Archive for February, 2018

Real World Graduation: Question 19

by Edward Posted: Sunday, 2/25/2018

RealWorldGraduation_Question_19   <– PDF

Suppose a prominent black civil rights leader had made public speeches like these in 1993:

a.  “Only after the white virus destroying the quality of life of black people has been eliminated can we hope to promote cooperation between the remaining races, which will then be founded on a common understanding.”

b.  “Honkie parasites on one hand ripped off the black people without a second thought, and on the other hand instigated people of color to violence. The misfortunes of black people have become a continuing objective for these white trash crackers, and it was unfortunately made possible because of the large number of desperate unemployed black people that mistakenly supported the international trade treaties, which further benefitted the rich honkies.”

What is the proper amount of government regulation or actions that should be adopted to address speech of this sort?

a) Public speeches of this sort should first be subject to review by qualified people to determine if they are acceptable for public consumption. If a proposed speech is considered acceptable, then the speech could be made.  However, neither of these two fragments is acceptable, and both should be prohibited.

b) These fragments are obviously racist, and should be prohibited by appropriate legislation.

c) These fragments indicate both racism and mental illness, and the person who made these statements should be examined to determine his mental health. If he is found to be of sound mind, he should be prosecuted for racism or hate speech.

d) The person making these statements should be prosecuted for hate speech unless he can prove he is mentally ill and therefore not responsible for what he says.

e) Because of the First Amendment, it is difficult to pre-empt speech solely because some find it objectionable. For radical opinions like these, a one-size-fits-all approach won’t work, but the government should consider some appropriate remedy, tailored to specific cases.  However, such remedies should be civil (i.e., fines and restrictions) instead of criminal (imprisonment).

(The answer is shown on p. 2 of the PDF.)

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Real World Graduation: Question 18

by Edward Posted: Sunday, 2/18/2018

RealWorldGraduation_Question_18  <– PDF

Consider the following fictional scenario. A certain city of 250,000 people was consistently overrun with rats.  It was estimated that there were about 20 times as many rats in the city as there were people.  The rats continued to be a health nuisance, and many children had to be treated in local hospitals due to rat bites and the diseases they carry.  Over the past ten years, the citizens had voted for, and paid, special taxes to be allocated to fighting the rat problem, totaling $150,000,000.  (This works out to about $60 per year for ten years for each city resident.)  The city sanitation department was in charge of suppressing the rats, and sometimes made some progress.  They routinely proclaimed great successes, but over the long run, the reality was that the rat population continued to grow, outpacing the growth of the human population.

A certain wealthy man decided to take some action. He convinced a local radio station to announce a “bounty” on rats, amounting to $2.00 per pound for any rats, dead or alive, payable in cash to any resident of the city who showed up at the city dump with the rats on a certain day.  This was widely advertised over a two-week period; on the chosen day, many city residents arrived at the city dump with about five million dead rats. This is far greater than the total number of rats killed by the city forces in the past ten years.

The average weight of the rats was about 1.5 pounds each; this initiative cost the wealthy man about $15,000,000 all total. The wealthy man paid the bounty in cash as promised.  The total expense was about one-tenth of the total cost of the special taxes paid by the residents over the past ten years.

Then, to embarrass the city, the wealthy man arranged for all the dead rats to be dumped on the sidewalks in front of City Hall late on a Sunday night. When the City Hall workers come to work the next morning, they could not get into the building because of all the dead rats blocking the entrances.  Naturally, the Mayor and City Council members were furious, and called a press conference to denounce the private rat killing effort.  The mayor demanded that the wealthy patron have the rats removed, which was refused.  The city ended up removing the rats and burned them in a neighboring incinerator.  What is likely to happen next?

a) An investigation will be conducted into how the tax money appropriated for the unsuccessful city-run rat suppression initiative was spent to see if there was any waste, fraud, or abuse of the taxpayer’s money.

b) The head of the sanitation department will resign for his failure to get the rat population under control, even though the taxpayers had paid $150,000,000 in taxes for that purpose over the previous ten years.

c) The Mayor will resign in disgrace for letting the rat situation get out of control.

d) The Mayor will remain in office, but will announce that he will not run for re-election.

e) Both a) and b) plus either c) or d).

(The answer is shown on p. 2 of the PDF.)

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Real World Graduation: Question 17

by Edward Posted: Sunday, 2/11/2018

RealWorldGraduation_Question_17    <– PDF

A famous Hollywood movie star/celebrity concluded that he was born as the wrong sex because he was attracted to other men.  He had a sex change operation and changed his name from William to Jessica.  After the sex change, she found that she was no longer attracted to men, but was now attracted to women.  This has turned out to be very confusing for her and her fans.  What is the best course of action to address this unusual behavior?

a) Have a sex change back to a man and announce he is gay.

b) Maintain her sex as a woman, but live like a man and date women.

c) Undergo extensive therapy to find out why he/she thought she/he should have been a female in the first place.

d) Become a lesbian, since that is her present orientation.

e) Change his/her name to Dale, Kim, Robin, or Gene to get in touch with her masculine side (since these names are commonly given to both boys and girls).

(The answer is contained on p. 2 of the PDF.)

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Real World Graduation: Question 16

by Edward Posted: Sunday, 2/4/2018

RealWorldGraduation_Question_16      <– PDF

Slavery in the Southern states was abolished in the U. S. after the Civil War with the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution on 6 Dec 1865.  However, racism continued to be a problem, as exemplified by the so-called “Jim Crow” laws that began to be passed in the late 1880’s.  The Jim Crow laws consisted of provisions such as [1, 2]:

  1. Segregation of whites and blacks in restaurants, theaters, hospitals, public transportation, schools, and libraries. The facilities provided for blacks were generally inferior to those provided for whites.
  2. Literacy tests were applied to black voters, but exemptions made for illiterate whites.
  3. Poll taxes on black people, but waived for whites.
  4. Prohibition of racial intermarriages and curfews that applied only to black people.
  5. Railroading black people into long jail sentences for minor infractions, then paroling them to large landowners, who worked them as slaves.
  6. Occasional lynching’s by the KKK and other white supremacy groups to keep the black people in fear (approximately 4950 lynchings occurred between 1880 and 1968)
  7. Black people were prohibited from owning guns.

Based on the above facts, what were the primary underlying objectives of the Jim Crow laws?

a) Allowed the Republican Party to suppress the black votes and keep them in fear because they could not defend themselves.

b) Allowed the Republican Party to take advantage of black people by keeping them in poverty relative to whites.

c) Allowed the Republican Party to perpetuate the falsehood that blacks were inferior and could not be trusted.

d) Allowed the Republican Party to keep the blacks isolated and ignorant by preventing them from achieving the same educational level as the whites.

e) All of the above

(See answer on p. 2 of the PDF.)

References:

[1]   Ronald L. F. Davis, Ph. D, “Creating Jim Crow: In Depth Essay”, see (www.jimcrowhistory.org)

[2]   Clayton E. Cramer, “The Racist Roots of Gun Control”, (see www.firearmsandliberty.com)

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