Researchers find a ‘liberal gene’

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Liberals may owe their political outlook partly to their genetic make-up, according to new research from the University of California, San Diego, and Harvard University. Ideology is affected not just by social factors, but also by a dopamine receptor gene called DRD4. The study’s authors say this is the first research to identify a specific gene that predisposes people to certain political views.

Appearing in the latest edition of The Journal of Politics published by Cambridge University Press, the research focused on 2,000 subjects from The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. By matching genetic information with maps of the subjects’ social networks, the researchers were able to show that people with a specific variant of the DRD4 gene were more likely to be liberal as adults, but only if they had an active social life in adolescence.

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter affecting brain processes that control movement, emotional response, and ability to experience pleasure and pain. Previous research has identified a connection between a variant of this gene and novelty-seeking behavior, and this behavior has previously been associated with personality traits related to political liberalism.

Lead researcher James H. Fowler of UC San Diego and his colleagues hypothesized that people with the novelty-seeking gene variant would be more interested in learning about their friends’ points of view. As a consequence, people with this genetic predisposition who have a greater-than-average number of friends would be exposed to a wider variety of social norms and lifestyles, which might make them more liberal than average. They reported that “it is the crucial interaction of two factors — the genetic predisposition and the environmental condition of having many friends in adolescence — that is associated with being more liberal.” The research team also showed that this held true independent of ethnicity, culture, sex or age.

Fowler concludes that the social and institutional environment cannot entirely explain a person’s political attitudes and beliefs and that the role of genes must be taken into account. “These findings suggest that political affiliation is not based solely on the kind of social environment people experience,” said Fowler, professor of political science and medical genetics at UC San Diego.

“It is our hope that more scholars will begin to explore the potential interaction of biology and environment,” he said. “The way forward is to look for replication in different populations and age groups.”

This research was supported by the National Institute on Aging and the National Science Foundation.


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101 thoughts on “Researchers find a ‘liberal gene’”

  1. I was a strong liberal for 20+ years before turning so conservative all my old friends now think I’m nuts.
    I was raised by conservative parents but was politically very strongly liberal through my teens, twenties, and half my thirties.
    What changed me was reading a few books and learning about certain hiddenaltered aspects of history.
    Did the books also change my DNA? I guess one would think so.

  2. To correct some of the incorrect assumptions about your typical “tolerant and loving” liberal (as long as you don’t dare disagree with their views of course) I would like to point out that conservatives actually give more time and money to charities. Do some research and you’ll see this is true.

    I am very conservative and I’ll bet I give more money (and a higher %) than 95%+ of you libs on here to help out others. And yes, I have given time too both here in the U.S. and in Mexico in helping others.

    The difference in a liberal and a conservative in terms of helping people is this: Liberals TALK a big game about how much they (supposedly) care. Conservatives actually use their ACTIONS to show they care. Anyone can talk a big game, but if your actions don’t back it up, your words are worth little. Just ask our president how all that “future, hope, and change” stuff is working out… nothing but empty useless words.

    • I’m not a liberal . . . but your post is ridiculous! Please quote evidence of your claims. I’m SO SICK of liberals and conservatives ATTACKING one another with baseless claims. I can’t wait until the reasonable, free thinking, independent moderates in this country get so sick of both sides crap and take back this country from ALL YOU unreasonable EXTREMISTS!!! This country needs a good dose of plain ole common sense for a change!!! (And for the record, I have both liberal and conservative friends, and both appear equally devoted to their convictions and volunteer and give money to same.)

      • I’m not even religious but I will say “AMEN TO THAT!” All of these bogus news(propaganda) organizations are just alienating and polarizing both sides to frightening levels. What did ever happen to common sense? I guess if you get on the podium and yell a lot of bull$^it that sounds nice people will buy it.

        I can’t wait for the day when moderates rule the world and people look on polar extremes as just crazy. Which they are.

