August 22, 2008

Obama's brother by another mother found living in a hut


The Daily Telegraph reports:

The Italian edition of Vanity Fair said that it had found George Hussein Onyango Obama living in a hut in a ramshackle town of Huruma on the outskirts of Nairobi.

Mr Obama, 26, the youngest of the presidential candidate's half-brothers, spoke for the first time about his life, which could not be more different than that of the Democratic contender.

"No-one knows who I am," he told the magazine, before claiming: "I live here on less than a dollar a month."

According to Italy's Vanity Fair his two metre by three metre shack is decorated with football posters of the Italian football giants AC Milan and Inter, as well as a calendar showing exotic beaches of the world.

Vanity Fair also noted that he had a front page newspaper picture of his famous brother - born of the same father as him, Barack Hussein Obama, but to a different mother, named only as Jael.

From an anthropological point of view, this is a good example how polygamy gets in the way of the development of a class system in African cultures. The museums of Europe and Asia are full of beautiful artifacts, most of them originally commissioned by the upper classes to demonstrate their upper classness, but Africa, with some exceptions (e.g., the medieval Benin bronzes), doesn't produce much in the way of a more refined higher culture.

In a monogamous society, an ambitious young man often aims to marry a woman raised in a higher class, who can in turn raise their children to behave in an upper class manner. For example, immigrant muscleman Arnold Schwarzenegger has four children by Maria Shriver, the daughter of the 1972 Democratic Vice-Presidential candidate and niece of President Kennedy. In a polygamous society, however, men tend to compete for quantity rather than quality of wives, so there is strong reversion to the overall cultural mean in the upbringing of rich men's children. A Kenyan Schwarzenegger might have had dozens of wives, but most of them would be local farm girls who would have raised his children in the traditions in which they were raised.

The grandfather of both Barack and his impoverished half-brother George was, by Kenyan standards, a wealthy self-made man, and their father had been a rising governmental star until his alcoholism and general knuckleheadedness led to disaster. But, even if Barack Sr. had been more prudent on the job, the grandfather's and father's typically Kenyan polygamousness (three wives for the grandfather and women by four children for Barack Sr.) would have depleted the resources available to the third generation by spreading them thinly among the many descendants.

Obama Jr. was, of course,very lucky to also belong to a small white family, with its contrasting Eurasian emphasis on quality over quantity of wives and children. So, his upper-middle class grandmother, "a typical white person" as Obama memorably phrased it, a hardworking bank executive from a good family back in Kansas, could afford, despite her only daughter's imprudent decision making, to raise her grandson in a Honolulu highrise with a spectacular view and send him to the state's dominant prep school, then off to fancy colleges.

By the way, The Onion had a piece a couple of weeks ago on a different brother by another mother, Cooter Obama.

And, here's a cartoon by Rex May.

My published articles are archived at iSteve.com -- Steve Sailer

62 comments:

  1. It's a little surprising that his half-brother Barack wouldn't send George a little money. By sending just two dollars a month, Barack could, if George is to be believed, triple his income.

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  2. There is nearly certainly a nature issue as well.

    The two mulattoes, 'Marc' and Barack, are much more successful than the most recently discovered half brother. Almost certainly Marc and Barry had much brighter mothers than Mr. Onyango. They also would be regressing to a higher mean.

    Not to mention the all the other behavioral differences with greater than 0 genetic influence.

    Marc and Barrack had a head start at conception.

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  3. Well, there are plenty of “brothers” the US whites can look forward to. Once Obama gets in he'll introduce all his extended relatives (at least 600 mio.) to the eagerly awaiting US whites, who have been preaching to Europeans, Afrikaners, Rhodesians, and lately Slavs what a racist, bigoted, narrow-minded sorry lot they are and how they just need to embrace their brothers and all will be well.

    The fact that it was Kenya is just a geographical anecdote. This pic could have been taken in any East- or Southern African country.

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  4. Arab/Islamic culture produced lots of beautiful things.

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  5. good pt halfbreed- there's no way I let one of my half brothers rot in a ghetto while I make millions a year. Of course I wouldn't want him coming home to live in the basement- but there is a middle ground.

    Sally Struthers says even pennies go a long way in Africa. Obama should have at least sent Onyango a jar of pennies... and who knows there may have been some nickels toward the bottom (there always are).

    Onyango Obama
    Shack #4
    Nairobi, Kenya
    (please send pennies!!)

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  6. Hmm. If polygamy leads to the fittest men having the most children, I would expect that historically polygamous societies would be the most fit of all, including in intelligence. But it appears it's not so. Though perhaps intelligence just didn't matter that much in terms of reproductive fitness until recently.

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  7. "Arab/Islamic culture produced lots of beautiful things."

    Arab/Islamic cultural contributions were produced primarily for the glory of God (uh, Allah) not for aristocratic status.

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  8. It's not as if the elites of the orient and europe have been monogamous, most had concubines which in the West are called mistresses. Additionally there are a number of African art museums filled to the brim with African artifacts.

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  9. McCain already has invited the whole third world to come to America.

