Why Capitalism has an Image Problem

[Ted S]

Charles Murray had a piece in the WSJ this past weekend that is getting a lot of press.  What do you fellow conservative / libertarians think of it?  Of course our resident lefties are free to chime-in as well but I don't really expect that any will actually read it.

I think Murray is spot-on for the most part but misses the mark in other places.  Thoughts?

[wbcoleman]

Charles Murray had a piece in the WSJ this past weekend that is getting a lot of press.  What do you fellow conservative / libertarians think of it?  Of course our resident lefties are free to chime-in as well but I don't really expect that any will actually read it.

I think Murray is spot-on for the most part but misses the mark in other places.  Thoughts?

One thing which Murray misses is the enduring persuasiveness of Marx's mythology.  One would think that Lenin, Stalin, and Mao -- not to mention the NHS -- would have been more than enough to dispel that but, obviously not.

[kentay]

Charles Murray had a piece in the WSJ this past weekend that is getting a lot of press.  What do you fellow conservative / libertarians think of it?  Of course our resident lefties are free to chime-in as well but I don't really expect that any will actually read it.

I think Murray is spot-on for the most part but misses the mark in other places.  Thoughts?

Surly Ted a Christian man like you, is  not wave the flag of support for the same white Supremacist Libertarian Charles Murray who wrote the Bell curve  supporting scientific racism,  are you? He's  the man who wrote a piece in the Washington Post stoking the fires of class warfare also. Kentay

[Ted S]

Surly Ted a Christian man like you, is  not wave the flag of support for the same white Supremacist Libertarian Charles Murray who wrote the Bell curve  supporting scientific racism,  are you? He's  the man who wrote a piece in the Washington Post stoking the fires of class warfare also. Kentay

I never read the Bell Curve and I haven't done any research of my own to know if Mr. Murray's claim made in that book is correct.  If I were a betting man I'd bet you haven't read the book nor studied the IQs of racial groups either.

I will say this however; I'm open minded enough to consider the idea that the average IQ of one race could be higher than the average IQ of another.  I don't just reject the notion because the world wouldn't be a wonderful place if one racial group had a slight edge over another in the intelligence department.

The animal world is full of examples of varying degrees of intelligence.  For instance, there are many instances of one breed of dog being more intelligent than other breeds.  Of course, intelligence is hard to measure in animals but if you ask people who handle dogs regularly, some breeds are quite different from other breeds.

I'm willing to accept the world as it is rather than deny reality because its doesn't fit some fantasy notion that all races MUST be equal in all respects.

I'd also accept the idea that Caucasians were slightly less intelligent than Asians if the data were there to support it.  In fact I think it is quite possible that is indeed the truth.

[kentay]

Surly Ted a Christian man like you, is  not wave the flag of support for the same white Supremacist Libertarian Charles Murray who wrote the Bell curve  supporting scientific racism,  are you? He's  the man who wrote a piece in the Washington Post stoking the fires of class warfare also. Kentay

I never read the Bell Curve and I haven't done any research of my own to know if Mr. Murray's claim made in that book is correct.  If I were a betting man I'd bet you haven't read the book nor studied the IQs of racial groups either.

I will say this however; I'm open minded enough to consider the idea that the average IQ of one race could be higher than the average IQ of another.  I don't just reject the notion because the world wouldn't be a wonderful place if one racial group had a slight edge over another in the intelligence department.

The animal world is full of examples of varying degrees of intelligence.  For instance, there are many instances of one breed of dog being more intelligent than other breeds.  Of course, intelligence is hard to measure in animals but if you ask people who handle dogs regularly, some breeds are quite different from other breeds.

I'm willing to accept the world as it is rather than deny reality because its doesn't fit some fantasy notion that all races MUST be equal in all respects.

I'd also accept the idea that Caucasians were slightly less intelligent than Asians if the data were there to support it.  In fact I think it is quite possible that is indeed the truth.

One day Ted you will have to commit and stop trying to always straddle  the  fence. I have a question  for you,  before you write a post do you know the history of the author or do you just go with your feeling about what he/she said?  I sure that most despots could write something you and I  could both agree with if we didn't know their history, even Hitler. Kentay   

[Ted S]

I have a question  for you,  before you write a post do you know the history of the author or do you just go with your feeling about what he/she said?

I listened to an hour long interview with Mr. Murray about a month ago.  I've listened to a couple other shorter interviews recently.  I read his WSJ article this week.

I remember the uproar from the left when his Bell Curve book hit the shelves years ago. My impression at the time was that it was just your typical charge if racism that comes from the left whenever somebody says something that they don't want to hear.

Honestly Kentay, how many times have you seen or listened to Mr. Murray?  How many of his books have you read?  How many of his articles?

I have a feeling that you haven't ever heard Charles Murray speak.  I bet you're just regurgitating left wing pap that somebody else has manufactured for purely political reasons.

[Ted S]

One day Ted you will have to commit and stop trying to always straddle  the  fence.

Straddle the fence?  I hardly straddle the fence, especially politically.

I'm guessing that because I'm not scorching the walls with right wing talking points you think that I'm straddling the fence but you'd be mistaken.  It's called being civil; and it's also called being honest.

I haven't read any of Murray's books so I can only comment on them from the reviews that I've heard from others and from the summary that he put forth in an interview I listened to.  Because I haven't studied the matter to any great degree, unlike you, I can't make any bold comparisons to Hitler because I might not have enough information to be so sure of myself.

[wbcoleman]

Surly Ted a Christian man like you, is  not wave the flag of support for the same white Supremacist Libertarian Charles Murray who wrote the Bell curve  supporting scientific racism,  are you? He's  the man who wrote a piece in the Washington Post stoking the fires of class warfare also. Kentay

Is this really the defining characteristic of contemporary liberalism:  Defame the messenger?