The White Death hasn’t gotten as bad yet as the horrifying drop in Russian male life expectancies during the Yeltsin years. Yet it’s reminiscent of the tendency of Russians to react to the slow moral decay of Communism and to the sharp shock of defeat in the Cold War by drinking themselves to death.
The ’60s were, in reality, the Smart Liberation era. Much of 1960s liberalism begins with: “Assume everyone is above average in intelligence.” This belief can make life more convenient for people who actually are above average in intelligence.
Granted, a few smart people like Brian Wilson and Ken Kesey never quite recovered from the ’60s. In general, however, high-IQ ’60s people, such as Steve Jobs, tended to do pretty well for themselves.
A liberated culture gave the Steve Jobses more room to run. In contrast, the Left Half of the Bell Curve is still paying a toll for the destruction of the old strictures on how to live. People who aren’t as smart aren’t as good at deciding for themselves.
And this is why I say I’m a libertarian for myself, and a conservative for everyone else.
Most people aren’t very smart, or disciplined.
Libertarianism, like feminism, isn’t — literally can’t be — for everyone.
When my working class smart-but-lazy father tried to mimic the Playboy lifestyle, the results were catastrophic. He wasn’t alone.
