Ventura musta read Emanuel Todd's book

[Wayne Smith]

Kind Sir:  I wish for you to know that Jim Strong would give you the shirt off his back !  I see no reason to insult him as you have done.  Jim is no better than you and I, nor is he any worse.  We all have a right to our opinions but not unprovoked attacks.  Thank you for your time, I hope that you will see the light......With Regards and Kind Thoughts, Wayne Smith

Michael Eisenstadt <michaele at hotpop.com> wrote:Harry,

I read Ventura's article again.

1/3 of American children born out of wedlock? That cant be true
on the face of it. We live in this country and we would notice if
it WERE true. And besides ever if it were true and I don't think
it is, so what? A very high proportion of children in Denmark are said
to be born out of wedlock yet Danish society is often said to be
exemplary compared to other countries.

43% of Americans approve of torture? That depends on the wording
of the question they were asked. It wouldnt be hard to shape a
question so as to affect the answer. It's done all the time.

> . The United States is 49th in the world in literacy (The New York Times, 
> Dec. 12, 2004).

That is a preposterous claim. I would like to see the list of the 48 ahead 
of us.

> . "The European Union leads the U.S. in ... the number of science and 
> engineering graduates; public research and development (R&D) expenditures; 
> and new capital raised" (The European Dream, p.70).
>
> . "Europe surpassed the United States in the mid-1990s as the largest 
> producer of scientific literature" (The European Dream, p.70).

European Union's population is 450 million. US population is less than
300 million. So these statistics are tendentious because of the disparity
in population.

By the way I said tendentious, not contentious.

Finally I (and others possibly) would appreciate it if you would
refrain from invective such as "but enough with the obfuscation
and bullshit." Please dont turn into another Jim Strong.

Mike

---- Original Message ----- 
From: "Harry Edwards" 
To: "survivors' reminiscences about Austin Ghetto Daze in the 60s" 

Cc: "ghetto 2" 
Sent: Friday, January 21, 2005 11:01 AM
Subject: Re: Ventura musta read Emanuel Todd's book


>I know nothing of Emanuel Todd and, as I previously wrote, am no fan of 
>Ventura. But I strongly question your contention that the statistics are 
>either "bogus" or "contentious." You offer no proof for this contention. 
>Attacking Todd's thinking accomplishes little. This column is about the 
>average American's muddle-headed thinking that we're "No. 1" in everything. 
>As you will notice if you reread each statistic, each one is specifically 
>(parenthetically) documented (no reference to E. Todd). There are a small 
>few with vague basis in fact, but the majority of the statistics are solid.
>
> Oddly enough, I agree with you that they "don't add up to the reality of 
> life in the US." This is true because this "reality" is the aforementioned 
> No. 1 dominant paradigm in America. Don't confuse us with facts.
>
> Who cares if Michael Ventura has read Emanuel Todd? Quite obviously, the 
> column wasn't derived from a book. None of us is "forced to read" 
> Ventura's writing which is why I nearly missed this one and also why I 
> sent it out to my Ghetto sisters and brothers with some overlapping in 
> this case. These facts ought to startle all of us. If you want to write 
> about the statistics, please do, but enough with the obfuscation and 
> bullshit.
>
> twisty dodds
>
>
>
>
> On Jan 21, 2005, at 8:04 AM, Michael Eisenstadt wrote:
>
>> Emanuel Todd is an intellectually dishonest French
>> sociologist whose recent book The End of Empire is
>> available in English.
>>
>> Some of Ventura's/Todd's statistics are bogus, the rest
>> are tendentious. They don't add up to the reality
>> of life in the US.
>>
>> The basic argument is that America, compared to Europe,
>> is parasitical in the sense that Americans dont
>> really work or have jobs. Todd "proves" this by
>> reference to our international trade deficit. This
>> is a bogus conclusion. Todd like so many other
>> talking/writing heads is an ignoramus about
>> economics and outsourcing. Paul Krugman whose
>> politics we all agree with has written several books
>> explaining international trading monetary theory. The
>> theory itself is counter-intuitive and not easy to grasp.
>> A country's trade deficit does not make their citizens parasites on the 
>> rest of the world.
>> As for the rich exploiting their workers and the latter's
>> immiseration, that is a fact of life everywhere and is
>> not confined to only rich Americans doing it.
>>
>> Ventura's retread of Todd's book belongs where
>> we actually find it: in the Austin Chronicle. He
>> writes his articles at 3am in the morning or so he
>> says. That is an amusing conceit which excuses
>> much. Unfortunately most of us are forced to read
>> him during the day
>>
>>
>>
> 




  
 


















		
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