Narrow Minds

For John, BLUF:  Those pushing "White Supremacy" as the key to unlocking the secrets of society have a narrow view of society and of history.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Ideology Destroys Sanity, Scholarship

From The American Conservative, by Commentator Rod Dreher, 8 April 2021, 7:51 PM.

Here is the lede plus one:

Writing at Yahoo! News, Prof. Jennifer Ho, president of the Association of Asian American Studies and a faculty member at the University of Colorado Boulder, would like you to know that when black people attack Asians, it’s really white people’s fault:

The point I’ve made through all of those experiences is that anti-Asian racism has the same source as anti-Black racism: white supremacy.  So when a Black person attacks an Asian person, the encounter is fueled perhaps by racism, but very specifically by white supremacy.  White supremacy does not require a white person to perpetuate it.

This makes everything the fault of Caucasian males of European origin.  That they represent a culture is not relevant.  It is the wrong culture.  However, it is a serious question to ask, if Admiral Zheng He had sailed East, rather than West, in 1405, would the West still be the wrong culture, or would it be an oppressed minority under the colonial thumb of another culture?

Later in the article is this summation of the state of academia.

This is what totalitarians do: they destroy the cultural memories of a people in order to make them easier to control.  It is gobsmacking that the gatekeepers and guardians of educational institutions are capitulating in the destruction of the institutions they have been charged with defending.

Why would anyone want to go into academics today?  Serious question.  I keep saying it over and over, and maybe somebody will believe me and act:  all those who want to save the humanities in this Dark Age had better stop trying to shore up this rotten imperium, and instead start building the equivalent of early medieval monasteries:  communities within which knowledge and traditional academic practices can survive this barbarian epoch.  I’m not exaggerating.  It’s that serious.

Perhaps, as we broaden our knowledge of other cultures, and of world history, we will come to appreciate what contributions Western Cukture has made.

Perhaps we will come to realize the Declaration of independence promised more than mere mortals could deliver all at once, but that it was a framework for overcoming our own narrow views and for making it a better world.

Regards  —  Cliff

Faux Pas

For John, BLUF:  Turkey sometimes wants to be part of Europe, and sometimes not.  Its great city of Istambul is in Europe, as is Turkish Thrace.  But, much of it is in Asia, including its Capitol, Ankara.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Two presidents visited Turkey. Only the man was offered a chair

From The Boston Globe, by New York Times Reporters Matina Stevis-Gridneff and Carlotta Gall, 7 April 2021, 5:25 PM.

Here is the lede plus two:

If diplomacy is part theater, acted out on meticulously crafted sets, then a protocol blunder this week turned a top-level visit by European Union leaders to Turkey into high drama.

Whether by design or by oversight, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Union’s executive arm, was left awkwardly standing as her colleague Charles Michel, the president of the council representing the bloc’s 27 members, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey took the only two available seats between the EU and Turkish flags.

“Uhm …” von der Leyen was heard saying in a video as she stood, lingering, in the grand room in the Turkish presidential palace Tuesday while Michel and Erdogan settled in their gilded seats, perfectly centered for a photo op.

To be clear, this was in Ankara, Turkey, not Brussels, Belgium.

The article goes on to explain that Turkey is looking to revive its bid to join the European Union, something which had once been a slow journey forever, slowed, wrongly, by the Europeans early on, when Turkey becoming part or the European Union might have made a difference.  But, no, the members weren't having it.♠  Now we see a more autocratic Turkey, again pushing for entry to the EU.

I used to be supportive, but now I am one of those hesitating.

Keep in mind that current Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, quipped, while Mayor of Istanbul, “Democracy is like a tram.  You ride it until you arrive at your destination, then you step off.”

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  For one thing, European folks hadn't gotten over 1453 AD and the fall of Constantinople, or the more recent Treaty of Lausanne, on 24 July 1923, which resulted in a population exchange, or the turmoil in the Balkins.

Income Inequality in the US

For John, BLUF:  We have been told we are seeing great income inequality, but when all factors are considered, it isn't so.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Income Inequality In America Is Lower Than It Was 50 Years Ago

In which The Tax Prof introduces the concept of GINI Coefficient♠.

The Gini coefficient is a single number aimed at measuring the degree of inequality in a distribution. It is most often used in economics to measure how far a country's wealth or income distribution deviates from a totally equal distribution.

The Gini coefficient measures the inequality among values of a frequency distribution (for example, levels of income).  A Gini coefficient of zero expresses perfect equality, where all values are the same (for example, where everyone has the same income).  A Gini coefficient of one (or 100%) expresses maximal inequality among values (e.g., for a large number of people where only one person has all the income or consumption and all others have none, the Gini coefficient will be nearly one).

For larger groups, values close to one are unlikely.  Given the normalization of both the cumulative population and the cumulative share of income used to calculate the Gini coefficient, the measure is not overly sensitive to the specifics of the income distribution, but rather only on how incomes vary relative to the other members of a population.

From The Tax Prof Blog, by Professor Paul Caron, 1 April 2021.

