Having fixed the housing market, the federal government is turning its attention to fixing science. John Tierney writes in the NYT on the inevitable aftermath of the Larry Summers affair:
Until recently, the impact of Title IX, the law forbidding sexual discrimination in education, has been limited mostly to sports. But now, under pressure from Congress, some federal agencies have quietly picked a new target: science.
The National Science Foundation, NASA and the Department of Energy have set up programs to look for sexual discrimination at universities receiving federal grants. Investigators have been taking inventories of lab space and interviewing faculty members and students in physics and engineering departments at schools like Columbia, the University of Wisconsin, M.I.T. and the University of Maryland.
Uh-oh.
My published articles are archived at iSteve.com -- Steve Sailer
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41 comments:
This is good news for countries like Germany. Many of its top scientists are sitting in US labs because they get more pay and better facilities there. This kind of PC stifling is likely to drive many of them back to Germany since the government here has dramatically increased funding of the top Unis and has an ambitious program in place to attain the world class status that Unis here had before WWI. I don't think they are going to allow PC crap like the Summers affair to interfere with the ambition of making the big time again and beating the US in academics. Generally the PC feminist crap here is more on paper than in reality, unless you work in one of the notorious government ministries, social science departments or with the Greens or Socialists. Even that socialist POS Schröder was a notorious macho.
Steve,
It had to happen sooner or later, and you know what - as long as federal dollars are involved, I can't really knock it. As much as I may have problems with what happened to Summers and Title IX, the bottom line is that if a school or business gets ANY help at ALL from the feds, you gotta dance by their tune. That's why I respect private businesses and schools, and you have to put your money where your mouth is. Maybe this will be what forces those of us who feel and think as you do to dig in our pockets. I certainly will.
Holla back
Salaam
Mu
Steve, Give us a follow up of Harvard after Summers. Was it the beginning of the end of Harvard?
Uh-oh indeed.
The cancer of coercive political correctness will continue to grow, and metastasize into ever more fields, if or until people begin to fight it.
At the extreme, the war between science and PC is a fight for modern civilization. Modern civilization has (since Galileio) been built-upon continual scientific and technical innovation, which requires the independence of science from sociopolitical pressure.
(The public policy disregard of IQ research is a chilling example of the way that technological progress in a field can be thrown into reverse when politics controls science.)
The individuals who fight political correctness will be demonized, and will risk very serious personal sanctions.
So, rolling-back political correctness will require personal courage; and these individuals will need to be backed-up by institutions with the confidence to stand firm behind tough decisions because they are right.
Take a look around the world of science and academia - do you see much evidence of this kind of personal courage? Do you see much evidence of universities making tough decisions because they are right?
The best hope lies in the diversity (especially funding diversity - with private foundations) and competitiveness of US higher education and research.
It is possible that conservative and religious US institutions may have the community strength to resist coercive PC; and if they do so they have the chance to scoop the big prizes in science.
This applies to the mathematical and physical sciences (which are the main areas in which a sex quota would wreak utter havoc with intellectual standards).
For example - a private Roman Catholic university such as Notre Dame or Georgetown might be able to build top-notch physical science departments simply by appointing on merit, which would mean scooping the first rate men who have been denied jobs at the PC-corrupted Ivy league.
However, I think there are problems for the biomedical sciences, which have a conflicted relationship with religious conservatives. There is a real chance that the US might permanently lose out in this area.
"Was it the beginning of the end of Harvard?"
Not of Harvard's endowment.
@ headache - if Germans want to leave the US, but work in a top Uni, a cheap flight away from family, and are already highly competent in English, they'd surely go to Oxford or Cambridge, not back to Germany?
Actually, the situation is worse in Germany:
Report
To dearieme:
Sure, but many of those in the US went there before the gov here got serious about fixing the Unis. I think now many will consider coming back to Germany. Apart from the unis life here is pretty decent. Pay is good, the infrastructure is in shape and there are not too many places where you have to worry about Third World ciminals. The UK aint that great anymore either.
You can do this kind of thing in sports or law, because they don't really matter. Heck, even the military doesn't matter that much, America's strength was never built on a hyper-competent officer class.