    • Oh yeah? Well, liberals eat babies! Do some research and you’ll see this is true. Liberals rape the elderly and throw rocks at puppies!

      I am very conservative and I’ll bet I don’t rape puppies and throw rocks as the elderly, like you libs on here.

      This is what you sound like to the rest of us. Even if conservatives give more to charity, what does that prove? It would be a statistical fact that has nothing to do with anything.

    • Show us the research to support that claim J.R. Working in your local church only helping people of your own faith is one thing but are conservatives really out there helping? Going to another country on a mission to “help” when it’s really to indoctrinate is usually the rights way of “helping”. What about the 99ers that need extended unemployment benefits? All we’ve heard about them from the right was heartless no’s & get a job. If you guys really wanted to help people you’d be prodding the Republican party “leaders” to actually vote in favor of PEOPLE & people do not always translate to corporations & the top 1%; I am talking about the American middle class & poor…why are they always discounted by the Republican party? And finally, you make a lot of sweeping claims…not very “tolerant and loving” of you is it?

    • I am a liberal and I’ve spent my ENTIRE adult life helping others. I,m also native american and am the ONLY person in my neighborhood who gets out and cleans our road up.Where are all the holy roller? Too busy at church or pushing their agenda off on others to actually DO something.By the way,I’m a Registered Nurse.I Don’t see any conservatives around here DOING Anything xcept blowing hot air around.

    • As we all know, all liberals are exactly the same just as all conservatives are exactly the same just like all Jews, Blacks, Asians and right handed people are the same.

      One single gene or one single trait does not dictate the entirety of your existence.

      Ignorance is not limited to one, gender, race or political affiliation. The entire human race suffers from it. It is a debilitating epidemic.

  3. Science is great! Sarah Palin is banned from everywhere my earsphere operates. ! am a Mike Malloy truthseeker, and like all good seekers, scientific bases of reality keeps us lit. We actually read history, enjoy and care for humans and the Earth, and are always interested in learning. We are open-minded and friendly. Tea baggers are a definite turn-off, although we wish them well in getting the psychiatric help they so desperately need. Thorazine should be their drug of choice.

    • “enjoy and care for humans and the Earth, and are always interested in learning. We are open-minded and friendly.”

      Now how does that reconcile with calling people interested in limited government ‘Tea-baggers’ and suggesting that they as a group need drug therapy?

      Another example of “Hurrah for me — to hell with everybody else” mentality of the left.

      • Another example of “Hurrah for me -to hell with everybody else” mentality of the right.

        Only two reasons I use the term tea-bagger:

        1) the first time I heard the term directed towards the group was from a member at one of the first demonstrations.

        2) Second, the term itself is funny as hell and actually serves as good metaphor for the movement. They are trying to tea-bag supporters of the political status quo.

        If I were a Tea-bagger, I would use the term proudly.

  5. How about the part that chastises people for working hard to make a good living and taxing the shit of them for their success?

    How about the part that thinks if you keep extending welfare benefits, you will make people stronger and want to go out and work….? Yeah right

    …and the part that fails to recognize that there are actually millions of open jobs that people don’t take because the two years of unemployment benefits are far to lucrative?

    I missed those parts….were they included?

    • Huh! I guess that explains why conservatives are mostly backward looking and intolerant…they don’t have the gene for compassion or progressive thinking. They’re not really evolved, I guess.

      • Terry, That explains why conservatives cling to religion, they don’t have any other way to make friends unless they agree to join a club. It’s hard to be taken seriously by “educated” people when you believe in a magic person that created everything and the inability to progress past their 2nd grade understanding of the natural world around them. Making money doesn’t mean you are intelligent and can understand complex ideals and social influences, look at Sarah Palin.

