Author Archives: Ron Unz

Race and Crime in America

Posted on July 20, 2013 by Ron Unz - 7344 Words

Now read “Race and Crime in America” at The Unz Review The noted science fiction writer Philip K. Dick once declared that “Reality is what continues to exist whether you believe in it or not.”  Such an observation should be kept in mind … Continue reading →

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NR on TNR on Unz on Minimum Wage/Immigration

Posted on July 1, 2013 by Ron Unz - 1702 Words

Over the weekend, a leading financial voice at National Review—central ideological pillar of the mainstream American Right—gingerly endorsed my suggestion that a $12.00 per hour minimum wage be required as part of any Congressional immigration legislation. Perhaps miracles do indeed sometimes … Continue reading →

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Race/IQ Revised

Posted on June 7, 2013 by Ron Unz - 475 Words

Last year I published Race, IQ, and Wealth, presenting the overwhelming evidence that group IQs were far more malleable and shaped by social influences than is widely acknowledged in many quarters. The result was a lengthy and ferocious Internet debate, … Continue reading →

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American Pravda: “Liberal Bias”

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Ron Unz - 1191 Words

When a small publication such as The American Conservative publishes a sharp attack against the mainstream media as I recently did in American Pravda, the ultimate result largely depends upon whether that selfsame media will take any notice. Many tens or even low … Continue reading →

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American Pravda: ZeroHedge

Posted on May 31, 2013 by Ron Unz - 787 Words

For years futurists have been regularly prophesizing that the power of the Internet will level the playing field between the mighty and the weak, and one more nugget of evidence that this day is finally dawning has now come to … Continue reading →

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No Immigration Amnesty Without a Minimum Wage Hike

Posted on May 18, 2013 by Ron Unz - 727 Words

No Immigration Amnesty Without a Minimum Wage Hike Salon, May 18, 2013 Congress is currently considering bipartisan legislation providing an amnesty for America’s 11 million illegal immigrants, probably combined with extra visas for skilled workers and an agricultural guestworker program. … Continue reading →

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American Pravda: Barrels of Gunpowder and Sparks

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Ron Unz - 1155 Words

As I often tell people, there seems a totally unpredictable, even random aspect to major American media coverage.  Whether a scandal explodes into the public eye or escapes without notice seems difficult to foretell. Consider the recent example of Dr. … Continue reading →

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Race/IQ: The Jason Richwine Affair

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Ron Unz - 2352 Words

Amid loud cries of “Witch! Witch! Burn the Witch!” an enraged throng of ideological activists and media pundits late last week besieged the fortress-like DC headquarters of the conservative Heritage Foundation, demanding the person of one Jason Richwine, Ph.D., employed … Continue reading →

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Race/IQ Revisited

Posted on May 9, 2013 by Ron Unz - 511 Words

For a combination of demographic and ideological reasons few topics in American public life are more explosive than those involving race. Racial factors obviously underlie a wide range of major public policy issues yet are almost always ignored by nearly … Continue reading →

Posted in Immigration/Race | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

American Pravda: Reality Television

Posted on May 6, 2013 by Ron Unz - 940 Words

The early reaction to my “American Pravda” article has been quite encouraging, with the piece attracting more traffic during its first week than nearly any of my others and with several websites discussing, excerpting, or even republishing it. Furthermore, the average time … Continue reading →

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Our American Pravda

Posted on April 29, 2013 by Ron Unz - 4384 Words

Now read “Our American Pravda” at The Unz Review In mid-March, the Wall Street Journal carried a long discussion of the origins of the Bretton Woods system, the international financial framework that governed the Western world for decades after World War II. A … Continue reading →

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Gay Germ Censorship

Posted on April 24, 2013 by Ron Unz - 1450 Words

The notion of a Gay Germ—homosexuality transmitted as some sort of infection—probably horrifies many mainstream intellectuals unfamiliar with the details of modern evolutionary biology.  Therefore, it is perhaps unsurprising that my recent column discussing that subject quickly provoked a striking example … Continue reading →

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Oops!!