But killing publicly funded science is huge. You're looking at potentially the end of American scientific-technological global domination within a few decades, when that domination is the only thing likely to keep America a superpower as the Chinese economy approaches size-parity with the USA.
Put it another way - this could end the era of Western global hegemony maybe 30 years earlier than needs to happen. Other people will inherit the Earth.
Was it the beginning of the end of Harvard? That started long ago. Ever hear of Richard Lewontin or Stephen J. Gould? E.O Wilson was outnumbered there for his entire career.
These inquisitions are clearly unconstitutional, as "attainders". Congress passes a statute, and then the executive enforces it only against its political enemies. That's not law enforcement; it's attainder.
You'll never see Title IX applied to a nursing school, for instance.
Where does it stop? What about all the single sex schools? What about education programs? What about the overall gender imbalance in undergraduate enrollment?
Not uh-oh. Note that except for MIT none of the Universities mentioned are really top science universities.
I doubt the diversicrats really care about (or have even heard of) Carnegie-Mellon or Georgia Tech.
Won't enforcing Title IX in colleges result in a) A huge increase in men attending school, or b) a huge decrease in women attending college?
Don't overreact. That's female. This will pass.
The National Science Foundation has more to fear from the likes of George Bush and a Republican Congress than any liberal Democratic President.
http://www.aip.org/fyi/2004/149.html
http://www.space.com/news/070601_ap_arecibo_threat.html
Such leadership!!
Is the assault on Science that Steve is warning us of a policy of requiring scince and engineering departments to admit a higher proportion of women than they do at present? Well Steve, having (many, many years ago) studied a real science (physics, actually, as opposed to pseudo-sciences like psychology), I think this might be quite good for science. You may find this hard to believe, but boys who are good at science would also like the opportunity to meet girls while at university. I went to a science and engineering only college in the UK, and we had a school song "99 women and 3000 men". This was not regarded as a good thing by the men. Actually it wasn't really a problem as the college was in London, but suppose it was an isolated campus in the sticks. Normal young men, however good at science, would be put off. Ask the more able half of the men in a science class whom they would prefer to make up the rest of the class: the less able men, or women?
No, this will just be the end of government-funded research. Since government-funded science hasn't produced anything worthwhile in the past 30 years, this is no loss.
One sign of a corrupted country is that it tends to tackle imaginary problems, or at least fuzzy social problems, and ignore real problems.
It's easy to pay someone to skew the numbers about sexism in American universities and then offer to be the just ruler who fixes it. It's easy to demonize certain groups - example whites - and then to pay off other groups to seem like the moral beacon. It's easy to twist history and come up with self-serving conclusions about anything.
It's difficult to figure out how to colonize another planet or to create a sustainable space station. It's difficult to solve our dependence on cheap oil. It's difficult to deal with the massive over-population of Africa and Asia.
Engineering and math are hard and not cool - so our elites now leave those things to the Indians, Chinese, and nerds. It is so much more fun and rewarding to morally "one up" each other in dumbed-down institutions, to sympathize with fake causes, to turn their noses at the redneck/ flyover masses, and to then become corrupted career yes-people.
What use do our management elites have for science if they can't use it to demonstrate their moral superiority?
Frankly, I'm surprised scientifically minded women would be fighting for this. Because of their bend, wouldn't they be more inclined to disbelieve in the blank slate and advocate more for a meritocracy? They would understand better than most that this harms their standing with their peers.
I truly wonder who the women (and men) are who are meddling with this and how well they represent female students.
gets ANY help at ALL from the feds, you gotta dance by their tune. That's why I respect private businesses and schools
Doesn't matter whether you're public or private. The EEOC will sue you into the ground for "discrimination".
I can't really knock it.
You're wrong here. If you don't knock it, they'll keep pushing it.
Was it the beginning of the end of Harvard?
Steve has explained repeatedly that the value of a Harvard degree has nothing to do with the education Harvard offers, but with their highly selective admissions process.
Headache, you obviously have not been reading the German press.
PC and particularly feminism is Godzilla in Europe and especially Germany, compared to the US (where it is ... Mothra). German feminists want to emulate the Swedish feminists who wished to outlaw marriage. In Norway HALF of all directors MUST be female, even if no qualified corporate directors can be found.
