How This Paris Boy Became an American Scholar (Plus a Disquisition on Language Learning)

03/10/202203/10/2022 Jacques Delacroix History American culture, French culture, language, linguistics, scholarship

Here is another escapist story. If the autobiographical genre annoys you, I don’t blame you and don’t read this story. First of all, don’t wince or grimace. I just said “scholar,” not “eminent scholar,” nor “famous scholar,” not even “respected scholar.” It’s just a descriptive term; the word describes much of what I did for … Continue reading How This Paris Boy Became an American Scholar (Plus a Disquisition on Language Learning)

A Bloody Hawaiian Paradise

03/05/202203/05/2022 Jacques Delacroix History American culture, Hawaii, Indiana

I have been away from this blog because I was busy with politics on Facebook (my bad). Also, I have been struggling to produce a new book. It’s a collection of stories:”Astonishing Women.” Wish me luck. Below is another story not in that collection. It’s an escapist story, of course. Don’t we need one, right … Continue reading A Bloody Hawaiian Paradise

Awareness of Racism and Singing to the Choir

07/27/202107/27/2021 Jacques Delacroix Current Events American culture, Eric Jerome Dikey, racism, reparations

In the past few months, I have been exposed to more works by African Americans and to more documents about the black condition in America than usual. So far, I haven’t learned anything really new, perhaps because I am a sociologist by trade with an interest in slavery going back fifty years. All the same, … Continue reading Awareness of Racism and Singing to the Choir

The Best Coffee Shop in the People’s Green Socialist Republic of Santa Cruz, California

03/14/202103/13/2021 Jacques Delacroix Culture class, coffee, local government, local politics, Lulu Carpenter's, Pacific Avenue, public goods, Santa Cruz

At nine, two flows of humanity cross each other in front of Lulu Carpenter’s, the upscale coffee shop at the top of Pacific Avenue. Pacific Avenue is the main walking commercial thoroughfare, surprisingly well re-designed after the destruction 1989 earthquake. It’s nothing like the collection of cheap motels leading to the Boardwalk that greets the … Continue reading The Best Coffee Shop in the People’s Green Socialist Republic of Santa Cruz, California

How Falsehoods Take Root

01/27/202101/26/2021 Jacques Delacroix Current Events, Politics American culture, Capitol riot, culture wars, media studies, patriotism, skepticism, Steven Smith, Wall Street Journal

“On the afternoon of January 6, most Americans watched in horror as an armed mob stormed the US Capitol….” (Emphasis mine.) This is part of the opening sentence of an essay in the Wall Street Journal by Steven B. Smith (weekend edition, Jan 23-24, C5). The piece is entitled: “The Two Enemies of Patriotism.” It’s described as … Continue reading How Falsehoods Take Root

Pourquoi Kamala Harris?

08/17/202008/17/2020 Jacques Delacroix Current Events, Politics American politics, Kamala Harris, racism

La nomination de Kamal Harris comme candidate du Parti Democrate (“D” majuscule) à la vice-presidence avec Joe Biden a donne lieu à beaucoup de sornettes dans les media francais, et francophones, comme on pouvait s’y attendre. Bien sur tout ceci importe car il y a de bonnes chance que Kamala se retrouve présidente, peut-être même très vite. Etant donnés … Continue reading Pourquoi Kamala Harris?

Systemic Racism: a Rationalist Take (Part 9 of 9)

07/15/202007/06/2020 Jacques Delacroix Current Events American culture, discrimination, police brutality, police misconduct, racism

Conclusions Systemic racism is hard to find. Its most obvious and most widespread instance seems to me to be affirmative action in all its forms. It’s a device that discriminates against many to the benefit of others, based on ascribed, unchangeable characteristics such as sex and race. It was originally designed to favor African Americans … Continue reading Systemic Racism: a Rationalist Take (Part 9 of 9)

Systemic Racism: a Rationalist Take (Part 8 of 9)

07/14/202007/06/2020 Jacques Delacroix Current Events Aezi Dungee, racism, reparations, slavery

