Sunday, June 25, 2017

IQ: Decided by Race? Or by Political System?

By Douglas V. Gibbs
AuthorSpeakerInstructorRadio Host

I always welcome letters and messages from readers of Political Pistachio, readers of my books, and listeners of my radio program.  I appreciate them most when those who may not be in agreement with me are able to give their point of view, no matter how horrid it may be, without a slew of profanity attached.  One I received recently caught me by surprise.  The email basically said that blacks have a lower IQ, and it's because of race.

Here's some of the low-lights from that message:

"...a compilation of scientific data, historical facts and societal observations of the reasons for the lack of black advancement in Africa and the rest of the world. The argument presented by American blacks for their lack of economic and intellectual advancement in American society is supposedly because their ancestors were slaves and they have historically been discriminated against. However, even though the American slaves were freed 10 generations ago, (250 years), and America has spent in excess of $70 Trillion in reparations since the Johnson era’s “War on Poverty and Affirmative Action”, evidence shows that the return on this investment in blacks and their economic and intellectual advancement is minimal at best. Scientific evidence shows that this lack of advancement is evident of their low genetic Intelligence Quotient “IQ”. According to scientific evidence and testing, (per the 753 page book “The Bell Curve” on the IQ of the races), blacks in America have an IQ that is 16 points below average. Laziness and their inability to learn technology is another significant cause of their lack of economic and academic achievement. A valid argument exists that intelligence is genetically inherited as proven when a comparison is made of human intelligence and scientific development by the Caucasian, Asian and the middle-eastern, ”western” culture for any given historical period of time, versus the scientific development of the free Black Africans, who were not slaves or discriminated against in their native Africa."

I won't torture you with the rest of the more than a dozen paragraphs.

My response shows disagreement in the idea that intelligence is racially determined, and actually I believe intelligence is encouraged by opportunity and freedom.  Societies subjected by leftism are given no room to grow.  In a free society, growth, both economically and intellectually, is unleashed and the sky's the limit.  It is sort of like the stories we hear about certain fish or turtles.  If left in a smaller aquarium or tank, their growth remains limited, but when offered a large space with more freedom and room to grow, certain species of fish or turtles grow larger as a result.

Here's my response to the email that was sent to me:

Fascinating data, but I believe the problem is not race as much as it is the political system. For example. In Africa, Botswana is the second most prosperous economy on the continent, has a very successful education system and thriving society. As the rest of Africa suffers from starvation and failure after chasing after either Muslim or Marxist political systems, Botswana hung on to the system introduced by the British - more specifically, the Saxon System of limited and representative government (a large influence also in the creation of the American System). Same thing in Southeast Asia. The most successful economy is Singapore that, while some of the parts of the governmental system is more totalitarian than I would like to see, the economic system is based on free market principles introduced by British Saxon influence. As a result, Singapore is thriving. In fact, if we look around the world, the most successful economies are those based on the Saxon system. Australia. New Zealand. Hong Kong. Taiwan. India. South Africa. Botswana. United States. Canada. The countries of Norway, Denmark and Netherlands are also doing well, and incidentally were also heavily influenced by the Saxon System as it moved westward from Germany to Britain. We can probably throw South Korea and Japan into the mix, too.  While they were not heavily influenced by British colonialism, they did receive an injection of American influence after World War II and the Korean War.  During the American Revolution among our main lenders was Holland, a successful economic power of the time due to the Saxon influence.

The Saxons to the north, in the long run, turned out to be much more successful than the countries who followed the Roman empirical system of statism and a state church intertwined with the governmental leadership. In the Western Hemisphere, the line between the Saxons and the Roman system of authoritarianism is the U.S./Mexico border, and the results are obvious. Those north of that line are prosperous, and those south (save for British colonies established in various island areas) of that line are suffering from the consequences of government intrusion.

Anyhow, while the stats you gave are fascinating, I think the lower IQ among certain groups, such as those in Africa, are not because of race or nationality, but because of the political system in place. Africa has historically been under tribal or statist rule, and when liberty is suppressed, so is innovation and prosperity, which serves as a significant factor in the advancement of a society. As stated earlier, Botswana is a great example of how a political system based on liberty and a free market leads to prosperity and better living conditions within a society.

As for IQ scores, I believe they are overrated. When I was in high school I had an IQ considered to be pretty high. I also had an eidetic memory. At age 19 I suffered a left-temporal fracture, and a subsequent IQ test put me at 119. I lost many points in regards to my IQ, yet, due to my journey through life since then, I am much smarter than I ever was prior to the head injury. Sometimes, intelligence cannot be determined by numbers, or tests, but by the drive and willingness for personal improvement.

Postscript:  I wonder if IQ scores of whites, blacks or Hispanics in conservative environments here in the United States are higher than those who have fallen for the lies of the hard left?

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

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