A must read for those trying to navigate the differing political philosophies of our time: Different racial and ethnic groups... vary in which proportions fall into various marital and other social conditions-and these in turn likewise have profound effects on everything from income to infant mortality to political opinions. As far back as 1969, black males who came from homes where there were newspapers, magazines, and library cards had the same incomes as whites from similar homes and with the same number of years of schooling. In the 1970s, black husband-and-wife families outside the South earned as much as white husband-and-wife families outside the South. By 1981, for the country as a whole, black husband-and-wife families where both were college educated and both working earned slightly more than white families of the same description... The equality of income achieved within these subcategories of blacks suggests that racism is less of a factor in the overall differences than has been supposed-and that cultural values or behavioral differences are more of a factor... Many of the racial differences based on gross statistics are shown by a finer breakdown to be differences between people with different values and lifestyles, who are differing proportions of different racial populations. Where the values and lifestyles are comparable, the economic and social outcomes have tended to be comparable. But to admit this would be to destroy a whole framework of assumptions behind massive social programs-and destroy with it a whole social vision that is prevalent among political and intellectual elites. Such finer breakdowns receive very little attention in the media, in politics, or in academia, where gross statistics continue to be cited in support of the vision of the anointed. - Thomas Sowell (The Vision of the Anointed, pgs. 57-58)
Posted on: Mon, 25 Nov 2013 04:09:41 +0000
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