        • Sarah palin is an abomination.
          AS a native american,I want to send her away.Shame on her.She has NO RESPECT for the environment or others.She should NOT be allowed to destroy our wolves JUST for what she considers FUN, She is sickening.or perhaps just sick in the head.But SHE does GET a lot of attention.Adults who seek a lot of attention any way they can are to me,petty and immature to say the least.As a nurse,people like her are TOO common.I get tired of them.I’m pretty jaded about them. I think people should be treated with respect no MATTER who they are.I know there are good christians,goold buddhists,good atheists,even.I have taken care of ALL americans.Rich,poor.the rich annoy me because they are the FIRST ones to whine about things.It gets old.ESp when they’re driving jaguars and living in multimillion dollar homes.They CAN afford to PAY taxes.If they don’t like that they can give the land BACK to us native americans and get out of here.OR JUST stop whining in MY ear!

    • Ray,
      There is alot more to being a liberal than welfare.
      I consider myself a liberal and I don’t support unlimited welfare or unemployment benifits.
      I quess only you republicans can decide what we think and we’re not allowed to have varied beliefs.

      • Bill,I agree.I am a liberal nurse and I think people should have to work hard.I know I am.And I can’t stand people who manipulate the system and defraud others.There are a lot of people out there who REALLY NEED help.I believe in helping others.But they should BE willing to try to help themselves.Well,gotta go.I’ m busy.IT’s been fun hearing about this.I believe in science,but I also believe in a higher power.HUMANITY is fascinating.yet I prefer the company of animals,they are pure of heart and soul and NOT motivated by money.Now that is the native american in me!

    • You sir, are an absolute windbag, full of all the usual idiotic, small-mined talking points that usually spew from people like yourself. Chastises people for working hard? Right, made that one up, did you? Taxes the shit out of them? Have you ever bothered to look at tax rates for prior decades, or throughout the 1900’s? They remain incredibly low.
      The fatal flaw in your moronic ‘welfare’ argument is that hard-hearted individuals like you only look at, or ever bother considering, the people who are abusing the system. You say “well there are people who abuse this system, so lets toss the whole system out, honest people be damned!” Why not abolish lawsuits while you’re at it, since people sometimes abuse those too? Get a grip on reality.
      Typical conservative tripe, gleefully exposing your intellectual weaknesses, which you will undoubtedly fail to recognize time and time again.

    • How about the part that says you have a heart??! People can NOT pull themselves up by their boot straps if they don’t have boot straps!!!

    • There’s nothing “lucrative” about unemployment benefits, you ignorant fool. Any person who’s even been unemployed will tell you that. All you’ve done is listen to your precious conservative propaganda, that somehow the unemployed are just lazy and there are plenty of jobs out there.

      Sorry to inform you of the truth, but the jobs just aren’t out there. For every job opening, there are 5 people after it. it’s a wonder that the unemployment is ONLY 10-12% depending on the region.

      It’s called a floundering economy, Ray. It’s called not having enough jobs for the people who need.

      As for welfare benefits, there are people who NEED them. They should’ve suffer just because a few others abuse the system. Every system gets abused. People abuse 9-1-1 by calling for silly things or even prank calling them. Does that mean we should get rid of 9-1-1 and emergency response services? Hell no. it’s still a useful and needed system.

      What you fail to realize is that welfare, unemployment, etc. are important services for people who need something to survive off of until they can get back on their feet. They’re not meant to “make people stronger”. Despite what you think, people must drastically lower their standards of living to even have a HOPE of living off of just welfare or unemployment. My now-ex-wife and I were on welfare for a few months, and let me tell you, it was barely enough to SURVIVE, let alone LIVE off of.

      So please, before you go off spouting right-wing nonsense about laziness, do some damn research, you lazy bastard.

  6. Makes sense to me. All it’s basically saying is liberals are more open minded to opinions of others. Fits with my experience. It’s nice when science confirms your own perceptions. The reverse makes sense too – conservatives tend to be close minded and afraid/resistant of change.

    This all reminds me of this study:

    http://spq.sagepub.com/content/early/2010/02/16/0190272510361602.abstract

    It basically says that conservatives are greedy, bible-thumping chauvinists because they aren’t smart enough to overcome evolutionary influences. At least now we know the reason.

