Gene Expression: On Nazi quotas, affirmative action, and proportionalism...

Right now I'm reading an outstanding book by John Cornwell, Hitler's Scientists: Science, War, and the Devil's Pact. I don't really want to get into the Jew discussion again, but this part about quotas really caught me, and I thought I'd share it with you...

On 25 April 1933, the Nazi government passed with much trumpeting its Law Against Overcrowding of German Schools and Universities, aimed at reducing the number the number of places available for Jewish students. The act laid down a strict quota (1.5 per cent of school and college enrollments) deemed appropriate for the size of the non-Aryan or Jewish population at large.

After a quick search for an online copy of the document, I found one.

The number of non-Aryan Germans, within the meaning of the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service, of 7 April 1933 (Rgbl I, p 175), who may be admitted to schools, colleges and universities, must not exceed a number proportionate to the Aryan students in each school, college or university compared to the percentage of non-Aryans within the entire German population. This proportion is fixed uniformly for the whole Reich.
If, in accordance with Article 3, the number of pupils and students is to be reduced, there is likewise a proper proportion to be established between the total number of students and the number of non-Aryans. In doing so a somewhat higher proportion may be fixed.

Clauses 1 and 2 do not apply in the case of non-Aryans, whose fathers have fought at the front during the World War for Germany or her allies, or to children whose parents were married before the enactment of this law, if the father or mother or two of the grandparents are of Aryan origin. The number of these students is not to be included when calculating the quota of non-Aryans.

Ah, don't you just love the proportionalism Nazis (literally)!? Of course, the clause about the children of veterans was largely ignored, especially in the case of Fritz Haber, a former Jew [who converted to Christianity and wore a Prussian military uniform to work] and a brilliant chemist who literally built the German chemicals industry. The book goes into more detail about the whole idiotic thing.

And on yet another note, does this sound familiar?

Textbooks were rewritten and new curricula devised to inculcate National Socialist ideology with an emphasis on racial doctrines. Teachers were required to join the National Socialist Teachers' League, and as members of the civil service were subject to the anti-Semitic provisions of the Restoration of the Civil Service Act. Teachers critical of the party were dismissed; those who remained were required to be trained in National Socialist principles.

Sounds a bit familiar to the political correctness Nazis nowadays, no? Of course, in the end, the Nazis would pay for their focus on bizarre doctrines instead of individual merit.

The exodus of Jewish scientists was devastating in its consequences for Germany. Some 25 per cent of the pre-1933 physics community was lost to the country, including Einstein, Franck, Gustav Hertz, Schrodinger, Hess, and Debye - all Nobel laureates. Other lost laureates included Stern, Bloch, Born, Wigner, Bethe, Gabor, Hevesy and Herzberg, as well as mathematicians Richard Courant, Hermann Weyl and Emmy Noether. Most of the lost physicists were scientists of high originality and unique experience; they were irreplaceable. Almost half of Germany's theoretical physicists went, and many of its top experts in quantum mechanics and nuclear physics.
The loss to Germany was a huge gain to Britain and the United States . . .

In terms of overall numbers through the 1930s, however, the German physics community did not shrink in absolute numbers because of an increase in applied physicists in the universities; but the quality of the scientists declined, and basic research stagnated. Of all the German universities, with the exception of Berlin, Gottingen, a world centre of mathematical physics, was hurt the most. Lost to this birthplace of quantum mechanics were Max Born, James Franck, Walter Heitler, Heinrich Kuhn, Lothar Nordheim, Imbler Rabinowich and Hertha Sponer.

. . .

Germany was to make progress in many areas of applied physics, especially in processes and technology with military applications; but academically it would begin to fall behind. The director of research at AEG, one of Germany's largest companies, noted that according to records American citations (in Germany's leading physics review) had risen between 1913 and 1938 from 3 per cent to 15 per cent, while German citations (in the leading international physics review) during the same period had dropped from 30 per cent to 16 per cent.

I have tried to tell some of the supporters of quotas and affirmative action about this, and they dismiss it out of hand. From a nationalist perspective, a greater mistake could not have been made. I sometimes wonder, considering the amazing stuff the Germans developed during WWII, what they could have come up with had they not expelled and killed some of their greatest minds and devastated their physics departments...

This reminded me of an interview with Thomas Sowell about his new book Affirmative Action Around the World on Uncommon Knowledge. In this segment, they discuss Malaysia as one of the examples...

Peter Robinson: Malaysia. One of the more prosperous countries of Southeast Asia, population 23 million. Of those 23 million about half are Malays, a quarter are Chinese, and about 7% are Indians. Care to give us a brief history of the affirmative action programs in Malaysia?
Thomas Sowell: The Chinese, first of all, were making at least twice the income of the Malays.

