The more I read about Charles Murray, the more I am angry, alarmed, and disturbed....

[FarCenter]

12. Advice for a happy life: don't take happiness advice from Charles Murray

Step aside, Princeton Mom! America has a new source of harsh-but-true politically incorrect life advice, calculated to whip so-called 'feminists' and other liberals into a frenzy because, deep down, they know it's right. He's a self-styled grouchy-grandad figure called Charles Murray, and his new book is entitled The Curmudgeon's Guide to Getting Ahead: Dos and Don'ts of Right Behavior, Tough Thinking, Clear Writing, and Living a Good Life. A distilled version has been riding high on the Wall Street Journal's website, and is rapidly going viral.


Murray thinks you should marry young, become deeply involved with religion, and prioritize virtuous conduct over fame and fortune. "The clichés are true," he writes. If you're under 30 and unmarried, studies suggest that one of your parents will forward his article to you approvingly within the next 48 hours.

If you're over 30, meanwhile, you might be scratching your head. Because ol' irascible Grandpa Chuck bears a striking resemblance, now you think about it, to the libertarian political scientist Charles Murray of the American Enterprise Institute. Yes, that Charles Murray! The one Paul Ryan quoted the other day in a gaffe about lazy "inner city" men that left itself open to an unfortunate racial interpretation, and about which Ryan was forced to issue a clarification. The one who co-authored The Bell Curve, arguing that the intractably inferior IQs of black Americans meant there wasn't much point in government efforts to alleviate poverty – and that such efforts might make things worse, anyway, by encouraging "the wrong women" to have babies.

http://www.theguardian.com/news/oliver-burkeman-s-blog/2014/apr/01/charles-murray-happiness-life-advice