"My Pet Goat" - the Conservative Reader

Unsurprisingly, Conservatives don't read as much as liberals.  Also, more conservatives than liberals haven't read a single book in more than a year. 

Before I link the article, I'd like to talk about my own experiences with this.  I see the insides of a lot of people's homes.  When I'm there I see every room and I notice things that give me prime indications of their habits and political preferences.  Being sensitive to the issues, I do pay careful attention. 

When I see books and artwork, I can be nearly 100% sure that they vote Democrat.  By artwork I mean paintings not prints, sculptures not knick-knacks.  When there are few books and no art that didn't come from a mall-store poster box or from the Christmas section of a department store, I can be sure that they vote Republican.  The few books I find in Conservative homes are limited to non-fiction like self-help and prominent Conservative propaganda like Bill O'LYEly, Sean Wannabe, and Adam's Apple Coulter and mega-selling fiction by Conservative authors like Vince Flynn and Tom Clancy.  That's it.  I find no classics and no range of thought.  On the bookshelves of my more liberal clients I'll see books with a wide range of views, from William Buckley to Noam Chomsky.  I'll see classics, all kinds of fiction, and poetry (I've never seen a book of poetry in any house with a W bumper sticker on their vehicles).

I think this is an indication of the truth of my hypothesis that Conservatives want things simple.  They don't want to put too much thought into their beliefs.  They need an enemy, they need to hate that enemy and they need to be assured that this enemy is being dealt with harshly.  That enemy can be Al Queda, Iraq, Iran, the French, Anarchists, protesters, liberals, or even the poor.  This makes them feel good about themselves and alleviates their fears.  All else is immaterial.  Liberals don't need such coddling.

From the article:

The AP-Ipsos poll found 22 percent of liberals and moderates said they had not read a book within the past year, compared with 34 percent of conservatives.

"The Karl Roves of the world have built a generation that just wants a couple slogans: 'No, don't raise my taxes, no new taxes,'" Pat Schroeder, president of the American Association of Publishers, said in a recent interview. "It's pretty hard to write a book saying, 'No new taxes, no new taxes, no new taxes' on every page."

- rick, reader

Comments

[a rose is a rose]

hey, i read AND i have knick knacks (or tchotchke) LOTS of 'em. oh ok, you caught me, i have REAL art too.......

[mark]

so how did you peg me again when you were over?!?!?! Considering my wife is WAY liberal and she did/does the decorating!

[Cele]

Whoa, that is scary. But don't go into my parents house, it will totally throw you off...well except maybe the missing poetry books.

[jane]

Say, what if people have paintings, real oil paintings, but they are of Lincoln, Washington and Bush, or the pope or something. That'd make a guy think, huh.

[Paul]

Someone over on Stephen R. Donaldson's gradual interview (Have you read any of his books yet, Rick? Have you? Well, what are you doing sitting around reading my drivel? Get a copy of the first Gap book. Now.) asked Donaldson about this study, and SRD didn't believe the overall finding that 75% of Americans read at least one book last year. He was more inclined to believe other studies that found the "opposite": that 75% of Americans didn't read even one book in the last year.

In any case, whether it's 1 out of 5 liberals not reading a book in a year or 1 in 3 conservatives in the same sinking boat, Americans in general don't read enough.

Britney Spears 4ever!

(Ick; writing that last sentence just made me throw up a little bit in my mouth. Sorry.)

[CV Rick]

Paul, I believe the findings were reported on the groups of people self-described as Liberals, Moderates, and Conservatives. This is a politically active subset of the population and as such they read more than the general population - thus the ~75% reader stat. I haven't seen the base study, however, so that's just a guess on my part.

Frankly, I've read a couple SRD books ( Like this one, which I reviewed ) and I just don't like them. I don't like his forced writing and his intention disregard for things that make reader connections, like sympathy and basic accepted human motivations. I doubt I'll ever pick up another of his books.

Britney rulez!

[CV Rick]

Regarding Jane's comment. I was over at a neighbor of her sister and they had this painting, I swear. It's titled "Praying for Peace" and was about six feet wide and over a major door. It scared the shit out of me.

[Tim Mulcahy]

To digress, I finished Thirteen a little while ago. I liked it but I think you're right, Kovacs is better.

Now I'm onto a Starfist book. (I decided to give military SF another try). I'm about halfway through and it truly does sucks. No characters, no plot, just shooting lizards. I'm also reading Cobra II, the history of our invasion of Iraq. What I'm taking away from that is that Rumsfeld is arrogant and insane. In leadership training terms he would be characterized as incompetent but confident. He truly had no idea what he was doing but thought he did. He pulled the 125,000 for the invasion troop levels right out of his ass and pushed it down the Pentagon's throat. I find books like that real interesting but they give me a sense of how our government institutions work at high political levels.

A bit of a digression but to bring me back to the point, I tend to vote Democrat.

[jane]

Oh my GOD! That painting is HIDEOUS! And not just the 3 figures. The background, the lighting. I felt genuinely nauseated and had to look away.

[Sideon]

That hideous painting was titled incorrectly. The artist meant "Praying for a Cocaine Relapse or a Midnight Rendezvous with a Pretzel." I'd rename it that if it was in my house being used as a dartboard.

Couldn't resist. I'll be quiet now.

[Flimsy Sanity]

I go to LOTS of rummage sales and almost all that have boxes of romance books also have the "Left Behind" series. I think the romance genre skews the conservative book statistics because the readers of these are insatiable and pump up the numbers.

Bush's Ghosts are squeezing his shoulders so hard he is in pain - that's how I saw the picture.