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  10. "Additionally there are a number of African art museums filled to the brim with African artifacts"

    Yeah, little carved wooden figures, right up there with the Pieta; and rymthic drumbeats equal to Mozart.

    History is like a fuge with different nations (instruments) coming to the forefront and leading at different times. One moment Mesopotamia, then Egypt, the next, the Greeks, then the Romans, then perhaps China (maybe earlier), then Japan, then Nothern Europe, then England (with finer parsing more accurate), then America. The only time Africa called the tune was pre-history (pre-literate) culture.

    Doug_S

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  11. Anonymous,
    Demonstrating pre-Modern aristocratic status via beautiful and expensive objects in Europe had a profound effect on the “individual” artist. This competition between wealthy status seekers helped lead to absolutely incredible breakthroughs in art. You really cannot compare African and Islamic artifacts, as interesting and well crafted as they may be to the mind-bending accomplishments of pre-Modern Western Art. Sorry.

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  12. Or maybe Mr. Onyango is just unlucky.

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  13. Polygamy--although I disagree with it--is also a way for a rich man (greater likelihood of having a high IQ) to spread his high IQ genes around.

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  14. Additionally there are a number of African art museums filled to the brim with African artifacts.

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  15. Maybe Barack Obama could enhance his Kennedyesque appeal, and rescue his brother George from poverty, by appointing him Attorney General.

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  16. headache said...

    The fact that it was Kenya is just a geographical anecdote. This pic could have been taken in any East- or Southern African country.

    Actually Headache the picture could have been taken in Black areas of the US. Take a look at these links, they are just Detroit and are not the Black Belt of the South, but still they are worth a look.

    detroitiscrap.com/archives/1115
    detroitiscrap.com/archives/1157
    detroitiscrap.com/ruins-of-detroit

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  17. Have to disagree with aspects of Steve's post this time. We're not frozen in time. If, on the hypothetical last day of the world, there are a lot more remnants of the products of the European class system standing and/or ruling than the African variety (polygamous or not), I'd like to see it. We certainly don't seem to be doing so well lately.

    That vaunted class system is one of the curses that has brought us to where we are today. The disparagement of workers, the sneering at manual labor, the over-glorification of an effete royalty that became more and more useless each passing generation - these were all cracks that were exploited by others, to the detriment of the race as a whole.

    Years ago, after becoming intrigued by reading about the non-royal lineage of a lot of the leading artists of the Renaissance, I switched to the literature of one of the Green's silent heroes, the ex-National Socialist Walther Darre, and his somewhat disjointed writings on the value of the European peasantry. I then continued with someone more palatable to many ISteve readers, the Anglo C.D. Darlington, who held roughly similar views. His list of the family origins of the founders of the Scientific Revolution in Britain, for instance, is replete with such occupations as weaver, blacksmith, and farmer.

    The true testing ground of a nation-state is always going to be the well-being of its peasant class. The Brahmins, atop the greatest continuing class system in the world today, may kick ass once they come to some fresh land still (surprisingly) unused to organized mercantilism, but look at India, the motherland they leave behind. It's an enormous slum, no matter what the hippies say.

    In no way should the various cultural contributions of our so-called elites be scorned - I'm not suggesting that. A class system, in the way most of us understand the term, came about naturally, and was essential for the development of the modern state - whether that's good or bad at this stage hinges upon one's worldview.

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  18. Scott -- you make an assumption error. That in polygamous societies intelligence correlates with success.

    It does not.

    Rather, with inherited positions that generate wealth and patronage networks, that remain static.

    This is why all "hard" polygamous societies like Muslim ones, Chinese Emperors, etc. were static and devoid of any sustained creativity. Anything meaningful was done by Eunuchs. Polygamous societies punish intelligence by literally castrating the intelligent so as to prevent dynastic threats.

    Your assumption is that all societies look and act like rule-of-law America. In both "weak" (African) and "strong" (ME) polygamous societies, which ever man can assemble the biggest patronage/thug network wins. An entirely different set of abstract thinking, object-oriented processing, tinkering, continuous improvement of Monogamous Western Europe, where ordinary men could and did have their own families and rise on their own commercial and trade/craft merits. Paul Revere, for example, was an exquisite Silversmith and I've seen his work at both the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the NYC Met. The craftsmanship is superb.

    This is why two bicycle mechanics created the first airplane in the US and not Saudi or Nigeria.

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  19. We've had presidents with embarrassing brothers before--Donald Nixon, Billy Carter, and Roger Clinton come to mind. (Dubya is the exception in that he IS the embarrassing brother.) However, there is much to be admired about George Hussein Onyango Obama. "I live here on less than a dollar a month," he told his interviewer. This in contrast to the candidate and his wife, who could barely scrape by on nearly half a million in annual income!

    Also, it appears George is no coward. "I have scars from defending myself with my fists. I am good with my fists," he said. Meanwhile, when Barack's grandmother felt threatened by an aggressive black panhandler, Barack collapsed with the vapors rather than go out and kick the bum's ass like a real man would.