It's simply out of control.
Oxford or Cambridge? HAHAHAHA! Those places are as bad or worse than Germany. Remember, this is Britain. Where PC forced the police to apologize for sending out a picture of a puppy (Muslims seethed and threatened) and Piglet is banned (Muslims seethed and threatened). Meanwhile Toddlers are charged with racism for saying "yuck," a ten year old faces criminal charges for calling a school mate a "paki" and "bin Laden" and a 14 year is jailed for refusing to work with classmates who don't speak English.
No original, cutting edge research has been done in Germany since the end of WWII. In England, since the 1950's.
It's up to the US and Japan now.
The National Science Foundation, NASA and the Department of Energy have set up programs to look for sexual discrimination at universities receiving federal grants.
May I suggest the following tests. Bind a man up, toss him in a lake and if he floats, he's guilty. Failing that, put him on scales and if he weighs more than a paperback copy of "Cunt: A declaration of independence" then burn him at the stake.
This would be a simpler, faster and more just way for the government to arrive at the right-minded conclusions.
@ Salaam
Were it that simple. There are many instances of Fed intrusion into 'private schools' and their hiring and acceptance policies. The Citadel and VMI jump to mind. Hillsdale College, a private institution, was forced to accept Fed money even though they politly declined. Having to accept Fed dough made them join the club and thereafter dance to the Feds rule.
Fourth Amendment? Happy trails.
You know, reading the comments here, I gotta tell ya, I see some serious problems.
One, I find it striking that you guys don't seem *as steamed* at Feminism as much as you guys are clearly bothered by Black and Brown folks getting into schools on Affirmative Action. As we all know by now, AA's number one beneficiary is and has been, WHITE WOMEN. And Feminism has been thee driving force behind that. And while I see a comment here and there, when put against other threads...c'mon fellas. Maybe going after the bad guy changes when the bad guy is potentially your wife, daughter, mom or sister, hmm?
That brings me to the next point-what happened to the Citadel was a travesty, and we all know it. We should've dug into our pockets right then and there to keep it from going on a backslide, and we didn't. Period.
I'm not buying this notion that we cannot have the Right to Freedom of Association. I thoroughly reject the idea that someone can tell and compel me to hire or spend time with or admit to my school, business or free time! C'mon fellas, y'all are supposed to be the IQ cream of the crop here-can't we come up w/some court challenges, fundraising efforts, etc, so we can save the few institutions left worth anything? Are you guys just gonna rollover and grab your ankles? What kind of men are you? No wonder so many of y'all can't get laid to save your life.
Comments? Holla back
Oh, and my name is Mu'Min, or "Mu" for short.
Salaam
Mu
The West continues to self-destruct. Say hello to the Asian century.
Mu'min:
I have always thought that feminism is a greater threat to western cinilization than AA for blacks and browns. Of all the left-wing ism's that afflict our society, feminism is the most deadly, because it seeks to destroy the family, which is the foundation of human society.
Black/brown AA has been a minor hindrance to the advancement of western culture, but feminism is the dagger that killed it. Yes, the west is already dead. What we see around us is its rotting corpse.
"Mu'Min M. Bey said...
One, I find it striking that you guys don't seem *as steamed* at Feminism as much as you guys are clearly bothered by Black and Brown folks getting into schools on Affirmative Action."
Good observation, Mr. Bey, and yes, I believe you're right. For more educated white men, white women represent the greater threat of competition than do blacks or hispanics (this may not be true for white men in blue-collar jobs). I'm far more likely to lose out on a promotion to a woman, than to a black guy.
So why is it that race-based AA rankles so much, out of proportion to the insult? It may be as simple as this: White guys have to live with white women (as wives, sisters, in-laws), and we don't want to piss em' off - it would just complicate our lives. Getting angry at anonymous black and brown guys is a lot easier.
For white guys who aspire to an academic career, it is not just white women who are the threat, but increasingly foreign men - pakistanis, russians, roumanians, iranians, chinese, you name it. Look at a lot of third and fourth-tier universities, and thier faculties are heavily foreign.
