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A new study showed a link between strong right-wing views and fear of disease and increased concern about hygiene.
The study showed that people who are more offended by bad odors are more likely to support authoritarian leaders, such as Donald Trump.
In the past, disgust at bad odors was important for survival. The scientists suggested that the disgust at unfamiliar odors may be linked to a desire to keep apart from "culturally unfamiliar" groups.
[...] In the new study, 160 people were rated on their aversion to bodily odours on a scale to one five and their responses compared to their political views. It found that each point higher on the disgust scale was associated with feeling 7.5 points more positive towards authoritarian leaders.
[...] It showed that people who were more disgusted by smells were also more likely to vote for Donald Trump than those who were less sensitive.
(Score: 2) by julian on Friday March 02 2018, @05:20PM (1 child)
In the past, examples of "change" that conservatives have resisted included the abolition of slavery, the institution of women's suffrage, ending discrimination against homosexuals, and the legalization of cannabis, to name just a few. Some far left activists, mostly in academia, are causing problems with a runaway pursuit of political correctness, but these people hold virtually no institutional power in government and never have. That they're doing this on purpose to exploit strife for personal gain is a conspiracy theory [wikipedia.org], a hoax, barely more believable than a child sex-trafficking cult headquartered in the basement of a pizzeria.
But I'm a liberal, not a leftist, which is a distinction fewer and fewer people on the right seem capable of making. I don't even have to try to defend those people. I can't stand them either. But I'm also not a conservative, so I don't lose my shit and overreact by electing a huckster buffoon to save me from the scary college kids with weird ideas about gender and biology.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday March 02 2018, @06:13PM
You really might want to consider all the politicians and industries that bend over backwards to pander to the extreme left before you commit to that first paragraph. When they control or are pandered to by most of the media, most educational institutions, and most online communication venues, and quite a lot of politicians with D by their name, they are no longer fighting the system, they are the system.
That's fine. Proper liberals are useful in any nation. They defend the liberties of the citizens, advocating for change when necessary. Hell, I'm one myself. Proper conservatives are likewise useful though. They keep change to a sensible pace so that it only figuratively gets people up in arms rather than literally. They also keep extremists on either side from swinging the pendulum so hard that they break the shit out of it.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.