Tuesday, March 11, 2014

The Deteriorating Intellect of Leftists

As I've aged not only have I gained more and more insight and wisdom from hindsight, but I've noticed that society has changed along with me.  Men indeed are becoming wimpier, women more manly, people dumber and more gullible, and institutions more machiavellian.  The majority of society's trends are unfortunately downward or regressive, but it is not under my control, nor my concern.  I can only accept these truths as reality and tailor my actions and decisions accordingly.

However, one of the more prominent trends that affects my "profession" directly has been understanding and acknowledging the progressively deteriorating mental condition of leftists.  In the embryonic stages of this blog my primary purpose in setting up "Captain Capitalism" was because I was sick and tired of being the sole "republican/conservative" at the various 20 something parties I attended in liberal Minneapolis.  Sure enough somebody would out me, I'd have a cacophony of emasculated liberal males attacking me to display their oneupmanship in the hopes of sleeping with a harry-armpitted-South-Minneapolis female, and while I didn't start it, I would most definitely finish it.  Of course this ruined the party and so I decided that it would be beneficial for my social life to have some key data and charts readily available on the internet that would pre-emptively end any political arguments, allow the party to continue uninterrupted, and me not ending up the "right wing nazi asshole" by the end of the evening.

But something funny happened.

After no less than 5 years of compiling empirical data, terabytes of charts, and what I consider to be one of the best depositories of economic data in the world, I noticed not ONE leftist was ever convinced or even phased by the preponderance of evidence I had amassed on my blog.  They would claim "X," I would show them "Y," and then they would execute the most cowardly and delusional mental acrobatics to weasel out of it.  It was until no more than 3 years ago that I finally realized leftists had absolutely NO desire to seek out reality or truth, but rather preferred to have a religion or belief system that made their fragile psychies and egos feel good.

This had a significant effect on my blog and other online activities as I no longer wasted my time compiling empirical economic data or statistics.  Why would I waste my time compiling data, when I would get responses like "well my perception is reality?"  The left has absolutely no intention of having an intellectually honest discussion.  Ergo the switch some of you may have noticed from pure, hard-core economics to mockery, ridicule, philosophy, Manosphere, and antagonism.  But while this observation provided the impetus for the switch of focus on my blog, it also opened my eyes to a much larger and deeper phenomenon - the decaying intellectual capacity of leftists.

The absolute absence of any desire to be honest, truthful, and seeking reality at 20 something parties was just the tip of the ice berg.  It was a symptom of a much larger problem.  Here were presumed "adults," college educated even, who would have a glass of water put in front of them and when told "that is a glass of water" lacked the ability to acknowledge it for what it was.  This delusion or denial was just the first  of many symptoms of a decaying intellect.

The second thing I noticed was leftist mind's inability to handle literalness vs. general points.  A perfect example is where Tom Leykis always always always has to correct his female callers when they call in and say,

"Oh yeah!!!!???  Well my friend, she's 55 and never married and SHE DOESN'T HAVE CATS!!!!"

Instead of listening to the general point being made about most people who are female, 55, and have cats, the leftist ignores the general overall point attempting to be made and scrambles to find an anecdote or a datapoint that disproves the overall point.

Forget the overall point wasn't literally saying, ALL women who are 55 and single have cats, no just desperately try to find the outlier example that does not follow the general rule.

On the flip side, the leftist mind shows the capacity to be literal when it chooses.  I've written scores of paragraphs, making a concise point, abbreviating the logic so it is easier to the readership.  And mercy do they point out the gaps  or the inconsistencies.  I wish I could provide an example, but the criticisms are so petty and not-germane to the topic, none come to mind right now.

Regardless, what this once again proves is the leftist mind has no desire to adhere to reality.  Only support the religion/script.  So it has the ability to CHOOSE to be literal when it wants to be, and general when it doesn't.

This third sign of mental decay was the inability of leftists to adhere to any kind of logic.  I never thought logic a great or incredible skill because I think the brain is naturally programmed to unconsciously incorporate "if then" "and" "a=b, b=c, then c=a" and other proof-type logic into debate and conversation.  But apparently it must be a herculean task to adhere to because leftists just seem immune to logic.

They lack ANY capacity to be logical, let alone adhere to any kind of linear argument.  Ergo, while you may think "OK, I can't beat them with an empirical argument, so I'll get them on logic," forget it.  Once you paint them into an inescapable corner, they either engage in intellectual dishonesty to make it seem their position is logically tenable, or they switch the topic of conversation, usually accusing you of an "ism" of sorts.

