Are Liberals Just Snobs? (Revised and augmented.)

This is worth recycling, I think. Has not aged a day!

I have a question. I don’t know many labor union liberals or hereditary Democrats because of where I live. It’s a small town in central California dominated by leftists and Greens. Over the years, they have pushed out every manufacturing industry. Recently, the county closed a small cement plant, the employer of 80% in the relevant village. The same forces are setting to go after tiny and inventive surfboard makers. As a result of all this saving of the environment, the unionized blue-collar class has vanished from the area.

Nearly all the liberals I know are trust-fund babies, unemployed, divorced women on alimony, absurdly overpaid public employees, and people who style themselves intellectuals because they finished college. To be fair, I also know a fair number of university professors. Here is my question:

Why are all the liberals I know, without exception, terrific snobs?

I mean that they like to discourse about little-known wines, that they read boring books (or pretend to), and that they profess to like cerebral French movies I don’t even get although I know the language. Many also airily chat about exotic foods, but not so much in my presence because they realize just from my accent that I might know that stuff.

I almost forgot; there is also what liberals never do, wouldn’t be caught dead doing. They never watch trash on television for example. No reality TV, no Lifetime Channel, and certainly no “Monster Quest” on the History Channel. (If the crypto-biologists ever catch a live Sasquatch, Mr and Ms Liberal will be the last ones to know.) They survive on a straight diet of opera and scholarly discussions of long-dead unknown writers  by professors who sound themselves long-dead. That’s all on NPB, of course, the government-approved, I mean the government- subsidized network.

And, of course, their most visible current style leaders, Barack and Michelle, did not take their summer vacation on Lake Michigan, or in Colorado’s beautiful mountains, or in Florida where the sea is always warm, or in Southern California where it’s always sunny. Do you remember where they went? Who else goes there?

So, I am wondering if it’s just me, my sample – which may not be representative – or if others have noticed a link between liberal political postures on the one hand and snobbery, on the other hand.

If you have noticed the same link please tell me of your speculations about why it might exist. Use the “Comment” option on this blog. I don’t censor though I might comment on your comment if you talk like a lying sac. I don’t edit for grammar or spelling unless you ask me to do so explicitly.

About Jacques Delacroix

I am a sociologist, a short-story writer, and a blogger (Facts Matter and Notes On Liberty) in Santa Cruz, California.
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11 Responses to Are Liberals Just Snobs? (Revised and augmented.)

  1. Sergey Nikiforov says:

    The liberals you describe lack a strong personal core, hence they tend to gravitate to exclusive memberships as their sources of identity.

    They would not have to be snobs, except that what is commonly accepted as beautiful, agreeable, and pleasant ALSO appeals to lumpens of all sorts. So, fearful of being seen together with the rest if us, lefties consume pretentious goods and services at exorbitant prices just so they can belong to an exclusive club.

    In a way, liberalism is a manifestation of a mental condition. Whether it is hereditary or social in nature, I’d rather not judge.

  2. NEIL says:

    Two words…narcissism and hubris. The mere fact that liberals think we(non 3rd world countries) can change the climate should be all you need to know. Oh yeah and Barry is gonna talk down the Islamist…sure budddy.

  3. clambo slice says:

    The true liberal is often a snob. He believes he knows better than we how we must live, usually for our own good, or lately, the good of the Earth. The liberal wants to save us from our own bad behavior if it is food (NYC bans trans fats). If it is drugs, the liberal wants an exception. I have often been deep inside liberal hypocrite territory. Whenever someone loses an argument, they make an Ivy League or NYTimes reference. What is absolutely universal about liberals is they have a belief system which does not require knowledge of facts. Facts actually interfere with their beliefs.

  4. clambo slice says:

    The Obamas go to Martha’s Vineyard, which we call “The Vineyard”, except when I actually lived there in the winter, when we all liked to call it “The Rock” (“I hope to get off the rock soon, maybe I’ll go up to Boston”). Clinton goes there too. Diane Sawyer owns Chip Chop near Tashmoo Pond. (I want a house with a name someday). Oddly, Nantucket is much less full of limousine liberals. I once took my Vietnamese refugee girlfriend to visit. Our neighbors were all aghast and amazed to meet an actual Vietnamese victim of Communism. Those snobby liberals have never ever met such people in their daily lives. She shocked them by being so patriotically American.

  5. Terry Amburgey says:

    Having gone duck & goose hunting I think it’s the early hours and discomfort. Also it would require either owning a shotgun or at least knowing someone that could lend you one.

    • jacquesdelacroix says:

      Food for thought, Terry. Do you propose the creation of a new cultural category of liberals, those who own a shotgun or who know someone who owns a shotgun? In that new category, there would be you and who else?

    • jacquesdelacroix says:

      Second reply to Terry’s Comment on liberals as snobs.

      Conversely, will my years spent on the wrong side of the fence be forgiven because I own a shotgun, have for a long time?

      PS I loved duck hunting. I just don’t have the initiative to get the process started.

  6. Pingback: Are Liberals Just Snobs? (Revised and Augmented) « Notes On Liberty

  7. happeninghistory says:

    Being a liberal does seem to be a part of “snob culture”. I don’t know much about the area where you live, but I know here in Montreal, you get liberals who practice all types of pass-times.

    It may also be that the snobby liberals are just the most vocal. They’re very concerned with projecting an image of intellectualism and superiority, so you’re always hearing about the things that make them so “superior”, including their liberalism.

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