The Intellectual Limits of Thomas Sowell

I like Thomas Sowell and his work. It was a minor influence on my intellectual development in my youth. But he has always been limited in his willingness to depart from conservative orthodoxy, as evidenced by his unwillingness to accept the relevant aspects of human genetics as they relate to societal development, or the lack thereof.

Sowell is the leading conservative proponent of the cultural explanation. In regard to race differences in the US, his idea is that black Americans adopted a dysfunctional culture from white rednecks in the South. A different culture would have, and in the future could, set blacks (as well as southern whites) on a different path. While he mostly avoids ad hominem attacks against hereditarians, he portrays most of them as bumbling half-wits with a history of making baseless and contradictory claims.

I was recently interviewed for “The Genius of Thomas Sowell” podcast to talk about hereditarianism vs. culturalism, and the host, Alan Wolan, persuaded me that it would be worth spelling out my objections to Sowell in more detail. Here I respond, in turn, to Sowell’s arguments for the cultural theory of race differences and his critique of hereditarianism. I contend that hereditarianism remains by far the most plausible explanation for persistent gaps among groups living under comparable conditions, including American blacks and whites.

Some hereditarians believe that, even if Sowellism is false, it would be politically expedient to promote it as a means of countering leftist narratives about race and racism. I will explain why this is a mistake. Even if (counterfactually) we could convince large numbers of people to accept Sowell’s scientifically incorrect theory of race differences, this would not stop wokism.

While he is a generally admirable man, one unfortunate characteristic of Sowell is his refusal to follow the observable, and even undeniable, truth, at the cost of his personal preferences. Given his identity complications, it is not even remotely surprising that he would prove willing to sacrifice his intellectual integrity on the altars of both race and personal relations.

Sowell is without doubt an effective starting point for conservatives, but at some point, anyone who is geniunely devoted to the Good, the Beautiful, and the True will find they have to move beyond him if their intellectual journey is going to proceed.

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Why Africa Supports BRICS

While the West has mostly focused on the increased Chinese influence in Africa, it wouldn’t be surprising if the entire continent embraced the BRICS system due to the West’s attempt to protect the pro-Western post-colonial regimes:

Speaking on the sidelines of the BRICS Business Forum in Moscow, which was held on October 17-18, Mantula highlighted the organization’s capacity to counter the influence of Western narratives, financial systems, and the impact of sanctions.

“Now that we’ve seen sanctions being imposed on certain countries, we’ve seen the biasness of some of these international bodies, the BRICS has become a solution,” Mantula noted, reflecting on how the group, which began with Brazil, Russia, India, and China, has grown into a significant platform for cooperation.

She pointed out that countries are drawn to BRICS because of its inclusive approach to diversity and mutual respect, both economically and culturally. Mantula emphasized that BRICS offers its members an opportunity to operate independently of Western structures, making them more resilient to potential sanctions. “Within the BRICS countries we are having a bigger population, more natural resources and if we learn to work independently outside of the Western systems, even the sanctions won’t harm us,” she explained.

Mantula also referenced a speech by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian during the forum’s plenary, where he spoke of sanctions imposed on certain countries. “Any one of our countries can be sanctioned next,” Mantula stated, underscoring the potential of BRICS to offer a united front against Western pressures.

Most Americans and Europeans aren’t aware that in addition to Russia and Iran, Washington and Brussels have placed economic sanctions on China as well as a number of African nations. This has, quite rightly, alarmed all of the African governments, who realize that they are one regime change, or worse, Western-sponsored attempted regime change, from being cast out into economic darkness.

This is why Egypt, Ethiopia, and South Africa have already joined BRICS, and why it is safe to assume that most of the other countries on the resource-rich continent will be seeking to join it soon, assuming the divide between the anti-Western nations (Russia, Iran, and China) and the neutral nations (Brazil and India) can be successfully bridged at the current summit.

The Endpapers of Empire

As Castalia Shipping reminds us that WAR AND PEACE is starting to ship out from the warehouse and flexes its new pallet jack, Castalia Library has both revealed the unique endpapers for THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF BYZANTIUM Volume One as well as shown off the newly bound-and-warehouse-bound STUDIES IN THE NAPOLEONIC WARS.

The HYPERGAMOUSE campaign is within sight of its third stretch goal and John C. Wright has published the first book in his 12-book Star Quest series, Space Pirates of Andromeda. You can also watch the recent Arkhaven Nights in which we discussed his new book.

Space Opera must be Great! Gallant! Gigantic! Grandiose!
This tale told by a Grandmaster vows to return the glory that was lost!
Remember the days gone by, when science fiction was fun?
Now new hope is here!
If you are weary of weak, wan, woke and wasted works, your wait is ended!
Here is an epic, as grand as any tale of old — here you will hear wonders told!

Of course there is a Space Princess, and Space Pirates galore, and an Evil Galactic Empire.

