On Sunday, bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell of The New Yorker wrote on his blog:
"I think we can all agree that comments like "black men enjoy being seen as big spenders" or black people "possess poorer native judgment" can be accurately described as examples of racism, and the kinds of people who say things like that can be accurately described as racists. Do those examples work better for you, Steve Sailer? Oh--wait. I forgot to say the name of the reviewer who wrote those two racist statements: Steve Sailer.
"Is there anyone who would object, at this point, if I made this blog a Steve-Sailer-free zone? I suggest that we vote on it. A simple "in" or "out" will suffice, although any accompanying commentary would, of course, be welcome. I promise to abide by the result."
One commenter counted up the votes on Malcolm Gladwell's own blog in response, and as a couple of days ago, I was winning 98-36.
My published articles are archived at iSteve.com -- Steve Sailer
Posts
19 comments:
Comments could be interesting, if they aren't dominated by deranged trolls.
Steve, I suggest requiring a blogger account to comment, and disabling comments on any posts more than 7 days old.
I doubt he'll take the vote seriously. He'll kick you off regardless of the vote.
A fool is freightened by logic.
Steve,
I am impressed by the quality of the dialog you appear to have with your readers via email you directly quote. Are we just seeing the crème de la crème? Do you have to shift through as much dreck as we are seeing in your newly enabled comments section? My guess is the signal-noise level is higher for private back channel communications (more inchoate hate mail but less attention-seeking mobies perhaps).
I am torn over the question if your comments section does more harm than good. When I first stumbled across your website, I was naturally drawn to the more controversial sections which left a poor initial impression. If I had also read some of the ignorant rants by mobies posing as your readers, I wouldn’t have known the difference and would’ve never come back. Now that I’m more familiar with your work and others like the gnxp.com crowd, I can easily spot the thuggish PC spammers. I hope the comments can still be used to build an intelligent community and dialog around some of the fundamental issues you raise that are invisible or condemned in 99% of the rest of the infosphere.
Before you reach the tipping point of resorting to your innate powers of blinkiness or run a popularity vote on your website over this issue, let me suggest an intermediate step. With each writing you post to your blog, immediately post the same very first comment which briefly explains the Goals, Guidelines and Warnings for newbies with links to more detailed information.
These are powerful and controversial topics and if mainstream readers trying to cross the chasm first get a wiff of the stink mobies (or even real rightwing nuts) bring in here, they’ll assume you’re a dangerous final-solution nut job without reading further. If the first things a new reader reads are the content of your writing and a concise, honest set of Goals, Guidelines and Warnings you can somewhat check the guns at the door.
I’d suggest this would also dissuade trolls as they would find their FUD anachronistic, easily identifiable and somewhat counter productive to their goals. Finally, I realize you’re not sitting on a pile of money yet, but the next step would be to roll out a Slashdot.org type comment system whereby one can rank 1-5 the quality of comments so technology could spare readers the inanity of trolls without imposing censorship.
My biggest complaint with your site and writing overall is that is often depressing – many problems with much fewer solutions (this also inevitably raises question your motives for the uninitated).
I realize solutions are the hard part, you do address them but if they were more front and center these ideas would be more welcomed into mainstream discussions. If you’re going to expose the mainstream to the elephant in the room and expect them to acknowledge it, you better have a way we as a society and the common man individually can constructively deal with it. Hopefully, you’ll then be able to be both right and rich instead of ceding the latter to pop doofuses like Gladwell who create new problems in order to disguise the original one.
Ken
"One commenter counted up the votes on Malcolm Gladwell's own blog in response, and as a couple of days ago, I was winning 98-36."
It's kind of tacky for you to point this out, Steve. Especially since a lot of the "in" votes took the form of "Sailer is an idiot, but banning him would make you look bad."
Plus, if you throw out all the posts which misspelled your name, the vote is something like 25-10.
Ken's suggestion is excellent. I was going to write something along those lines but he beat me to it.
"...would find their FUD anachronistic..." -Ken
Hey! As a salesman I can honestly say that FUD (Fear Uncertainty Doubt) is consistantly a very strong sales tool. Used by most of my fellow salesmen as well. I just sold a large phone system to a school system using that technique.
So FUD is NOT anachronistic, NOT easily identifiable and is very productive to the goals of sales. And isn't all debate/blogs/posts about selling an ideology?
Like Ken said. I understand that for many people talking about innate racial differences is beyond the pale. As such, no matter what you do you'll be considered a racist and hate monger.
However. . .if your goal to just be right or to be right and persuasive?
I think that an honest dialogue about racial differences, at least on the downlow, among policy makers could help lead to better policies which would benefit all of America.
For example, as Pournelle has suggested, if there is indeed a racial gap in the type of abilities that would determine academic success then a school system in the inner city that proposes to essentially be a college prep course for all its students is less than productive. However, adding in a vo-tech training option for jobs (plumber, electrician, etc) that often pay better than many white collar jobs could have a tremendous impact.
To be an influential thinker I think it would behoove you to take steps such as Ken outlined. Additionally, I think that in many cases a more scholarly approach to writing style would be apropos. I know the data is scholarly but on sensitive issues, especially in venues such as Gladwell's, approaching the subject matter with a less combative tone might win more interest.
There are white supremacists and racists out there. If you get tarred with the same brush then so do I and your other readers. Taking each and every step possible, other than agreeing to tell lies in public so people like you more, to make it possible for persuadable readers to understand the purpose/source/desired outcome of your writings should be a priority.