    George says, "I live like a recluse, no-one knows I exist."
    Michelle Obama says, "Barack will never allow you to go back to your lives as usual, uninvolved, uninformed."

    I prefer the brother!

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  20. If polygamy leads to the fittest men having the most children, I would expect that historically polygamous societies would be the most fit of all, including in intelligence. But it appears it's not so. Though perhaps intelligence just didn't matter that much in terms of reproductive fitness until recently.

    In warlike societies like Africa and Central & Western Asia, and the Middle East it would favor violent chest thumpers, not intelligent men. In fact it would lead to such violence, as well.

    It's not as if the elites of the orient and europe have been monogamous, most had concubines which in the West are called mistresses.

    But in most cases it had to be done with at least a modicum of secrecy. You don't see case after case in Europe of Emperor, King or Lord having a hundred wives and concubines. You don't see any, that I can think of - not even in pre-Christian history. This seems to reflect a general racial repugnance to the idea - of men who would not follow leaders who used their authority to monopolize sexual assets.

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  21. "Polygamy--although I disagree with it--is also a way for a rich man (greater likelihood of having a high IQ) to spread his high IQ genes around."

    Simple logic, makes sense to me, and yet it is inferior to monogamy and is one of the markers that differentiates the advanced from the primitive. The interesting question is, "Why?" I actually don't buy into the theory all that much that says it is ideal to invest very much into fewer children and that explains monogamy's advantage since it produces fewer children per man. Surely something to it, but I think other forces may be even stronger.

    Here's my theory for one force: First, empathy increases with intelligence and this leads to the sexes becoming more equal and a man's spouse becomes even more of a "help meet". Next, women are wired to secure resources for her own children and view other children making demands on the same man as a threat. This is why step-mothers, unless they are extremely religious or good, are hostile to their step-children; the stereotype exists for a reason.
    So... if a man loves a woman and deeply cares about her happiness, plus he has the intelligence to figure out there will be less strife and thus the family unit can be more productive... he will figure out that monogamy is a good thing.

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  22. -testing99

    Polygamous societies punish intelligence by literally castrating the intelligent so as to prevent dynastic threats.


    lol yes, here it's called "divorce."

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  23. Anon -- you're missing the obvious.

    GENETIC DIVERSITY.

    Polygamy = genetic bottleneck.

    Who does all the breeding in a polygamist society?

    The few Big Men. Who possess charisma, charm, patronage abilities (to pay off, bribe, intimidate, etc. rivals to the throne). Think Idi Amin's character in "Last King of Scotland." That's who breeds among men.

    And only those men. Which creates a genetic bottleneck.

    Now, monogamous societies create ... genetic diversity. ALL SORTS of men breed. Geeky, abstract kind of guys. Guys like Einstein's father. Or Nicholas Tesla's. Guys who's idea of fun time is tinkering around with some object or tool, not bribing the boys to not have ambitions about a knife in the back, to take over the harem.

    ONLY monogamy produces genetic diversity. Polygamy results in only a few men breeding, and is thus, genetically a bad choice and mal-adaptive. It is no accident that polygamous societies are generally defeated by monogamous ones, all other things being equal.

    This is the obvious genetic diversity consequence. Particularly if the environment changes rapidly (with rapid technological driven changes, or environment with onset rapidly of ice ages). Specialization and bottlenecks are only "affordable" strategies when the environment is extremely stable.

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  24. testing99,

    Quiz. Who was Gershom ben Judah, and what was the synod he called in Mainz approximately a thousand years ago regarding?

    anonymous said, in regards to polygamy, that "it is inferior to monogamy and is one of the markers that differentiates the advanced from the primitive."

    As I mentioned before, we'll see who's left standing. All this talk about advanced and primitive doesn't mean anything when the supposed "advanced" get drunk at cleverly themed white trash parties in gated communities because they don't have to wake up in the mornings and deal with oh-so-burdensome children.

    Polygamy in and of itself is in no way "wrong", when viewed through a biological prism. It's the lack of applied eugenics within most of the past's examples that's made it look so loopy to us. One of its many benefits is that it keeps more women "under control", for want of a better term. Having four women bearing the children of one economically successful man might possibly turn out to be a better strategy then our current one, which is to have a single child with the first (and get divorced), while the second, third and fourth end up majoring in queer studies, becoming one of those surreal "cat ladies", and doing multiple porn shoots, respectively.

    And on a side note, if you think empathy increases with intelligence, then your only test group is the people who go by the deracinated term "white". There are millions upon millions of Chinese, Armenians, Lebanese, Jews, Greeks and the like proving you wrong.

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  25. He seems to be modelling hatwear and V-necks.
    Did Annie Leibowitz take this picture?

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  26. And on a side note, if you think empathy increases with intelligence, then your only test group is the people who go by the deracinated term "white".

    You seem to be misunderstanding empathy.

    From wikpedia: "It is important to note that empathy does not necessarily imply compassion. Empathy can be 'used' for compassionate or cruel behavior."

