Evilcons of the World, Unite! — Some blogger calling himself Tacitus [email him] has announced that he has decided not to invite me to contribute to some website I never heard of (and which sounds intellectually pathetic) because I am one of those horrible "evilcons." See, he was shocked to discover I once wrote "this squirm-inducing essay" on why I prefer watching black NFL quarterbacks to white NFL quarterbacks (because, on average, they are better at running with the football).
As Bugs Bunny would say, "What a maroon!" Tacitus should stick to squirming. He's better at it than thinking.
Hover your cursor over my head shot photo above until you can read the caption I put there a couple of years ago. (Also, check out the caption on the photo of Mrs. Thatcher and myself.)
The term "evilcon" is a joke I made up as a pun on John O'Sullivan's categorization of myself as an "evolcon" in his 1999 National Review article "Types of Right." John wrote:
"5. Evolutionary Conservatives. This is an almost wholly intellectual group (e.g., Steve Sailer, John McGinnis, Charles Murray)— not a politician brave enough to stand with them — who have realized two things: first, that lessons of the new science of evolutionary psychology are largely conservative ones about an adamantine human nature, the natural basis of sex roles, and so on; second, that the knowledge gained from the Human Genome Project and the rise of genetic engineering will throw up some fascinating and contentious political issues in the increasingly near future."
In February 2002, after I was attacked by Jonah Goldberg because I "concentrate on genetic questions" (the horror, the horror!), I joked:
"Everybody's got to have a label these days: neocon, paleocon, whatever. But I'm not sure that mine is working out. A few years ago in National Review, John O'Sullivan described Charles Murray and myself as the first 'evolutionary conservatives' - i.e., conservatives who actually know something about the science of human nature. 'Cool,' I thought. Still, this 'evolcon' label has not proven a good career move for Chas and me. That's 'evolcon,' not 'evilcon,' dammit!"
[Steve Sailer [email him] is founder of the Human Biodiversity Institute and movie critic for The American Conservative. His website www.iSteve.blogspot.com features his daily blog.]
