Lammy’s support for an idea is a good measure of its idiocy; in this case the ludicrous inversion of moral value implicit in the notion of ‘reparations’. - They should be grateful we colonised them. Indeed, we should demand reparations from them for all the investment we spent bringing them into the modern world. A future government should also demand reparations from Nigeria for all the damage their plimsoll-wearing fool of a son Lammy has done to Britain’s reputation abroad.
Richard Lynn claimed years ago that there were few if any functional democracies or States with average national IQ below 90. This may have some exceptions, such as with India, but since I read that years ago I’ve not been dissuaded from his observation.
India is an enigma; there are three reasons it has developed as far as it has: It has over a billion people, some of whom are bound to be reasonably intelligent. They were under British influence for 190 years. They performed a kind of selective breeding called the caste system for about 3500 years. But overall, they are a relatively underdeveloped nation.
What you say is true. My reference was to an 83 estimated India national IQ, yet they have nukes and designed their own jet fighter. You also hit on the answer, the caste system! Reich has a couple of chapters in his book on genetics wrt India. His conclusion? India is a country of *many* peoples—basically acknowledging the caste system, but playing down IQ diff’s among castes. That’s why he’s not been cast into the void. This finding coupled with “Smart Fraction” theory and the boost you note from British colonization pretty much explains the India anomaly we see.
"If you care about helping Africa, you guide this via incentivizing strong criminal justice systems instead of funding perpetual conflict and warlords. Property rights can then be respected, and the population will evolve in response to violent criminal elements being controlled rather than rewarded."
I guess it depends on whether you believe humans are mostly guided by nature or nurture.
Sure, but as said, this involves a process of centuries. It has been discussed in several books. A good one is Gregory Clark’s, “A Farewell to Arms”. Warlords exist for a reason (genetics) and when those who aspire to being a warlord are removed (from the gene pool) over a sufficient period of time, peace will prevail.
I recall reading a peace-corp volunteers experience in one of the poor tribal focused region of Africa, that he helped two brothers get financing and equipment to farm a plot of land to sell the produce - corn I think it was. After all that and once the crop was grown and gathered they sat by roadside waiting for customers to sell too.
Along comes the tribal elder and takes it all for the tribe, as is his right - for the tribe - and so ended at a loss the hard-work merit-based reward system, the Fruit was killed by Communistic tradition.
When are we going to realize that the rare privilege of living in and being a full citizen of what is by a large margin the richest and freest civilization in history is reparation enough.
The truth is that we just about all have generations of servitude in our family trees, whites even more than blacks in fact if we go back far enough in history. So, yes, a terrible human price was paid to build the modern world.
Which is why anyone fortunate enough to be born into that world should be grateful, not asking for handouts. Which isn't to say that there isn't plenty of room for further improvement when it comes to the general welfare: https://shorturl.at/ir0mA
Cool! So the USA, not (yet) a developmental basket case (I don't think), should be PERFECT for reparations to atone for 350 years of slavery.
Here I was thinking the current push (see Santa Monica California) was coming from a bunch of left-wing whackos intent on destabilizing the status quo in America and upping the Revolution. Silly me! Turns out they were right all along and reparations for slavery, pace DOGE and Trump II, will supercharge the American economy and make the world a brighter, busier, richer, fairer, and better steward of the planet (praise Gaia!) on which we all live in brotherhood, sisterhood, and, uh, um, LGBTQIA2S-hood. Well done, Mr. Lipton Matthews!
Calls for reparations are simply grifts. As with climate change, the poor nations/races sense a payday from the rich, gilt-ridden White nations/races. These calls should be rejected out of hand, but we seem to never rid ourselves of our gilt driven nature. In that respect, I say we bargain with the grifters. Discuss reparations as a quid pro quo sort of arrangement. We will pay so much, to whomever, in exchange for all current and future payments based upon racial wrongs, real and imagined. No more AA. No more DEI. No more foreign aid. And so forth. Here’s your check in full payment for the past—you’re now on your own. Works for me, but will it work for them? Doubtful as the grifters know there is never an end to the grift. They will never sell their “birthright” for a bowl of porridge.
DISAGREE.GIVE WHAT WAS STOLEN.THERES A DEBT TO# FBA.YOU SHOULD HE GRATEFUL FOR THE CONTRIBUTION INVENTIONS FROM #FBA TO U.S.A. TO THE BETTERMENT OF THIS COUNTRY AND HUMANITY #BHM #365 . REPAIR WHAT WAS DAMAGED AND MAKE FINANCIAL AMENDS AND BEHAVIOR AS WELL.WECLOME
Lammy’s support for an idea is a good measure of its idiocy; in this case the ludicrous inversion of moral value implicit in the notion of ‘reparations’. - They should be grateful we colonised them. Indeed, we should demand reparations from them for all the investment we spent bringing them into the modern world. A future government should also demand reparations from Nigeria for all the damage their plimsoll-wearing fool of a son Lammy has done to Britain’s reputation abroad.
The determining factor of any country's development is the cognitive ability of its people.
Richard Lynn claimed years ago that there were few if any functional democracies or States with average national IQ below 90. This may have some exceptions, such as with India, but since I read that years ago I’ve not been dissuaded from his observation.
India is an enigma; there are three reasons it has developed as far as it has: It has over a billion people, some of whom are bound to be reasonably intelligent. They were under British influence for 190 years. They performed a kind of selective breeding called the caste system for about 3500 years. But overall, they are a relatively underdeveloped nation.