I would like to see a shift to realist thinking sooner rather than later. Perhaps it can wait and biotech will make these issues moot. Until then. .at least consider what some of us who have your best interest at heart of saying.
I would especially like the section for the uninitiated to point out that, for the most part, the really racist stuff is written by people from leftist sites trying to make us look bad.
Gerald
All this being said, would you buy a used car from Malcolm Gladwell? You'd better, or he'll call you the "R" word.
Typical little lefties. I guess you guys want to have liberalism and racial realism turned into one big happy theory.
Sorry, it will not. Conservativism is more in line with racial realism than is liberalism.
The conservatives had it right 50 years ago when they segregated the races. Too bad no one listened to them when they said that ending segregation would usher in a new era of decline.
--1488
"Perhaps it can wait and biotech will make these issues moot."
That is several decades in the future, if is possible at all.
Steve Pinker points out that genetically engineering for higher IQ will also result in introducing new genetic diseases into the gene pool. Thus, you might be able in the future to genetically engineer for higher IQ, but you will also greatly increase the incidence of horrible genetic diseases.
Sorry, lefty, genetic engineering is not going to solve the problem, at least not any time in the near future.
--1488
Gerald, let's be realistic: some of the bigoted and hateful comments aren't mobies, but genuine white supremacists. I wish they would go back to stormfront and the other hate sites, where they belong.
"I wish they would go back to stormfront and the other hate sites, where they belong."
A racially aware White man is a bigot, but a racially aware Black is seen as good. Screw that.
I sincerely hope Steve Sailer is successful in getting the mainstream to accept racial realism since it would make segregation much more acceptable.
--1488
Steve, what's with the Gladwell obsession? He's just a kid with a bad haircut.
Although FUD is a common and useful sales technique, it sticks out much more on websites like this where nothing passes without too many smart asses critiquing it (or at least I hope the comments section develops into such an environment). It even sticks out somewhat on MSM website’s like Gladwell’s where some of the brighter posters consistently but politely call him out on his more egregious deviations from fact, reason or common sense.
I think if Sailer’s audience widens and more readers come to it less informed, less critical and less able to objectively reject conventional but inaccurate PC wisdom, then your comments about the FUD factor becomes more valid.
Note how long it took before anyone fed the 1488 troll despite Chuckles' frequent and extremely obnoxious posts. Someone eventually bit, but it took awhile after a number of different tacks taken by 1488. Encouragingly, an equal number correctly but indirectly identified the moby with 1488 without given Chuckles the satisfaction of attention. I think most, like me, just ignored the dumb thug.
I don’t think you can sell this kind of ideology with FUD. There just isn’t any voice in the MSM of this sort that isn’t extremely marginalized by media professional with the same absolutist ideology and fundamentally thuggish techniques as Chuckles. Dominant market players (most famously Microsoft) can deploy FUD to their advantage. FUD doesn’t work so well in selling dangerous ideas from the lone guy in the wilderness.
Sailer’s ideas run counter to everything we’re taught, require constant, careful and exhaustive thought so not to run aground of the real associated evils, are personally morally burdensome, etc. Too many well meaning and very intelligent ideologs on the other side would welcome the opportunity to rip a new one in even one FUD-based sales pitch from these corners. It would make Gladwell’s spouting gaffs seem like the burning bush in comparison, and the heavens would come down upon Sailer’s head.
Ken
"...kid with bad haircut..."
Gladwell's haircut is just a marketing ploy. He's rebranded and radicalize his image to appeal to the well-heeled liberal crowd.
Straight laced, crewcut Gladwell
It also let's him stake out higher moral ground and gives him carte blance in labelling car salespeople, Sailer, counter revolutionary thought as un/conscious racist.
Ken
Rast:
Go check out the comments in this thread:
http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9430835&postID=116598178323064814
and tell me if the racist stuff comes from people who read and agree with Steve or leftists to whom any consideration that there might be racial differences is a sign of racism and hatred.
From the "Malcolm Gladwell just can't leave it alone:"
Anonymous said...
Steve, don't you know that niggers are animals. The reason the car salesmen discriminate against the nigs is because they can. The nigs are too stupid to realize that they are being discriminated against, so they end up paying more to look "ballin".
Steve, when will you learn that the savage Negro needs to be sent back to Africa where it belongs.
12/12/2006 11:26 PM
Anonymous said...
I am sad that segregation ended. Back when segregation was still in force, the blacks knew their place in society. Now, they run around like wild beasts.
I am glad you write about the tendancies of the savage negroes. I am also glad that you bring attending to the INVASION by the brown scum from Mexico. I hope one day we can cleanse the non-white scum from the USA. You and I, Mr. Sailer, will usher in a new Fourth Riech.
God bless the white race and damn the mud people.
--1488
12/12/2006 11:47 PM
Cody said...
Ugh. Steve, please disable comments.
12/13/2006 12:08 AM
Anonymous said...
oh cody don't be a PC stooge.
12/13/2006 12:24 AM
___________________________
Perhaps I'm naive but I'm 99.99% sure these comments are from leftists. They willfully ignore the thoughtful arguments and in so doing marginalize people whose primary interest in engaging in these topics is to find a realistic set of policies to ameliorate many of our current social/economic difficulties.
Gerald
Its too bad you and Gladwell can't get along. Both of you have very good things to say. I think its time for you to just give it a rest. I said the same thing on his blog and he agreed.
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