Originally Posted by Bostonian
HK, do you really think that observed SES differences in IQ and academic achievement are *primarily* due to "gaming the system"?

I am heartened to see that tons of NYT commenters understand The Bell Curve. I will quote just one, named ".N".

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/27/no-rich-child-left-behind/?comments#permid=2

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There isn't a single mention of the possible (likely) role of IQ differences. IQ is heritable--the extent to which it is heritable is debated, but there's overwhelming agreement that it is largely heritable. IQ is correlated with "life outcomes," a proxy for which is often income.

So, we would expect lower IQ members of the population to be poorer (on average) and to beget children who are (on average) of a similar IQ as the parents. From that perspective, it's completely predictable to have lower income families with children with (on average) worse academic achievement. Throw on top of that a misplacement of priorities, and the disparity isn't all that surprising.

The social Darwinism argument is the new divine right argument. It's just another attempt by the wealthy to rationalize away their anti-social tendencies.

A mom who doesn't help with the homework because she's busy trying to put food on the table has misplaced priorities... sure.