Thank you for your honest opinion. I will have a look.
I won't prejudge the content and I won't hold you accountable for any opinions which are not your own.

@John_G thanks john!

Your answer presumes that the Thought Leader for the Democrat party is also the Leader of the party. I want to know who their Dennis Prager, Ben Shapiro, Allen West, etc. Where's the comparable person.

That's not the right question in my experience. The question is why won't they speak for their beliefs? I would listen if they would engage in a political discussion, but most won't. I am genuinely interested. I listened to a debate where someone gave the Steel Man position For Muslim terrorists. It was truly fascinating to see the other side. How can someone justify X, Y, or Z? When I listen to some of the Conservative speakers, I am usually more interested in the Q&A than most of the speeches.

@John_G The way your questions were phrased in your original post, I don't see anywhere you asked them what them to speak for their beliefs. Maybe they should don't care enough to engage when someone starts with throwing attack questions at them. It's not coming across as particularly friendly conversation, or as if you have a genuine interest in them the way it would if you asked an open-ended question about a specific topic.

@Catherine You assume too much. I did not say that I didn't ask their opinion, nor did I say that I started a discussion with these questions. Do you actually believe that these are Attack questions? I believe this gives them the opportunity to NOT be forced to defend their positions directly. To someone of a different belief system who asked, I would recommend reading C.S. Lewis as an ideal Apologist for the Christian Faith. I have my own beliefs about conservatism, but I may not always be able to convey them as concisely or with as much data on hand as some of the conservative thought leaders I follow. I often ask these questions when they seem at the end of their personal limit of knowledge or eloquence. I also believe it is a good gauge to find out where someone in a discussion sits Ideologically.

Evidence of what? Can you answer that question?

@Serg97 ...the left tends to be more evidence based and rational than the right. Why do you think we dominate academic institions?

@Serg97 I am not a member of any political party, so just take this as constructive feedback.
Your question is way too vague. I recommend picking one topic on their agenda that you would like them to provide "evidence" supporting.

@InternetDorkWeb those who can, do. Those who can't, teach.

@InternetDorkWeb How about answering my question. Pick a person and a topic. Is AOC your thought leader on any topic? How about Nancy Pelosi or Rachel Maddow?

@John_G One of the reasons you probably find left wingers won’t engage you on this is because it’s a malformed (and frankly dishonest) question.

Instead of asking me defend my own views, I am being asked defend someone else’s. Even if I have similar political views them, I have no control over what they have said or the arguments they have made.

This prompts the question of why you want use such a counter-intuitive approach. And be honest with you, the most straightforward answer is that you are trying straw man me. Even if they are “thought leaders”.

But if you want a list of prominent contemporary left wing intellectuals, then Yanis Varoufakis, Slavoj Zizek, Noam Chomsky, Christopher Hitchens, Paul Mason, David Harvey, Terry Eagleton, Mariana Mazzucato, Thomas Piketty or Ha-Joon Chang might be a good start.

AOC is a politician. She’s probably better than most alternatives in the US but I don’t know enough about her. I know even less about Pelosi. And Rachel Maddow, well... doesn’t she just read the news?

I mean if this is your idea of who the left’s “thought leaders” are, then I think that rather than trying to find people to debate, your time would be better spent trying to educate yourself about the left instead.
Like I’m no Conservative, but I’m at least familar with the basic ideas of Jordan Peterson, Ben Shapiro, Thomas Sowell, Milton Friedman, Pat Buchanan... as well as an understanding of most prominent strands of Conservative thought.

@PatriotSailor Very cute, but most academics spend more time carrying out research and publishing papers than teaching classes.

Please, the next time one of these trite little cliches pops into your head, just don’t bother.

@InternetDorkWeb it was just as ridiculous as the comment that I replied to. Most educators being left of center has no bearing on the intelligence of that particular party in general. Otherwise why would they need to import so many illiterate, uneducated voters?

@InternetDorkWeb I'm quite confused by your reply. You seem to be arguing against my point while simultaneously making it for me. You actually answered the questions I asked. You simply gave me a list of names. I am not asking you to defend anyone else's position. I am not trying to Straw Man my ideological or political opposition, I am trying to find those who can Steel Man the Opposition's positions.
Thank you for the list. If you have a link, podcast, etc at hand it would also be appreciated. Although, as the Director of Face Punching I don't know if your opinion aligns with my own. I am not a fan of violence.

@John_G Well I’m not the only person who expressed concerns about the question. But if that wasn’t your intention, then no worries. I hope you find the names useful.

The bit about punching people in the face is what we in leftist circles like to call “a joke”.

