Posts with Comments by obrien aka birch barlow
Smart people play nice
I don't think a Mussolini, Hitler, Stalin, Tojo, or Mao would last 2 seconds in a well-educated society with a 120+ average IQ. The stupidity and ignorance of the masses allows the most corrupt, dishonest, and brutal of the cognitive elites to gain power. Stalin, Hitler, etc are no more representative of the cognitive elite than any high-IQ serial killer.
In a society of all or mostly cognitive elites such corrupt individuals would be kept in check because people would see through their demagoguery and BS.
In a society of all or mostly cognitive elites such corrupt individuals would be kept in check because people would see through their demagoguery and BS.
Implication for democracy
Is that democracy only works with intelligent people...
Quite ominous!
Which is another way of saying that democracy does not work, period, because a large and increasing number of people in the U.S. and Europe are not too bright. I mean, look at all the poor people in L.A. who voted for a higher sales tax! There is a reason the Founding Fathers, while they were rightfully suspicious of the aristocratic elements of society, also did not believe in handing power to the masses.
Today U.S. and European countries are the Founding Fathers' worst nightmare: control by a combination of mostly dumb voters and aristocratic elites who pour millions into our political system. The U.S. is numerically dominated by dumb people and financially dominated by an aristocratic elite. Worse yet, even a large number of relatively high IQ people (say 115-130) are pretty politically ignorant. East Asians, South Asians, and Jews correctly fear poor whites but are so focused on white gentile racism that they can't (or won't) see the dangers of an enormous Mestizo or Muslim underclass. And if you want to talk to a real political ignoramus, look for the most beautiful Asian female you can find...founts of political wisdom, indeed.*
The Republicans have increasingly become the party of the corporate aristocracy and sub-100 IQ whites, while the Dems are the party of government aristocrats and sub-100 IQ non-whites. Thus Turd Sandwhiches like McCain and Bush, and Giant Douches like Gore, Kerry, and Obama. (See the South Park episode "Douche and Turd.")
*Why do attractive women seem so damn politically retarded? Many politically oriented men seem to share this POV. Perhaps my novel observation here is that attractive Asian females are at least as bad as the others when it comes to political ignorance/stupidity. Then again, many politically oriented men are bookworms/geeks who spend way too much time reading political material, and perhaps need a reason to feel equal or superior to the women they so desire.
Is that democracy only works with intelligent people...
Quite ominous!
Which is another way of saying that democracy does not work, period, because a large and increasing number of people in the U.S. and Europe are not too bright. I mean, look at all the poor people in L.A. who voted for a higher sales tax! There is a reason the Founding Fathers, while they were rightfully suspicious of the aristocratic elements of society, also did not believe in handing power to the masses.
Today U.S. and European countries are the Founding Fathers' worst nightmare: control by a combination of mostly dumb voters and aristocratic elites who pour millions into our political system. The U.S. is numerically dominated by dumb people and financially dominated by an aristocratic elite. Worse yet, even a large number of relatively high IQ people (say 115-130) are pretty politically ignorant. East Asians, South Asians, and Jews correctly fear poor whites but are so focused on white gentile racism that they can't (or won't) see the dangers of an enormous Mestizo or Muslim underclass. And if you want to talk to a real political ignoramus, look for the most beautiful Asian female you can find...founts of political wisdom, indeed.*
The Republicans have increasingly become the party of the corporate aristocracy and sub-100 IQ whites, while the Dems are the party of government aristocrats and sub-100 IQ non-whites. Thus Turd Sandwhiches like McCain and Bush, and Giant Douches like Gore, Kerry, and Obama. (See the South Park episode "Douche and Turd.")
*Why do attractive women seem so damn politically retarded? Many politically oriented men seem to share this POV. Perhaps my novel observation here is that attractive Asian females are at least as bad as the others when it comes to political ignorance/stupidity. Then again, many politically oriented men are bookworms/geeks who spend way too much time reading political material, and perhaps need a reason to feel equal or superior to the women they so desire.
Which countries does the NYT cover most and least?
No surprise that Israel gets more coverage than Mexico. After all, Israel is only 6,000 miles away and has 1/18th Mexico's population.
I believe that this is a perfect illustration of the cluelessness of the neocons (forget the Left).
And actually, the neoconservative base is not mainly Jewish. It is mainly Anglo-Celtic/Scots-Irish. Yes there are a number of Jewish neocons in high places, but then again this could be said for almost any political POV. I mean, even Hermann Goering was 1/4 Jewish(!)...and there were suspicions about Hitler and Goebbels having Jewish ancestry as well.
Israel gets a lot of attention because it is a War on Terror hotspot, and the War on Terror is the neocons' big issue to the exclusion of everything else. The one area Republicans, and particularly McCain in the Presidential race, still have an advantage in is being "strong" in foreign policy.
However I think that the idea that neocons/Republican partisans are good on foreign policy is extremely foolhardy, to say the least. For example, I think McCain would needlessly get Russia and China PO'ed, which is a *very* bad idea. Russia is no threat to the U.S. unless the U.S. is belligerent towards Russia. And China really is not that much of a threat either; I think the biggest issue China has with the U.S. is anti-Chinese/anti-Asian racism and prejudice in the U.S.
I really think the best hope is for some kind of political realignment. Neither party serves the country. What is needed is a political party that is socially liberal, fiscally moderate, not adventerous on foreign affairs, not Russo-/Sino-phobic, and most importantly is restrictionist on low-skill/illegal immigration (though open to even massive high-skill immigration...better 50M new MMs per decade (model minorities, mostly Asians) than 10M new LAMs (low-achieving minorities, roughly but not exactly synonymous with NAMs [non-Asian minorities]).
I believe that this is a perfect illustration of the cluelessness of the neocons (forget the Left).
And actually, the neoconservative base is not mainly Jewish. It is mainly Anglo-Celtic/Scots-Irish. Yes there are a number of Jewish neocons in high places, but then again this could be said for almost any political POV. I mean, even Hermann Goering was 1/4 Jewish(!)...and there were suspicions about Hitler and Goebbels having Jewish ancestry as well.
Israel gets a lot of attention because it is a War on Terror hotspot, and the War on Terror is the neocons' big issue to the exclusion of everything else. The one area Republicans, and particularly McCain in the Presidential race, still have an advantage in is being "strong" in foreign policy.
However I think that the idea that neocons/Republican partisans are good on foreign policy is extremely foolhardy, to say the least. For example, I think McCain would needlessly get Russia and China PO'ed, which is a *very* bad idea. Russia is no threat to the U.S. unless the U.S. is belligerent towards Russia. And China really is not that much of a threat either; I think the biggest issue China has with the U.S. is anti-Chinese/anti-Asian racism and prejudice in the U.S.
I really think the best hope is for some kind of political realignment. Neither party serves the country. What is needed is a political party that is socially liberal, fiscally moderate, not adventerous on foreign affairs, not Russo-/Sino-phobic, and most importantly is restrictionist on low-skill/illegal immigration (though open to even massive high-skill immigration...better 50M new MMs per decade (model minorities, mostly Asians) than 10M new LAMs (low-achieving minorities, roughly but not exactly synonymous with NAMs [non-Asian minorities]).
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