Controlling the Underclass
by tdaxp ~ March 8th, 2008
Chicago links school cameras to 911 center — chicagotribune.com
More than 4,500 cameras in Chicago public schools are being connected to police headquarters and the city’s 911 center in a technological upgrade designed to improve safety, officials said Thursday.In an emergency, arriving officers also will be able to view real-time images from the cameras on screens in their squad cars.
Slashdot mentions Chicago’s police-cameras in schools, while Half Sigma links to a story about paying students to do well.
Both stories have in common this: low intelligence is associated with lack of goal-setting and impulsive-controlling behaviors. Internal motivation to overcome this detriment is often lacking, and may be best instilled only through practice. Therefore, external motivation — external forms of control — are needed to encourage and discourage activities among the underclass. External forms of control would not be so needed needed if cultural and other factors were so not tilted toward crime and misdeeds.
The New York Times uses top 1% of income, not wealth. From the legend:...
March 8th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
Maybe they’re trying to keep an eye on Zenpundit?
March 8th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
Tdaxp, I don’t think you’ve thought this through.
Are all students in those schools not intelligent? If so, do the kids who are intelligent within the schools (and there is no doubt some are) deserve to be kept an eye on?
How are you defining class? Economically? Or are you saying the underclass is one based on intelligence?
In either case, economically or intelligence, what about white collar crime and organised crime? Or smart career criminals? Both of whom have shown extreme violence in specific cases in the past.
Why should a nanny state waste my tax dollars on something that is not only genetically based, but also environmentally based through poor parenting, upbringing and home life?
Who says surveillance will discourage crime? Crimes still occur in front of surveillance cameras. People rob banks with masks on, criminals assault others on trains with cameras rolling. If someone wants to hurt or rob, or destroy property, then they are going to do it without factoring in the fact that a surveillance camera is there.
Oh, and I’m chuckling here, are you saying that ENVIRONMENTAL factors like surveillance cameras can supercede genetic ones? So, really, other environmental factors could also be considered not just draconian, police-state, forces that you are suggesting.
also LOL at talking about low intelligence when your post reeks of low intelligence itself and inability to think the issue through. Perhaps we better put controlling measures on yourself as well Dan.
You would have been quite at home in ww2 era germany.
March 8th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Deichmans,
Zenpundit is always our primary concern. Never forget that.
Dei,
Thank you for your excellent comment.
“Are all students in those schools not intelligent?”
Clearly there is variation.
” If so, do the kids who are intelligent within the schools (and there is no doubt some are) deserve to be kept an eye on?”"
All students deserve a safe school, and the community deserves a system that throws up static to potential criminals.
“How are you defining class? Economically? Or are you saying the underclass is one based on intelligence?”
Yes. The underclass can be defined as those who are radically now focused or do not have a future-orientation — that goes well with low intelligence.
“In either case, economically or intelligence, what about white collar crime and organised crime? Or smart career criminals? Both of whom have shown extreme violence in specific cases in the past.”
Indeed. And clearly, organized or white-collar criminals will be of high intelligence. However, this plan aims to get at random- or honor-based crime violent crime, which is more typical of the underclass.
“Why should a nanny state waste my tax dollars on something that is not only genetically based, but also environmentally based through poor parenting, upbringing and home life?”
Could you rephrase this?
“Who says surveillance will discourage crime? Crimes still occur in front of surveillance cameras. People rob banks with masks on, criminals assault others on trains with cameras rolling. If someone wants to hurt or rob, or destroy property, then they are going to do it without factoring in the fact that a surveillance camera is there.”
Well, the smarter they are, the more likely they will factor that in.
Again, this is aimed at the underclass (say, the bottom 10%, or so).
“Oh, and I’m chuckling here, are you saying that ENVIRONMENTAL factors like surveillance cameras can supercede genetic ones? So, really, other environmental factors could also be considered not just draconian, police-state, forces that you are suggesting.”
Clearly there are other tools that might work as well. That doesn’t mean these particular ones don’t.
“also LOL at talking about low intelligence when your post reeks of low intelligence itself and inability to think the issue through. Perhaps we better put controlling measures on yourself as well Dan.”
At least you didn’t criticize my spelling!
“You would have been quite at home in ww2 era germany.”
I can’t speak German, so I probably would be somewhat disoriented.