    A really good poker player, for instance, is going to be extremely empathetic.

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  27. Joe Bidden, Eh?

    Hey, Barry, who's gonna do you bidding?

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  28. BROTHER, KENYA SPARE A DIME?

    …Say don't you remember?
    They called me George.
    It was George all the time.
    Why don't you remember?
    I'm your pal.
    Brother, Kenya spare a dime?

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  29. "Yes, unfortunately, the vicious global racial struggle for resources and attendant racial nationalism is just over the next hill i.e. race matters."

    Good point anonymous. I was thinking the same thing here in Germany where everybody is trying to be a Gutmensch (Good person). Just like the Cold War poured cold water on all the liberal niceties to the point where even Europe and the US kept Apartheid South Africa alive, so the new Cold War will cause some serious realignments in ideology and force many moronic liberals to chuck their rubbish aside or face emigrating to the competing country. Just when I thought our cause was totally lost, luckily, it seems, China and Russia are sorting out our liberals again.

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  30. William Cobbett said...

    ... The disparagement of workers, the sneering at manual labor..

    William, you’re not talking about say Germany, Switzerland or Austria. Manual labour is looked upon favourably here, as along as its quality and the workmen are qualified. People are much more open for manual tasks. High-tech industries often require the combination of manual skill and scientific knowledge and good artisans are respected in German society and earn well. I think what you describe is more of an Anglo-Saxon problem, brought about by the colonies and slavery. I don’t own a car so I get about a lot by foot and public transport. Generally I see a trend towards automation and mechanisation. The operators obviously cannot be dopes. But the trend is towards higher qualifications, more technology and greater manual skill, not towards importing lots of unskilled people. The unskilled hordes sitting around, thanks to the Greens and socialists, are living off the dole or operating criminal gangs. They do not form a productive part of the economy. They were brought in to eventually boost the leftist voter rolls, not to work.

    I cannot speak for the Mediterranean mindset, even though I assume Italy also has good craftsmen who make good money and have social standing.

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  31. Any other Obama would smother his brother by another mother with affection.

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  32. ...Here's my theory for one force: First, empathy increases with intelligence and this leads to the sexes becoming more equal and a man's spouse becomes even more of a "help meet". Next, women are wired to secure resources for her own children and view other children making demands on the same man as a threat. This is why step-mothers, unless they are extremely religious or good, are hostile to their step-children; the stereotype exists for a reason.
    So... if a man loves a woman and deeply cares about her happiness, plus he has the intelligence to figure out there will be less strife and thus the family unit can be more productive... he will figure out that monogamy is a good thing.

    8/22/2008 ...


    So, how does that explain the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints in year 2008?

    Aren't FLDS femmes wired to secure resources for her own children?

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  33. William --

    I think you mistake the current situation in the West with monogamy historically and in other nations such as China and Japan.

    First, in the West today we have what I would term "soft" or weak polygamy. You have a lot of women chasing after just a few high-status and power, high testosterone men. Think Bill Clinton, George Clooney, John Edwards, and the motocross racer, drug-addicted indie aspiring rocker, and so on.

    This is made possible by the political alliance to enable it, socially, culturally, and politically, by the elite men and child-bearing age women.

    It probably is not sustainable to have queer studies, cat ladies, and multiple porn shoots, not the least of which is that the non-Alpha men have no wife and can be relied upon to react (often with violence) to rectify in some way that situation. Since regression to the mean implies elite male children won't be "Alpha" and attract a bunch of soft-polygamy women, their mothers past child-bearing years will support more restrictions on women's choice of men, to optimize their son's chances of actually producing grandchildren.

    Desire for grandkids trumps PC, eventually.

    Moreover, the inefficiencies of polygamy are often ignored: too many resources get poured into maintaining huge patronage/praetorian guard networks to maintain the harems of the Big Men, to make a society competitive with one that has each man assured of a family and no threat from the Big Man to take it away.

    Once China and Japan got rid of polygamy in one form or another, the huge increase in their society's efficiency helped them leap ahead farther than other nations and peoples. Steve is fond of IQ related metrics, but the relation to IQ and Polygamy is something he does not account for, along with the efficiency of the society.

    And again, polygamy = genetic bottleneck. Not just for intelligence but many other traits, including disease, food adaptation, fertility, and so on.

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  34. Obama has promised to create a tax-payer funded program to supply the brother with a good income,retraining,health care and a new mud hut. Its called the "There But For The Grace of God Go I Program". I wonder what Michelle is thinking about this..."Now honey,I thought,just til the election,we could..." "Oh HELL NO! OH HELL NO!!! Not in MY house that I paid for with my backbreaking work as a community outreach professional! You know how much outreach I had to do to get this place lookin' all nice,and you want some no-account headhunter comin in here..." And so forth and so on!

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  35. klausoldanburg:

    "You seem to be misunderstanding empathy."

    No, it's just that I stuck with the definition I grew up with - identification with and understanding of another's situation, feelings, and motives - a "white" quality par excellence no matter where they stand on the spectrum, be it from Jack London types or Stuff White People Like types. That wikipedia entry seems to be veering toward a definition of some type of social omniscience.

