Where Have All the Liberals Gone? Race, Class and Ideals in America by James R Flynn
Cambridge University Press, £19.99
WITH the election of Barack Obama as the first black President of the United States, the timing of Professor Flynn’s latest work on race, class and ideals in America could not be more propitious. Flynn combines political and moral philosophy with social psychology to argue passionately against the idea that we should rank races and classes.
From research recording that IQ scores have risen by three points every decade he constructs a compelling case that any racial differences in IQ are caused by environment, not genetics – a useful corrective to Herrnstein and Murray’s discredited work The Bell Curve.
Flynn dissects, with scholarly precision, the four problems blighting US society: race, working class marginalisation, militaristic imperialism and incoherent theories of knowledge. Obama’s victory has renewed the focus on race in the US but racial inequality is still prevalent. Flynn finds blacks much worse off than whites across a range of economic, environmental and social indicators. Using multiple regression analysis he shows that apparent IQ gaps between black and white Americans are caused by environmental, social and educational disadvantages.
In discussing social exclusion Flynn voyages from Aristotle through Thomas Jefferson and the Enlightenment to social democracy. He argues for open access to healthcare through socialised medicine, education for all, quality public housing and strong law enforcement, all underpinned by a strong egalitarian ethos and sense of pride in the community.
Flynn is guided by the moral idealism of Jefferson, third president of the US. You can sense his dismay when he takes aim at current US foreign policy, which he sees as further evidence that America has diverged from the path forged by Jefferson and the founding fathers. His critique is sharp and convincing: invading other countries is counterproductive; there is no rationale for at least half the US bases around the world and cuts in military spending would not compromise US security.
In his quest for a philosophical foundation for Jefferson’s ideals he relies on logic and science and sees postmodernist epistemology as confused: “The claim that all theories are equally explanatory or not was refuted every time Derrida put on his spectacles. The theory of optics explains why they work and nothing else will do.”
Quintessentially, Flynn’s arguments are intimately bound up not just with empirical investigation but with passionate philosophical arguments about the nature of society itself. It is always absorbing, frequently moving and sometimes revelatory. His use of mathematical formulae can be abstruse, but his excellent take on American society should be slipped into President Obama’s Christmas stocking.
Enrico Tortolano
