Speaking as a college faculty member, this sounds like the usual confusion between education and intelligence.
For example, Americans like to comfort themselves by believing that highly educated people were the ones responsible for the protests leading to the collapse of the Vietnam War because it was a moral imperative. We usually believe that the uneducated masses were more supportive of the War because they were employed by factories that benefitted from the war effort.
However, Gallup Polls from the early 70's kept showing that the numbers were actually reversed: the majority of those expressing discouragement in the Vietnam War were the groups without a college education, and the people who'd been to college were much more supportive than the other groups.
When I ask my own college students to explain this disparity, they usually reverse course and decide that the uneducated groups were opposed to the war because they were more likely to get drafted. I've never had a single college student tell me that the uneducated people opposed the Vietnam War because it was a moral imperative.
To me, THAT speaks volumes...
Quote:
Gallup Poll conducted from January 8-11, 1971.
Question:
Q17 A PROPOSAL HAS BEEN MADE IN CONGRESS TO REQUIRE THE UNITED STATES
GOVERNMENT TO BRING HOME ALL UNITED STATES TROOPS FROM VIETNAM BEFORE THE
END OF THIS YEAR (1971). WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE YOUR CONGRESSMAN VOTE FOR OR
AGAINST THIS PROPOSAL?
Responses:
VOTE FOR 73%
AGAINST 20
NO OPINION 7
Survey Organization: Gallup Organization
Population: NATIONAL ADULT
Population Size: 1502
Interview method: PERSONAL
Beginning date: JAN 8, 1971 Ending date: JAN 11, 1971
Source Document: Gallup Poll--Aipo
Date of Source Document: JAN 11, 1971
College Educated, Opposed to the War - 60%
College Educated, Supportive of the War - 40%
High School Educated, Opposed to the War - 75%
High School Educated, Supportive of the War - 25%
Grade School Educated, Opposed to the War - 80%
Grade School Educated, Supportive of the War - 20%
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