  7. Since some genetic disorders are due to overactive genes and some are due to underactive (or sometimes missing) genes, I find it curious that this was labled as “liberal gene” instead of “political ideology gene.” One could argue that the lack of a properly working DRD4 (and thus conservatisim) is the genetic abnormality not the other way around.

  8. The following link was posted by Tom Huppi who is (wait for it) an engineer and so by definition in J Patterson’s earlier post he must have his “feet firmly grounded on the Earth and live in a world of reality. ” Please enjoy…I know I did.

    http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/L-hitler.htm

    Many conservatives accuse Hitler of being a leftist, on the grounds that his party was named “National Socialist.” But socialism requires worker ownership and control of the means of production. In Nazi Germany, private capitalist individuals owned the means of production, and they in turn were frequently controlled by the Nazi party and state. True socialism does not advocate such economic dictatorship — it can only be democratic. Hitler’s other political beliefs place him almost always on the far right. He advocated racism over racial tolerance, eugenics over freedom of reproduction, merit over equality, competition over cooperation, power politics and militarism over pacifism, dictatorship over democracy, capitalism over Marxism, realism over idealism, nationalism over internationalism, exclusiveness over inclusiveness, common sense over theory or science, pragmatism over principle, and even held friendly relations with the Church, even though he was an atheist.

    • @sanitycheck..

      Hitler was not an Atheist.. Many people believe that he was, because he wasn’t involved with the church. The history channel has a great documentary on the amount of Paganism that was involved with the rituals and the existance of the Third Reich. He even sent out escavation and archeologists around the world to find peices that could link the Nazi party to prophacy. An Atheist, wouldn’t waste the time on these types of things. Stalin, was an Atheist to my knowledge… But Hitler? I don’t think so.

    • Nope. Hitler’s beliefs align most closely with the Progressives of the West prior to his rise to power. You’ll find, if you dig, that his views and those of Mussolini, were close to, influenced by, and lauded by Western Progressives, who only changed their tune AFTER the horrors of WWII were revealed. Many of them appear to have kept their views, but merely changed their public persona.
      Hitler was hardly a hardcore right winger. Hitler’s comrade and counterpart, Mussolini, stated he started Fascism because he didn’t like Socialism’s internationalist nature. Fascism was to be, literally, a national(ist) socialism. Hitler’s ideals traveled a similar path. Why would he proclaim National Socialism if he was a right winger?

      • Super bunched righties are always looking for this thread.. but it doesn’t exist. In the 1930s the right in America was pro-Nazi; the progressives were not.

        How do you expect to pull that much wool over that many eyes?

    • @sanitycheck
      You’re right in that Hitler was not for egalitarianism. However, he wanted equity for all; something that didn’t exist in the exploitative Weimar Republic. He also flattened hierarchies to bring workers closer to management. For better understanding, you might read the online article:
      “How Hitler Consolidated Power in Germany”

      or google the video:
      “Adolf and Controversy”

      Also, keep in mind that most of that talk about racial eugenics was post-war propaganda, designed to discredit German nationalism — and nationalism, in general. In reality, eugenics wasn’t even a “Nazi” idea, but rather one that was already advocated and practiced in the US and Britain (remember President Woodrow Wilson’s sterilization program?), and then advanced by Zionist rabbis in the Third Reich. For better understanding, you can google:
      “Adolf’s Jewish Support”

    • Just read the plethora of quotes from Hitler himself that talk about his Christian faith, duties as a Christian, etc. Atheist, my ass.

  9. So having more friends and being more social in adolescence is somehow a bad thing?

    Only if you’re an inbred hick.

  10. The scientific study left out the most important fact.
    Liberal men have lillte to no testosterone and liberal women have enough testostorone for 10 liberal men. Its a FACT. No study needed. Just observe.

