SolitaryRoad.com

Website owner:  James Miller


[ Home ] [ Up ] [ Info ] [ Mail ]

On systemic discrimination against blacks


It has become an assumption among the liberal Left today that the only possible explanation for the fact that blacks do so poorly in so many areas compared to whites (or other races) is “systemic discrimination”. This assertion is absurd but it seems now to be accepted by all of our Leftist intelligentsia. The foolish assertion keeps being repeated so much that the masses of liberal bent come to believe it.


I ask the question: What kinds of things may cause one individual to do very well in life and another individual to do poorly? Let us list some.


1. Emphasis on education. How well one does in school. Hard study and mental effort in school studies has the effect of transforming, strengthening and enlightening the mind. Studying subjects such as mathematics, physics, or engineering gives one an advantage in life. I and my brother are the only ones of our many cousins who went on to college (my brother went to the same college as I and got a degree in electrical engineering). I went because I wanted to go, it was my goal, and I worked hard for that goal. (My brother didn’t want to go but my parents pushed him to go.) Furthermore, there were very few of the students in the high school that my brother and I attended that went on to college.


2. Good habits (such as industriousness, perseverance, etc.). People with good habits tend to do better in life than those with bad habits. Serious, diligent people do better than light-hearted, lazy people.


3. Chance. A great many people who do well can really thank only chance for their success. They were in the right place at the right time; they knew the right person who helped them; they had the right connections. It seems like some people are just very lucky and that others are just very unlucky. It may not seem fair but it is true.


4. The social class you are born into. The child of college educated parents is far more likely to go on to college than the child of a single welfare mother. A child of a medical doctor is likely to have high expectations of himself. Why? College educated parents expect their child to go on to college and prepare him for it from a young age. They appreciate the importance of education and pass that appreciation on to their child. The welfare mother has no such expectation for her child or appreciation of education.



We have talked about the kind of things that can cause differences in outcomes for individuals. Now let us talk about how differences in outcomes for different ethnic groups of people can come about. It all has to do with the attitudes, outlooks, and mentality of different groups. The way they think, their mentality, their attitudes on schooling. The people of western European countries (England, France, Germany, etc.) for a long time had much higher IQ scores than people from the countries of eastern Europe. Why? People from countries like Germany traditionally put a lot of value on reading, writing, and education and people of the countries of Eastern Europe didn’t. People from the hillbilly parts of our country tend to score much lower on IQ tests than people in our northeastern states. It is the same reason. Schooling requires a lot of work spread out over a number of years. Some cultures think it is worth all of the work and effort and others don’t.


Thomas Sowell has a lot to say on this subject. See On intellectualism, liberalism and the Left. Thomas Sowell.



5 Oct 2023



More from SolitaryRoad.com:

The Way of Truth and Life

God's message to the world

Jesus Christ and His Teachings

Words of Wisdom

Way of enlightenment, wisdom, and understanding

Way of true Christianity

America, a corrupt, depraved, shameless country

On integrity and the lack of it

The test of a person's Christianity is what he is

Who will go to heaven?

The superior person

On faith and works

Ninety five percent of the problems that most people have come from personal foolishness

Liberalism, socialism and the modern welfare state

The desire to harm, a motivation for conduct

The teaching is:

On modern intellectualism

On Homosexuality

On Self-sufficient Country Living, Homesteading

Principles for Living Life

Topically Arranged Proverbs, Precepts, Quotations. Common Sayings. Poor Richard's Almanac.

America has lost her way

The really big sins

Theory on the Formation of Character

Moral Perversion

You are what you eat

People are like radio tuners --- they pick out and listen to one wavelength and ignore the rest

Cause of Character Traits --- According to Aristotle

These things go together

Television

We are what we eat --- living under the discipline of a diet

Avoiding problems and trouble in life

Role of habit in formation of character

The True Christian

What is true Christianity?

Personal attributes of the true Christian

What determines a person's character?

Love of God and love of virtue are closely united

Walking a solitary road

Intellectual disparities among people and the power in good habits

Tools of Satan. Tactics and Tricks used by the Devil.

On responding to wrongs

Real Christian Faith

The Natural Way -- The Unnatural Way

Wisdom, Reason and Virtue are closely related

Knowledge is one thing, wisdom is another

My views on Christianity in America

The most important thing in life is understanding

Sizing up people

We are all examples --- for good or for bad

Television --- spiritual poison

The Prime Mover that decides "What We Are"

Where do our outlooks, attitudes and values come from?

Sin is serious business. The punishment for it is real. Hell is real.

Self-imposed discipline and regimentation

Achieving happiness in life --- a matter of the right strategies

Self-discipline

Self-control, self-restraint, self-discipline basic to so much in life

We are our habits

What creates moral character?


[ Home ] [ Up ] [ Info ] [ Mail ]