    (BTW, I'm a fan of your GSF! Good work.)

    headache - while the class system was never AS poisonous in the German-speaking nations as the English-speaking ones, it was certainly a problem exploited and addressed by both the Communists and the National Socialists. During the inter-war period, thousands of the children of the bourgeoisie were trying to throw off the vacuousness of their parents and seek solidarity with the working class by laboring in mines or helping on farms or what have you. Hitler said something to the effect that he would restore the division between head work and hand work and instill an appreciation for physical labor into the Germanic peoples even if it took hundreds of years.

    Also, please don't misunderstand me. I'm not talking about artisan types, who are relatively respected across many societies, regardless of race/culture/language. I'm talking about members of the same "tribe", in essence, who, due to historical changes, were forced from their rural, medieval way of life into an urbanized factory existence. These are the people who were scorned, and thus were catered to and ultimately empowered by the extremist parties. In most parts of North America now, and a lot of Western Europe from what I've seen, such bottom of the pyramid roles have been handed over to those outside the genetic boundaries of the larger population, which can mean only bad things in the future.

    It's often quite funny here in the States to listen to whites simper about the conditions of janitors or agricultural laborers or meat packers just because they're from Guatemala or Peru, before turning around and making some snide "redneck" or "white trash" crack about drywallers or bagboys. And by "funny" I mean not funny.

    testing 99 - You bring up interesting points, which I'll address later.

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  36. "Jonathan Silber said...

    BROTHER, KENYA SPARE A DIME?

    …Say don't you remember?
    They called me George.
    It was George all the time.
    Why don't you remember?
    I'm your pal.
    Brother, Kenya spare a dime?"

    Pretty good.

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  37. >>>>... we'll see who's left standing (W Cobbett)

    We can have value judgements other than who lasts longer. I'm not a fan of cockroaches.

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  38. Mr Onyango is eligible for the green card. Family reunification. He and his mother too.

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  39. I have to wonder about Obama's JUDGMENT if, after deciding that he was serious about running for President, he didn't spend some money to build or buy one or two simple homes back in Kenya to house members of his immediate family whether he cares about them or not. The negative photo opportunities produced by having relatives living without electricity or plumbing should have been avoided. If he helps them now, it will just look like a cover-up, and too little, too late.

    From the "Whitey" perspective, it is simply unimaginable that you wouldn't send the brother (and other close kin) enough money to start a small business and live in a decent home. This makes Obama look like the stereotypical American black -- demanding enormous government programs to solve every single problem in the world, while not being willing to send $20/month grocery money to his own family.

    I really do think that this is related to him being abandoned by his father. He is all mixed up about what his responsibilities are.

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  40. Obama has a _lot_ of relatives in Kenya. And there's uncertainty over which ones are his kin and which ones are cuckoo's eggs.

    He probably understands the classic Big Man's trap -- as you rise up the ladder, your close female relatives keep talking you into supporting financially ever more distant layabout kin. There's no end to how big your family obligations can grow in Africa.

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  41. Sailer sed:
    "There's no end to how big your family obligations can grow in Africa."

    The technical limit is about 800 mio. black souls. When Obama commands the immense US budget, it may just be enough. I'm sure white Americans are not going to give up their once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help Africa break through into civilization.

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  42. "Obama has a _lot_ of relatives in Kenya. And there's uncertainty over which ones are his kin and which ones are cuckoo's eggs. "

    Illegitimacy and divorce are making this a problem in the US as well. This is part of the reason why socialism is so appealing to the black community. That and the fact that many men have so many illegitimate offspring they can't begin to pay child support for them all.

    A strong nuclear family and low divorce rates seem to be the basis for democracy. And unfortunately the benefits of growing up in the once typical two parent home are what get the offspring labelled as advantaged nowadays.

    While it is unfair to saddle Obama with the financial responsibility for siblings from his father's polygamous unions, this is an opportunity for you anti-polygamists to reiterate your message. Polygamy, serial polygamy in the form of divorce and illegitimacy make it necessary for the state to replace the family.

    That being said, George has a certain appeal, kinda scrappy and vulnerable all at once. I'm considering sending the guy a dollar a week so he can write me letters about how his life has improved as a result. ; )

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  43. testing99,

    Society/culture is a framework in which a race or people operate. Due to the vicissitudes of a constantly shifting environment, if that society/culture doesn't adapt, neither will its underlay (Red Queen Effect). There is never stasis, and if there is, then, as the paleontologists point out, one can be pretty sure that the evolutionary end is nigh.

    The answer to the quiz I gave you earlier is this: Gershom ben Judah issued, at Mainz, a prohibition against polygamy, directed at the Ashkenazim. As you rightly note about the Chinese and the Japanese, the dissolvement of this practice eventually enabled a leap forward (using an imaginary number line) intellectually. The exact same thing as happened to the Chinese and Japanese happened with the Ashkenazim post-Mainz, and the genetic (thus intellectual) divergence between them and those Jews who remained in Yemen or Persia widened generation after generation, due to a convergence of the local non-Jewish populations taking place amongst these latter. Living in host societies and practicing polygamy didn't work out so great for those in Muslim nations, as documented by Cantor.

