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Post a Comment On: Steve Sailer: iSteve

"Unaffordable Family Formation in the Islamic World"

17 Comments -

1 – 17 of 17
Blogger Ali said...

That is interesting reading. I'm inclined to think economic scleroticism and the disparity in wealth between the elite and the middle classes is a major contributing factor. This book lays more of the blame at a lack of civil liberties.

2/17/08, 3:47 AM

Anonymous SFG said...

Too bad they haven't turned into NYT-reading, one-child-having, latte-sipping lefties, eh?

Woody Allen never tried to blow up the WTC.

2/17/08, 7:10 AM

Anonymous Peter said...

I laughed at the caption on the first slideshow picture accompanying the article. The picture shows a young engaged couple shopping for a ring, and the caption says they are cousins.

The Middle East's real problem, in a nutshell.

2/17/08, 7:22 AM

Anonymous dearieme said...

A friend reports that a couple of the single young male Moslems he's known seemed to devote a lot of time to internet porn.

2/17/08, 9:22 AM

Anonymous William said...

The only good idea the government has come up with is to cut down on the cost of wedding ceremonies...

Uh, no, that's not the only idea. The other one involves exporting large objects - usually about 70 inches or so, and anywhere between 100-200 pounds, on average. That, they've found, is the most surefire way of boosting Egyptian fertility.

But where should they export these objects to? Preferably to some country where the government will subsidize both their import and their necessary upkeep.

2/17/08, 12:37 PM

Anonymous anony-mouse said...

And this idea can't be transferred to Southern California? Aren't there mega-curches already? Of course it would put wedding planners out of a job, and it wouldn't improve the cost of housing, but its a start (except the local celebrity part)

2/17/08, 12:49 PM

Blogger whiskey_199 said...

Steve good insight and the issue runs to other issues. Polygamy reduces the pool of available women and pushes up (due to scarcity) the income a prospective groom must have to secure a bride.

It's interesting to note that of the 19 hijackers, only one was married. HE wanted out of the plot, but his compatriots convinced him that his German wife was not a "proper" Islamic wife.

Societies that don't provide an avenue for marriage/family for young men find themselves plagued by violence.

2/17/08, 12:56 PM

Anonymous tommy said...

Egypt has lots of education but few seem to learn any skills worth paying for:

If you hang around the Egyptian blogosphere long enough you'll encounter plenty of young Egyptians with what would ordinarily be considered good educations and wise career paths in the First World unable to find decent employment at home.

2/17/08, 1:49 PM

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Coincidentally, the government of Egypt bought space in this week's NY Times mag promoting Egypt's recent economic reforms and growth. I've seen the data elsewhere and it is impressive: ~7% economic growth, unemployment down to single-digits, surging investment inflows, etc. Egypt is the largest Arab country though, so even if the middle class grew significantly in recent years, that still leaves tens of millions in squalor. At least it seems to be moving in the right direction economically though.

More broadly, the one positive difference about the current oil boom versus previous ones is that the major Arab oil exporters are investing more in providing economic opportunities for their people instead of just blowing their cash on harems and such. In addition to plowing money into Egypt, the Gulf oil exporters are plowing money into their own countries -- sponsoring local campuses of top American universities, building cities to employ their people in complementary businesses (e.g., plastics), etc.

Good news doesn't get a lot of play, but there is finally some good news coming out of the region.

- Fred

2/17/08, 3:40 PM

Blogger Hal said...

... and they all need a job. And they all want to move to America. And when they cannot find a self-esteem-raising job here, they will return to Islamic terrorism.

Reminds me of New Lefties (also immigrant children) who saw their sacred duty in the 1960's as tearing down goy America for rejecting them and their parents (and to score Minnesota farm girls whenever they could, like Eldridge Cleaver taught in "Soul on Ice").

We don't need anyone moving here who is (if our history is any experience) is almost assuredly going to blame us for his low station in life and try to tear us down.

2/17/08, 4:21 PM

Anonymous Anonymous said...

It's worth noting that Mohammed Atta was trained as some type of Engineer. His family could afford to send him to Germany but his marital prospects were not good.

2/17/08, 4:36 PM

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Societies that don't provide an avenue for marriage/family for young men find themselves plagued by violence.

What are the implications for China's future?

2/17/08, 8:09 PM

Anonymous thinking very loud said...

"Stymied by the government’s failure to provide adequate schooling and thwarted by an economy without jobs to match their abilities or aspirations, they are stuck in limbo between youth and adulthood."

Doesn't make sense. Have better economic possibilities existed say 100 years ago around the ME? I guess it was far worse back then. So were the Arabs all peace-loving back then? Probably as crazy as today. I'd say Islam makes them crazy. But I guess this is just another lame attempt of the NYT to indirectly blame the West and the US for all the ME problems.

And what happended to being celibate and single. In christianity being celibate was considered de rigeur, and often you would find singles who were celibate with dignity. Only the christian faith can give you the framework to see that as something positive and not a burden. It's not as if all these sexually obessed beautiful people in hollywierd have exemplary lives full of gratitude and satisfaction.

2/18/08, 4:35 AM

Anonymous Anonymous said...

While you guys have some aspects of this correct, you miss the main aspect pointed out by Thinking Very Loud: the culture is based around islam and the example of mohammed. The leaders haven't changed; they've been terrible for years. Now with the newfound wealth and dissemination of texts that people had been ignorant to in many of these countries (Sahih Muslim, Bukhari, tafsir interpretations of ibn Kathir, ibn Ishaq, jalalayn, etc. you are seeing islam reforming itself in its own image --- which according to the prophet's example was never good for unbelievers, homosexuals, women, or equality for any human being (unless muslim). The most cursory study of this man and islamic interpretations of the koran, sunna, etc. shows you why the society is so stifling and how it pits believer vs. unbeliever until domination takes place. The mention of love is very hard to come by in any of this --- make a note and find out for yourselves.

2/18/08, 9:30 AM

Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Stymied by the government’s failure to provide adequate schooling and thwarted by an economy without jobs to match their abilities or aspirations, they are stuck in limbo between youth and adulthood."

Jobs don't drop out of the sky. They exist because some person or group of person is engaged in economically productive labor, which in turn must enlist other people to perform complementary labor and so on in a web of economic activity.

Maybe this is why pyramids were invented. To give all those discontent young men something to do. And what happened to Egypt's grain surplus? It was the breadbasket of the Roman empire back in the day.

2/18/08, 10:59 AM

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Re: thinking very loud -- I remember in the 1970s watching a TV talk show where the host interviewed some black celebrity who had grown up in a very rural area of the deep South. He said that he had NO IDEA until he hitchhiked to NYC at the age of 18 that he had grown up dirt poor. Everybody he grew up with was dirt poor, and there was no television, no magazines, maybe no movie theatre either, etc.

These days, people all over the world who are dirt poor REALIZE that they are dirt poor due to the internet, movies, etc.

Argentina had the same problem in the 1970s/1980s. The Argentinian universities cranked out far too many graduates, and the graduates, due to the local culture, would not "settle" for jobs that were less than what they deserved as college graduates. Argentina went through tremendous unrest.

2/19/08, 11:30 AM

Anonymous corvinus said...

Uh, no, that's not the only idea. The other one involves exporting large objects - usually about 70 inches or so, and anywhere between 100-200 pounds, on average. That, they've found, is the most surefire way of boosting Egyptian fertility.

But where should they export these objects to? Preferably to some country where the government will subsidize both their import and their necessary upkeep.


I'd rather they not do that. Those of the objects which are produced in Egypt tend to be quite ugly-looking. In addition, they have programming which is extremely bug-ridden.

2/19/08, 4:17 PM

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