    • And then there’s Sarah Palin and Christine O’Donnell — enough testosterone for 100 conservative men and to turn their brains to total mush.

  11. DRD4-7R (7 repeats of the DRD4) allele is associated with ADHD.

    Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) has a 35% comobidity with ADHD. Oppositional defiant disorder is described by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) as an ongoing pattern of disobedient, hostile and defiant behavior toward authority figures which goes beyond the bounds of normal childhood behavior. People who have it may appear very stubborn. Temper tantrums, stealing, bullying, and vandalism are some of key symptoms of oppositional defiant disorder. ODD children may present as negative, defiant, unable to take “no” for an answer, deliberately annoying others, easily annoyed themselves, or blaming others for all that goes wrong.

    Sounds like every liberal I know.

  12. The moronic posts in string make this clear. Other than the rich, political conservatism in the US is closely correlated with lower education. This string makes that obvious, ignorance and conservatism go hand in hand. Little wonder you voted for Dumbya, he is stupid like you.

    • really? the rich +political conservatives = lower education? so kenya is a hotbed of intellectual activity? That must be why so many people leave America and UK for that Kenyan education. How old are you? I guess 7 years old, you have to be inorder to to write ” he is stupid like you”. Ok, let me get down on your 2nd grade level, nuh ahh, you are, no you are, I’m rubber and your glue, yes huh. I think you just proved the claim of this article, good job.

      • Ok, let me get down on your 2nd grade level,

        Short trip, retard.

        The article claimed NOTHING about intelligence. It’s purely about whether a personality trait like being liberal has a genetic component or not.

        Your reading comprehension skills are even worse than your writing skills.

      • Ok, let me get down on your 2nd grade level,

        Short trip, retard.

        The article claimed NOTHING about intelligence. It’s purely about whether a personality trait like being liberal has a genetic component or not.

        Your reading comprehension skills are even worse than your writing skills. Both are a condemnation of the American educational system.

  13. The ‘mapped’ portion of the human genome, now complete, is only a small part of the total. The Epi-genome is the remaining portion and it is assigned characteristics by the behaviors of the adult in question. In theory there could be a genetic marker for everything a person does, if they live long enough. This is why marrying and having children early is not as beneficial as marrying an older man and bearing his children, his Epi-genome is much further developed. Providing a more completed genetic map.

  15. Can someone please find a cure for this defective gene? Apparently, it is a gene that is the basis of self-destruction, as well as the destruction of others. I’ll be happy to contribute some money to research that could find a gene replacement therapy or some kind of vaccine to prevent this disease. This could be more important than curing cancer, as it is more dangerous and has probably destroyed more lives than all cancers combined. Look at the deaths caused by liberals Mao, Hitler (yes, Hitler, he was a socialist, contrary to what liberals believe), Pol Pot, Stalin, Kim Jong Il, and others. I may start an organization, and sell T-Shirts with all profit going to research. The shirt could say “Race for the Cure – Help fight the liberalism gene and find a cure before it destroys us all”. I have a friend, he’s a good friend of mine. I really want to see him cured of his acute liberalism disease. Even though he has this disease, I still love him. I’m just glad that it is not contagious. I’ve managed to help him with some symptoms, such as believing in Anthropogenic Global Warming, but others I have not been able to help. He is now cured of AGW/Climate Change pyschosis.

    • whether by nature or nurture. Hitler was a socialist? He was vociferously opposed to socialism you moron.

      • Ah, a liberal. Typical ad hominem attacks, classic of the liberal mind. Nothing to substantiate your position, so you attack the character or intelligence of a person without providing any substance and no argument. As I’m pretty comfortable in my intelligence, I am a PhD candidate and I hold Bachelor and Master degrees in Engineering, such attacks just make me chuckle.

        Yes, in case you didn’t know, so let me play your game, and call you a moron back, Hitler’s party was the National Socialists. Go read some real history, and not the revisionist crap they force feed you in public schools. The supposition that Hitler was a right-winger is completely incorrect. He was nowhere near being right wing.

