leftists, eagerly clings to what "sounds right" rather than what makes sense. He stopped having political discussions with me because he said my use of facts and logic was "unfair."

I think the blame rests squarely on our educational system. Just seeing the influence it had on my son when he was in high school in the 1990's (here in Az.). He very much on the left politically, while I'm far right and his mother is middle of the road. We don't even try to change his mind anymore. Any intellectual discussion with him ends up in a verbal brawl. Schools are no longer teaching what my wife and I learned. It seems that American History and Civics have been replaced with rote memorization for high testing scores so the school districts can get more funding. Textbooks and info from online are probably tilted towards the left.
Recently on Fox News, they had a journalist questioning college students and then people on the street they seem completely oblivious to current events or spew socialist ideology.

Could be that all their accumulated information is compartmentalized only in their brain, (the brain/neurons are compartmentalized and cannot integrate) and being accomplished a sense of narcissism sets in coupled with a bit of guilt which manifest into what you have observed.

Consciousness soars on the wings of metaphors is my summation of the works of Julian Jaynes. He points out that the left brain alone is amazing, the right brain is a phenomenal addition but...in the folks you describe they are disconnected...they may be Bicameral as opposed to unicameral which produces consciousness, a real conscience, identity and the ability to self introspect, not to mention integrate information into the form of wisdom.

You might try using metaphors they might be familiar with to describe reality as we know it in a non-(leftest)-offensive way.
Make it personal but not obvious so they can use their emotions to re-awaken a connection to their minds.

Because intelligence is no guarantee of rationality.
And also, not everyone wants to know the truth. Have you read Leonard Peikoff"s The Ominous Parallels? It is a sort of history of philosophy. It explains how bad philosophy fosters (if not originates) irrationality, causing the wrong epistemology, the wrong metaphysics (view of the earth), which causes evil politics.

According to Pinker, one of the inherited tendencies seems to be "Conformance to Social Expectations". These people would probably be Conservatives if it were 'in style' to be conservatives and Libertarians if it were 'fashionable' to be that.

If you want to change your relatives, then change social expectations. Not only will they probably switch, but they will also probably claim that 'this is what they thought all along'. Because the did: what they thought is what Society expected.

Jan

Sorry, but it's exactly the same with my family. A couple of cousins have cut me off altogether. Libralism is a disease. If you come from what was originally a working class family, the idea that the Democrats are "for the working people" is ingrained to the point of being a cult.It doesn't matter that everyone is now successful or a professional. I could say more, but it's lunchtime.

Mental illness.

I've read all the responses, but didn't see one that applied to my daughter. She is old enough that her schooling was not as liberal as it is today. She never finished college, but took a job as a programmer. Taught herself Java, which is not an easy language.

I think that she persisits in being a liberal because her job is now threatened by the reforms being made by President Trump. Her employer had mostly government contracts, which are now in jeopardy.

So she refuses to even talk to me any more about philosophical issues. I have to bite my tongue in order not to say anything to upset her, or the conversation is over.

You can't fix stupid.

“Half the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don't mean to do harm; but the harm does not interest them. Or they do not see it, or they justify it because they are absorbed in the endless struggle to think well of themselves.” TS Elliot

I think seeking "external validation" plays a part in it, something that AR never did.

There may be any number of reasons, but I'll give you one not mentioned: a lack of long-term priorities. Look at everything about the progressive Left. Everything is based on the short-term: power, money, etc. Until people start thinking long-term, honesty can be replaced by a few white lies, fidelity turns to promiscuity, and the pursuit of power becomes everything.

I figure it is primeval and tribal still in mans survival mechanism. "We" as a whole may not be as far out of the jungle as we would like to think. Therefore, there is a familial feeling of comfort in the collective. It takes effort and risk to be a rational individual as opposed to being an instinctive herd animal. One can be "smart" in many ways and still be tribal. The true concept of individual liberty is extremely new on the historical scene and, arguably, the United States was the first massive effort towards creating a civilization comprised of free individuals. Maybe mankind still isn't ready for it, yet.

Americans, more and more, are entering the paradigm of Big Brother. I think that's about it. Many people, like those born in North Korea labor camps, don't really know anything different. They find comfort in it. It's insane, of course...

Some advice, for whatever it is worth.
You want their approval and acceptance too much, thus it bothers you.
Try, very difficult to do, try to teach from on high. Don't worry if they get it. But keep trying.
Have confidence that you are making some small difference - because you are.