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Ron Unz - 682 Words

With all eyes and all headlines fixed so intently upon Boston’s two Caucasian Bombers, hardly anyone has been paying attention to revelations of a far more devastating disaster that unfolded close nearby, but which were generally buried on the inside … Continue reading →

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“Gay Gene” vs. “Gay Germ”

Posted on April 16, 2013 by Ron Unz - 1414 Words

The twists of intellectual fashion in our society are often quite peculiar, especially when “touchy” topics are involved. Consider, for example, the analysis of human behavior.  Whatever most people may privately believe or say, the vocal academics and activists who … Continue reading →

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The Sidewalk Marriage Crusade

Posted on April 11, 2013 by Ron Unz - 908 Words

Given the unprecedented peace and prosperity currently enjoyed by nearly all Americans, it’s hardly surprising that a symbolic issue such as Gay Marriage has now moved to the forefront of the public debate, not least among the contributors to my … Continue reading →

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Unz on Meritocracy: The College Admissions Season

Posted on April 9, 2013 by Ron Unz - 1133 Words

The season of college admissions is now upon us, weeks of envelopes fat and thin. With so many teenagers now discovering their future life-prospects as dealt out by our academic gatekeepers, discussions of the selection process are appearing in our … Continue reading →

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The Bitter Legacy of Mickey Mouse

Posted on April 4, 2013 by Ron Unz - 820 Words

Developments of enormous consequence sometimes follow the most mundane of motives. During the mid-1990s, the giant Disney Corporation became concerned that its 1928 copyright on Mickey Mouse was close to expiration.  Deploying heavy lobbying efforts, it persuaded Congress to pass … Continue reading →

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Unz on China: Debating the “Clark-Unz Model”

Posted on March 29, 2013 by Ron Unz - 722 Words

As an individual who often regrets his decades-old defection from the academic community, I was remarkably pleased to see anthropologist Peter Frost very generously discuss my recent China article under the rubric “the Clark-Unz Model.”  The senior researcher identified is obviously economist … Continue reading →

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Unz on China: Chinese Eugenics?

Posted on March 20, 2013 by Ron Unz - 1873 Words

In modern American society, few terms carry the negative and socially disreputable ring of “eugenics,” first coined by Darwin’s cousin Francis Galton and later widely advocated by Margaret Sanger, America’s founding mother of birth control and abortion.  Denouncing one’s opponents … Continue reading →

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A Minimum Wage Hike as Amnesty-Killer?

Posted on March 18, 2013 by Ron Unz - 1800 Words

My Friday Aspen Institute panel in DC on raising the minimum wage went well, though the discussion underscored the somewhat insular thinking of many of the policy elites who dominate life in our capital city. As an example, although the audience … Continue reading →

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Unz on Meritocracy: Dangerous Cancer Statistics

Posted on March 16, 2013 by Ron Unz - 1104 Words

About the only detailed public criticism of my Meritocracy article by an academic has come from Prof. Janet Mertz, a Wisconsin cancer researcher.  Since her analysis draws so heavily upon her own 2008 academic paper on top performing math students, I … Continue reading →

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How Social Darwinism Made Modern China

Posted on March 10, 2013 by Ron Unz - 6841 Words

How Social Darwinism Made Modern China The American Conservative, March/April 2013 During the three decades following Deng Xiaoping’s 1978 reforms, China achieved the fastest sustained rate of economic growth in human history, with the resulting 40-fold rise in the size … Continue reading →

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Unz on Meritocracy: Almost as Wrong as Larry Summers

Posted on March 9, 2013 by Ron Unz - 2069 Words

Several years ago, Harvard President Larry Summers spoke at an academic conference on diversity issues, and casually speculated that one of the possible reasons there were relatively few female mathematics professors might be that men were just a bit better … Continue reading →

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Resurrecting Our Intellectual Past

Posted on March 4, 2013 by Ron Unz - 1257 Words

As many may know, I have spent most of the last decade or more producing a content-archiving website that provides convenient, readable access to over 500,000 print articles from the 19th and 20th centuries, together with hundreds of thousands of … Continue reading →

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Unz on Meritocracy: Gelman’s Sixth Column

Posted on March 1, 2013 by Ron Unz - 1524 Words

For reasons best known to himself, Columbia University statistics professor Andrew Gelman has now seen fit to publish his sixth(!)  lengthy blogsite column discussing or sharply critiquing my analysis of Ivy League university admissions.  Just like most of his previous ones, … Continue reading →

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