Lawrence Mead is exhibit “A “to dispute David Brooks & others who claim there are no conservatives in academia. Not true. They are often the most influential scholars. Mead has played a key role in national welfare reform. His latest polemic “Poverty and Culture” in Society” /1
is a summary of a book he published a year ago and a rehashing of arguments he has been making for decades. It is listed as “commentary” that appears online, but not in the print journal. Thus, it was not peer reviewed, I’m assuming. /2
He uses geography to stand in for race, while making sweeping racist claims, especially about “blacks and Hispanics.” He uses the West vs. Non-West divide to make the case that non-European descended people are ill equipped to handle the demands of modern America because they /3
are not European. The West believes in individualism and ambition, which allows people to thrive. The Non-West is believes in collectivism and lack of ambition, which thwarts people’s ability to function in a free society. /4
These are “cultural differences” that explain intractable poverty. This also explains how European “enterprising temperament” has led to world domination. Racial discrimination cannot be blamed for poverty, because it happened so long ago, he argues. /5
In fact, black people lived in better “social order” under slavery and Jim Crow eras. It wasn’t until the 1960s, post Civil Rights era, that they started to do worse, to suffer from female headed households, absent fathers, welfare, high crime, drug abuse, etc. /6
Hispanics suffer much worse in America than Mexico because they too lack “external controls” to spur them on. “Their problem is no longer oppression, but freedom.” The Black Middle Class, on the other hand, has done better because it has embraced Western norms. /7
White people don’t have any problems associating with this group—going to school with them or living nearby. Rather: “Whites fear to associate with groups that, on average, do not display the inner-driven, moralistic temperament…”. That's not discrimination, it's smart. /8
And here is the punchline. Both liberal solutions (government should do more) and conservative solutions (government should do less) have failed. Instead: “the solution to poverty lies with inner, not outer authority. Dependent people must finally take charge of their own /9
fate rather than waiting more passively for outward change.”
So much for conservatives being fearful of saying the quiet parts out loud. /10
So much for conservatives being fearful of saying the quiet parts out loud. /10