@InternetDorkWeb the left doesn’t dominate academic institutions. The left has invaded academic institutions. The pseudointellectuals that make up the left have infiltrated universities to indoctrinate the malleable minds of university students. These are people who haven’t accomplished anything in their lives. All they do all day is pseudointellectual masturbation trying to mold society into some sort of eutopia that correlates with their morality which is driven by emotion. The exact opposite of scholarly academics which are based in thought and reason and not emotions. The truly revolutionary academics are for the most part conservatives who don’t share their views because they are afraid of the backlash from their leftist colleagues. Leftism is a virus. My ancestors were sent to Siberia to die in the Gulags drinking urine and eating tree bark. Why? Because they fought against the Nazis in WW2 and were war heroes which was extremely threatening to the communists who wanted to send anyone who could gain more political appeal straight to prison. The fact that you are a self described leftist and you’re so threatened by the IDW movement as to make a profile just to argue with the momentum of the conservative movement is proof of how indoctrinated you seem to be. Leftist idealogy at best ends of calls for equality of outcome and censorship of dissenting opinions and at worst genocide which has been replicated throughout the 20the century. I would never ever tell you you can’t share dissenting opinion. That’s the job of the leftists, in fact I would goth for your right to espouse your leftist views, but I am not sure why you would go around on a site in the name of the IDW trying to espouse leftism to people who clearly are tired of it and not because they have no exposure to it but because they know it as well as you do and simply don’t want to view the world through that diseased cancerous lense anymore. And if your profile bio is a sarcastic joke then I take it all back and forget I wrote this.

@mh123 “the fact you created a profile on the intellectual darkweb is proof of how indoctrinated you must be”

I would have thought seeking out dissenting views and stepping out of an echo chamber would make me less indoctrinated, not more. Unless merely thinking incorrectly is enough to make one indoctrinated in your eyes?

Your ancestors may have been persecuted by the Soviet Union, but it’s clear from your writing that you think the same way they did: you want to expel dissenting opinion. Your writing makes that very clear.

Meanwhile I am here talking to people knowing that I’m going to be in the minority, yet I proceed regardless and still treat people respectfully for the most part.

So I suggest you take your comments about the Soviet Union, and look at yourself in the mirror.

@InternetDorkWeb look, I wasn’t at all meaning to make you feel personally attacked. I simply stated a few beliefs of mine. I certainly did not nor would I ever say that you don’t belong on any forum. I just got here myself. If you felt like I was questioning your character I apologize. By all means dissenting opinion is welcomed I personally welcome it. I personally am incredibly angered by the current public narrative of if you disagree with the majority controlling the narrative you get shouted down as a racist Nazi homophobe and in doing so, censored. That isn’t at all my intention. I was just stating my opinion and the experience of my family. I am happy to discuss anything with you or anyone and if you disagree with anything I wrote then by all means I am happy to be challenged on it. And making a profile on an intellectual forum isn’t a sign of indoctrination. I’m trying to resist indoctrination. This is a forum for people to discuss their ideas. It has no political affiliation so I’m not sure how it could be a reflection of indoctrination. I do worry all the time that even tho I know in my soul that how I’m thinking now is right, I felt the same way when I was indoctrinated by the left and then too I was sure it was the righteous path. So we must always proceed with caution and question every impulse and notion. I would argue though that many on the left mainstream are lacking in that ability, the critical thinking necessary to resist indoctrination.

@InternetDorkWeb, @John_G

I want to thank InternetDorkWeb for the list of names too. I’ve only read and or seen tidbits of Chomsky, Eagleton and Hitchens. Solid thinkers, yes.
The rest I may try and search them out as well.

Interestingly, the list of Conservatives he amassed are exceptional of course with as Sowell (my fav). He might want to look into William F Buckley, Jr, Andrew McCarthy, and Mark Levin as well. One Libertarian comes to mind, Larry Elder.

I’d enjoy seeing debates by these Thinkers .. that would make for some interesting moments.

I don't think it's unfair. If you asked me, I could give you five names. I don't have to agree with all of them on all issues to give the answer. I could qualify my answer by narrowing down topics with a specific person.

Too many people looking to "win" rather than engage in discourse. I am not saying you are doing it, but intellectual dishonesty has become a term to throw at people in a name-calling way just because they don't agree with you.
I am as guilty as the next of engaging with people when it is a total waste of time, but they exist all over the spectrum, not just on the left.

@Catherine I had a discussion today regarding the NZ shooter throwing the White Supremacist sigh while in court. Someone commented that they didn't realize that the Okay sign was racist. I commented that Context Matters and linked to an article by the SPLC. A third person argued my position back and forth and eventually posted the original SPLC article to prove her point. That seemed a little Intellectually inconsistent to me.

@John_G Based on what little I know, the NZ shooter will do anything he thinks will get him an instant more of attention or create another ounce of controversy. I wouldn't say consistency is his forté in areas outside of target practice.

@Catherine To be clear, I was referring to the third person in the conversation being intellectually inconsistent. I have not read the shooter's manifesto so I cannot speak to his consistency.