Re: Rushton, why?

Paul J Brantingham (branting@GAS.UUG.ARIZONA.EDU)
Sun, 30 Oct 1994 13:55:23 -0700

Well, Rushton's most recent message indicates to me that, despite his
appeal to just considering the facts of science, there are several political
reasons for studying race that he wants us to know about.

The gross generalizations about "Pacific Rim countries" reveal two
political features of Ruston's argument: (1) that he is concerned
with the perceived economic and social threat represented by the performance of nations such as China, Japan
and "even" such lowly places as Vietnam (some of these nations are
economically outperforming the USA and Canada [my home country] too,
hence the seriousness of the *perceived* threat);
and (2) that he blindly accepts measures of teen-age pregnancy, rape and
AIDS being made public by nations such as The Peoples Republic of China
as if these were scientific facts free from political motivations for
deflating such measures! In the first instance Rushton is showing his
own political colors and, in the second, his is showing that he is not
aware (dare I say naive) of the political motivations of others.

Jeff Brantingham