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Entry: Postmodern, Not Hypermodern: Russell Kirk Link: http://www.takimag.com/site/article/postmodern_not_hypermodern_russell_kirk#15084 Post contents: Reply To Bill Greene: I've read Sowell's work and remain unconvinced. Besides, what else would you expect from him? The famous Minnesota Twins experiments pretty much blow Sowell's entire thesis right out of the water. As far as genetic differences between the races, recent findings in this area have established that these are real and fairly concrete. The examples of successful capitalist societies in Asia you've cited hardly invalidates arguments for genetic-based racial differences. North East Asian Peoples(Koreans, Japanese, Chinese)have scored slightly higher on standardized intelligence tests(Avg. I.Q. 105) than Europeans. Where are the Latin American or Black African "Tigers"? Since Sub-Saharan Africa hasn't developed one indigenous-based advanced culture or civilization on any level comparable with European or Asian societies, past or present, the overall outlook is pretty grim. You talk of freedom and markets, etc. but the Asian "tigers" you refer to all are heavily regulated and protectionist. These cultures are group and not individual-oriented. All these societies are highly racially and ethnically homogenous, and have the advantage of a cohesiveness the U.S. and Third World Immigrant infested Western Europe increasingly lacks. I doubt you'll find one Japanese, Korean, or Chinese who buys into Libertarian nonsense about the virtues of unfettered plutocracy and Lassiez-Faire. Your posting also provides another abject lesson as to the similarities between rival economic determinist philosophies such as Marxism and Capitalism. Both view Man as Homo Economicus, i.e. motivated solely by materialism and "rational self-interest." If we just establish the right sort of economic relations, we'll have heavan on earth. Either a Communist paradise where the state eventually withers away or some sort of Lassiez-Faire utopia, where "free agents" will blissfully produce and consume into eternity. We can see increasingly throughout the 20th and into the early part of this century that this paradigm doesn't correspond to reality or human nature, and that we desperately need some sort of alternative. Sent at: 2008 07 06