This leads to the fourth symptom of a deteriorating mind - non-sequitur arguments.

If you and I were having a debate about dogs and I all of the sudden started talking about cats, you might wonder if I had a few screws loose.  If we were talking about the best way to get to Sturgis and then I bring up the route to Tallahassee, you might wonder if you shouldn't have carpooled with somebody else.  But when a leftist switches the debate from the crushing debt we're destroying our children with to "Oh yeah, well Reagan had death squads in Central America!" that's viewed as "intelligent" or "strategic."

No, it's not.  It's a mental flaw.  A mental impairment.  A sign of a dysfunctioning and inadequate intellect.  If you pulled that kind of switcheroo off as a 9 year old boy in the 4th grade you'd be given Ritalin.

Naturally anybody who's argued with a leftist or paid the slightest bit of attention when debating one, has observed and witnessed these symptoms.  Perhaps some of you, after bashing your head into a wall trying to actually argue with a leftist, had the wisdom to acknowledge they were mentally handicapped and stopped.  But most recently, I've found evidence that the leftist intellect is deteriorating even further.  And mental deterioration in this specific category has scary ramifications:

Leftists are losing the ability to understand satire and sarcasm.

It was a spate of hate-filled, curse-laden, death-threat-full comments in the past couple of months that made me realize leftists are starting to lose their ability to discern sarcasm and joshing.  One instance was a podcast or video (I can't remember which) where I was opining about what celebrities I could take in a fight.

Bono, no.
Clooney, probably not.
Matt Damon, unfortunately no.
But Leonardo DiCaprio, sure!

Was I REALLY going to challenge any of these people to fights?
No.
Do I REALLY want to beat up Leonardo DiCaprio?
No.

But in comes the tirade about how "I'm not a real man" and "Look at the pussy acting all macho" and "You never served like in Nam, have you ever hunted man" and "I know a ditch you'd fill well" etc. etc. as if I was actually serious about fighting Hollywood celebrities.

It was this instance combined with others that made me realize leftists take everything you say seriously and no longer can tell when you are kidding.  They can't take a joke.  They can't laugh.  They are so serious and insecure about their politics, their intellect no longer has the capacity for humor.

And this is why it is scary.

Humor, it is my humble belief, is proof of a high intellect.  Squirrels don't laugh.  Cows don't cut jokes.  But humans do.  It is humor that not only makes humans human, but is also the primary reason I believe there is a god and that humans are indeed special (besides, theology aside, comedians as a group have surprisingly high IQ's).   So when a human no longer shows the capacity to identify and appreciate humor, it shows a regression in their mental capacity.  This isn't to say all leftists don't appreciate a good joke, but i have noticed the preference (or perhaps purposeful choice) of leftists to take offense and umbrage, and then display rage and anger at something that was patently sarcasm.  You combine this inability to discern humor with all the other aforementioned mental deficiencies (lack of intellectual honesty, lack of logic, problems with literalness, non-sequiturism) and the ramifications are indeed scary, namely... 

The liberal zombie.

To be blunt, when you try to talk reality and sense to a leftist today, they more often than not end up getting angry, sometimes rageful.  And while most won't throw a punch, what if they were starving?  What if they were unemployed and constantly teetering on the verge of poverty?  What if they were brought up under an environment of constant brainwashing, hate, bigotry, and classism?  What if the EBT, TANF, and WIC checks suddenly bounced in an economic melt-down?

Do you really think you're going to be able to sit there, with a mob of starving leftists charging you saying,

"No, wait, you don't understand.  You see the Chinese cut off our funding and so the federal government had to print money to meet this quarter's social spending demands, but this triggered inflation and is why those checks have lost 90% of their purchasing power.  You see, if we just vote for fiscal austerity this next election cycle and reform our social programs, we can reverse this?"

These people, even the college educated ones, scoffed and did Cirque de Solei level mental acrobatics to dismiss your literal and factual chart.  Do you think they're, let alone their ignorant mass-sheeple counterparts are going to pay attention, let alone heed your arguments?

The sad truth is you aren't dealing with sane mental individuals.  You really aren't.  This is not hyperbole or rhetoric.  This isn't even to slander leftists for political reasons.  It's factual.

Leftists are mentally impaired.

And if their deteriorating ability to laugh at humor is any indication, it looks like they're getting worse.

Perhaps all that zombie ammo in the stores isn't a joke.

__________________________________________

Aaron Clarey is a mean, evil, right wing libertarian who hates everybody, but especially women and minorities.  He lives at home in his mother's basement and is a 42 year old virgin who can't get any.  He writes stuff, but you should ignore it because of his CISgenderedness-privilege-white-maleness.

