The meaning of Barack Obama's election.

Barack Obama is the President-elect of the United States. He shall be the first black President in the history of the United States. What does this mean for the question of race in the United States?

Well, everyone is saying that it means that America is no longer racist - but it is by no means so clear. You see, America is not what it used to be. More precisely, America is not as white as it used to be. Caucasians in America are on the decline and the "minority" races are on the rise. This colours the interpretation of what this particular election means, racially.

Wikipedia supplies data on the demographics of the US in 2006. At this time, 66% of Americans were non-Hispanic Whites; 14.8 % were Hispanic or Latin American; 13.4% were Black; some other race alone 6.5%; Asian alone 4.4%; two or more races 2.0%; American Indian or Alaskan native 0.68%; Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander: 0.14%. The figures don't add up to 100% exactly because Hispanics are being counted twice across all the races.

What can be seen from this is that America is very racially diverse and that the minority races are in very significant numbers. Indeed, in August 2008, the U.S. Census Bureau predicted that, by 2042, that non-Hispanic Whites would be in the minority, in the US.

Barack Obama won the election. However, this does not mean that racism is entirely on the wane in the USA. It could mean that whites (the expected origin of anti-black racism) are on the wane. There is still likely to be remnant anti-Black racism among some whites (the racist cries at Palin rallies is enough to indicate this), however this was overwhelmed by the weight of minorities voting for another minority. Racism is admittedly less of an issue in the USA than it used to be - but just because Obama won, that does not mean that racism is at an end.

Everyone is amazed at the election of a Black President. I am not so amazed myself. The changing demographics in the US have almost come to guarantee that a minority President was soon to be elected. Indeed, the time will come, when it will not be a surprise that a non-White is President - but a surprise that a White is President. You see, it is only just over 33 years before Whites become a minority in the USA. In that time, it is, perhaps, the White candidates who will find themselves unelectable. It may not be long before we will have seen the last White President of the United States of America.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.)

Why are politicians so stupid?

I have often wondered why modern politicians are so stupid. At least, they say stupid things and that is evidence enough of stupidity, for me. It puzzles me, really, because when I read of great politicians of the past, quoted (for instance Winston Churchill), I am often impressed by the wisdom, wit or insight of their words. It seems that modern politicians are a lesser breed (quite literally) and have not the basic components of an intelligent mind, to call upon.

I am about to detail the thoughts of a modern politician. I want you to guess the identity of the politician concerned. I further want you to think of what level of political responsibility you would feel safe entrusting to a person showing this level of intellect.

Here goes. The LA Times wrote recently that a leading politician believes that dinosaurs walked the Earth alongside humans, 6,000 years ago. When challenged on this belief, the politician claimed to “have seen pictures with human footprints inside the dinosaur tracks”. This same politician has made enquiries of the library system on how to ban books. This same politician would like creationism (the belief that God made the Earth 6,000 years ago, complete with all life) to be taught alongside evolution, in schools. Pupils would then be able to make “an informed choice”. This same politician is remarkably uninformed about political matters and said on CNBC in July 2008: “As for that VP talk all the time, I’ll tell you, I still can’t answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day?” This same politician when asked about their apparent inexperience with foreign policy countered with: “I can see Russia from my house”. When challenged by Katie Couric on CBS News to give an example of a Supreme Court decision other than Roe vs Wade, this same politician said: “Well, let’s see. There’s, of course, in the great history of America rulings, there have been rulings.” In the same interview, this politician was asked to name a single newspaper or magazine that they read and replied with: “All of ‘em, any of ‘em that have been in front of me over all these years.” This leading politician was unable to name a single publication.

Wow. These are the thoughts of a leading politician. Now, answer me this: is the person who uttered these words showing a reasonably functioning intellect? Do you see evidence that they are intelligent and capable? Would you feel comfortable entrusting them with high political office? Answer this: are they profoundly stupid or wonderfully gifted?

Please come to a decision on these matters before reading on.

Those words were spoken by Vice Presidential candidate Governor Sarah Palin.

Think about that. She is VP to an old man, who has survived extensive torture. He might die at any time. If she is VP to his Presidency, she could end up as the President of the United States. Yet, on the evidence of her own words, she is an utter moron. She cannot think coherently. She cannot put together an argument. She is not able to answer the simplest of questions, informatively. She appears to be the dimmest politician I have heard of. She makes George W Bush seem like a genius. Indeed, I feel safer having someone of his intellectual calibre running the US, than someone of hers.

How could this happen? How could a woman bereft of intellectual function of even the most basic level end up as Governor of Alaska? How could she be running for Vice President of the United States? Something is wrong with the way politicians are elected in the US. The first consideration should be not how charming they are - but how smart they are. If they are not smart enough to do a good job, they shouldn't ever be in the running, no matter how many people like them. Sarah Palin is not bright enough to be Governor of Alaska, on the evidence above. In fact, she isn't bright enough to be a primary school teacher. (Imagine a primary school teacher giving those answers to a child...just imagine what you would think of that teacher.)

Now, I need to point out that I have NO political opinion regarding the US. I am not involved in who wins or who loses. I am not sure of the differences between Barack Obama, Biden, Palin or McCain...I am just a bystander who finds himself amazed at the stupidity of one of the candidates. Then, again, it should be noted that Senator McCain chose Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. That was an exercise in his wisdom or lack of it. The fact that she is none too bright seems to indicate that maybe he isn't either. You see, if you are bright, you don't choose a stupid running mate. So, I begin to wonder about both of them.

Then, again, Barack Obama has seemed a bit superficial to me, at times, in his answers - as if either he can't think too deeply, or is not well enough informed to do so. All of it leaves me rather worried. I would like to see the USA in hands of someone really, really, bright enough to do a good job. I don't want to see it in the hands of a populist airhead of any race, sex or creed.

The modern politician is a stupid being. That much is clear. However, what is not is why the people of Earth ever allowed this to come to pass. The pity of it is, I suspect, however, that the electorate is too stupid to tell the difference. Thus, stupid people, elect stupid leaders, who make stupid decisions and stupidly destroy the countries they lead. Then again, financial institutions seem pretty good at doing the very same thing. So, politics doesn't have a monopoly on stupidity.

I would like to see a higher value being placed on intelligence as a quality in leaders of all kinds. Then, perhaps, we might have a world in which countries function well and wisely - and the world doesn't face the kind of global financial crisis that it now does.

So, I vote for wit and wisdom. Unfortunately, I can't find too many candidates who qualify. They must be hiding somewhere - or perhaps, wisely, thought better of getting involved in politics or finance in the first place.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.)