Partial Quote of a commenter (BELOW MY RESPONSE & TURLEY DISCUSSION):
This will only change if conservatives actually start expressing an interest in an intellectual life. I know precious few conservatives or even moderates who are interested in learning, reading academic/intellectual books, or knowing much of anything outside of conservative/Republicans talking points, sports, or things having to do with business/the economy. Wrestling with ideas or having a store of knowledge to draw upon in conversation is not of interest...[My emphasis in response.]
My Response
I think you are expecting Conservatives (not the Neocons, not Rs in Congress) to just read already slanted intellectual books. What are those "intellectual books" about? The reason so few inhabit academia has been the progressive march to scandalize anyone who dare oppose them. I am not a registered academic.
I look at a variety of topics in medical to the geopolitical arenas. I read up on historians that produce evidence of their research in their tomes. I notice the left self-reinforces bad techniques statistically, bad ideas, bad historical analysis, et al. When you find out the source of lies, the funding ([NGO] grants and governments [grants] alike), and the usual circle jerk (same people publishing in near lockstep) to get into the public eye (like Bernays did with [Uncle] Freud), it is THAT which conservatives and other labeled, "non progressives", have to face and win against.
Throwing sports in there reflects a very limited audience you know.
Business & economy - back when people had rational conversations - are at the pinnacle of what this country and world need a discussion about. Instead, there are NO LEADERS. And just criminals and conceited money printers that are wrecking towards the final days of US as the world's reserve currency. Frankly, we did ourselves dirty for 50 years - we bailed out criminal bankers, allowed our manufacturing to disappear and financialize everything - and "academics" print their fluff pieces (stuff that Austan Goolsbee would write or MMT's Stephanie Kelton crackpot) that are delusional.
The LEFT gets away with this because: Ponzi schemes based off fiat money.
To keep this short: The CCP bought Hunter Biden for was to be $30M for 3 years. Hunter has zero appreciable skills but for Joe Biden's rolodex that is filled to the hilt with DC intel, justice, congressional big hitters and the US Media. [In an afterthought: Joe Biden hangs with Carlyle Group’s David Rubenstein while as VP and as POTUS.]
That is what the CCP leveraged.
Here is a book you won't read or buy, but you should: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CJDM8XHG LNG Deal.
That was a cheap buy --- now Joe is POTUS, but can't tell you what he had for breakfast. Everyone in DC is getting their last GRIFT completed, while the DOJ/FBI targets enemies and covers ass for their CROOK-IN-CHIEF.
If one thinks Russia & China don't have mountains of INTEL on all your "Elite" of them committing crimes from adultery, bribery, conspiracy, coups, forgery, mass murder, pedophilia, rape, sex trafficking to wars w/o legality, then you don't know these enemies.
They LAUGH at USA. (We did it to ourselves... we were bought out for pennies on the dollar.)
Because all this liberty and democracy and republic talk is all a sham and is about about to blow up in a way, no LEFTY academic is ever going to accurately write about.
The rare people who will give a fair account are NOT in ACADEMIA. They have to do their work the legit way - and also: seek more truth in just a day, than an ACADEMIC will in a year.
I was in a mood. But I wasn’t an asshole. This person was commenting in respect to this tidbit from Jonathan Turley’s article:
Now, a new survey conducted by the Harvard Crimson shows that more than three-quarters of Harvard Arts and Sciences and School of Engineering and Applied Sciences faculty respondents identify as “liberal” or “very liberal.” Only 2.5% identified as “conservative,” and only 0.4% as “very conservative.”
Just under 1 out of 33 academics would qualify as conservatives.
I teach part time at the junior college level. A college degree does not equate to intelligence. In fact, most of the over-educated I have encountered as a student, or an instructor (public universities, private colleges or community colleges) are not smart per se. They come from upper middle-class backgrounds, so they acquire the "skills" early on which enables them to advance in an upper middle-class environment, like academia. They are well read on a very specific topic and their knowledge of anything else is just regurgitated talking points from NPR. Most, end any intellectual curosity when they get that degree. There is no real depth to any other knowledge and it is superficial. Point in fact, most of their “research” is bullsh1t, either by incompetence or fraud. No one after the scamdemic should feel the only place you can find “intelligence” is in academia or normies are not "intelligent".
I think those Harvard survey percentages say much more about the power of group-think (and the need of most people for validation and praise from others) than they do about conservatives' inclination toward intellectual pursuits.
On the other hand, if we are going to stereotype, most conservatives I know are hard workers who get shit done.