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Freedom Book of the Month
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Free-Market.Net's Freedom Book of the Month
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Edited by Sunni Maravillosa. To join or leave this and other
lists, click to: http://www.free-market.net/features/lists/
* Personal note
* December, 2003: "Diversity," by Peter Wood
* New and notable
PERSONAL NOTE
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Any of you know where December went in such a hurry? I sure don't.
Between the challenges of juggling all my Free-Market.Net hats,
caring for my two energetic children, and the holiday hustle-bustle,
it was more of a whirlwind for me than usual -- and transported off
to Oz in the whirlwind was December's Freedom Book of the Month
column. Fortunately, I've no witches, flying monkeys, or yellow brick
roads to deal with to get FBotM back, so, with sincere apologies for
its lateness, here is the December Freedom Book of the Month. The
winner is a dynamite book, one of my favorites of 2003. The January
selection will be announced in about a week, and thereafter Freedom
Book of the Month will resume publication on or near the first of the
month. Judging by the stack of books I have beside me, 2004 is going
to get off to a grand start.
But, speaking of 2003, we have unfinished business with that year
still: we need to choose a Freedom Book of the Year for 2003. Y'all
know the drill by now: Free-Market.Net members can cast a vote for
his or her favorite book that was published in 2003, and be eligible
for a $100 gift certificate from Laissez Faire Books. To vote, or to
become a free member, drop by our home page,
http://www.free-market.net/. Voting ends at midnight Central time,
February 29.
Happy new year!
Sunni
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Freedom Book of the Month for December, 2003:
"Diversity: The Invention of a Concept"
by Peter Wood
Encounter Books, 2003, hardcover, 351 pp.
ISBN: 1893554627
Here's a good psychological-type question for you. What do these
things -- affirmative action bake sales; Wellesley College; the
Supreme Court; and the increasing failure of America's public
schools to educate students -- all have in common? Armed with a
good knowledge of current events and some shrewd guessing, one
could likely get the answer within five tries. If you've already
read December's Freedom Book of the Month, it's a no-brainer.
The common thread is diversity, as Peter Wood demonstrates in his
excellent book "Diversity: The Invention of a Concept". In the book,
he distinguishes between the dictionary definition and the
politically correct one by italicizing the word when he means the
PC view (I'll follow suit and use asterisks). Doing so may seem
unnecessary and aimed at highlighting an artificial distinction, but
after reading "Diversity" most readers will probably agree with the
necessity of distinguishing between today's vapid meaning and the
word's once-useful definition as "the quality, state, or instance
of being different".
I can imagine that even some libertarians would object that our
culture is in fact celebrating differentness in wanting women,
Amerinds, Muslims, Asians, and others to be recognized for their
contributions to American society and culture. If that's what were
truly going on by preaching and mandating *diversity*, we would be
celebrating real diversity, but Wood knows better. Further, he lifts
the veil off *diversity* that many social meddlers would rather we
not even notice, much less peek behind. What he reveals, in twelve
engaging chapters, is an ideology that is ostensibly about
differentness, yet works very hard to put all individuals into
cramped little boxes with neat, tidy labels.
Wood, an anthropologist, begins by examining western Europe's
explorations and inevitable interactions with individuals and
cultures that were very different from western society. Extensive
quotations from explorers' narratives are surely a source of
mortification to the PC diversiphile who mistakenly thinks the book
only reaches back to the 1960s when the U.S. began its social
experimentation in earnest. Wood's journey proceeds through decades
and *diversity* arenas, with intriguing stops along the way. For
example, Wood asserts that Darwin is in part responsible for our
fascination with diversity, by placing biological diversity at the
center of his theorizing. Wood's discussion of *diversity* in the
arts and business is at turns sadly recognizable, penetratingly
insightful, and liberally embellished with a dry wit that often
surfaces in unexpected ways.
So, how did we get from Darwin and the importance of diversity for
life to affirmative action bake sales, where college students are
threatened because they parody the Supreme-Court sanctioned
admissions practices of their schools by charging different prices
according to the buyer's race, sex, and ethnicity? How can Wellesley
College -- an all-female university -- proudly boast that it's "one
of the most diverse colleges in the nation" when it refuses to even
consider any male applicant? Why have educators allowed themselves
to get so caught up in the affirmation of *diversity* that learning
is shunted aside for feel-good programs that dumb all students down?
Wood answers all these questions, and many more, in his thorough,
penetrating, but very clear and readable style.
Wood shows, through examples and by his deft touch at highlighting
its sometimes subtle egregiousness, that while *diversity* has roots
in genuine differences among humans, it ultimately seeks to squash
individual differences. The fundamental paradox Wood identifies is
this: while *diversity* is good between groups, it appears to be
unthinkable within groups (hence the media's continued "overlooking"
of most conservative African Americans, for example). *Diversity*
also elevates feelings over thinking, in part by serving up feel-good
imagery such as building bridges or creating coalitions -- not
noticing differences at the same time we're supposed to track those
differences to make sure every group is fairly represented. Most
importantly, it is an oppressor of true diversity, and the spirit of
American individuality; as Wood described it, diversity is "a closed
loop of thought and experience .... [that] seeks to *explain away*
rather than to explain inconvenient facts." (p. 307, italics in
original).
Peter Wood offers an examination of an increasingly important social
construct that is remarkable in both its scope and its depth.
"Diversity: The Invention of a Concept" offers academic coverage, an
often amusing style, and is so well presented that diversiphiles who
pick it up are unlikely to be able to put it down, even as they fume
about the goring of their favorite ox. It's genuinely difficult to
imagine a better treatment of such a complex concept.
Order "Diversity: The Invention of a Concept" from Laissez Faire
Books:
http://www.free-market.net/rd/772551611.html, current price $17.50
-----
New and notable
o "The Seven Myths of Gun Control," by Richard Poe
"Reclaiming the truth about guns, crime, and the Second Amendment"
is the subtitle -- need I say more? Yes, I do: do not ignore the
epilogue -- I would have happily paid the book's full price for it
alone.
Order "The Seven Myths of Gun Control" from Amazon.com:
http://www.free-market.net/rd/794254868.html, current price $16.77
o "Terrorism and Tyranny," by James Bovard
Looks like another touchdown for Bovard, as he insightfully and
thoroughly demolishes the idea that the U.S. government will protect
us from tyranny, or safeguard our evaporating freedom. Bovard's
opening sentence is a wallop, and he just doesn't stop.
Order "Terrorism and Tyranny" from Laissez Faire Books:
http://www.free-market.net/rd/825770298.html, current price $17.95
Keep doing freedom,
Sunni Maravillosa
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