Peter Robinson: So, what you have there is a minority, a quarter of the population is doing far better than any...

Thomas Sowell: Absolutely.

Peter Robinson: ...than the larger number of indigenous people?

Thomas Sowell: And what makes it even worse politically, I guess, is that the Chinese started out much poorer than the Malays and passed them over the years simply because they saved more, they worked harder, et cetera. So, the Chinese were very much resented and in 1969 for a number of reasons there was this riot of Malays against the Chinese. And in order to calm this down, the government then put in a massive program of preferences for the Malays in the universities, in government employment, and so on.

Peter Robinson: Who was in the government? Was the government dominated by Malays?

Thomas Sowell: The government has always been dominated by Malays.

Peter Robinson: All right.

Thomas Sowell: But before you see, in the university for example, the admission was just by qualifications and so an absolute majority of the people in the universities were Chinese.

Peter Robinson: I see.

Thomas Sowell: As you went into the more difficult subjects like science and math, they were overwhelmingly Chinese. So, for example, in the decade of the 1960s the Chinese received 400 degrees in engineering. The Malays received four. So...

Peter Robinson: It's a little hard for the Malays to take.

Thomas Sowell: Yes. Yes.

Peter Robinson: And so the government does what in 1969?

Thomas Sowell: They start putting in preferences for the Malays in all these different programs. And they set a goal that by 1990, the Malays will be represented equally across the board in business and universities, et cetera.

Peter Robinson: And the result of these programs is?

Thomas Sowell: One of the results has been that many of the Chinese have left Malaysia.

Peter Robinson: Oh, I see.

Thomas Sowell: Thousands of them because they have a tough time getting into the universities, even though they have better qualifications. The Malays all--the government also changed the language of the schools from English to Malay and the Chinese, of course, had learned to speak English, but they had not learned to speak Malay, so all of these things made life very difficult. They've also moved some of their capital out, so they've lost all that. Now, Malaysia was more fortunate than most countries in that they had a great deal of economic growth during this period. They have oil, which was very good for them during the '70s especially, and so they became a modernized country. They went from being a predominantly agricultural country to being a predominantly commercial and industrial country. All of that softened the blow, as it were, because there were now more engineers, more doctors, and so on. So that now you could have more Malay engineers and more Malay doctors without there being an absolute decline in the number of Chinese doctors or Chinese engineers.

Peter Robinson: Right.

Thomas Sowell: Even though the proportions changed.

Peter Robinson: Right. Right.

Thomas Sowell: So, they escaped much of this. The other thing, which is crucial, is that there is no free speech on ethnic matters in Malaysia. That is, there are no Jesse Jacksons or Al Sharptons in Malaysia to keep things boiling. In fact, when I was there some years ago, you know, I would get very candid discussions behind closed doors and in people's offices, but the American Embassy arranged a dinner that evening for me and most of those invited did not show because they dared not say anything in public which would be a federal law.

Peter Robinson: Oh, I see.

Thomas Sowell: In criticism of the program.

Peter Robinson: You write, let me quote you to yourself again. No more than 5% of Malays "have been estimated to have actually benefited from these affirmative action programs and those people who were initially more fortunate were the most benefited." In other words, the pattern that we saw in India repeats itself in Malaysia.

Thomas Sowell: Absolutely.

Peter Robinson: The ones who were already near the top...

Thomas Sowell: Mmm-huh. This puts them over the top.

Peter Robinson: Right, they're capable of grabbing these jobs or the university positions.

Thomas Sowell: Yes.

Peter Robinson: All right. But it's still a tiny percentage of the overall population.

Thomas Sowell: Right.

Peter Robinson: All right. And you also write, "If there's any lesson from the history of affirmative action in Malaysia, it is that extraordinary economic prosperity and growth--" this tremendous boom time they underwent--"combined with extraordinary repression of free speech--", no Al Sharptons around to cause trouble--"can make preferential programs viable, but to say that the country as a whole is better off would be to ignore many counterproductive consequences." The counterproductive consequences are?

Thomas Sowell: The flight of the Chinese. Loss of them. The loss, to some extent, of Indians as well. Loss of Chinese capital. Malaysia itself--the government decided, just within the past few years, that they simply were not getting as many engineers and high-tech people that they need for the kind of economy they want. And so last year they announced that they are going to go back to simply having admission by academic qualifications at the university. So, this is one of few cases where a program has apparently come to an end.

Those who ignore the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them.

