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A Troublesome Inheritance, Cultural Marxism, Defend the modern world, Detroit, Egalitarianism, Freedom of speech, Jared Diamond, Jared Taylor, John Derbyshire, Marxism, Nicholas Wade, Race and Genetics, Race and intelligence
In the educated quarters of the United States, a new book about race is causing quite a stir. It’s called ‘A Troublesome Inheritance: Genes, Race and Human History’ and was penned by NYT science correspondent Nicholas Wade. In the book Wade argues that race – contrary to liberal consensus – is not a ‘construct’ but a biological fact, and that because of this, average levels of intelligence (as well as various aspects of personality) vary between ethnic groups.
The ‘controversy’ here is of course unwarranted. The findings of modern science almost always suggest ethnic disparities in cognitive ability exist and are severe enough to have political and economic consequences.
But if you’re still unconvinced, Wade may be of some help to you. I also came up with a nice thought experiment today which may help our side of the argument albeit in a less scientific manner.
If you’re an egalitarian – a Communist of some kind perhaps – and have stumbled upon this horrible, fascist, racist blog by accident, please don’t go before you read and consider the following:
Imagine if sixteen years ago, a South Korean family adopted a Nigerian boy at birth, and then, two weeks later, adopted a Korean boy, also at birth.
The two 16 yr old brothers have grown up eating the same food, and have enjoyed the same amount of exercise. Both also attended the same schools, and were raised by the same stable and complete family.
For a reason we don’t have to go into, the two brothers are entered into a head-to-head IQ contest, and you are obliged by law to bet money on the outcome.
The money you bet with isn’t your own though. In fact, it is the total UN aid budget for Africa for the next ten years. If you lose or decline to take part, the money will be redirected into the bank account of Rush Limbaugh.
Who would go for and why? This direct confrontation between conscience and ideology makes for an interesting dilemma. The answers will be revealing.
D, LDN.
Defend the Modern World 
I’m pretty sure Nicholas Wade just lost his job at the NYT.
I haven’t finished researching the issue nor have I read his book, but I do know that there is a kind of cruelty woven into egalitarian ideology. We do some of the dumbest things in the pursuit of alleged equality, things that completely disrespect the individuality of people, be it gender, genetics, or culture.
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Really? He’s been fired?
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Nobody really knows for sure, but he no longer works for the NYT and he’s being referred to as a “former” contributor. He may have left to spend time with his family or something, I don’t know.
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No, Wade hasn’t been fired. See updates at:
http://occamsrazormag.wordpress.com/2014/05/06/roundup-of-book-reviews-of-nicholas-wades-a-troublesome-inheritance/
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That’s a relief.
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I must read this book it sounds interesting will see if its in the library if not and I would say it might not be will buy it. But I would see his point from even seeing different ethnic groups in Europe .
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It’s a bestseller on Amazon apparently. That’s impressive for a scientific work. Perhaps there’s still hope.
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Race, cultural experience, and ancestry are so linked that it is absurd to think of one without the other. To call race a social construct is to narrow it to the point that it is useful only in the discussion of cultures in which there is a caste or slave system based in law on race. In the American South before the Civil War, race was indeed a social construction. Every slave-owner would agree.
There is another argument, that democracy as an institution is directly dependent on the degradation of others. Southern slave-owners made that case too, and oddly enough, so are many historians.
The point is that we don’t have to construct our societies in these ways. We can follow other paths.
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To call race a social construction, along with poverty, is to follow a totalitarian impulse.
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Indeed. Equality can only be enforced by Totalitarian methods.
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