Here is an except from a Wall Street Journal op-ed:  "Incredible Shrinking Income Inequality," by Mezsers Phil Gramm and John Early:

We can now show that if you count all government transfers (minus administrative costs) as income to the recipient household, reduce household income by taxes paid, and correct for two major discontinuities in the time-series data on income inequality that were caused solely by changes in Census Bureau data-collection methods, the claim that income inequality is growing on a secular basis collapses.  Not only is income inequality in America not growing, it is lower today than it was 50 years ago. ...

And here is the ultimate paragraph:

The raging debate over income inequality in America calls to mind the old Will Rogers adage: “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble.  It is what you do know that ain’t so.”  We are debating the alleged injustice of a supposedly growing social problem when—for all the reasons outlined above—that problem isn’t growing, it’s shrinking.  Those who want to transform the greatest economic system in the history of the world ought to get their facts straight first.

Will Rogers, the Roping Fool.  A very smart man.

But, we need to be careful of people selling the idea of income inequality.  There is some, but not as much as some are bleating.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Named after the Italian statistician and sociologist, Corrado Gini.

Snacks of Our Youth

For John, BLUF:  Now, for important news.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The Twinkie Invented

From the InstaPundit, by Blogger Gail Heriot, 6 April 2021, 0600.

Here is the Blog Post:

IT’S HISTORIC:  On this day in 1930, the Twinkie was invented by bakery manager James Dewar in Schiller Park, Illinois.  As is so often the case, capacity was the mother of invention.  The machinery for making cream-filled strawberry shortcake was unused when strawberries were out of season.  Twinkies (which were originally banana cream filled) were the off-season solution.

And an excellent solution it was.

And where is Schiller Park?  It is just off the Southeast edge of O'Hare Airport, in Chicago.

As a trivia sidelight, in the Air Force General Officers, not to their face, are sometimes referred to by their number of stars, followed by "Twinkie", as in a Lieutenant General being referred to as a Three Twinkie.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Polls Say Racism Worse

For John, BLUF:  We have a problem in the US.  And not just us in the US.  However, our problem is ours to solve, and we need to work at it.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Black people agree:  Race relations ‘worse’ under Biden

From The Washington Examiner, by Columnist Paul Bedard, 5 April 2021, 11:10 AM.

Here is the lede plus three:

This wasn’t supposed to happen.

Under President Joe Biden’s administration, race relations have “gotten worse,” and more black people believe so than not.

According to the latest Rasmussen Reports survey, this one on the George Floyd murder trial of a white Minneapolis police officer, 40% of likely voters said race relations have deteriorated under Biden.  About 3% of respondents said they see no change, and 22% said they are better.

What is remarkable is that even more black people, 41%, believe race relations have worsened, a sharp break from the liberals and Democrats who don’t see much change since former President Donald Trump left office.

I think it is too soon to tell—we haven't even made the first hundred days—and there are current events that could be swaying opinions based on the moment.

That said, we need to be aware of this issue.  With Asians now openly expressing concerns about being harrassed it is time for all of us to try to pull together and accept all Americans as our Brothers and Sisters, even the ones we don't agree with.

And, it is time to try and peer through the haze of the Main Stream Media to see what is really going on.  For example, the argument that attacks on Asians is really "white supremacy" are specious, at best.  Sometimes it is better to go with the science than with our gut.  And to remember that different incidents can represent different situations.

Regards  —  Cliff

Good Economic News

For John, BLUF:  This is good news and I am hoping the actions of the Biden Administration and the Democratic Party controlled US Congress don't get in the way.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Payroll employment increased by 916,000 in March 2021

From The Bureau of Labor Statistics, 6 APril 2021.

Here is the lede plus chart and additional paragraph:

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 916,000 in March 2021.  Job growth in March was widespread, with the largest gains occurring in leisure and hospitality and construction.  Average weekly earnings for the private sector were $1,045.60 in March 2021.

Employment in leisure and hospitality increased by 280,000 in March 2021, as pandemic-related restrictions eased in many parts of the country; the average weekly earnings in this industry were $459.42.  Construction added 110,000 jobs in March, following job losses in the previous month (−56,000) that were likely weather related; the average weekly earnings in this industry were $1,273.54.

This is good news.

Kudos to the Biden-Harris Administration for this nice increase in employment.

Regards  —  Cliff

Our Changing Culture

For John, BLUF:  We look back at the Victorian Era and think how quaint their ideas were.  I wonder if those who follow us will look back on us and think the same way.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Radical New Rules for Post-America

Here is the sub-headline:

Americans privately fear these rules, while publicly appearing to accept them.

From American Greatness, by Historian Victor Davis Hanson, 31 March 2021.

Here is the lede plus one:

There are 10 new ideas that are changing America, maybe permanently.

. . .

Americans privately fear these rules, while publicly appearing to accept them.

Professor Hanson lists ten items, and they all reflect how we are evolving.  And not in a good way.

I am optomistic.  As a Republic we had a glaring defect early on, which gave us a Civil War.  Then we had segregation, which limited life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but we mostly made it go away.  We do need a “spiritual” revival that revives the belief in hard work and personal trust that elevates all.  I think of our Nation's Capitol's Quadrants and the contrast I remember from 25 years ago between NE and SE.  If SE can be more like NE and we can avoid a major nuclear blowup with a resurgent (after 500 years) China, or an all out war in the Ukraine, things are going to be peachy. Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff