The theme of the current issue of Skeptic magazine is “crime and punishment.” The conclusions of the researchers who put it together are of interest. Some of their points:
–“One famous study found that just ‘1 percent of the population (is) accountable for 63% of all violent crime convictions.’”
— “Research suggests that people on the left are more prone to crime than those on the right – and that the more left leading they are, the more crime-prone they tend to be.”
— “one recent study, for example, found that the BLM protests of 2020 had the ironic effect of increasing crime rates in areas where the protests took place…(M)urders increased by roughly 11.5 percent, which is over 3,000 additional homicides.”
— “…after careful, peer-reviewed empirical research by economist Roland Fryer found that controlling for suspect behavior, police do not disproportionately kill Black people (White suspects were in fact 27 percent more likely to be shot), then-Harvard University President Claudine Gay tried to fire Fryer. She accused the tenured professor, an African-American academic star, of the use of inappropriate language, an offense for which Harvard’s own policies dictated sensitivity training.”
Seldom does one issue of a newsstand magazine give you this much to think about.
One suspects that “inappropriate language” in the Ivy League casts a very wide net. One also wonders if the conclusions of the study might have something to do with it. Facts have a way of getting in the way of established preconceptions.
It’d be educational to see examples of the alleged offenses.
“Inappropriaate” means “anything that gives some greasy piece of Leftist crap the butthurtz.”
Side note, sad to see what’s becoe of what used to be AmBack… but a 1911 I first started planning with y’all of the Old Gang is finally coming to fruition. Hey Mas, tell Fernando another .450 SMC firebreather is finally on the way! Seven-inch barrel on the beast…
Possibly the “inappropriate language” was the use of common English words to state facts that were inconvenient to the progressive narrative. But, since Claudine Gay has resigned under pressure, her charges against Professor Fryer are unlikely to see further action or elaboration, so we are unlikely to learn what specifically constituted the “inappropriate language”.
An additional irony: George Floyd, arguably the most prominent of the “precipitating” figures of the BLM movement, had stopped breathing once months prior during a police arrest after he swallowed a quantity of drugs in an effort to destroy evidence. But at that time his actions were recognized promptly and he was able to be resuscitated. Note that he stopped breathing without anyone putting a knee on his back or neck at that time. This fact was withheld from Sgt. Chauvin’s jury, inappropriately in my opinion. While Sgt. Chauvin may not have been aware of Floyd’s history of ingestion-to-destroy-evidence history, to exclude this information from the jury is a misapplication of the principle that prevents the introduction of such evidence. That legal principle is aimed at explaining the reasonableness of the defendant’s actions based on what he knew at the time. But, Floyd’s history of drug ingestion was not being used to explain Chauvin’s actions–it was important as an alternative explanation of Floyd’s respiratory arrest. Indeed, as a physician who reviewed much of the trial and read both of the official autopsies, I believe that respiratory arrest due to his own ingestion of narcotics in an effort to hide evidence (he had a supra-lethal dose of narcotic in his blood at time of death and narcotic pills coated with his saliva were found in the back of the patrol car) was a far more likely explanation of his death than was the knee-on-the-back. At the least it introduced a reasonable doubt regarding the primary cause of Floyd’s death.
I’m not an MD, bu I have taken four years of pre-med science at university and have a far greater than average inderstaning of these issues.
That said, I did read both of the tox panels once the Hennepin County medical examiners had completed their work. No question the guy died of drug overdose (4x lethal dose fent, 2+ x lethal meth). I seem to recall having pdf’d both reports, and have read lately that the originals reports have been “modified”. Yeah, right. Getting ready for a new trial, are they? Seems to be how “they” run these days.. but hopefuly not for long.
WARNING … at 1338 Central time 2/7 when I clicked the _Skeptic Magazine_ link above it opened a page with a big sign warning that their website was under malicious control and to NOT click on anything on the page or respond to anything fron the site until they give an “all clear” …
their *facebook* is under malicious control. If their website was, it wouldn’t be warning you.
Just try to not be unnecessarily alarmist.
The USA is too kind to criminals.
“Research suggests that people on the left are more prone to crime than those on the right – and that the more left leading they are, the more crime-prone they tend to be.”
There has always been a symbiotic relationship between criminals and leftists. To explain why this is so, you have to consider than humans can (broadly) be classified into three mental types:
1) Realistic folks who believe in working hard and the rule of law. These people generally accept the World, as it is, and try to live, honorably, within it.
2) Utopians who dream of building some kind of social system that will create “Heaven on Earth”. These folks are perpetually dissatisfied with the condition of the World and want to believe that, if only they can create the “Magic Social Formula”, they can vastly improve the World for the better. These folks are very susceptible to being sold utopian dreams.
3) Criminals (psychopaths) who see all other humans as prey to be exploited for their own benefit. In their book, a smart human doesn’t work, doesn’t care to obey the law, and doesn’t dream of utopia. Instead, he or she creates utopia for himself, or herself, by exploiting those too weak to do the same.
Smart criminals, long ago, recognized that left-wing, Marxist ideas are the perfect tool to use to exploit the utopian dreamers. Therefore, smart criminals love Marxism because it is ideal to use for exploitation. What these criminals typically do is use left-wing ideology to sell Utopia Dreams to the segment of the human population that is susceptible to utopian beliefs. The plan, typically, is to form an alliance between the criminals and the utopians that is large and strong enough to seize political power.