    However, what polygamy did, up to Gershom's time, was grow a people - "propagation of the faithful was a necessary and prior condition for the propagation of the faith" -producing a lot of similar, shapeable clay, as it were. In a parallel sense, without polygamous attitudes, the Germans would never have repopulated Central Europe in the aftermath of the Thirty Years' War - polygamy is a valid response after any event where the male population has been drastically decreased. Victorian England (and the corresponding English people), on the other hand, was already showing indications of dying out in Burton's time because of the lack of making necessary moral transitions - far too many childless spinsters were filling the cities.

    In essence - polygamy is beneficial for a people at some stages in time, detrimental at others. Sweeping judgments of the practice itself don't work. It must always be put in context.

    You're right about the soft polygamy currently extant in the West. Devlin has ably outlined the situation in the U.S. However, what we're not seeing, again, is actual applied eugenics, or, for that matter, many childbirths at all from the process. The soft polygamy practiced is really just a sort of unchecked whoredom, which Muslims of every strata are more than aware of. Before your grandchildren effect begins to function, there has to be children, and overall, I really don't see that happening. Where are the prolific offspring of all these Alpha men you listed (Clinton, Edwards, etc...)?

    rightsaidfred, of course we can have different value judgments. Of course population size alone isn't the marker for joy taken from life, or for global cultural contributions, or what have you. However, existence is my, and many others' measuring stick - what good the achievements of my people when they're not around to enjoy them? One of my young sons often repeats back an old Irish maxim to me - a full shack is better than an empty castle. So, you may not be a fan of cockroaches, but the cockroaches don't care - they've found their survival strategy, for the time being. Unfortunately, we've not found ours. Either that or we simply lack the will to enact it.

    Ugh - class schisms, reproductive strategies, culture - I grow weary of the discussions of such, particularly when writing in this cramped "Leave your comment" box. In the end it's just our opinions, albeit opinions quite different from the horrendous mainstream's. What's unfortunate is that Steve's readers don't have the clout to make any policy changes. So many intelligent and genuinely funny people post comments here - it's a shame we can't congregate and make our own tribe.

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  44. Hiya Fellas,
    Thanks for the article Steve, very interesting topic.

    It seems pretty clear to me that we have a significant problem in the African way of life along marital lines. Africa is perhaps the single largest polygynous place on the globe, w/such traditions extending back far beyond any organized religion as we now know it.

    The thing about Africa is, that not only do men have multiple wives, but women have multiple men (and sometimes, women) as well. This further weakens the familial and especially paternal bond, because as Steve alluded to above, a man can never trust that the child "his" woman has born are indeed his own; investing in a child not your own can be a threat to your way of life.

    This polygynous situation is the main reason why HIV/AIDS is so pervasive in Africa too, by the way. When so many people are being intimate w/so many other people, a contagion has a much easier time of spreading around.

    I think Sailer made an excellent argument as to why monogamy is best for men, especially ambitious men, be it drives men to seek a really good wife, singular, rather than a number of so so wives, plural.

    Polygynous societies are much more prone to violence as well. Africa hardly needs a mention in this regard, but we can extend it to the Caribbean, and of course many places right here in the USA. And the Middle East shows us what happens when men cannot be husbands at all, because all of the big men have taken them up for themselves. We see what happens in the American Mormon community.

    I don't favor polygamy as a public policy for these and other reasons, though I must say, I'm for it just to see what the pro gay marriage folks will say when their very same argument will be used to advance polygamy.

    The Western-based, Judeo-Christian-inspired model of Monogamous Marriage is what is best for a society, in my view. Whether it will make a comeback or not however, in th face of exploding lifestyle choices, many of them state-subsidized, however, remains to be seen.

    Thanks again, Steve!

    Salaam
    Mu

    PS: much has been said about Obama not doing more to help his younger brother, and for the record I do think he can do something, given his publicly expressed views. That said though, this is hardly another "Black Problem" to be solved, for we can all know there are many well to do Whites who are in no rush to assist their lesser off siblings, cousinsm etc.

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  45. Obama's kind of in a catch-22 here as far as Steve's readers are concerned. If he sends money to his relatives, we'll say he's a big man waiting to happen, and we'll be drawn into financial/military intervention in Africa. If he stiff 'em, we'll say he's the typical niggardly black.

    But Steve readers are a small demographic and he clearly should've helped 'em out.

    Still, this is tentatively good news in my mind, since it shows he doesn't much give a rat's ass about helping the blacks in his family, much less all of sub-Saharan Africa.

    On the other hand, once he gets hold of someone else's money...

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  46. George's father died when he was six months old. Your assumption that he was a polygamist is no more valid than assuming Cindy McCain's father was one. He has a daughter that he ignored and had she grown up in a poor country, she wouldn't have done well either, not that she is compared to her sister.