He is the author of "Enjoy the Decline," "Worthless" and "Bachelor Pad Economics", has a Youtube Channel, and is host of The Clarey Podcast.

You should buy them so you can burn them because burning books is good, unless you're a Nazi, then it's bad.  You should also do a Youtube video about what a jerk he is, especially if you're a 20 something college student who think you know everything.

33 comments:

Aeroguy said...

Wait, when did you become a theist? I would think a sweeping change in your metaphysical perspective would justify its own blog post. Also, I miss the charty goodness, the details, we don't do it for the leftists, we do it for ourselves and the pursuit of truth. Since the left can't keep us honest we have to keep each other honest, if anything this means we should have more charts.

Anonymous said...

I am an X-Lefty who has been following your writing for a few years. Have changed my political views thru reading the MRM. I would rather the country bite the bullet on its debt spending(Military and Welfare). Capital vs Labor..Capital is winning. May be the years 1950-1973 when labor reached its peak was an aberration. I just tell my whining labor working lefty friends they are on the wrong side of Capitalism. I also tell them that the rich have been with us since the day one and they need to get on with their life. Complaining about the rich(if they earned it themselves or inherited it is not going to accomplish much.

Anonymous said...

Maybe the problem is that you noticed the leftists you didn't convince.

The ones you did convince, just wrote something like "Great post!"

So it seemed like your data had no impact, but that was inaccurate.

Author said...

Well done again sir! I mostly engage leftist women on my FB, and your experiences match mine quite neatly.

Unknown said...

I need several "break glass in case of" boxes. They would both be stocked with guns and ammo, but one would be labeled "inflation roots" and the other "leftist horde".

Anonymous said...

A lot of comedians are leftists. I really don't think the humor thing has anything to do with it.

It's not that they lack humor. They are just dislike what you said so are bringing up whatever anecdotes they can. Something to do with hamsters.

I used to find myself getting angry at the left and leftists for being retarded, or immoral(even if they didn't mean it), or whatever else. But I really can't give a shit anymore. I have more important shit to attend to.

Anonymous said...

I think you're close to the mark with this one, however...

It isn't liberals that are especially stupid and ruining the country. It's dumb people in general that are ruining the country.

What do I mean? You skewer the typical coastal liberal for their mental dissonance, stupidity and for being a bunch of fugly twits.

The thing is, it isn't like many so-called conservatives are that different. Look at what runs the Republicans today? You have to pay lip service to the religious right or never have a chance of winning a national election. These people are as ignorant of basic facts and economics as the average liberal. They would vote for Lenin if he wore a cross and went to a megachurch. They think that abortion and gay marriage are the most important issues to consider when voting. The south has some of the fattest people in the country.

Which is why I say that it's dumb people who are screwing up the country, regardless of their poorly thought out conservative views. The average liberal feminist, had he been born in a different family, would likely have been a 200 lb white knight redneck.

Anonymous said...

I also long ago gave up reasoning. Just keep buying ammo and wait for the day...

Anonymous said...

I can't the leftists who think they are conservative...such as Fox Newsers, governments employees, etc.

Dave said...

I guess you've answered the question of how to argue with a leftist.

Next question: What's the best way to take advantage of their stupidity, and what might we gain by doing this?

Anonymous said...

the zombie ammo isn't a joke. Hornady's Zombie Defense is their leverevolution round with a green tip. In the depths of the ammo drought that was all that I could find to feed my .30-30.

You're spot fucking on with your observation that liberals don't want to hear the truth. My father is a PhD chemist and believes that spraying teflon on a bullet makes it armor-piercing. My liberal classmates harp on about the "77 cents on a man's dollar" even after I set their shit straight with articles from feminists on huffpo.

it's really sad

Jones said...

A new word for your lexicon:

Kidult.

It means "a child-like adult" or a "kid-adult" -- someone who is neither this nor that wholly, but someone who tries to split the difference.

When dealing with a "kidult", you don't argue with one -- you send him to his room. :-)

Jones said...

@Dave:
"... what might we gain by doing this?"

Cheaper labour to exploit.

After all, setting standards of excellence is the domain of conservatives -- all you have to do with this lot is to give them toys in lieu of actual gains.

(c.f. "kidults")

Anonymous said...

Yep, I came to that conclusion a long time ago. Leftists are all about emotions, and when you present the facts they either do an ad hominem or non-sequitur attack directed towards you. I have more important things to attend to, such as my family. So, I am now collecting ammo, silver, and trying to learn new skills for the decline. The decline is not just happening here in the good ol' USA (what's left of it), but worldwide.

