See Freddie deBoer's Substack piece today on exactly this point. Be prepared for some serious reading should you venture into Freddie's many linked studies and previous pieces on the topic.
The idea that there is a correlation between spending more on health insurance and having a healthier population could only have taken hold in a USA context. In most of the developed world it’s not even a myth - it’s an American shibboleth, reinforced at the folk level by weird rankings against ‘socialism.’
Here are a few candidate myths. Not sure if these are specifically "progressive" or just widely held.
The U.S. doesn't spend very much on education.
High performing suburban school districts spend much more per student than low-performing urban school districts.
Humans are destroying the environment at an ever increasing rate.
The earth is overpopulated. [This one might be a bit subjective. But I do think most people overestimate how crowded the earth is because most people live in cities.]
That there is "no evidence" for genetic differences among races in mental traits (e.g. IQ), such that this is something only an ignorant racist could believe.
Race is a social construct. This is clearly true as apart from ethnicity no? The categories are often large umbrellas of geographic and ethnic commonality. Black, White, Latino, etc. How and when the groups expand, shrink, or consume one another is certainly historically and socially constructed. Asian as a category to include Indian or not, White to include Italians or Persians, or a whole host of ethnic Eurasian people, etc, etc.
I agree. If Bryan's point is that skin color and other phenotypic traits have a genetic origin, that is obviously true. But the use of the word "race" has been co-opted to mean any manner of thing including skin color, religion, culture or whatever is convenient for the authoritative class. A historical look at the way the word is used reveals IMO.
I think talk of race as a social construct is distracting. Often, when people deny that race is a social construct, they're really saying that race is tracking something real and non-socially constructed, such as genetic differences between groups. However, this kind of a strange way of putting the point. A group can be socially constructed and it can also track real genetic differences at the same time. For example, the group "alumni of Ivy League universities" is a social construction, but this group differs genetically from the rest of the population.
“Men and women are the same (aside from (maybe) their reproductive equipment).”
Many people believe that the average man and the average woman are equally well qualified to be soldiers or firefighters, and only sexism holds women back.
6 thousand years ago and earlier in the middle climate zone, women live separately from men in their villages and at a much higher cultural and material level.
Please buy this book, read it, and write about it.
"Society cannot be reliably improved through lies, exaggerations, and misleading stories; it requires knowledge of the real, factual situation we face, in whatever area we seek to improve matters." Michael Huemer
They practice, but only one move ahead, and on what promises immediate benefits. 99% of humanity is not able to rationally calculate the benefits for EVERYONE, all their rationalism begins and ends with the dear and beloved STOMACH!
The myth that if the racial composition of a company's workforce differs from the racial composition of the population in the region where the company operates, the hiring process is racist.
The myth that all racial disparities in life outcomes must be the result of systemic racism (whether past, present, or both).
The related myth that in a perfectly equal and meritocratic society there’d be no racial disparities in accomplishments, life outcomes, pay, etc.
The myth that if the results of an exam favor certain groups, the exam must be inherently discriminatory.
The myth that the government doesn't impose racial quotas (it does, by penalizing companies whose employees' racial composition doesn't match the population from which they hire).
> “Race is a social construct.” If this is true, why do socially identified race and DNA-identified race match so closely?
Genetically, Obama is as white as he is black. Yet society treats gun like a black person much more thanike a white person. How is this? How is it that Bantus are treated like they are the same race as Ko-San, even though they are genetically closer to Norwegians. One can't help but conclude that there is some sort of social component.
this one for sure - “There’s no such thing as intelligence, and even if there is, IQ tests are a bad way to measure intelligence.” Some people really are smarter than others, and IQ scores are the greatest triumph of psychometrics.
I am sure they were by the standards of our time. Heck, even we are racists by the standards of our time (as in your case is proven by the fact that you seem to doubt the deep racism of the founding fathers :).
Public educational results would improve if only we spent more money on education.
See Freddie deBoer's Substack piece today on exactly this point. Be prepared for some serious reading should you venture into Freddie's many linked studies and previous pieces on the topic.
Something about this doomed Age of Austerity and Neoliberalism. Maybe: “America has been steadily gutting funding for social services since the 80s.”
This guy has a great podcast you all should check out. It’s called “Ideas Having Sex.”
Thank you sir!
How about “increased health insurance leads to significantly better health outcomes.”?
Or “ increased government spending on health care leads to significantly better health outcomes.”
From a fiscal point of view, this dwarfs all this other myths in their impact.
The idea that there is a correlation between spending more on health insurance and having a healthier population could only have taken hold in a USA context. In most of the developed world it’s not even a myth - it’s an American shibboleth, reinforced at the folk level by weird rankings against ‘socialism.’
Here are a few candidate myths. Not sure if these are specifically "progressive" or just widely held.
The U.S. doesn't spend very much on education.
High performing suburban school districts spend much more per student than low-performing urban school districts.
Humans are destroying the environment at an ever increasing rate.
