On Wed, 9 Nov 1994 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
> Ani Mareck wrote:
>
> > What possible purpose would you have in suggesting this book? You have
> >made it clear that you think it is the most riduculous piece of written trash
> >you have ever seen?
>
> My post suggested not so much the book itself as the fact that it was being
> taken so seriously in the US.......
> I brought up "The Bell Curve", because the fact of its popularity seems
> to be a relevant and telling symptom of some trends in the national psyche...
> trends that those wanting to really change our nation need to understand.
Not unrelated to the level of fear I have found among North's followers I
think. We live in a time of great upheaval. We no longer define the
international scene through the cold war -- we have no easily identified
enemy and the causes of conflicts are too complicated to understand...
(Yes, I know they were *always* complicated and the Cold War rhetoric was
just a mask, etc)... but it was very real to a great many people in this
country. Add to that the changing structure of our nation --
economically, socially, etc. (don't forget the years of farm failures in
the midwest, the creation of the rust belt, etc, etc) Add to that mix
the fact that we are reaping the harvest of a politics of division, hate
and fear that dominated the 1980s.... Is it any wonder people find
comfort in this type of "research"? It actually feeds the fear that is
gnawing in their bellies, but it also gives them some comfort. Isn't it
just another version of the racist appeal of the KKK -- "you may be poor
white trash, but you're still better than a black man...."? The only
surprising thing is that Murray actually says Asians have a higher IQ than
whites. But, this is well in keeping with the complaints I hear among
parents in our increasingly multi-cultural neighborhood that "those Asian
kids" are taking all of the places in the gifted and talented programs
and in the Science and Tech high school.... This idea that "white's" are
caught in the middle between an "overachieving" and hence likely to
dominate "minority" and an "underachieving" and hence burdensome
"minority" seems to me to be a volatile mix....
I agree with you completely -- we should be trying to understand why this
dark vision has struck a chord....
Jayne