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October 20, 2004 On Nazi quotas, affirmative action, and proportionalism... Right now I'm reading an outstanding book by John Cornwell, Hitler's Scientists: Science, War, and the Devil's Pact. I don't really want to get into the Jew discussion again, but this part about quotas really caught me, and I thought I'd share it with you... On 25 April 1933, the Nazi government passed with much trumpeting its Law Against Overcrowding of German Schools and Universities, aimed at reducing the number the number of places available for Jewish students. The act laid down a strict quota (1.5 per cent of school and college enrollments) deemed appropriate for the size of the non-Aryan or Jewish population at large. After a quick search for an online copy of the document, I found one. The number of non-Aryan Germans, within the meaning of the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service, of 7 April 1933 (Rgbl I, p 175), who may be admitted to schools, colleges and universities, must not exceed a number proportionate to the Aryan students in each school, college or university compared to the percentage of non-Aryans within the entire German population. This proportion is fixed uniformly for the whole Reich. If, in accordance with Article 3, the number of pupils and students is to be reduced, there is likewise a proper proportion to be established between the total number of students and the number of non-Aryans. In doing so a somewhat higher proportion may be fixed. Clauses 1 and 2 do not apply in the case of non-Aryans, whose fathers have fought at the front during the World War for Germany or her allies, or to children whose parents were married before the enactment of this law, if the father or mother or two of the grandparents are of Aryan origin. The number of these students is not to be included when calculating the quota of non-Aryans. Ah, don't you just love the proportionalism Nazis (literally)!? Of course, the clause about the children of veterans was largely ignored, especially in the case of Fritz Haber, a former Jew [who converted to Christianity and wore a Prussian military uniform to work] and a brilliant chemist who literally built the German chemicals industry. The book goes into more detail about the whole idiotic thing. And on yet another note, does this sound familiar? Textbooks were rewritten and new curricula devised to inculcate National Socialist ideology with an emphasis on racial doctrines. Teachers were required to join the National Socialist Teachers' League, and as members of the civil service were subject to the anti-Semitic provisions of the Restoration of the Civil Service Act. Teachers critical of the party were dismissed; those who remained were required to be trained in National Socialist principles. Sounds a bit familiar to the political correctness Nazis nowadays, no? Of course, in the end, the Nazis would pay for their focus on bizarre doctrines instead of individual merit. The exodus of Jewish scientists was devastating in its consequences for Germany. Some 25 per cent of the pre-1933 physics community was lost to the country, including Einstein, Franck, Gustav Hertz, Schrodinger, Hess, and Debye - all Nobel laureates. Other lost laureates included Stern, Bloch, Born, Wigner, Bethe, Gabor, Hevesy and Herzberg, as well as mathematicians Richard Courant, Hermann Weyl and Emmy Noether. Most of the lost physicists were scientists of high originality and unique experience; they were irreplaceable. Almost half of Germany's theoretical physicists went, and many of its top experts in quantum mechanics and nuclear physics. The loss to Germany was a huge gain to Britain and the United States . . . In terms of overall numbers through the 1930s, however, the German physics community did not shrink in absolute numbers because of an increase in applied physicists in the universities; but the quality of the scientists declined, and basic research stagnated. Of all the German universities, with the exception of Berlin, Gottingen, a world centre of mathematical physics, was hurt the most. Lost to this birthplace of quantum mechanics were Max Born, James Franck, Walter Heitler, Heinrich Kuhn, Lothar Nordheim, Imbler Rabinowich and Hertha Sponer. . . . Germany was to make progress in many areas of applied physics, especially in processes and technology with military applications; but academically it would begin to fall behind. The director of research at AEG, one of Germany's largest companies, noted that according to records American citations (in Germany's leading physics review) had risen between 1913 and 1938 from 3 per cent to 15 per cent, while German citations (in the leading international physics review) during the same period had dropped from 30 per cent to 16 per cent. I have tried to tell some of the supporters of quotas and affirmative action about this, and they dismiss it out of hand. From a nationalist perspective, a greater mistake could not have been made. I sometimes wonder, considering the amazing stuff the Germans developed during WWII, what they could have come up with had they not expelled and killed some of their greatest minds and devastated their physics departments... This reminded me of an interview with Thomas Sowell about his new book Affirmative Action Around the World on Uncommon Knowledge. In this segment, they discuss Malaysia as one of the examples... Peter Robinson: Malaysia. One of the more prosperous countries of Southeast Asia, population 23 million. Of those 23 million about half are Malays, a quarter are Chinese, and about 7% are Indians. Care to give us a brief history of the affirmative action programs in Malaysia? Thomas Sowell: The Chinese, first of all, were making at least twice the income of the Malays. Peter Robinson: So, what you