    • Clearly you’re an intelligent person, and as so you should know that you cannot take anything at its name. You cite that Mao was very liberal and I do agree, he was a communist, however, in 1949 he established the People’s Republic of China….now last I checked China, under Mao, was far from a republic. Therefore, to say that Hitler was a socialist because the name of the National Socialist Party is foolish. He was a facist…the definition of facism is:

      Fascism is inherently conservative and reactionary. Leadership comes from the top, in the form of a dictatorship that exercises substantial control over most aspects of society. Fascist systems are designed to harness all of the state’s assets for the benefit of the state. Fascism is an ultra-nationalist philosophy, a system that looks on the rest of the world with suspicion.

      Now does that sound like Hitler….or does socialism?

    • Talk about psychosis! Hitler was a fascist–a right wing nationalist nut. The others were communists. Socialism is a phenomenon associated with Western European democracies. While they pay higher taxes, the average worker enjoys a higher standard of living than average bloke here in United States. Not a bad trade-off. Scrolling down to another reply I read the chest thumping response of an individual with advanced degrees. Don’t confuse education with intelligence my friend. The correlation doesn’t always exist (insert Bill Gates here–no advanced degree). Believe what you want–liberal or conservative–they both amount to sack of horses#*%.
      Ideologues seldom think for themselves; that’s why they seek out labels. It’s easier than thinking.

      • The Nazi party was to the right of the Bolsheviks, and to the left of the Christian Democrats.

        Hitler thought it would be easy to demonize Jews because they were such good capitalists.

        The guy that tried to blow Hitler up, Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg. was a Christian Democrat, a catholic, and ideologically to the right of the Nazis.

  16. I would love to know whose money funded this study. Did it skew the outcome one way or another?
    Personally, my hopes are up that liberalism in the US can be dealt with scientifically. We can insert a “personal responsibility” trait so that while they can live as liberal a life as they choose, we won’t have to pay for myriad of social programs (including unlimited health care) to rescue liberals from their ruin.

    • Well, you’d have to believe it was probably non-biased, since it was performed by researches at UC San Diego and from Harvard, both liberal universities. I’m amazed they actually published it upon finding such results, as almost all university staff are extreme liberals. The only employees at my university that were, on the whole, not liberal, were professors from the engineering department. Engineers, such as myself, tend to be conservative/constitutionalists and have our feet firmly grounded on the Earth and live in a world of reality. Our job requires us to be logical and real.

      • As an environmental scientist and having worked with engineers for the past 40 years, I do agree that engineers are logical and real. They deal with facts.
        I believe liberals are evil, selfish (always want to spend someone else’s money), and “unsaved”, therefore blinded to the truth. They walk in darkness. So there is no help for them; they’re doomed so quit wasting your time trying to make them see the truth (the light). Because liberals spew so much hatred for this country, why don’t they pack all their crap and get out of dodge?

        • Gloria, You are so misguided. If anyone is spewing hatred, it is you and your negativity for what you do not understand or are scared to admit is obvious. I love how all you “conservatives” talk about us wanting to take everyones money away from them, or letting people on welfare rape the system. Seriously, get your heads out of the sand and take a look at what we represent. We wanted the people who were looking for work and needed to pay bills, get their unemployment checks. I don’t think another person, who got screwed by the greedy, money loving, republican finance CEO’s should go into foreclosure, while those jerks get their million dollar bonuses! Both my husband and I lost our jobs in that mess and neither one of us wanted welfare. It took us a year and a half to find decent paying jobs for our education and skill set. You conservatives, forget to see that. It is all about people taking from you, what you rightfully earned or worked for. You are like children on a playground that refuse to share the monkey bars.

          Millions of Americans who lost their jobs. We worked hard and saved and got screwed. Not everyone bought a house they couldn’t afford or racked up tons of credit card debt.

