I once heard Charles Murray say he was booed by faculty at an Ivy League school for announcing that half of Americans have below-median intelligence. Here he is in front of a friendlier audience, proving once again that it’s possible to be a thorough-going conservative without behaving like a mean-spirited tribal shaman:
“We know from databases such as the General Social Survey that among those who self-identify as liberal or extremely liberal, secularism is close to European levels. Birth rates are close to European levels. Charitable giving is close to European levels. . . There is every reason to believe that when Americans embrace the European model, they begin to behave like Europeans.
“This is all pretty depressing for people who do not embrace the European model, because it looks like the train has left the station. The European model provides the intellectual framework for the social policies of the triumphant Democratic Party, and it faces no credible opposition from Republican politicians. (If that seems too harsh, I am sure that the Republican politicians in the audience will understand when I say that the last dozen years do raise a credibility problem when we now hear you say nice things about fiscal restraint and limited government.)”
He goes on to place what I think is untoward faith in the ability of science to restore rationality to public policy. The history of Socialism is, after all, a history of the perversion of science. Still, it’s nice to hear someone with a well-earned Ph.D. speak sensibly.
Hat tip: Greg Hoyt
