On 01-29-98 Richard Meic wrote to Day Brown... 
 RM>  DB> You may argue the converse here, that decent income & an enriched 
 RM>  DB> learning environment enhances IQ scores; which may be true, but I 
 RM>  DB> don't see how that *precludes* a genetic effect. 
 RM>  
 RM> There are so many factors here that a conclusion either way is 
 RM> unjustified.  This is why I personally default to no difference 
 RM> in the average intelligence between races. 
You may in fact be correct Richard; I think we agree that the 
data on the subject is so politically challenging that truth will 
be impossible to come by.  
 
 RM> Let me just point out one more time that American liberals and 
 RM> conservatives are not the same as Canadian liberals and 
 RM> conservatives.  When you say "liberal", what definition are you 
 RM> using? 
As defined by the fundies; I will accept the more perjorative in 
use here, as well as accept the perjorative view of fundamentalist 
Christian conservatives. I am neither; I am Machiavellian. 
 
 RM> Citizens or not, ALL humans (indeed all living creatures) deserve 
 RM> equal rights. 
No problem with that. 
 
 RM>  DB> Now if 
 RM>  DB> you wanna restrict citizenship to only those who can pass a 
 RM>  DB> literacy test, I have no problem with that. 
 RM>  
 RM> So "the land of milk and honey" is ONLY for the (so called) 
 RM> smart?  If this is what you mean, then I find the idea rather 
 RM> discusting,... freedom is for ALL. 
Many enlightened societies sterilize the seriously retarded. Do 
you think they should have the freedom 'ALL' others enjoy?  Do 
you have a problem if some nation decides to remove these people 
from the gene pool so as to be a little more competitive in the 
global free market? 
 
If they do have a right to sterilize, how smart does a citizen 
have to be to retain the right to progeny?  And do the progeny 
have a right to competent parenting? 
 
If I, for one, were given the opportunity to raise a family in a 
nation that only allowed in citizens who could pass a test on the 
works of Machaivelli and Plato, I would expect that nation to be 
very well educated, have very high job skills, and be positioned 
very competitively for the global 21st century economy. 
 
Furthermore, I can see where such a nation would have low crime 
rates, well ordered schools, and educated electorate much less 
gullible with far fewer demagogues in government, and how this 
would appeal to the global financial community as a good place 
to invest in the highest paid technologies. 
 
You may, as many do, value cultural diversity; but I do not see 
why those who would be willing to trade that for an experiment in 
a well defined cultural set of values don't have a right to try. 
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