Another huge government funded problem is the NSF Fellowship, a fully funded graduate award supposedly for the best and brightest science minds in the country (one founder of Google got it in the 90's). However, it's been completely taken over by AA and PC-police. First, the award is given to significantly under qualified minority and women candidates. That's not shocking. But even worse, the entire admissions process isn't to show one's academic or research accomplishments or potential. No, the entire process (including 3 essays) is to prove your ability to conduct "far reaching" scientific research. If you read the instructions though, "far reaching" work means increasing diversity, increasing minority opportunities, doing research that directly affects only minorities or women, etc.
So not only are highly qualified applicants being denied, but the ones that get it are encouraged to do only work that supports minorities and women.
We're f_ucked, seriously!
testing99,
I'm studying at the TU Dresden which used to be a world leader in Mechanical Engineering and Thermodynamics and has a master plan to re-attain that position. Currently it is in the top 10 in the country. I have not detected any feminism shutting down the turbine or automation labs. Nothing PC from Profs in class.
As for not doing cutting edge research. The statement is both false and obviously influenced by a biased American view. The idea that a lack of Jews means no research is obviously also not true since Japan by your own admission is doing well. Germany has become a leader in many materials science and mechanical engineering areas. A lot of research goes through the companies. The CEO of Rockwell has stated in an interview that German engineers are excellent and the military hardware coming from here can be found as components in many US an Israeli systems. Another field they are doing well in is biological and medical sciences. However most of the research is going on in government-sponsored research labs such as Frauenhofer and Max-Planck labs which are independent of universities. Another thing to remember is that a lot of research in the US is hyped in order to make unis appear greater than they really are. Since Unis here do not have to do their own fund-raising, the research is not being hyped out of proportion. I have done an IT course in the US and was not impressed by the standard. From what I heard I don't think the top unis there are better any one of the 10 elite Unis here in Germany. However they do a lot more for ranking and publicity than the German ones would. When the company I work for built the new IT faculty in Munich we were told as an aside that this faculty was considered the 2nd best in the world just after the Technion in Haifa. Apparently the two institutions also have close cooperation agreements.
FYI - over at Slashdot, which is usually a pretty reliable bastion of politically-correct regurgitation as regards most questions of the times, the commentary is pretty darned biting:
The Push For Quotas For Women In Science
Tuesday July 15, @05:48PM
news.slashdot.org
I guess maybe sometimes even the Leftists reach the point at which the straw breaks the camel's back.
"Since government-funded science hasn't produced anything worthwhile in the past 30 years, this is no loss."
Especially that whole Internet thing which went nowhere.
- KXB
Hi Marty,
Nice to meet you! And thanks for the kudos.
Although, I have to say w/all due respect that what you just said confirmed my worst fears about the American White Male-that you sir, are Cowards.
To merely rollover for the real threat to our way of life, is reprehensible, and to make scapegoats of Black and Brown folks is just disgusting in my view.
I'm Black and I have no idea what my IQ is as I've never been tested, nor never took the ACT or SAT. But it doesn't take a genius to know that unless you White boys get serious about putting your womenz in check, the American that you grew up in will be more very soon.
This is why I'm so very curious why Sailer doesn't devote more time to this issue, given the massive influence of Feminism. But perhaps he too sees the handwriting on the wall, and what the heck, as a writer for hire, he knows what will sell among his target audience. Can't knock the man for that.
I agree w/Sailer's analysis that Black men in general exude more "leadership" qualities than the average White man. This explains why so many things wrt Feminism is so outta control. And that includes the ever dropping birthrate among Whites. In fact I've been thinking a lot about that lately, and I don't wanna see the American White Male go the way of the Do Do Bird, you know what I man? Because you guys have brought many good things to the world, and your worth keeping around.
So, you guys seem to have plenty enough IQ, what you need now is BALLS so you can take your country/culture and future back from the Feministas. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of Sailer's (WHEN IS HE GONNA WRITE A BOOK?!), and I think what he does on Race is brilliant, but just as a practical matter of survival, there should be A LOT MORE focus on the things Feminists do, and we should have more meaningful discussion for ways we can counteract that.
OK, I'm done for now. Holla back w/comments, please...
Salaam
Mu
The best hope lies in the diversity (especially funding diversity - with private foundations) and competitiveness of US higher education and research.
...
