Welcoem to posts!!
in the future - u will be able to do some more stuff here,,,!! like pat catgirl- i mean um yeah... for now u can only see others's posts :c
Anti-racism advocates want to banish the messenger by getting rid of standardized admissions tests, arguing that they're racially biased.
They are effectively daring you to notice that some groups send their children to elite colleges and universities in disproportionately high numbers compared to other groups due to the fact that their academic preparation is significantly superior.
They're challenging you to declare such excellence an admirable achievement. Yet, this intellectual mastery is attained through effort.
No one is born already possessing it.
So, why are some youngsters acquiring these skills while others are not?
That's a profound and intriguing question, one which I'm willing to explore in depth.
However, the simplistic retort of "racism" is laughable, as if such disparities have nothing to do with behavior, cultural patterns, what peer groups value, how people spend their time, or what they identify as being essential to their own self-respect.
It's crucial that we engage in thoughtful, nuanced discussions about the factors contributing to academic success, rather than resorting to reductive explanations.
By acknowledging the complex interplay of individual choices, family dynamics, and societal influences, we can work towards creating an educational landscape that fosters excellence and opportunity for all.
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Thomas Sowell's most profound book is called "Knowledge and Decisions."
It's not about race at all.
In a very Hayekian spirit, he explains power and control in society and the role of know-it-all intellectuals and experts vis-Ă -vis the role of common and ordinary people, and the way in which politics can lead government to impose a kind of expert judgment over the wisdom and knowledge that people have embedded in their practice and in their social situation.
This knowledge may not be easily extracted by the kind of expertise, but which, if experts are empowered by government, can nevertheless be the thing that drives social policy.
Hayek's point, which Sowell echoes, is that markets allow for the kind of knowledge relevant to good and efficient decision-making to be carried out by people who act in their own self-interest.
Centralized imposition of government diktat is more likely to reflect the, quote-unquote, knowledge of ideologically committed expert classes over the knowledge of the people who have to decide whether a business can actually flourish on this corner.
The relationship between knowledge and decisions is a central theme of social philosophy, and Sowell pursues it there.
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Asking for reparations is pathetic!
Running around with your hand out talking about Iâm black, pay me is undignified.
You say I am unable to move forward in the modern world without your recognition of the fundamentally disabling injury that has been done to me.
Those people then make demands.
Demand based on what?
Based on the conscience of the people to whom you are appealing? What power do you have? You're going to burn it down, are you?
You demand to be placated so that your tantrum doesn't disturb the dinner party.
What do you own? What can you make? What are you doing?
This is how you spend your time fashioning ever more elaborate apologia for your own failure.
Itâs pathetic.
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Disparities, in and of themselves, are not a problem.
You have your blacks, you have your browns, you have your yellows, you have your gays, you have your whatever.
How then, since you are so insular, distinct, identity based and different, should we expect that you would represent yourself in equal numbers in every dimension of human activity â that there would be the same number of doctors, the same number of engineers, the same number of financiers, the same number of school teachers, the same number of criminals, the same number of shopkeepers per capita across all these different identity categories, if indeed identity is a real thing?
The position is incoherent.
We should not expect group equality across every aspect of human endeavor.
And we donât see it.
This was Thomas Sowellâs empirical point in book after book after book: everywhere you look in the world, you see disparities, because everywhere you look in the world, you see cultural differences, which reflect themselves in human behavior, which then redound to different representations in various areas of human activity.
So, disparities are not ipso facto a problem.
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There are those who make a living by focusing on our differences.
By claiming that there is something fundamentally wrong with America.
These people are in error and their grave error threatens to tear us apart.
They must be opposed forthrightly.
It is far too easy to overstate our problems and to understate what has been achieved.
The right idea I maintain for black Americans and for the country at large is in the conduct of our public business to emphasize our common American interest and to de-emphasize our superficial racial differences.
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My book, LATE ADMISSIONS: CONFESSIONS OF A BLACK CONSERVATIVE, reviewed already in NY Times, Washington Post, and WSJ, is out today!
Get your copy today: wwnorton.com/books/9780393881349
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James Joyce has a passage in A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man in which he says âDo you know what Ireland is? Ireland is an old sow that eats her farrow.â
He says your ethnic inheritance. He's talking about Irish nationalism is like nets holding you back.
Your challenge is to learn how to turn those nets into wings and thereby to fly.
Flying into the open skies of modern society.
Don't be your grandfather, don't be your father.
Don't wear your things so heavily that it keeps you from being open to everything new in the world.
Wear it lightly.
Everybody comes from somewhere, but it doesn't have to be where you end up.
You are this wonderfully blessed human being in the middle of the 21st century.
Don't miss it. Don't live blinkeredly.
Don't live small. Live big.
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My extraordinary abilities carried me forward, despite the challenges of racism and discrimination in America.
When someone presumes I didnât get into MIT without affirmative action, it minimizes my achievements.
The truth is, every Black person benefits from affirmative action whether they ask for it, need it, or not.
But that doesnât diminish the hard work and talent it takes to succeed.
Itâs not about political positions; itâs about defending my own dignity.
To have my accomplishments chalked up to favoritism is deeply frustrating.
I resent it. I donât like it, need it, or want it.
Calling me a âselloutâ for standing up for myself is unfair and insulting.
We need to have nuanced conversations about these issues that respect individual experiences and acknowledge the complex realities we navigate.
Iâm proud of what Iâve achieved through my own merits.
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We are all given a set of raw materials at birth - our sexual orientation, ethnic and racial background, national heritage, and mother tongue.
These are the initial facts about ourselves, but they do not constitute a life.
They are merely the starting point from which we must fashion our own unique narrative.
The challenge we all face is how to create a meaningful existence out of these building blocks.
We must develop a personal vision and find our place in the world.
Itâs a journey that requires introspection, courage, and creativity.
This is why I find such resonance in the works of great 19th-century Russian novelists like Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy.
Their narratives may not mirror my own life experiences, but they speak to the universal human struggle of growing beyond our origins into the fullness of our potential.
Their stories remind us that we are not defined by our circumstances but by the choices we make and the actions we take.
We have the power to transcend our limitations and craft a life that is uniquely our own.
Embrace the raw materials you have been given.
Use them as a foundation upon which to build a life of purpose and meaning.
Donât be afraid to dream big and take risks.
The path may not always be clear, but trust in your ability to navigate the challenges and emerge stronger and wiser.
Remember, your story is still being written. Make it one worth telling.
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âThere is a sweetness and vulnerability to Mr. Louryâs search for catharsis-by-confession. He is a highly intelligent man, utterly flawed and irresistibly likable. If we judge him, itâs because he beckons us to do so, a wayward moth offering himself up to a public flame. Our verdict cannot be damning. For all his moral defects, we find ourselves admiring him for his intellectual valor and the pugnacity of his convictions.â
www.wsj.com/arts-culture/books/late-admissions-revâŚ
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