The earth is overpopulated. [This one might be a bit subjective. But I do think most people overestimate how crowded the earth is because most people live in cities.]
On that last topic there have been a great series of posts at https://unchartedterritories.tomaspueyo.com/p/100-billion-humans
That there is "no evidence" for genetic differences among races in mental traits (e.g. IQ), such that this is something only an ignorant racist could believe.
Race is a social construct. This is clearly true as apart from ethnicity no? The categories are often large umbrellas of geographic and ethnic commonality. Black, White, Latino, etc. How and when the groups expand, shrink, or consume one another is certainly historically and socially constructed. Asian as a category to include Indian or not, White to include Italians or Persians, or a whole host of ethnic Eurasian people, etc, etc.
I agree. If Bryan's point is that skin color and other phenotypic traits have a genetic origin, that is obviously true. But the use of the word "race" has been co-opted to mean any manner of thing including skin color, religion, culture or whatever is convenient for the authoritative class. A historical look at the way the word is used reveals IMO.
I think talk of race as a social construct is distracting. Often, when people deny that race is a social construct, they're really saying that race is tracking something real and non-socially constructed, such as genetic differences between groups. However, this kind of a strange way of putting the point. A group can be socially constructed and it can also track real genetic differences at the same time. For example, the group "alumni of Ivy League universities" is a social construction, but this group differs genetically from the rest of the population.
“Men and women are the same (aside from (maybe) their reproductive equipment).”
Many people believe that the average man and the average woman are equally well qualified to be soldiers or firefighters, and only sexism holds women back.
6 thousand years ago and earlier in the middle climate zone, women live separately from men in their villages and at a much higher cultural and material level.
Economic myths: 1) Rent control, 2) Minimum wage
I’d add the labor theory of value. Seems to underpin a lot of leftist thought
Gun violence and gun rights. Most commentators emphasize gun violence without talking about defensive gun use.
Since you lasted posted on Huemer's book, I've developed an affinity for it.
See here: "George Floyd's Cause of Death" https://substack.com/@scottgibb/p-152318083
And here: "Where Does Woke Ideology Come From?" https://substack.com/@scottgibb/p-152078638
Please buy this book, read it, and write about it.
"Society cannot be reliably improved through lies, exaggerations, and misleading stories; it requires knowledge of the real, factual situation we face, in whatever area we seek to improve matters." Michael Huemer
Thank you Prof. Huemer.
It's good to hear that, brother.
The myth (or the exaggeration) that people do not engage in economically rational behavior
They practice, but only one move ahead, and on what promises immediate benefits. 99% of humanity is not able to rationally calculate the benefits for EVERYONE, all their rationalism begins and ends with the dear and beloved STOMACH!
Why stick to progressive myths? You've yet to discuss myths about Israel not to mention the myth of patriotism means supporting our foreign policy without question,. See Atrocity, Inc. via Grayzone or even better this article from Antiwar.com: https://news.antiwar.com/2024/12/02/us-zionist-group-targets-pro-palestine-protesters-with-facial-recognition-in-hopes-trump-will-deport-them/
The myth that if the racial composition of a company's workforce differs from the racial composition of the population in the region where the company operates, the hiring process is racist.
The myth that all racial disparities in life outcomes must be the result of systemic racism (whether past, present, or both).
The related myth that in a perfectly equal and meritocratic society there’d be no racial disparities in accomplishments, life outcomes, pay, etc.
The myth that if the results of an exam favor certain groups, the exam must be inherently discriminatory.
The myth that the government doesn't impose racial quotas (it does, by penalizing companies whose employees' racial composition doesn't match the population from which they hire).
> “Race is a social construct.” If this is true, why do socially identified race and DNA-identified race match so closely?
Genetically, Obama is as white as he is black. Yet society treats gun like a black person much more thanike a white person. How is this? How is it that Bantus are treated like they are the same race as Ko-San, even though they are genetically closer to Norwegians. One can't help but conclude that there is some sort of social component.
this one for sure - “There’s no such thing as intelligence, and even if there is, IQ tests are a bad way to measure intelligence.” Some people really are smarter than others, and IQ scores are the greatest triumph of psychometrics.
America's Founders were racist and sexist. Is this a myth?
I am sure they were by the standards of our time. Heck, even we are racists by the standards of our time (as in your case is proven by the fact that you seem to doubt the deep racism of the founding fathers :).
See my post: "Why Do Some People Believe Queer Things" https://substack.com/@scottgibb/p-151061071
Or my post: "Are You Responsible for Your Beliefs?" https://scottgibb.substack.com/p/are-you-responsible-for-your-beliefs
And if you're progressive you won't want to miss out on my post, "How Did the Final Solution Become a Thing?"
https://scottgibb.substack.com/p/how-did-the-final-solution-become
And published just 44 minutes after your comment my post: "Make America Great Again?"
https://scottgibb.substack.com/p/make-america-great-again
The answer will have to await development of an effective time machine. Even then...