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The Most Dangerous Conservative
Townhall.com ^ | 24 January A.D. 2024 | John Stossel

Posted on 01/24/2024 7:49:57 PM PST by lightman

The New York Times put Charles Murray on the cover of its Sunday Magazine, calling him "The Most Dangerous Conservative."

That was after he co-wrote the book, "The Bell Curve," which argued that different ethnic groups have, on average, different IQs. As Murray puts it in my video this week, "Blacks on average have a lower IQ than whites. However, whites are not at the top. East Asians, on average, have a higher IQ than whites. Ashkenazi Jews have higher IQs."

Other researchers agree.

An article in ScienceDirect journal puts it this way, "East Asians and their descendants average an IQ of about 106, Europeans and their descendants about 100, and Africans and their descendants about 85."

But many people don't believe it. Many don't even want such topics discussed.

Last time Murray tried speaking to college students, a mob shouted him down.

"They're angry at you because you're perpetuating racism," I tell Murray.

"These kids," he replies, "never read a word of anything I'd ever written."

That's probably true. It's more likely that they just read slander against him from smear sites like the Southern Poverty Law Center.

They call Murray a "white nationalist" and claim he says, "White men ... are intellectually, psychologically and morally superior."

"I've never said anything remotely like that!" says Murray.

"Do you believe that Blacks are intellectually inferior?" I ask.

"If you give mental tests to a representative sample of whites and a representative sample of blacks," he says, "there will be about a one standard deviation difference. To then translate that into people being inferior and superior is idiotic."

He goes on to say that there are other differences between racial groups.

"I don't think there's been a white winner of the 100-yard dash in the Olympics for a zillion years."

Actually, 20 years. A white woman won 20 years ago; a white man hasn't won for 40 years.

It's probably because some Black people have more fast-twitch muscles fibers, says Murray.

I don't see why saying that is controversial. It's just obvious that there are differences between groups.

But Murray has been canceled.

It's too bad.

Everything should be talked about. People who don't agree with Charles Murray should debate him, not shun him.

He is good at revealing unpopular truths.

He once had a job working for the government, evaluating social programs. He discovered that the "War on Poverty" was not lifting people out of poverty. In fact, programs like welfare perpetuated poverty.

He wrote a book about that titled "Losing Ground."

It soon became a bestseller, and influenced presidents from both parties. Welfare "reformers" Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton cited Murray's work. Clinton said, "Murray has done the country a service."

Then Murray wrote "In Pursuit of Happiness and Good Government" -- a book that changed my thinking.

He describes his time as a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand. He watched Thai government "experts" create what they said would be a "model community." They gave the village a fishpond, a rice cooperative, a health clinic. But this aid diminished community activities.

"They weren't as happy as they used to be," says Murray. "I saw what government looks like from Bangkok and how it looks to the villager. It's the same in the United States."

The United States has spent $25 trillion (so far) on our War on Poverty. But the poverty rate has stayed about the same. Instead of eliminating poverty, the War created a new "underclass" -- fatherless kids who give birth to other fatherless kids -- generations of families who become dependent on government handouts.

Yet the programs keep growing.

"Aren't you upset?" I ask Murray.

"I'm deeply depressed," he says. "We have watched, in our own lifetime, our hopes and dreams turned to smoldering ruins."

Then he smiles and says, "The good news is that old people are habitually too pessimistic."

Charles Murray, an emeritus scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, has interesting ideas. They deserve to be heard, not shouted down.

I will do a second video, covering more of his work, in a few weeks.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: bloggers; charlesmurray; fakeconservatives; fakenews; fakescience; murray; welfareplantation
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To: lightman
Murray and Sowell should be must reads in high school.
21 posted on 01/24/2024 10:55:43 PM PST by Chgogal (Welcome to Fuhrer Biden's Weaponized Fascist Banana Republic! It's the road to hell)
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To: lightman

Well most Blacks and many So called Whites live on Democrat Plantations called Blue States and Cities...The thing is their Masters traded in Klan sheets for 3 piece suits and pant suits and went to Washington DC...They still have Dogs aka the Media and run down anyone speaking out...


22 posted on 01/24/2024 10:55:57 PM PST by dpetty121263
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To: The Truth Will Make You Free

Didn’t Ronald Reagan say, we had a war on poverty, and poverty won?


23 posted on 01/24/2024 11:37:01 PM PST by Mark17 (Retired USAF air traffic controller. Father of USAF Captain & pilot. Both bitten by the aviation bug)
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To: Chad C. Mulligan
The War on Poverty went from zero to end stage on Jerry Pournelle's "Iron Law of Bureaucracy" scale in less than ten years.

NATO turned into another self-licking ice cream cone in about the same time frame, only more European self-lickers, and the USA taxpayer holding the cone and paying for the most of the ice cream.

24 posted on 01/25/2024 12:09:08 AM PST by Reeses
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To: MV=PY

As Thomas Sowell says, is there any reason to think that two groups will have exactly equal scores on any measure?


I suppose one could apply, albeit wrongly, the maxim “all men are created equal,” and thereby expect equal scores.


25 posted on 01/25/2024 2:16:18 AM PST by Fester Chugabrew (In a world of parrots and lemmings, be a watchdog.)
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To: Reeses
Dr. Mulligan prescribes a cover-to-cover reading of Tony Judt's comprehensive book Post War.
26 posted on 01/25/2024 2:44:51 AM PST by Chad C. Mulligan
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To: lightman
probably because some Black people have more fast-twitch muscles fibers,

Useful for running from cops....

27 posted on 01/25/2024 3:07:33 AM PST by Hot Tabasco (This Is The Way)
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To: lightman
Instead of eliminating poverty, the War [on Poverty] created a new "underclass"

-- fatherless kids who give birth to other fatherless kids

-- generations of families who become dependent on government handouts.

