Introduction to Part 11 of my new book-SAVING AMERICA

In part 1, I relied heavily on the statistical data that Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray provided for us in their remarkable book The Bell Curve to support many of my assertions regarding the deteriorating effect modern liberal social policy has had on America and its citizens. Although I instinctively knew the reasons for America's demise before reading The Bell Curve I did not have the statistical data to support my beliefs before I, quite by chance, stumbled onto this extraordinary book. I am, as we all should be, in Herrnstein and Murray's debt for expending the enormous amount of time and energy required to collect and organize the complex statistical data presented in their book in a way that non-statisticians, such as myself, can read and understand. Few people have the cognitive ability to pull something like this off, but they did it and the world is a much better place for their effort. Having said this, I believe Herrnstein and Murray were less successful in their attempt to provide practical solutions to the problems facing twenty-first century America. Their failure to do so was the primary reason for me to write this book. I agree with the authors when they assert that a primary responsibility of social policy is not to give a person dignity but, rather, to make it possible for a person to achieve dignity by working hard and making the most of the talent God gave him. In this respect, their concept of valued places in society is right on and I will devote a chapter to this hypothesis. However, other than to suggest that we decentralize the government, and by so doing return policy making to local governmental bodies, the authors suggest precious little that will make it easier for a person with average or below average cognitive ability to find his place in modern America. Similarly, Herrnstein and Murray propose that we simplify, or do away with, tax codes and the multitude of other bureaucratic regulations that make it difficult for the mentally challenged people to complete the paperwork necessary, for example, to form a small business. Simplification of tax policy and the elimination of bureaucratic red tape is a good thing. On this point I think we can all agree, but will doing so really do much to reduce illegitimacy, decrease criminal activity or solve any of the other social ills the authors discuss in The Bell Curve, I think not! The authors also assert that our criminal laws are too complex for the average person to understand and to unevenly enforced. Maybe so, but will simplification of the criminal code make it less likely that a black, or white, teenager of low cognitive ability who was raised by a low IQ mother single mother commit a crime? Again I think not! Rather, I will argue in the ensuing chapters, the answer is to pursue social policies that will discourage low IQ single mothers, of any race, from having illegitimate children. With respect to marriage, Herrnstein and Murray suggest that we return to the olden days, before women's liberation destroyed the concept that sex outside of marriage was verboten. If the authors have their way, the institution of marriage will, once again, become a rock of society. In this new marital utopia sex outside of marriage would be fronded upon and unwed mothers who became pregnant would have no legal basis for demanding that the men who they slept with contribute to the support of the illegitimate children that was produced by the encounters. Similarly, under this new system, men who participate in these anti-social acts would have no legal rights to visit the child and no say whatsoever in how the child is raised. Whether or not society will accept changes such as these is questionable but, one way or the other, I do not believe attempts to revive the marriage contract will do much of anything to decrease the rate of illegitimate births among unwed mothers in today's America. Molly Lard may be dead but feminism is alive and well in twenty-first century America. None the less, as we will see, there is a way to decrease the illegitimacy rate and we will not have to rely on draconian measures to do it. Finally, the authors of The Bell Curve make a good case for some form of income redistribution, not because wealthy people do not deserve their wealth, but because a person who works hard should be able to earn enough to support a family which often is not the case in twenty-first century America. This does not mean that entry level jobs flipping burgers at McDonalds should be paid be paid $25.00 an hour. Rather, it means that a 30 year old full time farm worker should be able to make enough money to feed and clothe himself and his family and that those of us who buy these commodities is produced should be willing to pay enough for them to make this happen. I will have a great deal more to say about the concept of a fair minimum wage for the cognitive challenged in chapter 6. For now let me say that I agreed with Herrnstein and Murray that some form of income redistribution will be necessary as the jobs available to the American average American worker become more technical and intellectually demanding. However, under no circumstance should future government redistributive policies serve to support, in any way, the life styles of able bodied men and women who choose not to work. If America is to survive as a viable economic power there must be a job for everyone who is willing to work and we must insist that everyone who can work do so.