    In addition, George has been to technical school and was literate enough to read Barack's books. This is amazing considering the poverty in Kenya. This also blows your offensive, racist gene theory that Barack is only smart because he had a white mother.

    I don't know why some of you cling to the idea that non-whites are inferior. It's a sick obsession or race and religion and serves no purpose except justify the put-downs, name-calling, oppression and war-mongering against others not like you.

    The end game of this behavior will one day haunt this country, which will be the new Third World nation as others stop lending us money and shun us for our propensity of raping and bombing other countries for their resources. You mark my words.

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  47. Actually black polygamy may be the only thing that can save the blacks

    If more blacks like Obama and other high IQ individuals had 10 wives, it would shutdown the DNA of the lower IQ black males , especially the sub-85 IQ segment

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  48. you're oversimplifying polygamous reproduction. there's less choice -- look at women in afghanistan marriage is institutionalized rape, that's not an improvement over monogamous selection for intelligence.

    there's something else though and that's the hindrance to evolution. in an extreme case consider an ant farm. there's less mutation involved. but ants cycle lives so fast that it doesn't slow down ant evolution. for humans figure there's more variables than just smarter dna propagating more.

    funny though -- Bill Clinton's half brother was a criminal scoundrel, not just a hapless guy in poverty.

    maybe there's something to do with family issues and Presidental real ultimate power.

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  49. Save George Hussein Obama

    http://www.saveobamasbrother.com/

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  50. william cobbet wrote

    The Brahmins, atop the greatest continuing class system in the world today, may kick ass once they come to some fresh land still (surprisingly) unused to organized mercantilism,

    ---

    How does the brahmin dominance in SAT and spelling bees and geographic bees etc, have anything to do with organised mercantilism
    Brahmins have very little talents in being merchants

    Brahmins kick ass academically everywhere, not necessarily in fresh lands




    I can agree with the term organised mercantilism for the Patels who dominate the motel industry or the Jain merchants who dominate the diamond trade in Brussels, where they outcompeted the hasidic jewish diamond merchants who also have organised mercantilism

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  51. "Obama's kind of in a catch-22 here as far as Steve's readers are concerned. If he sends money to his relatives, we'll say he's a big man waiting to happen, and we'll be drawn into financial/military intervention in Africa. If he stiff 'em, we'll say he's the typical niggardly black."

    Svigor, is that you or someone using your name?

    If it's you, I have to give credit for a well-thought-out and contemplative post.

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  52. "The end game of this behavior will one day haunt this country, which will be the new Third World nation as others stop lending us money and shun us for our propensity of raping and bombing other countries for their resources. You mark my words."

    Kit, we already are a new third world nation due to our open borders policy. But this rant about our raping and bombing other countries for their resources, hmmmmm. We are interventionists to gain influence not resources with rare exception. Not that I find this acceptable but I think it's important to understand what those in power are really after which seems to be more power.

    "for we can all know there are many well to do Whites who are in no rush to assist their lesser off siblings, cousinsm etc."

    How do you suggest these well-to-do help their extended family, Mu? Do they just hand out money, whatever the relative requests? And what if they have already given plenty of money only to find out it wasn't used for a stated purpose or that it didn't get spent on the person/child it was intended to help? Money isn't always the solution, Mu. Think some more.

    While George is quite likable, the thought must have occured to you that this was a stunt to embarass BO into giving him money. So what's a wealthy person to do? Give a lot at once to someone who isn't prepared to manage the money wisely? Provide allowances for several relatives at once and possibly go broke yourself? Pick some favorites and ignore everyone else? Give money to the slackers? Only give money to the strivers? Wonder why you have suddenly been given a godlike influence over the lives of others when you can barely manage your own?

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  53. rec1man,

    "How does the brahmin dominance in SAT and spelling bees and geographic bees etc, have anything to do with organised mercantilism"

    You've missed my point, either intentionally or unintentionally. Please re-read the post. It was about a class system, and how it can ultimately negatively affect a nation (or subcontinent).

    "Brahmins have very little talents in being merchants."

    Brahmins are generally talented in whatever field they choose.

    "I assure you that these Brahmans are among the best traders in the world and the most reliable." Marco Polo, The Travels

    Broaden your definition of mercantilism to include commercial aspects, not just a guy selling rice or perfume from a stall. I'm aware of the traditional caste divisions, I've read the data you've presented Steve, and I should have been more specific ("Brahmvyasya", LOL), or perhaps more broad ("Hindoo"), but I was dealing with a different subject matter, and certainly Brahmins both at home and abroad have moved into many commercial/mercantile fields of endeavor. That said, I didn't mean to sully the reputation of those who consider exchanging money, goods, or services unseemly.

    BTW, in regards to merchant Jains, I was told, when visiting Jaisalmer, that Brahmins could also be Jains.

    Don't want this to get too far off topic. I'm done posting on this thread.

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  54. Mu'Min M. Bey: The Western-based, Judeo-Christian-inspired model of Monogamous Marriage is what is best for a society, in my view.