Of course there is a super-weapon known only as the Great Eye of Darkness!
Here meet Athos Lone, Ace of Star Patrol, in his one-man mission of vengeance!
The Ancient Mariner, like an iron ghost, when slain, seems to rise again!
The mysterious spymaster called Nightshadow walks in dark worlds but serves the light!
An Imperial Deathtrooper must reverse his loyalties, and fight his own clone-brothers!

Fate has set these unlikely heroes against the Four Dark Overlords
An utmost evil the unwary galaxy thinks long dead!
Can Darkness fail and Light prevail?
Read On! For All True Tales are but Part of a Greater!

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On the Phenomenon of Male Flight

Martin van Creveld has pointed out the phenomenon of male flight from education and entire professions, repeatedly, for decades. But only now that the higher education system is on the point of complete collapse is anyone else beginning to recognize that it poses a very real and serious problem:

  • In 1969 almost all veterinary students were male at 89%.
  • By 1987, male enrollment was equal to female at 50%.1
  • By 2009, male enrollment in veterinary schools had plummeted to 22.4%

A sociologist studying gender in veterinary schools, Dr. Anne Lincoln says that in an attempt to describe this drastic drop in male enrollment, many keep pointing to financial reasons like the debt-to-income ratio or the high cost of schooling.

But Lincoln’s research found that “men and women are equally affected by tuition and salaries.”

Her research shows that the reason fewer men are enrolling in veterinary school boils down to one factor: the number of women in the classroom.

“There was really only one variable where I found an effect, and that was the proportion of women already enrolled in vet med schools… So a young male student says he’s going to visit a school and when he sees a classroom with a lot of women he changes his choice of graduate school. That’s what the findings indicate…. what’s really driving feminization of the field is ‘preemptive flight’—men not applying because of women’s increasing enrollment.” – Dr. Anne Lincoln

For every 1% increase in the proportion of women in the student body, 1.7 fewer men applied. One more woman applying was a greater deterrent than $1000 in extra tuition!

This points to the underlying flaw in feminism and sexual equality. Men and women are not the same, they do not possess the same average strengths and weaknesses to the same degree, and most importantly, their preferences are different.

Every society faces a fundamental choice. Either deny men what they observably and actually prefer or deny women what they think they prefer in theory. Across the West, the last 60 years have been an experiment in the latter. Women have been given the red carpet treatment in the corporations, in the universities, and even in the men’s locker rooms. Divorces and custodies have been granted on demand. Pregnancies have been prevented. Babies have been aborted. Obesity and ugliness have been celebrated. The churches have been de-doctrinated and literally neutered. Refugees have been welcomed. The insane have been liberated from their asylums.

And yet, not only are women unhappier than they were before being granted their collective societal bucket list, men are increasingly opting out of every form of participation in society. So, unless women are both as willing and as capable as men of performing most of what historically had been male duties, or men are forcibly denied the right to exercise their preferences and conscripted to perform the tasks that women won’t, the choice is between a) societal collapse and b) denying women the right to fully exercise their preferences.

It appears what passes for society in the West has uniformly opted for (a). It’s a bold move, historically speaking. And we can already see how it’s working out for us.

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An Intriguing Escalation

The IDF is bombing banks in Lebanon:

The Israeli military launched airstrikes on branches of a bank in Lebanon that the U.S. and Israel have linked to Hezbollah, escalating its military campaign to strike institutions that are part of the group’s far-reaching network of economic and social influence.

The Israeli air force hit branches of Al-Qard Al-Hassan, a U.S.-sanctioned bank that was established in the 1980s and that offers financial services, including loans and ATM deposits and withdrawals, to the Shiite community in Lebanon. The Israeli military says the bank is also central to Hezbollah’s economic functioning.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said a series of Israeli strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs and elsewhere in the country on Sunday night, local time, including three strikes on branches of the bank.

The strikes mark an expansion of Israel’s offensive against Hezbollah to target an institution that has no overt military purpose. In the past Israel has said its strikes focused on Hezbollah’s military infrastructure, though its attacks have also destroyed residential buildings and hit municipal and other civilian infrastructure.

Israeli officials said the strikes aimed at harming Hezbollah’s financial assets as well as weakening its ties with the community. The strikes took place on Sunday evening, when the bank branches were likely empty.

It would certainly be fascinating to see the outrage if Russia and Iran started responding in kind and bombing banks in New York and elsewhere that are central to the war efforts against them. This is potentially a very dangerous escalation, particularly in light of the coming BRICS announcement about its alternative to the SWIFT banking system.

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Moldova Rejects EU

This may mark the death knell for the EU. Once every Central and Eastern European state was desperate to join. Now, a number of existing members want out and formerly-prospective members no longer see any benefit to joining:

Voters in Moldova have rejected the government-backed proposal to enshrine eventual integration with the EU in the former Soviet country’s constitution. During Sunday’s referendum, held simultaneously with a presidential election, voters were asked whether the constitution should be amended to reflect the “irreversible European course” of the country and affirm the “integration into the European Union as a strategic objective” of the nation.

With more than 86% of the ballots counted, 54.55% voted against the proposal, while 45.45% voted in favor, according to the preliminary results cited by the news channel TVR.

