From: Randall Parker 

In <38cdb2b3{at}w3.nls.net>, the sagacious richhong{at}hawksci.com Richard
Hong perspicated:
> You don't think that growing up on the short end of the stick is a primary
> cause of dysfunction?

But what is that "short end of the stick"? One big factor I see
is messed up parents or parents with values that cause them not to push the
kids to learn. But we've had the "parent-child bonds are sacred"
debate here. So there is nothing allowable to do about that.

What's another factor? IQ. What the gene pool doled out to each person.
Again, not much that can be done about that until genetic engineering
becomes feasible. Of course, then there will be the debate between the
"genetic engineering on demand" and "pro natural DNA
life" factions and fights over Supreme Court nominees on this basis.

Then what else? The quality of the schools. So how about $6000-7000
vouchers to private schools? D.C. spends a few thousand more than that per
kid with very poor results in their sacred public schools.

> If you'll recall, I went to public schools in the city of Chicago.  I didn't
> grow up with a sense of being superior to the people who dropped out, but
> rather with a sense of being damn lucky.

Lucky to be smart? Or more than that?

>I was born pretty damn smart, and
> thus I could adapt and ended up at Princeton.

I suspect your parents had a lot of impact to cause that outcome. I didn't
even know what the Ivy League was when I was in high school.

>For people less gifted by
> God, the difference between being a sorry rich kid who could buy his way
> into a mediocre college and being a minimum-wage factory worker was the
> economics of his birth.

The sorry rich kid may benefit from his father's efforts but that effect
dilutes in each successive generation. He won't be able to afford to do as
much for his own kid.

What studies have been done on families and the IQ of kids shows that on
average (yeah, you can find anecdotal counter-examples) the dumbest kids in
each family earn a fraction (a third or even less with the difference
widening with time) of what their smarter siblings make.

ie family does not confer as much advantage as is commonly thought. Our
system is a lot more meritocratic than is commonly believed.

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