have there is a minority, a quarter of the population is doing far better than any... Thomas Sowell: Absolutely. Peter Robinson: ...than the larger number of indigenous people? Thomas Sowell: And what makes it even worse politically, I guess, is that the Chinese started out much poorer than the Malays and passed them over the years simply because they saved more, they worked harder, et cetera. So, the Chinese were very much resented and in 1969 for a number of reasons there was this riot of Malays against the Chinese. And in order to calm this down, the government then put in a massive program of preferences for the Malays in the universities, in government employment, and so on. Peter Robinson: Who was in the government? Was the government dominated by Malays? Thomas Sowell: The government has always been dominated by Malays. Peter Robinson: All right. Thomas Sowell: But before you see, in the university for example, the admission was just by qualifications and so an absolute majority of the people in the universities were Chinese. Peter Robinson: I see. Thomas Sowell: As you went into the more difficult subjects like science and math, they were overwhelmingly Chinese. So, for example, in the decade of the 1960s the Chinese received 400 degrees in engineering. The Malays received four. So... Peter Robinson: It's a little hard for the Malays to take. Thomas Sowell: Yes. Yes. Peter Robinson: And so the government does what in 1969? Thomas Sowell: They start putting in preferences for the Malays in all these different programs. And they set a goal that by 1990, the Malays will be represented equally across the board in business and universities, et cetera. Peter Robinson: And the result of these programs is? Thomas Sowell: One of the results has been that many of the Chinese have left Malaysia. Peter Robinson: Oh, I see. Thomas Sowell: Thousands of them because they have a tough time getting into the universities, even though they have better qualifications. The Malays all--the government also changed the language of the schools from English to Malay and the Chinese, of course, had learned to speak English, but they had not learned to speak Malay, so all of these things made life very difficult. They've also moved some of their capital out, so they've lost all that. Now, Malaysia was more fortunate than most countries in that they had a great deal of economic growth during this period. They have oil, which was very good for them during the '70s especially, and so they became a modernized country. They went from being a predominantly agricultural country to being a predominantly commercial and industrial country. All of that softened the blow, as it were, because there were now more engineers, more doctors, and so on. So that now you could have more Malay engineers and more Malay doctors without there being an absolute decline in the number of Chinese doctors or Chinese engineers. Peter Robinson: Right. Thomas Sowell: Even though the proportions changed. Peter Robinson: Right. Right. Thomas Sowell: So, they escaped much of this. The other thing, which is crucial, is that there is no free speech on ethnic matters in Malaysia. That is, there are no Jesse Jacksons or Al Sharptons in Malaysia to keep things boiling. In fact, when I was there some years ago, you know, I would get very candid discussions behind closed doors and in people's offices, but the American Embassy arranged a dinner that evening for me and most of those invited did not show because they dared not say anything in public which would be a federal law. Peter Robinson: Oh, I see. Thomas Sowell: In criticism of the program. Peter Robinson: You write, let me quote you to yourself again. No more than 5% of Malays "have been estimated to have actually benefited from these affirmative action programs and those people who were initially more fortunate were the most benefited." In other words, the pattern that we saw in India repeats itself in Malaysia. Thomas Sowell: Absolutely. Peter Robinson: The ones who were already near the top... Thomas Sowell: Mmm-huh. This puts them over the top. Peter Robinson: Right, they're capable of grabbing these jobs or the university positions. Thomas Sowell: Yes. Peter Robinson: All right. But it's still a tiny percentage of the overall population. Thomas Sowell: Right. Peter Robinson: All right. And you also write, "If there's any lesson from the history of affirmative action in Malaysia, it is that extraordinary economic prosperity and growth--" this tremendous boom time they underwent--"combined with extraordinary repression of free speech--", no Al Sharptons around to cause trouble--"can make preferential programs viable, but to say that the country as a whole is better off would be to ignore many counterproductive consequences." The counterproductive consequences are? Thomas Sowell: The flight of the Chinese. Loss of them. The loss, to some extent, of Indians as well. Loss of Chinese capital. Malaysia itself--the government decided, just within the past few years, that they simply were not getting as many engineers and high-tech people that they need for the kind of economy they want. And so last year they announced that they are going to go back to simply having admission by academic qualifications at the university. So, this is one of few cases where a program has apparently come to an end. Those who ignore the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them. Posted by Arcane at 06:17 PM	Razib also blogs at..... Recent Entries New URL! What's wrong among the elites? Why Iran Must Not Be Invaded Culture Contact/Conflict Second front: Rise of the GNGO:s New index page.... Blogger/w.bloggar question Interesting choice of words No more posting for a bit.... Killing democracy softly Search this site: Simple reading View all entries Who is linking to us?