{"id":299,"date":"2018-03-04T12:00:15","date_gmt":"2018-03-04T17:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tameri.com\/wordpress\/almostclassical\/?p=299"},"modified":"2025-01-11T16:53:03","modified_gmt":"2025-01-11T22:53:03","slug":"famous-and-trendy-historian-autistics-heartless-self-centered-libertarians-lacking-empathy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tameri.com\/almostclassical\/2018\/03\/04\/famous-and-trendy-historian-autistics-heartless-self-centered-libertarians-lacking-empathy\/","title":{"rendered":"Famous and Trendy Historian: Autistics = Heartless, Self-Centered Libertarians Lacking Empathy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Duke University<\/a> historian Nancy MacLean is currently a trendy historian who spent 2017 touring and promoting her book Democracy in Chains<\/strong><\/em>. The book has some serious scholarship flaws, which have been addressed by\u00a0Henry Farrell and Steven Teles<\/a> on Vox<\/strong>,\u00a0a website considered progressive on most issues.<\/em><\/p>\n

MacLean has made the stunning and insulting claim that autism and libertarianism are connected.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>That\u2019s right. She believes that libertarianism, which she has described as heartless, self-centered, and lacking empathy, has a higher occurrence within the autism community. As evidence, she points to several self-disclosed autistics within economics, philosophy, and other fields who have favorably commented on classical liberalism and libertarianism.<\/p>\n

Merely because some autistics who happen to be scholars are either less critical of or predisposed to classical liberalism, MacLean commits the fallacious leap to associate autism with a political and philosophical set of ideologies.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Video of her claiming this has been posted to YouTube<\/a>. (See\u00a0https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=18EvqPgn98Q<\/a>)<\/p>\n

I first shared this story on social media February 13, 2018, but then other horrific events overshadowed this story. It simply wasn\u2019t the right time to be writing about anti-autistic stereotypes and academic bullies disguised as social justice crusaders.<\/p>\n

Though only anecdotal evidence, most of the autism self-advocates I know in education at all levels, working within the media, and (definitely) in social services are \u201cprogressives\u201d \u2014 not even left-of-center. They are overwhelmingly self-proclaimed democratic socialists or socialists and a handful of Marxists who dream of utopia.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the same ideological demographics describe the most vicious bullies I have encountered, especially in higher education.<\/p>\n

For some reason, the colleagues most eager to proclaim their social justice, John Rawls<\/a> and Peter Singer<\/a> values are also the most vocal when my own physical and neurological needs have been disclosed.<\/p>\n

From being called a \u201cgimp\u201d to a colleague stating \u201cWe don\u2019t need no stinking autistics here\u201d during a faculty meeting, my experiences have not been inviting, welcoming, tolerant, or in any other many open-minded and accepting of my differences.<\/p>\n

Apparently, I am not alone.<\/p>\n

No, Libertarians Don\u2019t All Have Autism<\/a>
\nA Duke historian resorts to ignorant, ugly stereotyping.<\/p>\n

By Mathieu Vaillancourt
\nFeb. 28, 2018 7:05 p.m. ET85 COMMENTS<\/p>\n

Nancy MacLean is a historian at Duke University and an opponent of libertarian and classical-liberal political philosophy. Critics have called her 2017 book on the subject, \u201cDemocracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right\u2019s Stealth Plan for America,\u201d biased and inaccurate. I don\u2019t know enough about her work to judge its quality. But I\u2019m angry about something she said recently.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s striking to me how many of the architects of this cause seem to be on the autism spectrum,\u201d Ms. MacLean said during a February talk at New York City\u2019s Unitarian Church of All Souls. \u201cYou know, people who don\u2019t feel solidarity or empathy with others and who have difficult human relationships sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n

I consider myself a classical liberal. I believe in the power of free markets and sound money to generate prosperity. Trade and technological progress allow us to live longer, healthier, easier lives. I believe in a social policy that leaves people alone to make personal decisions as long as they don\u2019t hurt others. I see my political ideology as a consistent defense of freedom, and I regard both prosperity and tolerance as noble values.<\/p>\n

I also have autism, and I would like to set the record straight about what that means. Specialists in the field long ago debunked the simplistic stereotype that people with autism have no feelings or compassion. We can be empathic and express feelings, but we tend to do it in a different way.<\/p>\n

Ms. MacLean is\u2026 wrong in stereotyping people with autism as libertarians. Like everyone else, we believe in different political ideologies<\/a> and vote for different political parties. We\u2019re humans, not robots.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nor are classical liberals<\/a> and libertarians emotionless, compassionless people. The vast majority of us believe in helping the needy; we simply think aid is better given in a bottom-up, voluntary way than dispensed by a centralized government. We disagree among ourselves on how to achieve social goals. But it\u2019s outrageous to suggest that we don\u2019t care.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Diagnosing the \u201cmental health\u201d of political opponents is dangerous and a form of intellectual bullying. It is name calling under the guise of \u201cresearch.\u201d Across the political spectrum and throughout history this has been done to those with whom cultural elites or the party in power have disagreements. Scholars on the left and right, the statists and the individualists, have cautioned against \u2014 and yet it continues and is possibly more popular than at any other time in my life.<\/p>\n

Book after book claims to explain the neurology or psychology of broad groups of people. Supposedly, this is to \u201cbetter understand\u201d the group being \u201cstudied\u201d (quotes intended for sarcastic, sardonic irony).\u00a0People buy these books and listen to these scholars<\/strong>, apparently forgetting the warnings against the political use of psychology and genetic fallacies.<\/p>\n

Autism does not make someone anything except autistic<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We are abusing psychology in popular culture and within academia. If this trend of popularizing mass diagnoses of political groups doesn\u2019t stop, there were will calls to \u201ccure\u201d opponents of their mental health issues. That might seem like yet another fallacy, but it has happened historically. Mental health clinics were abused by the Soviet Unions, East Germany, China, Cuba\u2026 and also by France, the United Kingdom, and the United States.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s simply too convenient and easy to assume someone with whom we disagree must have a deep, serious flaw.<\/p>\n

As I stated at the start of this post, I already distrusted MacLean because there are flaws in her book raising questions about her scholarship and genuine dedication to verifiable truth. She selectively edited quotes, created \u201clikely\u201d conversations between people, and made outright erroneous claims. Now, with her claims about autism and libertarians, she has revealed the depth of biases on a topic she claimed to research fairly.<\/p>\n

For more on the scholarship problems with the research\u00a0see\u00a0Democracy in Chains<\/em> and Inter-Disciplinary Problems<\/a> from\u00a0August 5, 2017, on Almost Classical.<\/p>\n

Photo by Tarban Creek Lunatic Asylum<\/a> <\/a><\/small><\/p>\n

Photo by olavXO<\/a> <\/a><\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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