Exactly.

Racists could not have planned a more effective assault on black America.

Oh wait, the true racists on the left probably did plan it. Fits their MO for literally decades if not centuries...

28 posted on 01/25/2024 3:58:23 AM PST by piytar (Do NOT forget Ashli Babbit!)
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To: lightman

Murray needs to add Christians, Jews, Hindus, and ....Muslims into his analysis groups.


29 posted on 01/25/2024 4:01:48 AM PST by norwaypinesavage (The power of the press is not in what it includes, rather, it's in that which is omitted.)
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To: norwaypinesavage

YOW! Yes...


30 posted on 01/25/2024 4:21:37 AM PST by null and void (I identify as a conspiracy theorist. My personal pronouns are told/you/so.)
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To: hinckley buzzard

bkmk


31 posted on 01/25/2024 4:33:55 AM PST by sauropod (The obedient always think of themselves as virtuous rather than cowardly.)
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To: lightman

George Orwell summarized this situation very well:

“During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.”


32 posted on 01/25/2024 4:34:09 AM PST by cgbg ("Our democracy" = Their Kleptocracy)
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To: Reeses

IQ tests have been done internationally and Japan and China have higher IQs than almost all other countries.

That is what is called “book smarts”.

It does not measure creativity—or courage to resist herd thinking.


33 posted on 01/25/2024 4:36:46 AM PST by cgbg ("Our democracy" = Their Kleptocracy)
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To: lightman

“Poor Richards Almanac” written in the 1700s says;

The worst thing you can do to the poor is to make them comfortable in their poverty.


34 posted on 01/25/2024 4:46:49 AM PST by fella ("As it was before Noah so shall it be again," )
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To: cgbg
It does not measure creativity—or courage to resist herd thinking.

Or sanity. I learned that in MENSA.

35 posted on 01/25/2024 4:47:49 AM PST by null and void (I identify as a conspiracy theorist. My personal pronouns are told/you/so.)
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To: Fester Chugabrew
“all men are created equal,” before the law but billable hours declares that to be false.
36 posted on 01/25/2024 4:52:53 AM PST by fella ("As it was before Noah so shall it be again," )
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To: lightman

The problem with the IQ tests Murray refers to is that they fail to consider the differences in the quality and level of eduction provided to those taking the IQ tests prior to them taking those tests.

I think the main cause of wide differences in IQ test results starts with STEM education, not genetics.


37 posted on 01/25/2024 5:21:12 AM PST by Wuli
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To: dfwgator

Trading Places was a funny movie. I see it as entertainment, not serious commentary. It’s like watching Star Trek, with the premise that man will someday travel faster than the speed of light: entertainment, not physics.

I think that if we had fully vouchered education forty years ago, IQ scores would have risen across the board, especially for Blacks.


38 posted on 01/25/2024 5:24:09 AM PST by ChessExpert (Required for informed consent: "We have a new, experimental vaccine.")
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To: Wuli

The problem with the IQ tests Murray refers to is that they fail to consider the differences in the quality and level of eduction provided to those taking the IQ tests prior to them taking those tests.


An SNL Classic:

Julian Bond: Well, this is the major problem with these studies. The measurements of IQ which form the basis of comparison come from tests composed by whites for whites. The tests are culturally biased; it’s not surprising that whites would score better than blacks.

Garrett Morris: Could you give us an example of what you’re talking about?

Julian Bond: Certainly. Here are some questions that have appeared on recent IQ tests.

Number one: “You have been invited over for cocktails by the officer of your trust fund. Cocktails begin at 4:30, but you must make an appearance at a 6:00 formal dinner at the Yacht Club. What do you do about dress?

A. Wear your blue-striped seersucker suit to cocktails and change into your tuxedo in the bathroom, apologizing to your host for the inconvenience.

B. Wear your tuxedo to cocktails, apologizing to your host for wearing a dinner jacket before 6:00 PM.

C. Walk to the subway at Columbus Circle and take the “A” Train uptown.”

Garrett Morris: Uh.. I guess I’d choose the last one.

Julian Bond: I’m sorry, that’s incorrect.

Garrett Morris: Damn.

Julian Bond: Here’s another: “When waxing your skis for a cross-country run, you should…”

Garrett Morris: [ interrupting ] Well, I think I understand the problem with the tests. But the fact is that people have been saying that white people are smarter than black for hundreds of years. We’ve only had IQ tests for 20 or 30 years. How did the idea of white intellectual superiority originate?

Julian Bond: That’s an interesting point. My theory is that it’s based on the fact that light-skinned blacks are smarter than dark-skinned blacks.

Garrett Morris: [ not sure he heard that right ] Say what?

Julian Bond: I said I think it might have grown out of the observation that light-skinned blacks are smarter than dark-skinned blacks.

Garrett Morris: I don’t get it.

Julian Bond: It’s got nothing to do with having white blood. It’s just that descendants of the lighter-skinned African tribes are more intelligent than the descendants of the darker-skinned tribes. Everybody knows that.

Garrett Morris: This is the first time I’ve heard of it.

Julian Bond: Seriously? It was proven a long time ago.

Garrett Morris: Well, I still don’t quite understand. We’re out of time right now, but perhaps you could come back on the show again and explain it further.

Julian Bond: There’s very little to explain – it’s just like I told you.

Garrett Morris: Well, we are out of time. Good night. [ to Julian ] If you could repeat it just once more…


39 posted on 01/25/2024 5:28:19 AM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Drew68

That was the Chamber of Commerce back then. They’re still doing it now.


40 posted on 01/25/2024 5:30:34 AM PST by stevio (Fight until you die.)
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