The Incomplete Cynic

I'm usually a pessimist, but sometimes I just can't not believe.

link

The Series That NeedED to be Done

fringe:

I read through this and was impressed by the amount of research and your willingness to be straightforward. But I think what you’ve produced has some gaps and leaves some questions unanswered.

For example, in “The Broad Arc of Data” you ask if it’s plausible that there is an equal environmental gap between Africans in Africa and the US as between Blacks and Whites in the US, but you don’t pursue the question. If we assumed equal average IQ for each group given identical environments, what would explain the difference?

European Whites and the Americans that came from them have lived in an intellectually enriched and economically wealthy (and stable) environment since the Roman Empire. In contrast, African blacks lived in a relatively unenriched and unstable environment until being forcibly removed 400 years ago.

Initially they were denied education, except in those things pertaining to the work they were given. Blacks in the UK and US took the first step toward intellectual advancement about 150 years ago, when the slave trade was outlawed and slaves emancipated. But, at least in the US, they weren’t free to pursue equal environments until 50 years ago (an equality that has not been achieved). That’s not even two generations.Perhaps it is remarkable that blacks in the US and UK have closed half of such a broad gap so quickly.

Research has shown that (in mice, at least) acquired intelligence can be passed on genetically, but in the study it only lasted one generation. The implication is that it is not simply the presence in the enriched environment that leads to increased intelligence for a population, but cumulative gains over successive generations. As a population, blacks in the US and UK are still only beginning to have sustained access to the quality of environment that whites have had for hundreds of years.

There is also the research that led to Nicholas Carr’s book The Shallows, which demonstrates that the brain is physically molded by experiences throughout life, not only in childhood. On average, white women are three years older than black women at the time of their first birth, meaning more time for growth in an enriched environment and more growth to pass on.

These two findings, combined with the 14-16 point gain to date, suggests that as blacks improve their environment relative to whites and have children later (as trends suggest), the gap will close further. Social factors could hinder that advancement—and the proverbial “head start” could make it impossible to overcome—but all things being equal, it’s a reasonable expectation.

video

whakahekeheke:

thedailyrevolution:

evilteabagger:

Morgan Freeman Nails It. Alert the NAACP

Morgan Freeman on how to end racism. Fuckin A.

text

Who knows what built the middle class?

Was it Moore’s Law and it’s variations?

Some people say that middle class was made possible by the drop in the cost of goods as technology advanced. In 1981 you would have paid around $400 (about $960 in 2010 dollars) for a 19-inch color TV. Today you can have a 37” LCD shipped to you for $410 from NewEgg. Wages rose and prices fell, meaning we spent less on necessities, and so had more for saving, investing, and pleasure. The focus is on per-capita purchasing power.

Was it post-war expansion?

In a WaPo article about living standards, Matt Miller writes that it was our position as the sole economic power for decades after World War II that made it possible. The “shared prosperity” is the main catalyst in his explanation. All the money was here, so we all got a little chunk. The downside is that now the money is spreading out around the world, which means the middle class is dying.

Was it the New Deal?

Yet another take is that it was the reforms and programs of the New Deal that stabilized the economy enough to prevent major crashes. Regulators like the FDIC and SEC kept things in order, while Social Security and other benefit programs softened the blow to families experiencing economic difficulty.

So which was it?

I don’t think anyone knows, and we probably won’t find out for certain unless the middle class crumbles and dies. Then we can check the autopsy. I’d rather that not happen, though. I’m hoping for some combination of the first two, because it’s hard to replicate the new deal when the biggest achievement of the original is looking unsustainable.

quote

Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Ludwig von Wittgenstein;  Loosely: “If you don’t know what you’re talking about, shut up”; a quotation I wish any number of journalists, politicians, and economists would remember and take to heart. As for me, I may have to take a vow of silence.   (via keyneswasdrunk)

link

Local black conservative candidates challenge misguided Tea Party image

Pearson then introduced a friend whom he is supporting in Illinois’ 43rd Senate District - Republican Cedra Crenshaw, a black accountant who has faced stiff opposition from Will County Democrats. Despite Crenshaw having almost twice the number of required signatures on her candidacy petitions, Michael Kaspar, the Democratic Party’s chief counsel, challenged her petitions before the Will County Board of Elections last week.

The Democratic majority on the elections board ruled against Crenshaw’s ballot access. The 37-year-old Bolingbrook resident is now appealing to the courts to be reinstated on the November ballot…

It’s amazing that Illinois Democrats are determined to stop Crenshaw - a minority woman - from being on the ballot. Isn’t that what democracy is all about? Giving the people a choice?

link

USA Today Poll: 23% of Tea Party is Non-White

evilteabagger:

Hispanics, Asian Americans and African Americans combine to make up almost one-fourth of their ranks.

But I thought we were all racist?

link

White House says stimulus saved 3 million U.S. jobs

Does anybody buy this “save or create” line anymore? How do you calculate a saved job? Is it just the ones where layoffs were announced, but cancelled due directly to government funding? That would at least be defensible. I don’t think that’s what’s going on here.

photo

(via 5iveblades)
This is the Bacon Explosion: 5 pounds of bacon wrapped around 7 pounds of sausage. Be sure to schedule an appointment with a cardiologist for after the meal.

(via 5iveblades)

This is the Bacon Explosion: 5 pounds of bacon wrapped around 7 pounds of sausage. Be sure to schedule an appointment with a cardiologist for after the meal.

link

Keynes was Drunk: I've got to find a more useful way to spend my mornings.

I used to be a pretty decent writer in my youth til I went to college and stopped caring. I’ve got some good ideas left though, so maybe I’ll get back in to it. To that end I’m outlining a new writing project. The plot goes something like this: In a midsized former manufacturing town an affluent…

quote

Modern education is already approaching a Dark Age. There are a few who remember when the purpose of schools was to teach students, not to provide certificates and credentials; but that old-fashioned notion is nearly forgotten. Today’s schools exist to provide credentials.

J. Pournelle, Education in America (2005) (via whakahekeheke)

Following