Steve Sailer Scoops a Big One
There are so many double standards in this story it boggles the mind. Apparently Hasidic Jews, among America’s most wealthy ethnic groups, were able to get “minority” status for themselves for purposes of federal contracting. Sailer breaks an important story that sweeps from a roid-raged punk in Miami Beach to an Israeli-owned gun shop in LA to Michael Jackson (yes, that Michael Jackson):
isteve.blogspot.com/2008/03/amazing-adventures-of-men-with-gold.html
isteve.blogspot.com/2008/03/hey-feds-theres-this-thing-called.html
isteve.blogspot.com/2008/03/how-did-diveroli-family-qualify-for.html
isteve.blogspot.com/2008/03/general-theory-of-afghan-ammo-swindle.html
isteve.blogspot.com/2008/03/is-aey-hasidic-enough-to-be-eligible.html
isteve.blogspot.com/2008/03/alleged-transcript-of-diveroli.html
isteve.blogspot.com/2008/04/packouz-were-not-hasidic.html
These are the same people who run the rip-off lowball “camera shops” you see in magazines that operate out of Brooklyn. Unfortunately, I’ve had this experience personally! Sailer’s working theory is, oddly enough, loosely based on the 2nd amendment:
Why the Hasidim?
First, there is the “in-group morality.” Some Muslim in Afghanistan loses an eye because his bullet explodes in his gun? Eh … The taxpayers of America have to shell out more to make up the loss? Eh …
Second, there is the simple psychological ability to not be distressed about other people’s anger, whether justifiable or not. Most people become uncomfortable when people around them become angry and they try to mollify the angry person. (The Japanese are among the world leaders at feeling psychic pain when people around them aren’t content.) In contrast, the kind of people who flourish in these kind of bait and switch businesses don’t mind other people getting angry at them. They just get angry right back, angrier even. It’s fun.
My cocktail party theory of the origins of this stems from Robert Heinlein’s famous phrase, “An armed society is a polite society.” In most of medieval Europe, you didn’t want to get into screaming arguments with acquaintances because they might pull out a sword and run you through. Well, medieval ghettos were largely disarmed, so the verbally hostile weren’t excused from the culture and gene pool.
So, the bottom line is that anybody sensible would be cautious before buying from Hasidic-owned businesses that don’t specifically have a good reputation, like B&H. Take that super-duper quoted price and add a percentage to account for all the hassles you are letting yourself in for.
But, of course, nobody is supposed to think like that. The media won’t print that kind of advice. And the poor federal government isn’t supposed to treat Hasidim skeptically, they’re officially supposed to bend over backwards for them and treat them like a legally privileged minority!
Update: Of course, in neither of Efraim’s two mugshots is he wearing a beard or a hat, so I guess he’s Hasidic for federal contracting purposes, but a wild and crazy guy for the ladies.
Not many people know this, but 90% of the costs of affirmative action are hidden from sight. One engineer getting a promotion over another because he’s black causes a bit of economic damage, and certainly a lot of personal damage to the victim. But where the bills really get paid for the Racial Extortion Coalition is in government contracting.
You see, the leaders of minority groups aren’t usually so interested in the welfare of their group as they are in their own personal wealth and power. The elites of any group, your Barack Obamas and Jesse Jacksons, are the most important to placate and preferences in contracting allow minority elites to accumulate vast fortunes at the expense of taxpayers. As Tom Wolfe’s Reverend Bacon put it, it’s a highly leveraged investment in “steam control”.
This system of preferences milks taxpayers for shoddy goods and/or exorbitant prices based on quotas that various governments have to meet when contracting with suppliers. It’s the soft, fat underbelly that no one talks about, as the taxpayers get quietly fleeced.
Even Texas does it!
www.window.state.tx.us/procurement/prog/hub/hub-certification/
Hint: make your wife the owner of your business if you want to do business with the state.