tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9194240697382766576.post5254897390556955831..comments2023-10-11T05:42:29.101-04:00Comments on Soc'ing Out Loud: 'Mr. Sociology' Throws Hat in Ring for 'Mr. Psychology'Brad Kochhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12851627786696484562noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9194240697382766576.post-81438500228433381002012-07-31T23:03:43.446-04:002012-07-31T23:03:43.446-04:00Let's draw the noose even more sharply. Brooks...Let's draw the noose even more sharply. Brooks' argument is the equivalent of saying "guns don't kill, bullets kill." This is worse than a distinction without a difference; it's a fundamentally flawed distinction.<br /><br />What Brooks fails to account for the fact that deaths by assault happen in the United States about 500% more frequently than in all other OECD countries. Check out the data:<br />http://crookedtimber.org/2012/07/20/america-is-a-violent-country/<br /><br />It is outrageous for Mr Brooks not to mention the trivial matter of a 500% variance in death. And if he were to take note, his theory of psychology-based violence would have to account for why the US has such a massively higher number of psychologically disturbed people. <br /><br />Does he have such an explanation? I doubt it, because a government cure would be ideological anathema to him, and I'm hard pressed to conceive of what a "free market" cure for endemic mayhem would look like. <br /><br />The much more obvious explanation is that the US has about the same percentage of wack jobs as anywhere else – but that they have radically easier access to guns. We have massive global experiments with real data staring us in the face – differentials of 500% in death by assault rates between countries with gun control and the one without it – and yet Brooks seeks solace in trivial studies around the margin about whether state-imposed registration guidelines have any impact. <br /><br />This is either prima facie evidence that too much education makes you stupid, or very bad faith argumentation.Charles H. Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03765560656244947934noreply@blogger.com