As da 5th or sixth kid in a big fambly, I guess I’m like kinda’ dumm. At leest das wat da Whyte House sez.
Terry Jeffrey of CNS writes:
John P. Holdren, the top science adviser to President Barack Obama, wrote in a book he co-authored with population control advocates Paul and Anne Ehrlich that children from larger families have lower IQs.
The book—”Human Ecology: Problems and Solutions”—argued that the United States government had a “responsibility to halt the growth of the American population.”
“It surely is no accident that so many of the most successful individuals are first or only children,” wrote Holdren and the Ehrlichs, “nor that children of large families (particularly with more than four children), whatever their economic status, on the average perform less well in school and show lower I.Q. scores than their peers from small families.”
Holdren and the Ehrlichs published “Human Ecology” with W.H. Freeman and Company in 1973. In June 2000, a study published in American Pyschologist debunked the notion that children in larger families have lower I.Q.s. But when Holdren appeared in the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee in 2009 for a confirmation hearing on his appointment to run the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, he continued to argue for the benefits of “smaller families” on other bases.
In “Human Ecology,” Holdren and the Ehrlichs concluded: “Population control is absolutely essential if the problems now facing mankind are to be solved.”
“Political pressure must be applied immediately to induce the United States government to assume its responsibility to halt the growth of the American population,” they wrote.
I guess I should apologize to my five kids. I guess I should tell them not to dive headfirst into the shallow end of the gene pool.
Darn. If only the government could’ve stopped me from reproducing so much.
Oh, and please don’t think this is just one guy who said or thought something weird and he’s an anomaly. Anyone else think it’s a coincidence that this administration’s top priority is funding Planned Parenthood and forcing Catholic institutions to pay for contraception.
February 23, 2012 at 5:38 am
Many of our elected officials (and the "wise men" who advise them) routinely sacrifice to demons (whether they recognize this or not). They don't even have to hold the stone knife!
30+ million so far…
February 23, 2012 at 7:36 am
Hmmm do I smell forced sterilizations in the way?
February 23, 2012 at 8:11 am
Well, let's see… Nancy Pelosi is one of six siblings, Maxine Waters is
one of thirteen, Chris Dodd one of six, and Margaret Sanger, the
founder of Planned Parenthood, was one of eleven siblings. Interesting.
In some cases, it looks like there's something to this…
February 23, 2012 at 12:46 pm
Let's see… Now, I'm not saying this to brag, but simply to provide one more anecdote to refute this claim…
I'm the 10th of 11 children. I have a 149 IQ, a Bachelor's of Science, a Master of Science and I have a 3.97 through three and a half years of seminary.
My siblings?
1 Surgeon (MD)
2 Nurses (One with a BSN and a MS to be a licensed nurse practioner)
3 Business OWNERS (One with a MS in Engineering Physics)
1 Analytical Chemist (MS in Chemistry)
1 Computer Programmer (MS in Comp Sci)
1 Teacher
1 PhD in Analytical Mathematics (He's the baby!)
And l'il ole me.
February 23, 2012 at 12:46 pm
Laura, and forced abortions. Again, Paul Erlick refuses to accept Divine Providence to provide for his children. As an atheist, Paul Erlich is inflicting his opinion and his belief on the population, and relying totally one his own twisted, abused and therefore, irrational immortal soul. Perhaps Paul Erlich and Holdren ought to give their souls back to our CREATOR.
February 23, 2012 at 12:52 pm
This is sick…:( I'm sure it could never be the school's fault for having failing children…No let's blame it on…Birth order!!! We can't cut out the NEA or anything…
This just plain sucks!
February 23, 2012 at 12:52 pm
I see this as progress for the Obama administration. Before President Obama was surprised big families existed:
http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2011/04/11/punished-with-babies/
Now, he recognizes them… and he hates them.
February 23, 2012 at 1:56 pm
I for one see this as good news, at least for those who can think. Lets pretend for a second that this idea is accurate. Surely, we would wonder why this is so. It would probably have to do with how much parental time can be spent with the kids, since socio-economics didn't matter. But wait. 2 parents working and 4 kids, or 2 parents, one working, and 6-8 kids seems a better ratio than a single parent who works with any number of kids.
Its almost like there is more parental involvement when the parents are financially dependent upon one another, like in some kind of bond….hmmm…
Once this reasoning kicks in, Im guessing there won't be much said about kids from big families. (of course that would require logic to kick in, and would require obvious conclusions being drawn, rather than stupid ones like the state should raise all children by all the parents together. Collectively, you might say.)
February 23, 2012 at 2:16 pm
I'm the ninth of ten kids, and I'm way smarter than any of my older siblings. Go ahead – ask me. I'll tell ya.
February 23, 2012 at 2:21 pm
Does this apply to children who have siblings that were aborted, or only to those whose parents were sterilized before their brood increased too far? I have quite a few children, way more than the norm and I swear they got smarter and smarter as the pecking order increased. Something about being exposed to many different experiences through older sibs and always having a playmate seems to increase IQ and common sense. IQ is great, but common sense is priceless.
February 23, 2012 at 2:41 pm
If big families have dumb children, how do you explain Obama, who's an only child?
February 23, 2012 at 3:07 pm
That is the most inane thesis ever – wholly irrational, both logic experience tell otherwise (as does my personal experience). On this guy's premise, he should have at least 50 siblings …
February 23, 2012 at 3:28 pm
Ever since the Bell Curve debate, it has been RACIST to bring up black kids and IQ simultaneously. It is illegal to even give a black kid an IQ test. I wonder if black kids were factored into these data, because, if so, the White House advisor is RACIST.
February 23, 2012 at 3:29 pm
Poor Sasha
February 23, 2012 at 3:35 pm
Thomas Edison, ya know the inventor of stuff, must be a flaming idiot since he is the 7th child of seven.
Gosh, I didn't realize inbred circus mutants such as Thomas Edison were no better than cow dung.
February 23, 2012 at 6:24 pm
I'm the oldest of ten, and the baby of the family is way smarter than me. The kid puts me to shame, I tell ya.
Alas, while she sketches like a tiny Michelangelo, I ended up a rambling blogger. Oh, the humanity!
February 23, 2012 at 6:41 pm
The 5th child in our family went to Washington University School of Law on their top scholarship. Yeah, he's really dumb.
February 23, 2012 at 7:12 pm
As the oldest, I have no problem at all in believing that I'm smarter than my siblings. I'm really glad there are so many of them for me to boss around and assert my intellectual superiority. All the more reason if you are the smartest to want to have a lot of brothers and sisters.
February 23, 2012 at 8:11 pm
If Holdren discourages our production of second-string morons, who will vote for democrats?
February 23, 2012 at 8:17 pm
Saint Catherine of Sienna was her parents 25th child and she is a Doctor of the Church. Try making a case for stupid on that one.
Let's face it, the devil hates large families and will spread any lie to make people believe it's a bad thing to have many children.