For example - a private Roman Catholic university such as Notre Dame or Georgetown might be able to build top-notch physical science departments simply by appointing on merit
...
Private foundations and private donors aren't likely to match grants from NSF, NASA, and DoD.
No, this will just be the end of government-funded research. Since government-funded science hasn't produced anything worthwhile in the past 30 years, this is no loss.
Please give some evidence for that claim.
Mu:
One, I find it striking that you guys don't seem *as steamed* at Feminism as much as you guys are clearly bothered by Black and Brown folks getting into schools on Affirmative Action.
I disagree. There's plenty of steam here, starting with the post title on down. A few people here (see BGC, Tillman) talk about this feminist threat in civilizational terms, which I doubt they do when the subject is minority AA. And for good reason, since women make up half the population, whereas minorities, at least for now, remain a minority.
I would also quibble with your assertion that white women benefit the most from AA. As far as admissions are concerned (and not grants or appointments), black women seem to do very well, too. Black quota admissions are overwhelmingly female, and would be even more so if the diversicrats didn't target black males specifically.
In the Asian country where I'm from, admissions are based strictly on meritocratic entrance examinations. And smart and industrious (though usually not super-brilliant) women have no problem getting admitted to top medical and engineering programs. (Over there, studying engineering is a badge of intelligence, rather like going to an Ivy League school here.) I believe such nerdy white women exist in significant, though smaller, numbers.
Now, whether those female students will actually practice engineering is a different story. And this is where the feminists here are the most pernicious. They want people to do what they don't really want to do, and are willing to sacrifice quality to achieve it.
mumin m'bey: You make some good points. On many internet sites dealing with law school admissions, I see young, bright men using racist, anti-Semitic language, etc. They seem to think in terms of race, while at the same time they are complete pussies when it comes to women. The have bought the feminist line hook, line, and sinker; they now believe that a woman who is promiscuous is not worth being shunned, like our dads did. They are insecure about their physical appearance, which no real man is. You are correct: young American men have no balls anymore.
Many young American men cannot get laid. They don't get that their inability to find a girl has nothing to do with other races and everything to do with feminism. Birth control, abortion, etc. created a situation where women are "liberated", which has come to mean becoming profane, alcoholic sluts who fuck "player" guys instead of dating good stable guys. The bright guys who cannot get laid can't see their true enemy. They think it is Jews, blacks, Asians, Hispanics, or whoever. They can't understand that women have been working behind the scenes for 40 years to usurp their rights in law, education, athletics, and employment, and have succeeded in doing so. When you bring up that women now make MORE money than men on average in many cities in this country, they ignore you. More families are broken because liberal divorce laws give women an easy out, and that feeds the cycle of emasculation.
I think you vastly overstimate the ease for a black guy to get laid - most women I know are not interested in black guys at all. And even the women that are aren't going to kick Brad Pitt out of bed. I also would not agree that a black dude can get a white girl 9 out of 10 times over an Asian dude. It might be pretty split, unless the girl is trashy/lower class.
But basically, American men need to wake the hell up and fight feminism in all its forms and in every arena. It is important for our future as a nation. We need to pressure politicians. We need lawyers who fight the feminazi organizations. Our families are at stake.
Hi Jack,
Very interesting comments. I'd like to respond to a few of them.
I caution you not to be so over confident wrt Black male-White female sexual attraction, Jack. You might get your feelings hurt. The women whom you swear by aren't interested in Black men may not be completely honest w/you. Although the stigma has lessened a great deal, higher placed White women understand that they have to balance out their sexual desires w/the social consequences of same. I've personally known White women who've been excommunicated from their families for daring to date or even marry Black men.
And while we're on the topic, if you doubt what I say here, go to Sailer's website or Google "Is Love Colorblind" w/Sailer's name, and see for yourself. The US Census numbers don't lie-when it comes to Black-White pairings, its clear that Black men and White women have, as Billy Paul would say "a thing goin' on". Just like White men like the femininity Asian women put accross, White women really like the Alpha Male personas many Black men have. And if I were a betting man, I would take up your challenge about your White female friends, by showing you their panties after I've been out w/them. Some of my best forays into White womanhood were the ones who claimed up and down about how'd they'd "never go there". So again, I would hedge my comments just a bit if I were you.;)
Moreover, of the Black male White female marriages and pairings Sailer talks about-both here and in the UK where its even higher-the women are often highly educated and placed in Society, not the stereotypical hoochie mommas so may of you regulars try to make them out to be. Again, if IQ differences are a real thing-and I do think it is, as a Black man-then so too are sexual differences. The single biggest seller of Porn in the USA is of the Interracial variety-and by that I mean, Black male, White female.