          You are also so ready to say we are genetically disfunctional, because of a gene that allows us to open our minds to others opinions and rationalize what is right and wrong on a more human level. The real difference, is that we are not intolerant to others views, even if we disagree. A liberal is someone who has common sense and wants the best for everyone, not just themselves or their family or their country or their business. We must all be giving and understanding, because that is what creates a civilzed society and seperates us from wild animals. I grant you that we have evil people out there, but I would also bet you that they are missing the DRD4 gene too, because they are so ready to destroy lives for a cause that is about suppressing people.

          There is a scared and very desperate tone to all the conservatives that have blogged. I noticed it is more negative in thought and more attacking in nature. That does not create harmony or balance in this world. It is amazing what you claim us liberals are doing to this country, because we feel that everyone should have the right to choose who they marry, what religion they want to practice, if they want to bring a child into this world or have healthcare that doesn’t cost them $1200 a month. I must be off my rocker, because I feel for humanity and want a better more peaceful world. A world that is not covered with garbage or coated with oil. A world that everyone gets to see a doctor when they are sick and that a baby will not be denied the right to live, because it needs a heart transplant and a corporation says they won’t allow it.

          What I have read from you and the rest of the conservatives, is that being social and accepting of others views is bad and having a country of all one religion and belief system that is intolerant is good. I don’t think it is the ones with the DRD4 gene that have the issue.

          • Two little boys were born one day.

            The first little boy was born to a set of parents that were basic workers, who didn’t have much money in the bank, but they got by, paid their taxes and were able to give their son a home with food in his belly and clothes on his back. As he grew up the first boy dreamed of one day going to college and becoming a doctor. He knew he was going to have to work really hard to earn scholarships and take on large loans that he would later have to repay. But he fought for his dream every day year after year. Until one day he made that dream come true — the reward of years of labor and effort doing work he loved in a profession that would enable him to give his future children all that they needed, even an education. This is how the first man lived.

            The second little boy was also born to a set of parents that were basic workers, who didn’t have much money in the bank, but they got by, paid their taxes, and were able to give their son a home with food in his belly and clothes on his back. As he grew up the second boy didn’t really have much to dream for, he didn’t really care much about a career, earning money or having a profession. So he learned how to do the same kind of jobs that his parents did, just getting by putting food in his belly, paying his taxes, putting clothes on his back. This is how the second man lived.

            One day, the second man took a look at the first man and said: “Hey, you have more stuff than I do! That’s not fair. Why aren’t you sharing it with the rest of us? Can’t you see that we don’t live the same lifestyle that you live? Why are you being so greedy with all your stuff? If you cared anything about anyone but yourself, you would just give all your stuff to all of us who need it more than you need it! You’re rich, you can just make more stuff. It’s only right that you should share what you worked for with the rest of us because we have not been as fortunate as you. We have not had the same advantages as you.”

            And that is what is wrong with our so called “society”. There are many of you out there that think like the second man – that you are ENTITLED to have whatever you want (whatever you think is “fair”). You believe you have a right to enslave another person (to take the fruits of his labor, his life) to satisfy your NEEDS/WANTS and the needs/wants of others. You would make servants of the smart people, the innovative people, the driven, the risk takers. You would bite the hands of the very people that you depend on to give you a way to make your own living. Slavery is truly an evil thing, and an inhumane thing.

            The backbone of our economy and the survival of your government depends on the people that are like the first man — the person who is motivated to better himself, to work for himself, and maybe even to get rich doing it. In the process, in his so called “selfish pursuit” of his own happiness, he also ends up benefiting those men that curse him like the second man. The second man had a job in the hospital, or a job in the corporation, or a job in the factory that the first man made possible.

          • Your biggest error was stating that acceptance of others’ views is bad, that sounds more like a liberal’s view, not a conservative’s.

            As for “balance in the world”, does that mean that you can redistribute wealth to those who are too lazy to work and expect everyone who works hard should support them?