Reparations To my mind, the inheritance of slavery, segregation, and other forms of discrimination against African-Americans means that something is owed to the descendants of slaves irrespective of the current reality or existence of “systemic racism.” All emotions carefully kept aside, refusing to subscribe to present-day irrationality, I am persuaded that if I looked into … Continue reading Systemic Racism: a Rationalist Take (Part 8 of 9)

Systemic Racism: a Rationalist Take (Part 7 of 9)

07/13/202007/06/2020 Jacques Delacroix Current Events American culture, incentives, police brutality, police misconduct, racism

Do blacks have more police encounters than whites? In 2015, the percentages of whites and blacks who experiences police initiated encounters with the police were equal, a little over 10% each. (Bureau of Justice Statistics.) These rates seem to debunk a popular alternative narrative appearing in the Boston Globe, among other liberal sources, that claims that … Continue reading Systemic Racism: a Rationalist Take (Part 7 of 9)

Systemic Racism: a Rationalist Take (Part 5 of 9)

07/11/202007/06/2020 Jacques Delacroix Current Events American culture, education, employment, housing, local government, racism

Finding Systemic Racism in Employment, Housing, Education, Access to Government. It seems to me that systemic racism should (almost by definition or lack of it) bear upon all aspects of life, with four having special importance. First, I see employment, which affects often profoundly, the quality of one’s life. Second, I would consider housing, same … Continue reading Systemic Racism: a Rationalist Take (Part 5 of 9)

Systemic Racism: a Rationalist Take (Part 1 of 9)

07/07/202007/06/2020 Jacques Delacroix Current Events American culture, racism

Foreword This is a freewheeling and personal essay on the term “systemic racism.” It’s not an empirical study but it’s mindful of facts. It blends my observations as a rationalist with my frankly conservative leanings. I am a religiously indifferent conservative of the constitutionalist, small government breed. I judge representative government the very best we … Continue reading Systemic Racism: a Rationalist Take (Part 1 of 9)

Systemic Racism: a Rationalist Take

by Jacques Delacroix jdelacroixliberty@gmail.com Foreword This is a freewheeling and personal essay on the term “systemic racism.” It’s not an empirical study but it’s mindful of facts. It blends my observations as a rationalist with my frankly conservative leanings. I am a religiously indifferent conservative of the constitutionalist, small government breed. I judge representative government … Continue reading Systemic Racism: a Rationalist Take

Damned Models and Cutting off the Chinese

04/10/202004/09/2020 Jacques Delacroix Current Events, Economics autarky, China, comparative advantage, higher education, international trade, models, national self-sufficiency, scientific method

I have a good eye for what ought to be there but isn’t. Don’t congratulate me; it’s a natural talent. I am retired so, I usually spend hours listening to the radio, reading newspapers and, watching television and, (Oops) on the internet. Nowadays, I do more of the same. Today’s lecture is going to be … Continue reading Damned Models and Cutting off the Chinese

Scholars and Public Intellectuals: The Bad Old Days Before Blogging

12/12/201912/13/2019 Jacques Delacroix Culture academia, blogging, gatekeeping, public intellectuals

I am flattered to be in the company Brandon places me in. When I was still growing up, I wanted to be Tyler Cowen then, I figured he moved way too fast for me. I have the utmost respect for Robert Higgs but I wouldn’t dream of mimicking his nearly super-human determination. I suspect Brandon … Continue reading Scholars and Public Intellectuals: The Bad Old Days Before Blogging

Madness Entitlement

11/15/201911/17/2019 Jacques Delacroix Culture, Current Events Andrea Petersen, higher education, immersion, learning, linguistics, signaling, study abroad

Most American undergraduates in four-year colleges want to study abroad for a while. (I think this is probably true. I would bet 75/25 for.) In 2019 (or 2018, not clear) 20% of American students were diagnosed with or treated for depression. I can’t vouch for this number. That’s from an article by Andrea Petersen in … Continue reading Madness Entitlement