As for Feminism, you know, to listen to them talk everything bad about Society can be chalked up to one thing: "Patriarchy". In fact, they've kinda turned it into a four letter word, w/o giving thought to the fact that historically, Feminism was simply the latest threat to civilization under patriarchial rule. If one studies the Romans, which Feminists definitely have not, one will learn that one reason why Rome fell was because the men of their society got too fat, lazy, bored and selfish to keep the Roman state going. In other words, it is part of the nature of a Man to be these things, and Patriarchy had and to some extent still has (although dwindling fast) checks and balances in place to counteract it. That's why the Military and anything connected toit, like team sports and the boy scouts, are so important: they train young boys OUT of these traits, and to value a life bigger than themselves as more important.
So, in the final analysis, it wasn't Feminism that's socked it to us, gentlemen. Feminism was just the straw to break the camel's back. Society had already begun its slide, and Feminism was around when the time was right. But we put the ball in motion, Jack. We men did it.
This is why I refuse certain things in my life, like my woman working. Only room for one breadwinner, me. And since I pay the bills, I determine how things will go. That's only fair. If she wants to pay the bills there are plenty of pantywaste men who'll go along w/such an arrangement. I ain't one of em.
As Sailer told Taylor in their excellent debate, Jack, you as a White guy, and me as a Black guy, in America, are in it together, whether we like it or not. And in many ways, when it comes to Feminism and the Punking Out of Patriarchy, we have the same problems. Its just that, it seems, that some of the Brothas are waking up and taking a stand (please note that the biggest voices of protest when White women were allowed into the Citadel were the BLACK CADETS).
The question is, when will our White Rothers get w/the program?
;)
Holla back, Jack.
Salaam
Mu
Mumin, ok, so you've banged some white chicks. My point is not that there are no white women that sleep with black guys, but that plenty of white guys get lots of play as well. And some black guys are not "players". I try not to stereotype like that. I've known Asian guys that even did well with women. I imagine that the fact that you are a smart black guy probably helps you with some white girls that might be curious. Though it seems like you just want to use them for sex, which I can't really support, whether it was a black or a white doing it.
I do think all men are in this together against feminism, and with some smart women who haven't been brainwashed as well. It seems like blacks have more traditional gender views than whites, and I find myself agreeing with blacks an awful lot. I am not a racist. I find it's white guys that tend to be "liberal" pussies when it comes to women. So many are clueless, and with feminist groups working hard to devalue men in all areas of society, it will continue for a while.
Funny thing is, if some of these guys had a backbone, they might actually get laid as well.
Mu, are you really the crude black guy you portray yourself as here? Or are you a un-black troll?
My various "dars" are going off like car alarms in Paris, including troll-dar.
Salaam and Shalom!
Hi Dave,
Am I really who I say I am? Does a bear take a dump in the woods? LOL! Yea, I am who I say I am. Look up my blog and see for yourself.
And "crude"? After some of the stompdown racist crap I've heard from some of you here? You gotta be kidding me? And the whole "troll" business, I mean, c'mon. That's the stuff feminists cling to. Be a real man and stand up on your own arguments w/o resorting to the Troll Card.
GO back and re-read what I said, I cited Sailer's article Is Love Colorblind. The stats are clearly there. Lookup the White birthrates in the country, particularly among couples with triple digit IQs. My man, Mu ain't your problem. We all know what the problem is, its just that you guys are too punked out to actually face it.
So, you cry and moan about some faceless Black or Brown guy getting all your goodies unfairly, while your momma, sister, daughter are doing you from the back w/a big Mandingo sized dildo. And you can keep hatin' on me, but what I just said is 100% true.
Holla back Dave. Looking forward to chatting with ya.:)
Salaam
Mu
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