1. While the intellectuals attribute differences in performance to massive discrimination by whites toward blacks, Dr. Thomas Sowell, in his latest book, "Intellectuals and Race," argues that it is the framing of the issue that needs refining.
2. Currently, it is generally accepted that the explanation for inequality of outcome is the presumption that disparate outcomes themselves constitute prima facie evidence of discrimination. In the American media, and in popular discourse, the burden of proof of innocence has been shifted to the accused.
a. Although it seems that doing so will result in a positive outcome for society, we use the same system in no other venue that is considered just or fair. As this insight requires no epiphany, one should pay keen attention to the particular political philosophy, progressives, that has benefited by pointing an accusatory finger at American society, and champions quick and transformational changes.
3. Stop a moment, and ask why it is assumed equality in every aspect of life is either expected, or even beneficial. Greatly uneven distributions of racial, ethnic, attitudinal groups in numerous fields of endeavor have been common in countries throughout history. The even, proportional, or statistically random distribution, currently taken as the aim in a democratic society, deviations from which are found to be shocking or evil, are regarded as evidence of maltreatment by others. This "fact" has seldom, if ever, been demonstrated empirically, if, even, asked to be demonstrated.
4. Cultural attitudes in some societies create a rigid division between "women's work," and "men's work, or that make manual labor repugnant to people with an education, all of which affect the economic potential of a group.
a. Do we focus on that drawback to the group, or offer entitlements? Why? Is it 'heartless' to focus on the individual's restrictive choices, rather than use 'blame society' as the default.
5. It may seem logical to accept that a minority is under the thumb of the majority, and would not be allowed the same success of the majority. The argument can be made, perhaps, in Britain, or France, or the United States. Discrimination is the immediate explanation. But, in Malaysia, or Indonesia, or the Ottoman Empire, it was the majority that was second in the statistics we use to judge groups. In those cases, blaming discrimination for disparities is absurd.
a. Can it be that inequality, disparity, is, and should be, expected?
b. Not so, say intellectuals,' whose assumptions are that disparities are oddities, and need to be corrected, and the views of these opinion-makers are so widely disseminated, and have such powerful ramifications on so many issues, including our elections, that we should take a closer look at them.
6. Racial or ethnic minorities who have owned or directed more than half of whole industries in particular nations have included the Chinese in Maylasia, the Lebanese in West Africa, Greeks in the Ottoman Empire, Britons in Argentina, Belgians in Russia, Jews in Poland, and Spaniards in Chile, among others. In 1921, members of the Tamil minority in Ceylon outnumbered members of the Sinhalese majority in that country's medical profession. In America, there were eight times during the twentieth century, when a baseball player stole 100 or more bases in a season; all eight times that player was black.
a. In the United States, frugality of Italian immigrants, and their reliability in repayment of debts, even when they had low incomes, caused a bank to be set up to attract this clientele in San Francisco, "the Bank of Italy." It was so successful that it spread to the larger society, and became the largest bank in the world under the name of "Bank of America."
So, groups have differed greatly in innumerable endeavors, throughout the world, and throughout history.
Demanding an imaginary "equality" is a chimera.
The great mistake may be, as Ronald Reagan so eloquently put it:
"The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'"
So.....groups of every kind differ.
This is natural, and to be expected.
The reasons for it are as numerous as the groups themselves.....and to leap to the 'discrimination' excuse is simplistic, and, often, wrong.
2. Currently, it is generally accepted that the explanation for inequality of outcome is the presumption that disparate outcomes themselves constitute prima facie evidence of discrimination. In the American media, and in popular discourse, the burden of proof of innocence has been shifted to the accused.
a. Although it seems that doing so will result in a positive outcome for society, we use the same system in no other venue that is considered just or fair. As this insight requires no epiphany, one should pay keen attention to the particular political philosophy, progressives, that has benefited by pointing an accusatory finger at American society, and champions quick and transformational changes.
3. Stop a moment, and ask why it is assumed equality in every aspect of life is either expected, or even beneficial. Greatly uneven distributions of racial, ethnic, attitudinal groups in numerous fields of endeavor have been common in countries throughout history. The even, proportional, or statistically random distribution, currently taken as the aim in a democratic society, deviations from which are found to be shocking or evil, are regarded as evidence of maltreatment by others. This "fact" has seldom, if ever, been demonstrated empirically, if, even, asked to be demonstrated.
4. Cultural attitudes in some societies create a rigid division between "women's work," and "men's work, or that make manual labor repugnant to people with an education, all of which affect the economic potential of a group.
a. Do we focus on that drawback to the group, or offer entitlements? Why? Is it 'heartless' to focus on the individual's restrictive choices, rather than use 'blame society' as the default.
5. It may seem logical to accept that a minority is under the thumb of the majority, and would not be allowed the same success of the majority. The argument can be made, perhaps, in Britain, or France, or the United States. Discrimination is the immediate explanation. But, in Malaysia, or Indonesia, or the Ottoman Empire, it was the majority that was second in the statistics we use to judge groups. In those cases, blaming discrimination for disparities is absurd.
a. Can it be that inequality, disparity, is, and should be, expected?
b. Not so, say intellectuals,' whose assumptions are that disparities are oddities, and need to be corrected, and the views of these opinion-makers are so widely disseminated, and have such powerful ramifications on so many issues, including our elections, that we should take a closer look at them.
6. Racial or ethnic minorities who have owned or directed more than half of whole industries in particular nations have included the Chinese in Maylasia, the Lebanese in West Africa, Greeks in the Ottoman Empire, Britons in Argentina, Belgians in Russia, Jews in Poland, and Spaniards in Chile, among others. In 1921, members of the Tamil minority in Ceylon outnumbered members of the Sinhalese majority in that country's medical profession. In America, there were eight times during the twentieth century, when a baseball player stole 100 or more bases in a season; all eight times that player was black.
a. In the United States, frugality of Italian immigrants, and their reliability in repayment of debts, even when they had low incomes, caused a bank to be set up to attract this clientele in San Francisco, "the Bank of Italy." It was so successful that it spread to the larger society, and became the largest bank in the world under the name of "Bank of America."
So, groups have differed greatly in innumerable endeavors, throughout the world, and throughout history.
Demanding an imaginary "equality" is a chimera.
The great mistake may be, as Ronald Reagan so eloquently put it:
"The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'"
So.....groups of every kind differ.
This is natural, and to be expected.
The reasons for it are as numerous as the groups themselves.....and to leap to the 'discrimination' excuse is simplistic, and, often, wrong.