Glen Filthie said...

As has been said - you can't argue with an idiot. For them it is important enough to 'believe' things. Adults like us understand the difference between 'believing something' and knowing it for a fact. The reason we take pains with our facts is that we know that if we're wrong, we could be seriously hurt. That spawns another process we have that the left doesn't: critical thought.

Buy ammo, boys. Nothing short of a sucking chest wound will change the belief system of a leftist.

Scesci said...

This helps me a lot in navigating the shapeshifting political landscape in Brazil, indeed the in last 5-7 years this process took a sudden leap forward. Nowadays it seem that everyone is infected

Great post Capt.

LordSomber said...

People's minds reflexively tend to go into shutdown mode when labels are used, whether "left/right" or "liberal/conservative." Today, these labels are almost worthless.
I do try to persuade using common sense points and I often get through to some people, even though I live in a liberal town.
This may sound passive/aggressive, but I let the burden ultimately fall on the other guy to convince me of his points. I can easily shoot down BS arguments, and do.

Peregrine John said...

I'm with Aeroguy on the charts and tasty, tasty facts: I am manifestly not an economist, so well-made education that direction is always welcomed.

As for what to do about lefty lunacy, there is a tactic I've discussed a little with a couple of other bloggers and which cannot be reversed against anyone who is actually reality-based: amygdala overload (a.k.a. amygdala hijacking). That tendency to lose any whiff of calm is the beginning of a complete shutdown, as well as an attempt to avoid it. When properly applied, you can skip past the loud hysterics and go straight for the scared-rabbit mental collapse. It's awesome. And you, Capt. Cap, might be just the guy to coordinate and collate the skillset.

Captain Capitalism said...

Peregrine John and Aero,

I totally understand, but at what point do you just admit the study has been so thoroughly studied and flushed out there's no point in doing it anymore?

if there's anything that angers me it's that I had to waste this much time and effort defending and advocating something that is nothing more than common sense.

What we have to realize is how much labor, time, and money the right spends debating their vertiable retarded fucks on their own level to no avail.

I'm done "debating." I'm done "trying to be open minded." I'm done.

It doesn't work and the only thing that seems to work is berating, mockery, ridicule and embarassment.

I'm sure there are many more interesting economic things that can be said, but I don't care to point them out any more because I've already donated enough time to posterity economics.

From here on out I'm ripping these retards apart. Besides, both of you are savvy enough to figure it out from here on out. YOu don't need me. YOu have the logic, you have the basic underlying laws and theories of economics. It's not like you can't come upwith the same obsevations I do and are capable of charting them.

I'm sorry, but I just refuse to argue anymore with mentally damaged psychos. It's pointless. Let them think being parasitical is a "long term strategy." What do I care, they're all going to die piss poor, and that's the BEST part of their lives. That it will END. Because being a parasite is a miserable existence.

Martel said...

@ CPT Cap: "It doesn't work and the only thing that seems to work is berating, mockery, ridicule and embarassment."

Close, but not quite. The key is to use mockery to demonstrate superiority, then follow up with facts. When they refuse to believe something obvious, go straight to the heart of the situation:

"You're a blind ideologue who knows nothing and wants to know nothing except that your feelings are somehow real. Your downright terrified to even recognize a simple fact if it might distrupt your delusions." etc.

After they've been sufficiently humbled, if they show something that almost strikes you as a shadow of remorse or embarrassment, switch to sympathy mode. "Believe me, I understand. Sometimes I wish things didn't work this way, but they DO. I just can't believe in lies, even if they seem comforting sometimes."

Mockery, wit, facts & logic, sympathy, all can be used to great effect IF used in the right order with boldness.

Kristophr said...

Some people are impervious to reason.

Korean shopkeepers kept their businesses safe during the LA riots by flat out shooting the apparent leaders of looting gangs ... when the alpha asshole caught a bullet, the beta followers ran like rabbit.

Reason will not work on someone who did not use reason to get where they are.

Anonymous said...

Lefties are like Slinkies. Not really good for anything, but they make you smile when pushed down the stairs!

Karl said...

I turned to mockery... and never looked back.

They aren't worth the effort.

Peregrine John said...

Ah, Aaron, I'm not learning financial stuff to better debate yahoos. Like Aeroguy, I'm learning it for myself, and any source that can speed this up (and make it pleasant in the mean time) is a good one. We're still here, long after "charty goodness" faded into history, you'll notice. Cappy Cap is still a daily read for me, so you're doing something right.

