How will liberal policies be affected by liberals’ recognition of race differences?
George writes:
William Saletan says he wants to find a way for racial liberalism to survive when science confirms there are significant differences among the various races. Apparently, his next article will deal with strategies the left can use to spin/lie future IQ/race discoveries in the hope that liberalism can carry on in some new—yet fundamentally similar—form.
However, I think Saletan is substantially underestimating the impact that the discovery of racial differences will have on nondiscrimination.
I can think of several liberal agendas that will be threatened once more IQ and race data comes in:
1) Miscegenation:
Once it is confirmed that mulatto and Mestizo children are less intelligent than their white parents interracial marriage will plummet (Not that miscegenation is exceptionally high to begin with, but it is something the left very much wants to expand upon in the future.)
2) Non-discriminatory legal immigration:
Americans will demand that immigration of low IQ immigrants be stopped because low IQ immigrants and their descendants will never climb the economic ladder in a technologically advanced economy despite the previous liberal assurances that poor immigrants will eventually assimilate. Assimilation is a key reason Americans support legal immigration, once that possibility is removed, tolerance for low IQ immigrants will fade.
3) Affirmative Action:
Most white Americans who still support AA at all, in my experience at least, think that AA is only temporary, a way to get minorities on their feet. Even Sandra O’Connor in Grutter hoped that AA would be unneeded in the future. When it is revealed that low IQ minorities will need to stay on AA forever, support for AA will collapse.
4) The left splits over whether to support eugenics and genetic engineering:
Some leftists may despair that genetic reality will not allow many minorities to achieve a middle class existence. Some leftists will inevitably come out in favor of various forms of genetic engineering in order to level the playing field. With new breakthroughs in in vitro maturation, and the ability to screen embryos for wanted and unwanted traits, it will soon be possible for parents to choose traits for intelligence. Liberals may decide to fund these procedures.
This is just a taste of the damage liberal orthodoxy is going to suffer. All in all, I have a hard time seeing nondiscrimination adapting to this changing environment, though I’m sure the left is already thinking of ways to keep nondiscrimination alive.
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Ralph P. writes:
George is correct in his projection of what might happen to people’s liberal attitudes once the IQ and race debate disseminates further. We are talking about a future schism between the hard-core leadership and its more casual go-along base of support. There was an interesting article in American Renaissance (“Don’t Write Off the Liberals,” Melinda Jelliby April 2000) by a liberal who made two interesting points: (a) that the early founders of modern leftism were unabashedly race conscious and (b) that the liberalism that she supported could only work in a homogenous white society, free of the non-whites that she claims are unassimilable to its basic precepts. Any conservative would disagree with the author about whether leftism as she describes it can work at all, with any population. But apart from that the premise holds interesting possibilities for the future of the discussion. It would mean, for example, that many ‘liberals’ would discard their color blindness before their liberalism. I know from observation and experience that there is a lot of anger about not illegal immigration but all non-white immigration, for which the illegal aspect is a cover to fend off the charge of racism, especially among liberals. What George writes pretty much points in that direction.
So there is hope, and things could change with startling swiftness. Then the open borders cheerleaders will be shocked to find themselves suddenly without purchase in the debate, and as more politicians realize that the hispanic vote never carried the punch they thought it did, but the white vote does, they will all scramble to at least sound tougher. With an energized populace, possibly enduring tough economic times as well, holding their feet to the fire it will be harder to get away with sleight-of-hand. After that I believe that all the ancillary issues of modern liberalism, affirmative action, gay marriage and the rest will also collapse in support, much to the chagrin of the above mentioned author. So as you say, liberalism will die, one way or the other.
Jeremy G. writes:
This is truly amazing. Liberals who have been forcing the integration of white neighborhoods and white civilizations for generations would now increase the pressure on whites to mix with blacks genetically. Saletan does not have even one sentence of remorse for the pain and suffering of millions of whites who have been imposed upon in the most intrusive manner by these revolting liberals and their destructive policies. The amazingness is that liberals now know that mixing the races would be devastating for whites and civilization. And there are alternatives for uplifting blacks without destroying whites. Saletan could have proposed pressuring black women into using white sperm donors.
Just as with integrated neighborhoods, our response to the liberals who think race-mixing is a great idea is that they should lead by example. How many of them live in mixed neighborhoods and send their children to public schools? Let’s see how many of them are willing to inter-mix with blacks. I for one would like the liberals to mix with blacks. If there is a genetic basis for liberalism, I want it out of my gene pool.
Posted by Lawrence Auster at November 19, 2007 09:04 PM | Send