March 8th, 2008 at 10:06 pm
The education system in this country needs big time reform. First of all, kids who show signs at an early age of having low future orientation need to be directed towards occupations that would better suit them.
The most important factor in this career redirection is social. One of the biggest disservices that the current system inflicts on students is telling them things like “you can be anything you want.” I consider this to be bordering on abuse as telling young people this type of demagoguery leads to later resentment and dissatisfaction.
Instead, the underclass should be socialized to accept the idea that being a custodian or kitchen employee can be a very honorable life. These students should be taught about the importance of sanitation and cleanliness. Their motivation should come from knowing that they preform an invaluable service for society. They would not look at their job as being less important then anyone else.
Another import part of the socialization process will be to get the underclass to compete with others in an indirect manner. So instead of thinking they are inferior for being a dishwasher, they will instead thrive to do their jobs better than a engineer does his or hers. The dishwasher would think to him or herself “well, I’m not the President but I do my job better than the President, so I’m more valuable to society than he is.
This program would start after 6th grade, as this should be enough time to assess each student. From 6th to 9th grade the student will be taught general skills, such as tools, organization, general math, motivation, but the most important part of this stage is the socialization. The student must be made to believe that they are no less a person than anyone else (Because in reality, they’re not).
After 9th grade they will be placed into a specialty. Off the top of my head these specialties may be 1) Custodian 2) Kitchen worker (this includes fast-food) 3) Agriculture 4) Health-care worker. There are others, but these should not be mixed up with the skilled trades. This is a program for the underclass. This program not only prepares them for the jobs that they are most qualified for, but most importality, socializes them the proper way.
The constant abuse that our schools and media inflict on these children in the form of “you can be anything you want as long as you put your mind to it” not only harms the students but hurts those on the receiving end of these students resentment.
Its important to point out again that this program is not to be mixed up with the skilled trades. Skilled trades (plumber, electrician, welder) require just as much discipline as any professional career and should not in anyway be thought of as being where you send the underclass. This program is for those students who have no chance of succeeding anywhere else.
Besides preparing these children for occupations that they are suited for, and socializing them into valuing what they do, this programs also separates these students from their peers who have the ability to succeed in school. This benefits these students in two ways. First, it removes the distractions that the underclass produces. But more importantly, it allows for teachers to focus on teaching and not on baby sitting. One thing that bothers me to no end is the fact that America uses more resources on “underperforming” students than we do on students with the most promise.
The fact that America cannot produce more engineers than China is not purely the result of population sizes. We need to allocate resources to students who produce the biggest return on our investments and marginalize anyone who uses emotions to argue more of the same. I should also point out that America produces more lawyers than it does engineers. This very fact can tell us a lot about the state of education in America.
There are people who would get very worked up about this idea. These people should be regarded as child abusers and their behavior should be considered dangerous to the welfare of children. In order for the United States to remain a global hegemon, the education system must be reformed. While more is needed beyond just this program, it does address a major problem. We can’t just do nothing about the underclass, but at the same time we can’t waste resources on a group that for the last 40 years have shown no to little progress. This program is the humane thing to do.
March 9th, 2008 at 6:02 am
Several thoughts inspired by Seerov’s comment:
* focus young kids on Boyd’s to-be / to-do fork — instead of asking them “What do you want to be?” get them to think about what they want to do (well)
* in the Taoist canon, the lower / more grounded position is the preferred — the “underclass” is more honorable because it is more harmonious — humility is power
* “the higher one’s ideals, the lower one’s results” Tao Te Ching 58
March 9th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
Seerov,
For the most part, I disagree.
Each human mind contains two major systems: one that is limited by working memory, is under conscious control, and is associated with general intelligence, the other residing in unlimited long-term memory, is unconscious, and does not vary in capacity in the population. Once something is learned, it automatizes itself into long-term memory.
The failure of our education system isn’t that it doesn’t produce enough janitors — we import those just fine in large numbers from spanish-speaking countries — its that it doesn’t produce enough engineers. Those who have lower working memory need more intensive education, not less. Because once they do set their mind to a task — once they learn it in long-term memory — it can be effortless executed.
Moon,
My preference is to get them to study and learn skills — something less airy and more durable than answers to the to-be / to-do question
March 10th, 2008 at 1:29 am
Dan,
I think you misunderstood my post. The name of this thread is “Controlling the underclass.” The program I laid out is a plan to do so.