Plus, my actual suggestion - gleeful refinement of the art of amygdala overload - is all about avoiding pointless debate. They don't really want true debate anyway, as you've pointed out, so shutting them down by kicking the base of their house of cards is just really satisfying fun. I'll write on the subject myself eventually, but I know very little about it just yet in any practical sense.

stumpjumper72 said...

Your last two sentences in the first paragraph were spot on. 100% true but tough to accept.

Anonymous said...

Cap,

The human race is dumb, end of story. Be very thankful you are one of the lucky few who can think for themselves and make decisions based on logical processing of information. Most people are not adults, they are children who are taller. The world has often asked the question how did the Germans let the Nazis take over power? The answer is because people are dumb.

You have tried logical arguments, now you are trying mockery. I prefer a combination of the two, ie mockery through logic. Mark Styne is a great example of this, as is Nicolas Taleb.

AS regards the absence of humor, they have it, in their own peculiar way. When The Guardian's editors were negotiating with White House officials over the theft of national security secrets by Snowden, the editors thought there was vast comedic value in the fact the US officials were calling a powerpoint slide a 'purple box.' Much laughter was had on the side of the leftists. The US officials apparently didn't find it particularly amusing to search for lame humor in the largest intelligence theft in their country's history.

Anyway, you will never convince a leftist of anything. They have their world view and they're sticking with it in the face of all evidence. The only thing we can do is wake up some of the poor souls who were brainwashed from a very early age.

Anonymous said...

Every word sad but true. What we call "leftist" are basically a core of Narcissistic Clusters B's surrounded by an outer colony of Narcissistic Clusters B's by proxy. The mental impairment wouldn't be so frightening if it disqualified them form powerful governing positions but strength in their numbers gives them a disproportionate and reckless say in how society should be governed. It's like giving a three year old the keys to your SUV or The White House. What could possibly go wrong?

Anonymous said...

Up here in the boonies the Canadian Broadcasting Corp (CBC) has always been on the left. Nowadays it is hard left, and purveys the usual leftist nonsense. However, because of budget cuts (or their own lack of control over internal budgeting) they have been forced to rerun old radio programs, from, say 30 years ago. It is striking how much better the old programs are. The speakers are civil, they speak well, they never use coarse language, and their arguments make sense. They present facts - oh a little selectively for sure, but facts none the same. They often acknowledge points of view and arguments of their opponents. It is as though the old CBC-ers belonged go a different and superior species.

So yes, the intellects of leftists have noticeably deteriorated over the last 30 to 40 years.

Anonymous said...

I used to get into debates or arguments with people who identified themselves as conservatives who were exactly like the leftists you describe. Human nature being what it is leads me to believe that what we are dealing with is that people are mindbogglingly stupid and increasingly determined to stay so.

Al From Bay Shore said...

You are suggesting a futility in debating with leftists (who are actually statists or collectivists). I disagree with that insofar as the internet is concerned. The internet is the realm of text not the person to person discourses like those of the twenty-something parties you mentioned. Those forums are limited by time. They require immediate access to vast stores of information that must be referenced at light speed. Those type of exchanges are heavily weighted towards senses that have little to do with sober and thoughtful deliberation. In those forums, imagery, "zingers", and insult reign supreme. In those types of debates, the person with the best "your moms" joke has the advantage not the person who articulates a well thought out argument.

The world of text and reading is infinitely different because the tropes and routines often employed in the public debates of those parties you referenced have no value. I can understand giving up on debating the statists because it is time consuming but only for that reason. In the world of text whether it be a comments section or a Facebook page, the statists are easily cornered and unlike the "lunchroom yo' mama" sessions that are passed of as public debates, the statists find that the intellectual dishonesty the often employ as a means of escape doesn't work. When that happens, one of two things result: (1) they don't respond or (2) they block you from their site or Facebook page.

It is in the world of text where the statist's irrational devotion to an irrational gospel will be exposed. The only reason to not hunt them down, to not challenge them, and to not expose their irrational thought for all to see is that to do so is to expend large amounts of time. This is medium we've been waiting for. This is the medium that will expose hollow and poorly thought out ideas and positions.

Anonymous said...

As the comedian, Ron White, so aptly states, "You can't fix stupid!".

Daxton Brown said...

I wrote something with some similar themes regarding debating Liberals. My conclusion is also "Why bother". Except I think the reason to engage them is because of the greater audience of lurkers who are listening, some of whom may be swayed. http://www.futurnamics.com/debaterules.php

Quartermain said...

Anonymous at 8:48 nailed it.

It's stupid people in general.