Once the criminals are in positions of political power, they pillage and loot the public treasury for all its worth. They grow fat on taxpayer dollars, corruption, and kickbacks. To see that this is true, all you have to do is look at the history of Washington, D.C. over the last century.
No State can stand such “looting” over the long-term. That is why left-wing movements always collapse. As Margaret Thatcher said:
“The problem with Socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples’ money.”
The criminals don’t mind that. They are like pirates. They (a) use left-wing ideology to gain power, (b) once in power, they loot and pillage for all they can get, then (c) they take their loot and move on to look for new places to loot. The pirate names Soros is a prime example of this kind of criminal.
That is why left-wing ideology never dies despite a long, long, long, unbroken, record of failure and suffering. The ideology is too useful to the smart criminals of the World. It is too useful of a tool for criminal exploitation to ever be allowed to die.
Therefore, the link (noted above) between leftism and criminal activity should not surprise anyone. The relationship is symbiotic. The dreamers need the smart criminals to lead them and to tell them pleasant lies. The smart criminals need the dreamers as foot soldiers to gain power so that they can then loot the treasury and exploit others to their hearts’ content.
One hand washes the other! 🙂
thus they are both dirty all the time.
As of 15:20 2/7/25 the link has a message about the associated page being out of the control of it’s ownership.
I received that magazine for some time, but it’s been awhile. Glad to see you’re reading it, Mas, but I am not at all surprised.
Well, this is certainly interesting!! When I click on the link to the magazine, this warning appears:
SECURITY ALERT
Both the Skeptic Magazine and Michael Shermer Facebook pages are currently compromised and under unauthorized control. Please do not interact with, respond to messages from, or click on any links shared by either Facebook pages until we confirm we have regained control. We are working to resolve this situation and will update you when our pages are secure. For current updates, please refer only to our official website.
If you’ve ever worked the street, you know that you go to the same houses over and over. When you stop, you innocently think that they have changed………..UNTIL you find out that they just moved. The next generation is the same way since they grew up “thinking” that way of life was normal!
Left wingers are essentially amoral. No rules laws ethics or standards but what serves their demands. So they do whatever suits them at the moment. Crime isn’t crime to them. It’s just getting and taking what they want.
False. This is a gross mischaracterization of those on the Left. I know plenty of them and, while I disagree strongly with many of their political and social positions, would in no way describe them as being without a moral compass or beholding solely to own whims and desires.
Great comments, guys!
This is partly true but it is painting with too broad of a brush.
As I noted in my comment, above, the Left is actually an alliance of two (2) types of people. The leadership has a large slice of criminals in it. However, the people that form the base (and a minority of the leadership), tends to be composed of Utopian Dreamers who really do think that they are working to create a “Better World”.
John Parr’s comment is an accurate description of the criminal leadership of the Left. These people are narcissistic psychopaths who lack any moral compass at all. They have no qualms about preying upon other people for their own benefit.
However, as Jim Abraham points out, a lot of the people who form the base of the Left have good intentions and a strong desire to improve the World. They do have a moral compass.
Unfortunately, their desire to “Create Heaven on Earth” leaves them vulnerable to manipulation by the criminal psychopaths who are experienced Con-Men, and who (so often) worm their way into leadership positions on the Left.
Quote of the Day:
“The Road to Hell is paved with Good Intentions” – Common Proverb
Victor Davis Hanson, in a Hilldale College online course titled American Citizenship and its Decline, advances the theory that Marxists/Socialists/Leftists divide people into two groups: Oppressed and Oppressors (Karl Marx called them the proletariat and the bourgeoisie). The middle class confounds leftists, as the middle class is largely self-supporting and is typically neither poor nor oppressed.
The common denominator between criminals and socialists is their shared refusal of personal responsibility or accountability.
With respect to differences between the political left and right: When conservatives see a local problem, they tend to take direct action and spend their own money to fix it. Progressives see a problem and their first instinct is to lobby government to tax everybody else to fix the problem.
I recall at least one study that found that Republicans on average give more to private charity than Democrats. I know that while swinging a hammer at my local Habitat for Humanity a few years back and when providing Christmas Eve dinner at the local homeless shelter (our family did this for several years), I was surrounded by fellow Republican volunteers/donors. Of course my experiences are purely anecdotal and could reflect selection bias.
So you’re saying that when a Democrat sees the poor, they want to reach into the public treasury and have the government (the taxpayers) help the poor. When a Republican sees the poor, they want to reach into their own pocket, if they are able, and help the poor. Also, we all know the best way to help the poor is to help them get a good-paying job. In other words, practice capitalism.
My grandfather said, never give cash to a poor person. Pay a bill of theirs, or give them groceries.
Hi Diamondback,
Yes, I am afraid that the old AmBack crowd has faded away. Charlie Petty passed away in 2022, Dean Speir passed in 2023, and Tom Thompson, the president of MCRC, passed several years ago.
I see Snake45 over at The Armory Life forum, but I’ve lost track of most of the others.
Best Wishes,
Daniel
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