This dude has a political science major… I tried telling him that in social democracy the workers don’t own the means of production so it’s still capitalism, but he doesn’t listen. I remember went he stopped supporting my country’s (Netherlands) neoliberal party (D66) and started supporting PvdA, our socialdemocratic party. I was hopeful that he was slowly turning to the left, but nothing’s changed. What are some arguments against socialdemocracy that a social democrat might listen to?
Political science degrees are an inoculation against correct ideas.
For some reason, everyone I’ve met with a polisci degree uses it to be confidently wrong.
I’ve seen it a lot too. Whenever someone brags about a polsci degree I have to prepare myself for the most dumbass ignorant takes imaginable. It’s so bizarre. Even the average “I don’t like to talk about politics” griller has better takes than these guys. No idea what they are “taught” in their degrees, but it seems to be based on an alternate reality with entirely different politics to our own.
Maybe they assume they “know more” because of their degree, and unlike a more tangible degree, like say, physics or art, where you can have very real proof of your improved skill, polsci students can’t ever test any ideas, or experiment, and they of course, aren’t going to be learning about all those “bad dictator countries” because then they might actually start getting ideas. So they get to spend 4 years or more learning a bunch of elaborate nonsense designed to basically obfuscate the fact that their political understanding is as in depth as a primary schooler’s. They just use bigger words to describe it.