1) Preamble:
Both sides of the political spectrum are prone to delusion, but the specific delusions that blind each side are different.
2) Leftwing Delusions:
Below are the delusions that plague many Leftwing people.
2A) Blank Slate Theory Egalitarianism (Cultural Marxism):
The core of blank slate theory is that all psychological differences between individuals and groups are the result of environmental factors, never genetics.
This is factually incorrect, yet it is still a delusion that plagues many Leftwingers.
Gender, Blank Slate: All psychological differences between men and women are the result of environmental factors (cultural training), never biology (genetics).
Race, Blank Slate: There are no psychological differences between racial groups. Any that do exist are the result of environmental factors, never genetics.
IQ Denialism: IQ isn’t real. No individual is smarter than any other. Everyone is equally smart.
2B) Communism:
Many Leftwingers think communism is a viable economic system and that equality of outcome is a good thing to advocate for.
This is insanity; communist economic policies have been implemented in many different countries and every single time it ended with mass starvation.
Equality of outcome is pathological because the only way to get equality of outcome is when everyone has nothing.
2C) Socialism, Infinite Resources:
Many Leftwingers think that wealth redistribution can be used to eliminate poverty, and to a large degree this is correct; some redistributive (socialist) policies can reduce the prevalence of absolute poverty.
However, many Leftwingers seem to be financially illiterate; they demand more and more wealth redistribution and government spending, without ever explaining how the spending will be paid for.
Some push for wealth redistribution that the government funds by borrowing money; the long term result is that the government’s debts increase to an insane level, and sooner or later the country goes bankrupt. Venezuela (1990 – 2020) provides a modern example.
2D) Crookedness Drives All Inequality:
Many Leftwingers think that all economic inequality is driven by crookedness; the only conceivable explanation for why the rich have more wealth than the poor is because they stole it from the poor.
It is a half truth.
There are some rich people who have their wealth because they are crooked; they acquired wealth by stealing it from others.
However, there are things that drive inequality besides crookedness.
Every society is to some significant degree a meritocracy, because in every society high IQ people are more likely to end up rich than low IQ people; in every society it is the case that a major reason rich people make more money than most is because they are smarter than most.
3) Rightwing Delusions:
3A) Inequality Doesn’t Matter:
Rightwingers tend to think of intense levels of inequality as not being a problem.
With American Rightwingers in particular, it seems to be the case that there is no degree of inequality which would make them say “This is a problem.”
This is insanity. Intense inequality has all sorts of negative effects; it erodes social trust, drives up the homicide rate, and increases the probability of violent revolution.
The more unequal you allow your society to become, the more violent it will be.
3B) Meritocracy Drives All Inequality:
Rightwingers tend to assume the hierarchy they live in is a meritocracy and that the only explanation for why some people end up richer than others is that they are smarter and more hardworking.
There is some truth to this; people who have high IQs and who rank high on conscientiousness are more likely to make it to the top of dominance hierarchies. However, it’s only a half truth; in every hierarchy crookedness will be part of what drives unequal outcomes, as will sheer blind luck.
3C) Religion (Christianity):
Rightwingers in America are more likely to fall for the delusions religion provides (Christianity in particular); that there is a god living in the sky.
This most likely does not extend to all societies; in most societies it seems to be the case that the Leftwing and Rightwing are equally prone to religiosity.
3D) Industriousness Solves Everything:
Rightwingers tend to think that industriousness solves every problem; they think hard work solves everything.
Sadly they are wrong. There are many problems that more effort will do nothing to solve.
People who have extremely low IQs (say 70- or 80-) are incapable of working because every job available is too cognitively complex for them to be capable of doing it.
Their problem is a lack of intelligence, not a lack of effort.
4) Personality, Political Preferences
Most people’s political opinions are not the result of careful calculation based on facts and reality.
Instead they are driven by their temperament; how they rank on The Big 5 Personality Traits ‘Openness’ and ‘Conscientiousness’ (specifically ‘orderliness’).
4A) Openness:
People who rank high on ‘Openness’ are creative and interested in abstract ideas. They are capable of divergent thinking; real creativity.
High Openness drives Leftwing political beliefs.
4B) Orderliness:
People who rank high on ‘Orderliness’ like things to be neat and orderly; they value order. High Orderliness drives Rightwing political beliefs.
People who have bedrooms that are neat and organized tend to be politically conservative.
5) Professions, Political Preferences:
5A) Leftwing Professions:
You will find that most academics and journalists lean Leftwing.
This is for a simple reason; people who rank high on openness are more likely to be interested in journalism and the research done in academia than most people, and high openness is also what drives Leftwing political preference.
You may also notice that artists and musicians tend to be Leftwing; high openness is what drives interest in art and music and is also what drives Leftwing political preference.
5B) Rightwing Professions:
Most people who work in the military or in finance/law lean Rightwing.
The reason is simple; high conscientiousness drives success in the military as well as in finance/law. High conscientiousness correlates strongly with its sub trait orderliness, and high orderliness is what drives Rightwing political preference.