            I’m a tax accountant and you would be surprised how many ways people try to “milk” the system. From lying to how many dependents they have to what their income is just so they can be eligible for Earned Income Credit. They will tell me to only enter the number of dependents to assure they will get max EIC. Then, if they have additional children, they let their siblings claim them so their siblings will get EIC when they aren’t eligible except for the lies.

            I don’t mind helping people in need but I do hate to see people stealing from our country.

    • Better we should waste billions and billions on wars than have a healthy population. Brilliant.

      • Who said anything about wars? What does this have to do with wars? If you’re not a liberal you are a warmonger? Are you the same one making the ad hominem attacks against my previous post?

        Who is really for war than those posessed by evil? I’m not for war. All of the wars the US are involved in are unwinnable and unwarranted. I hate Bush and I hate Obama. They were both picked by the Council on Foreign Relations. What everybody really needs to understand is that we are under attack ourselves by government. They have pitted black against white, liberals against conservatives, and on and on. Divided we are conquered. I wish people could see that this false left-right paradigm is being used to gain total control over us. While we are infighting, they are stripping us of all of our liberties, and transferring trillions of dollars to offshore private banks via the Federal Reserve. I hope America can wake up soon, because soon it will be too late. I recommend you study the Rockefeller family, their “charities” and organizations, as well as others such as the Ford Foundation, BIll and Melinda Gates Foundation, etc. They are euginicists. The middle class is being erradicated before our eyes and yet we are still blinded by their left-right paradigm. Just go out and study some of this, you’ll be shocked at what you find. Don’t take my word for it, do your own research, and have a nice day. One more thing: we better stick together, black/white/asian/latino, left/right…because they are going to destroy us all. We can only win by coming together as one race, the human race. There is overwhelming evil in this world, and they are winning.

        • Divided we are conquered. I wish people could see that this false left-right paradigm is being used to gain total control over us…One more thing: we better stick together, black/white/asian/latino, left/right…because they are going to destroy us all. We can only win by coming together as one race, the human race. There is overwhelming evil in this world, and they are winning.

          While it would be easy to dismiss this post as the rambling of a paranoid lunatic, I’m of the opinion that there really isn’t such a thing as “paranoid” anymore. Among other things, the government officially admits to going through over a billion private communications a day and admits the existence of a huge, bloated, spying bureaucracy. (Imagine what they’re keeping secret.)

          That’s why I’m concentrating on the best part of your post (in italics above).

          You are completely correct about “divide and conquer”. To see how easily a scientific article regarding genes can turn into a political dung throwing competition only proves how well we’ve all been programmed to argue amongst ourselves. We are all easily manipulated out of ignorance, ego, and desire for combat.

          But you’ve got to ask yourself if your other posts are aiding in the very division you speak of.

      • I love that people actually invest money into these studies. Does it make any difference if liberals have a different gene? Why not just throw money down the toilet?

    • Name ONE conservative who owns up to his terrible actions! From Cheney to Bush to Rumsfeld, these people think they are God’s messengers and can do no wrong. Too bad their gene variant is so messed up!

  17. Standard medical test CPT code 89096, Dopamine Receptor D4 Genotype (DRD4), Blood will return a result for this, 6R (6 repeats) or less will return a 4R (4 repeats) result and 7R or more will return a 7R result.

    According to the Mayo Clinic the frequency of less than 7R is about 80% and the frequency of 7R is about 20%. 7R is the group that the paper above associates with liberal political ideology with increasing liberal leaning as number of adolescent friends increases.

    Expect NPR and NEA to kick off a ‘make a new friend’ campaign.

    • @ Fairminded

      A cure for being smarter?????

      http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100224132655.htm

      ***More intelligent people*** are statistically significantly more likely to exhibit social values and religious and political preferences that are novel to the human species in evolutionary history. ***Specifically, liberalism*** and atheism, and for men (but not women), preference for sexual exclusivity ***correlate with higher intelligence.***

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