The idea is to reach this underclass at an early age and implement a sense of meaning into their lives. These people will not be engineers or hedge-fund managers when they grow up. Instead, they’ll either be criminals or low skilled workers.
My program removes these kids from their peers and socializes them into feeling good about their lives. The purpose of removing them is to decrease the chances of them growing resentful when they fail to compete with other kids. This failure normally leads the underclass to find way to make up for this low self-esteem through disruptive behavior. The point is NOT to train a group of uber-janitors, its to teach the underclass to feel pride in their lives. Hopefully this pride will result in lower costs for society later.
Because the system won’t have to waste resources trying to turn the underclass into rocket sciences, these resources can be directed to kids who have real potential to be rocket scientists.
Although I have no stats to back this up, I’m pretty sure more money is spent on programs trying to help underclass kids “be anything they want” compared to programs that recognize kids with real potential and bring out this potential. In America, it seems that we teach to the weakest link instead of demanding excellence.
There is no reason we can’t produce more engineers than India and China put together. We just need to stop wasting time on kids who never seem to show promise. This doesn’t mean these kids don’t have a place in society. By socializing them into being the best dishwashers they can be, they’ll feel less inclined to disrupt society. My program embraces nature and doesn’t try to change something that can’t be changed. The fact that a city has to place 4500 cameras in its territory to watch people carry out their lives is a sure sign that resources are being allocated wrongly.
March 10th, 2008 at 3:40 am
Seerov,
More money is spent on special education than gifted education, though this does not represent educational resources spent on the underclass.
Generally, there’s two ways you can end up with a low IQ. In “familial retardation,” you have low IQ and your IQ is roughly the average of your parents’. In “organic retardation,” yours is significantly below the average of your parents (perhaps because of a birth defect, etc.). [1] Most special ed money goes to programs for the organically retarded, and thus away from the self-reproducing low-intelligence classes.
As I wrote before:
“care that is appropriate for the organically retarded (a strong focus on basic social skills) would be neglectful for the familially retarded (who may require, by contrast, more intense schooling).”
If one is lower in working memory than one’s peers — whether your IQ is 70 in a bad school or 115 in a great college — then there’s a simple solution: study more, use worked examples, and practice. A work ethic goes a long way, and produces an outcome much better for society than more janitors.
[1] http://www.tdaxp.com/archive/2007/11/14/the-soft-bigotry-of-low-expectations.html
March 10th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
So the question is, how do we “control the underclass.” What do we do with these people? How can adults with IQ’s under 80 be any use to modern society? Is low IQ connected to low rates of future orientation?
March 10th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
“So the question is, how do we “control the underclass.””
Rewards and punishments, hence the post.
“What do we do with these people?”
Educate them.
“How can adults with IQ’s under 80 be any use to modern society?”
Because IQ affects only working memory capacity, while long term memory capacity is unlimited in the population. Once a routine is automated in long-term memory, it can be executed effortlessly without taxing working memory
“Is low IQ connected to low rates of future orientation?”
Yes.
March 11th, 2008 at 2:00 am
I stumbled on this site whilst searching for information on the publication Before the Dawn.
I am stunned by the narrow, blinkered vision, extended by posters in this thread !
Hitler would be proud knowing that his idiotic dreams were alive and well and developing in the highest compartments of learning in the most “powerful” country in the world.
Surely populations must not be manipulated and sacrificed by the self promoted elite of the world’s most aggressive and destructive power.
This stuff gives meaning to the word EVIL, a word in which I have had no belief.
March 11th, 2008 at 2:05 am
The WORTH OF A HUMAN BEING ??
The measurement of brain “worth” using the old method of IQ analysis has long been questioned as any sort tool to attempt the valuation of human beings.
March 11th, 2008 at 5:04 am
Ann,
Thank you for your comment. I hope you found the Before the Dawn [1] review easily.
You seem to have strong feelings on the subject! Could you elaborate?
It is interesting how all conversations eventually include Hitler analogies [2], isn’t it?
All human beings have equal worth, of course. That’s not a factual question, so I never fear anyone proving it wrong.
IQ is a good measure of working memory of conscious thought capacity. I agree it’s not a measure of intrinsic “value,” as (again) all humans have equal moral value.
[1] http://www.tdaxp.com/archive/2007/05/02/review-of-before-the-dawn-by-nicholas-wade.html
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin's_law#_note-TheEconomist