    Strangely, as William Cobbett has pointed out above, monogamy did NOT come out of a [Phariseeical] Jewish tradition.

    I am not aware of any saying attributed to Jesus which would indicate anything other than monogamous marriage on the part of his followers [Jesus always seems to be assuming, tacitly, that marriage involves exactly one man and one woman].

    However, Saul of Tarsus, in a letter to Timothy, includes a cryptic phrase which seems to indicate that Saul felt that polygamous men were not fit to be deacons of the church:

    1 Timothy 3:12

    Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.

    Instead, the idea of polygamy seems to be more European than [Phariseeically] Levantine in nature; in particular, Augustus Caesar [of all people] played an enormously important role in codifying "Western" attitudes about marriage.

    See especially Augustus's Lex Julia [aka Lex Iulia]; Augustus was such a stickler for propriety in male-female relations that he banished both his own daughter, Julia the Elder, and her daughter [his granddaughter], Julia the Younger, for the crimes of adultery.

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  55. "Mu said....

    The thing about Africa is, that not only do men have multiple wives, but women have multiple men (and sometimes, women) as well."

    This is not just the thing about Africa. It is the thing about Africans here in America.

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  56. IMHO, the black genome is so badly screwed, that only by removing the young bucks ( below 85IQ ) from the gene pool, can the African american be salvaged

    A mildly polygamous situation, say 3-4 wives for every middle class black male, can improve the stock

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  57. Hmm. If polygamy leads to the fittest men having the most children, I would expect that historically polygamous societies would be the most fit of all, including in intelligence. But it appears it's not so. Though perhaps intelligence just didn't matter that much in terms of reproductive fitness until recently.

    In a monogamous society, the vast majority of men have children they consider to be their own. Thus those men have an incentive to invest in the future and a society made up of such men can outcompete a polygamous one.

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  58. Is it just me, or is there something ineffably Third World African about leaving your family behind to live in utter destitution while you go live in America?

    Even destitute Mexicans send money home to their families, and Obama cannot spare a dollar a day from his own pocket (not the American taxpayers!) to help his own kinfolk, his own brother?

    Surely the story of Obama's brother (which Obama used in his novel to boost his political prospects) ought to be worth a buck a day.

    Look at where the story got him: Barack Obama -- Mr. Third World President of the USA, Citizen of the World.

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  59. I foresee a Celebrity Apprentice Reunion, on which Trump makes the winner general contractor for a gut rehab of George Onyango's hut. Which candidate will be the Apprentice — Gene Simmons, frontman of the rock band KISS; Marilu Henner, actress, full-time mom, and author of numerous books including "Marilu Henner's 30-Day Total Health Makeover" and "Healthy Life Kitchen"; or Tito Ortiz, mixed-martial arts fighter?

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  60. Hi Miss Marple, Martin & Lucious,
    I just wanted to respond right quick to your very interesting comments.

    Lucious, thank you for the references, and would ask if you wouldn't mind sending them to my email, please, just in case this thread disappears or something? I'd like to sitback this coming holiday (Ramadan begins right after Labor Day) to study it more in depth. Thanks!

    But my point is, that clearly the values of Monogamy, as PUBLIC POLICY, mind you, has, at least until very recently, worked. Would you not agree, especially in comparison to places like much of Africa, the ME, etc, where Polygamy, as PUBLIC POLICY, is the norm, if not the law of the land?

    Miss Marple, your points are all valid. I was only responding to the notion, overtly or covertly, that the ONLY people who abandon their own are Black folks. I happen to know for a fact that, for whatever reason, plenty of Whites do it, too. Now having said that I think it shows yet again what terrible "judgment" Obama had in not having he foresight to vet this situation properly, knowing the high chance that it would come to light. If nothing else, it would have been in his best interest to try and do something preemptively, and as has been mentioned earlier, even Mexicans send money back home. We're not talking thousands of dollars here, we're talking Sally Struthers' money-a few dollars a month! Anybody can afford that.

    Martin, excellent point you make, I see it w/my own two eyes all the time here in the hood, and in fact I just gave a friend and coworker a serious tongue lashing for his getting sexually involved w/no less than three women and siring kids by two of them, etc. Its one big mess where tensions are running high, feelings are hurt, etc.

    Great comments! Let's keep talking.

    Holla back

    Salaam
    Mu

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  61. The option that Svigor missed, that would let him out of this dilemma, would be to denounce polygamy and teen pregnancy, promote monogamy, and note that the economic differences between Kenya and Kansas are caused by their enormous cultural differences. Then he could turn his back on socialism, promote the end of welfare, and promise to end US taxpayer-funded meddling in the Third World. He could also denounce affirmative action for good measure.

    Sure, at this point, that would make him fickle and capricious. This is why people should think through their "liberal" (permissive) political positions before they run for office.

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  62. Hi Blode,
    I'm all for getting rid of Affirmative Action-are you down for getting rid of it for its Number One beneficiaries-WHITE WOMEN? Hmm?

    Holla back

    Salaam
    Mu

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