Mailvox: A Democrat’s defense

JC can’t quite follow the plot:


Actually, I have as of yet to see any reliable evidence to support that, except for higher standardized test scores for wealthy people,which almost certainly reflects the fact that, the wealthier one is,the better education one gets. Schools in poor parts of the country are underfunded (for obvious reasons). So, any correlation between intellegence and income seems imply a problem in the education system.

That’s probably because JC hasn’t looked very hard. “In general, there is a disparity between the public perception of IQ testing and the opinion of intelligence researchers. Some proponents of IQ have pointed to a number of studies showing a fairly close correlation between IQ and various life outcomes, particularly income. Research in Scotland has shown that a 15-point lower IQ meant people had a fifth less chance of seeing their 76th birthday, while those with a 30-point disadvantage were 37% less likely than those with a higher IQ to live that long. Research by Charles Murray on siblings has shown that there is a strong correlation between IQ and earned income. The controversial study IQ and the Wealth of Nations claims to show that the wealth of a nation correlates closely to its IQ score.”

In general, the studies I’ve seen read shown correlations range from as low as .33 all the way up to .81. The broader and more crosscultural the study, the stronger the correlation has proven to be. Unsurprisingly, JC is too parochial to even consider the world outside the United States.


so the fact that John Kerry’s support was strongest – 63 percent – among those earning under $15,000 should give even the most left-inclined Mensan pause. In fact, as incomes rose, support for Kerry reliably declined,reaching its nadir at 35 percent of the $200,000-plus crowd.

See, this is particularly misleading. First of all, it’s widely accepted that Bush’s economic policies favor the wealthy more than John Kerry’s did. Thus, it stands to reason that, acting in their own self-interest, a wealthy person would vote for George Bush. On the other hand, Kerry’s policies seemed to be more focused on lower-income Americans.

Key words, seem to be…. and which group is more likely to be able to accurately ascertain their self-interest, the plus-200k crowd or the sub-8k crowd? Does JC seriously want to base his case on the notion that those making $8k are as intelligent as those making 25 times more?

to be continued….