BRICS is the smarter bet anyhow. But staying out of the EU is paramount. Never trust anyone who wants you to sign on to something “irreversible”. It’s almost as obvious as requiring you to sign in blood.

UPDATE: And now it looks as if this “vote” is about as legitimate as the faked 2020 US Presidential election. The referendum was suddenly turned around at the last minute with a flood of YES votes being found in the final hours. Democracy is increasingly nothing more than a flat-out fraud that inverts the genuine will of the people.

Potrivit rezultatelor preliminare, după prelucrarea a 98,74% din buletinele de vot din cadrul Referendumului constituțional 50,24% au votat DA și 49,76% au votat NU.

This probably means that Russia will have to invade Moldova sooner or later to free its people from Clown World.

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16 Million and Counting

Arktoons has now passed 16 million views! Thanks to all of the supporters, creators, and readers who have made it possible. And special thanks to the devs and the production team, who keep cranking out episodes every single day. We’re pleased to be able to say that GHOST OF THE BADLANDS will be coming to Arktoons soon now that its digital edition has been released.

In other comics news, HYPERGAMOUSE is approaching its third stretch goal and DC Comics has been reduced to turning to its critics to provide inspiration for its new villains, with Jeremy Griggs from Geeks + Gamers being the latest to see himself lampooned in a DC-published comic.

Even though DC Comics says they’re All In with this new initiative from Scott Snyder and Joshua Williamson, it appears they’re just all in on the same tired, woke nonsense. With Absolute Batman race-swapping Barbara Gordon in a bizarre virtue signal, there was already too much politics in their recent comics, but now they’ve turned Jeremy Griggs into a rambling villain in the new Blue Beetle YA Graphic Novel… It’s not the first time DC Comics has done this, either. Just last year, they did the same to Eric July, turning him into some Alex Jones rant to presumably attack his Rippaverse imprint as it was getting off the ground.

I don’t think that I’ve been provided with a DC Comics stand-in yet, although it would appear that Marvel’s Vox Supreme was at least partially inspired by your favorite dark lord. The resemblance is certainly striking.

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Pixel Artists Wanted

A very small team and I have been working on a game project. We’re at the point where we need some art, so if there are any pixel artists interested in volunteering – this is a labor of love, not a business project – please get in touch. It’s a very cool game; imagine being able to play MMO-style battlegrounds without the MMO.

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The Leak was Real

Apparently Israel was genuinely observed making preparations to attack Iran on October 15th and 16th, but appears to have cancelled the attack for reasons that remain unknown, but are presumably related to the “earthquake” that was observed earlier this month.

The US has launched an investigation after highly classified intelligence reports about Israel’s preparations for possible strikes on Iran were leaked online, CNN reported on Saturday, citing three people familiar with the matter. The apparent security breach occurred amid an intense standoff between Iran and Israel – which has vowed to respond to a barrage of missiles fired by Tehran earlier this month.

On Friday, two documents were posted to the anonymous Telegram channel Middle East Spectator, which covers events in the region and is critical of Israel.

The first of the files, apparently prepared by the Pentagon’s National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, says the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) “continued key munitions preparations and covert UAV activity on October 16 almost certainly for a strike on Iran.”

The second document contains a detailed report about a “large-force employment exercise” conducted by the Israeli Air Force on October 15-16.

An unnamed US official confirmed the authenticity of the documents to CNN, describing the leak as “deeply concerning.” The official told the network that the ongoing probe is aimed at determining who had access to the top secret files that eventually made their way to social media.

The plan reportedly involved a combination of ballistic missiles and air-to-surface missiles, although considerably fewer than were involved in the Iranian attack on Israel. Which, of course, tends to raise suspicions that some of them may have been armed with nuclear warheads, and may explain why the US intelligence source decided to try to stop the attack by leaking news of it.

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The Digital Ghost

Now available on Kindle and Kindle Select: THE GHOST OF THE BADLANDS

Arizona Territory, May 1896

Canyon Diablo is a reascendant Gomorrah.

With rail bridge construction halted by hellfire and tragedy, and railroad companies warring with local land owners to complete it, the town becomes an open boil on the Arizona Desert.

Gamblers proliferate. Prostitutes ply their trade. Brigands roam on the roadways, waylaying the innocent for an unknown purpose.

But the bandits are not alone.

Something stirs in the Painted Desert. Someone systematically exterminates coach robbers and murderers. Dealing out a deadly reckoning to all who assail the weak.

Gunfight after gunfight. Coffin after coffin. Legend soon grows of this phantom of the high desert.

A lone pistolier dispensing God’s judgment. A one-man vendetta ride, wielding a strange mechanical weapon of the Old World. Baptizing the heathen in hails of gunfire.

Eventually, folk find a name for this masked missionary of death…

The Ghost of the Badlands

UPDATE: So that was fast.

  • #1 in Supernatural Graphic Novels
  • #1 in Western Graphic Novels
  • #1 in Pulp Graphic Novels
  • #19 in Graphic Novels

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