What you say is true. My reference was to an 83 estimated India national IQ, yet they have nukes and designed their own jet fighter. You also hit on the answer, the caste system! Reich has a couple of chapters in his book on genetics wrt India. His conclusion? India is a country of *many* peoples—basically acknowledging the caste system, but playing down IQ diff’s among castes. That’s why he’s not been cast into the void. This finding coupled with “Smart Fraction” theory and the boost you note from British colonization pretty much explains the India anomaly we see.
"My reference was to an 83 estimated India national IQ, yet they have nukes and designed their own jet fighter."
I agree, hence my 'enigma' comment.
Or, speaking as a classically minded poet, their imaginative power - in the Blakean sense of that much-misused word!
"Or, speaking as a classically minded poet, their imaginative power - in the Blakean sense of that much-misused word!"
Yes, imagination is a very useful and powerful human trait.
"If you care about helping Africa, you guide this via incentivizing strong criminal justice systems instead of funding perpetual conflict and warlords. Property rights can then be respected, and the population will evolve in response to violent criminal elements being controlled rather than rewarded."
I guess it depends on whether you believe humans are mostly guided by nature or nurture.
Sure, but as said, this involves a process of centuries. It has been discussed in several books. A good one is Gregory Clark’s, “A Farewell to Arms”. Warlords exist for a reason (genetics) and when those who aspire to being a warlord are removed (from the gene pool) over a sufficient period of time, peace will prevail.
But a population has to evolve to a point where they will accept the concept of self-control.
I recall reading a peace-corp volunteers experience in one of the poor tribal focused region of Africa, that he helped two brothers get financing and equipment to farm a plot of land to sell the produce - corn I think it was. After all that and once the crop was grown and gathered they sat by roadside waiting for customers to sell too.
Along comes the tribal elder and takes it all for the tribe, as is his right - for the tribe - and so ended at a loss the hard-work merit-based reward system, the Fruit was killed by Communistic tradition.
The Development Set
Excuse me, friends, I must catch my jet –
I’m off to join the Development Set;
My bags are packed, and I’ve had all my shots,
I have travellers’ cheques and pills for the trots.
The Development Set is bright and noble,
Our thoughts are deep and our vision global;
Although we move with the better classes,
Our thoughts are always with the masses.
In Sheraton hotels in scattered nations,
We damn multinational corporations;
Injustice seems so easy to protest,
In such seething hotbeds of social rest.
We discuss malnutrition over steaks
And plan hunger talks during coffee breaks.
Whether Asian floods or African drought,
We face each issue with an open mouth.
We bring in consultants whose
circumlocution
Raises difficulties for every solution –
Thus guaranteeing continued good eating
By showing the need for another meeting.
The language of the Development Set,
Stretches the English alphabet;
We use swell words like ‘epigenetic’
‘Micro’, ‘Macro’ and ‘logarithmetic’.
Development Set homes are extremely chic,
Full of carvings, curios and draped with batik.
Eye-level photographs subtly assure
That your host is at home with the rich and the poor.
Enough of these verses – on with the mission!
Our task is as broad as the human condition!
Just pray to God the biblical promise is true:
The poor ye shall always have with you.
Ross Coggins - 1976
When are we going to realize that the rare privilege of living in and being a full citizen of what is by a large margin the richest and freest civilization in history is reparation enough.
The truth is that we just about all have generations of servitude in our family trees, whites even more than blacks in fact if we go back far enough in history. So, yes, a terrible human price was paid to build the modern world.
Which is why anyone fortunate enough to be born into that world should be grateful, not asking for handouts. Which isn't to say that there isn't plenty of room for further improvement when it comes to the general welfare: https://shorturl.at/ir0mA
Cool! So the USA, not (yet) a developmental basket case (I don't think), should be PERFECT for reparations to atone for 350 years of slavery.
Here I was thinking the current push (see Santa Monica California) was coming from a bunch of left-wing whackos intent on destabilizing the status quo in America and upping the Revolution. Silly me! Turns out they were right all along and reparations for slavery, pace DOGE and Trump II, will supercharge the American economy and make the world a brighter, busier, richer, fairer, and better steward of the planet (praise Gaia!) on which we all live in brotherhood, sisterhood, and, uh, um, LGBTQIA2S-hood. Well done, Mr. Lipton Matthews!
Calls for reparations are simply grifts. As with climate change, the poor nations/races sense a payday from the rich, gilt-ridden White nations/races. These calls should be rejected out of hand, but we seem to never rid ourselves of our gilt driven nature. In that respect, I say we bargain with the grifters. Discuss reparations as a quid pro quo sort of arrangement. We will pay so much, to whomever, in exchange for all current and future payments based upon racial wrongs, real and imagined. No more AA. No more DEI. No more foreign aid. And so forth. Here’s your check in full payment for the past—you’re now on your own. Works for me, but will it work for them? Doubtful as the grifters know there is never an end to the grift. They will never sell their “birthright” for a bowl of porridge.
As long as the check is not more than $100
Anyway, reparation for what?? Was the standard of living of most indigenous residents of sub-Saharan Africa better before colonization or after?
(With apologies to James Murphy; I posted those questions without noticing that he'd made essentially the same point 3 hours earlier.)
Good piece!
For a moment I read this as "repatriations" and was going to write you a strongly worded letter 😅
DISAGREE.GIVE WHAT WAS STOLEN.THERES A DEBT TO# FBA.YOU SHOULD HE GRATEFUL FOR THE CONTRIBUTION INVENTIONS FROM #FBA TO U.S.A. TO THE BETTERMENT OF THIS COUNTRY AND HUMANITY #BHM #365 . REPAIR WHAT WAS DAMAGED AND MAKE FINANCIAL AMENDS AND BEHAVIOR AS WELL.WECLOME