most vanish. Black political clout dependsrnon thousands of vocal, energehc,rnquick-to-mobilize, university-entrenchedrnallies.rnNarrow financial self-interest cannotrnexplain the bond. No personal gainrncomes to white academics who embracernthe racial party line. Indeed, endorsementrnsubverts selfish monetar)’ advancement.rnLucrative minority faculty appointments,rnseparate “black studies”rnprograms, and race-based channeling ofrnresearch funds impose costs, not benefits,rnon white academics.rnWhat about cultural affinity? Havernwhite liberal faculty and blacks, like fundamentalistrnChristians and ultra-OrthodoxrnJews, built a brotherhood resting uponrnshared values? While such affinityrnmight explain other odd political unions,rnthe opposite is true here. How manyrnwhite liberal academics voluntarily socializernwith blacks? It is hard to imaginerntwo more divergent cultures. Whenrnwhite liberal defenders put their sympatheticrnideological spins on black underclassrndisorders, this does not flow fromrnpersonal sympathy: Most white universit)’rntypes undoubtedly loathe the lifest)’le ofrnthe underclass. Underclass blacks are defendedrnin spite of their culture, not becausernof it.rnWhat about noble, altruistic compassion?rnWhite liberal professors are keenlyrnsympathetic to suffering groups, and whornhas endured more grief than Americanrnblacks? This explanation is only superficiallyrntrue. The “compassion” dispensedrnby the academic-review committee isrnhighly selective. Compare how blacksrnare regarded in contrast to lower-classrn”white trash.” Measured by educationalrnattainment, employment, health-care access,rnhousing, and similar indicators, lower-rnclass white Americans resemble millionsrnof destitute blacks. Furthermore,rnmany poor folk are exploited economicallyrnand receive dismal treatment fromrnbanks, schools, the police, and the massrnmedia. Nevertheless, poor whites are ineligiblernfor compassion from the universities.rnPolitically, they are regarded as incorrigible,rneternal enemies, ready to rallyrnto the next George Wallace, not as a disadvantagedrngroup requiring professorsuppliedrnenlightenment.rnEqually important in unmasking thisrnsham “compassion” is its doleful result. Ifrnthese university friends truly cared, innumerablernschemes that are still fashionablernwould have been junked long ago.rnA doctor administering expensive andrnclearly injurious treatment is hardlyrn”compassionate.” How can professorsrnhonestly argue that admitting semiliteraternstudents to elite schools or grantingrndegrees in ersatz fields assists blacks?rnHow can any sensible person contendrnthat race-based hiring, not merit, genuinelyrnproduces “excellence though diversity”?rnAs George Orwell observed,rnsome things are so preposterous that onlyrnan intellectual could believe them.rnThis odd attraction is really about advancingrnan agenda. At heart, the whiternliberal professor embraces the centralized,rnallegedly benign, techno-bureaucraticrnstate, an energetic, social-engineeringrnBig Sister. This doctrine is not, ofrncourse, the only element in the Weltanshauung,rnbut it powerfully permeates innumerablernparticulars. This Utopia is thernevolutionary deepening of the bureaucraticrnGreat Society. Governmental officials,rnin close concert with expert academics,rnwill regulate an earthly paradiserninto existence. Congress might allocaternbillions to fight crime, but it is the technocraticrnspecialist, in consultation withrnthe universit}”s center for justice, who ultimatelyrnrules.rnWlien stated plainly, it is a loathsomernvision. Selling this grotesque fantasy isrnhopeless, at least if it is frankly acknowledged.rnNecessity requires chicanery:rnnamely, promoting it as a well-intendedrnintervention to solve a critical problem.rnAnd what better problem than overcomingrncenturies of ill treatment affordedrnblack Americans? Deep down, it is arnmarriage of expediency, a confluence ofrninterests. Black leaders fixated on academic-rninspired “programism” to heal theirrnwounds are but clueless totalitarian footrnsoldiers.rnNo inherent reason requires enrollingrnblacks to lead the charge; only conveniencerncompels. Idealized proletarianrn”workers” once served Marxist purposes.rnYoung children, the disabled, and confusedrnimmigrants are also suitable for justifyingrnexpanded bureaucratic intrusion.rnEnvironmentalists prefer to employ triflingrncritters.rnListen closely to the rhetoric of thernself-appointed black leadership, and yournwill hear crude versions of lessons routinelyrnespoused in campus classrooms.rnTheories of invidious cultmal oppression,rneducation as a tool for enhancingrnself-esteem, the ameliorative power ofrngovernment, written history as hegemonyrn—together with blank-check compensationrnfor unique suffering—become revealedrnwisdom. Social-science texts arernthe new Bible; the omnipotent state replacesrnGod in redeeming the righteousrnand punishing the wicked.rnConsider the obsession with politicalrnaction as the favored method of collectivernadvancement. Unemployment can bernovercome by a mass demonstration commandingrnWashington to provide jobs, ifrnnot careers. If housing is run-down,rnmarch on city hall. If schoolchildrenrncannot read, picket the board of education.rnCan’t afford a house? Have Congressrnforce banks to lend you money.rnThe voter-registration drive mimics a cargorncult. The infatuation with politicalrnpower, together with unquestioned confidencernin governmental effectiveness, isrnSocial Science 101.rnThe academy also teaches that one’srnplight flows from impersonal, almost mechanicalrnsocial conditions, not autonomousrnindividual choices. Society isrnmerely the playing out of abstractrn”forces.” Insisting on personal responsibilifyrnis but covert white racism. Wliy arernso many blacks poor? The answer, as anyrngood liberal professor will demonstrate, isrnthat societal forces — institutional racism,rnshifting economic structures, biased legalrndoctrines and traditions, the historicalrnlegacy of slavery—condemn blacks to despair.rnWhy do black students perform sornpoorly? Must be the unequal distributionrnof wealth coupled with inequitablernschool funding and Eurocentric testing.rnThe students themselves and their parentsrnare blameless.rnThe prospect of prosperity and happinessrnvia perpetual governmental edict becomesrnan inalienable right, not an imposition.rnLiberalism — being free, independentrnof domination by officialdom —rnhas been converted into the right to berndependent. Abolishing guaranteed welfare,rnpredictably, is thus judged meanspirited.rnEven to designate assistancern”temporar)'” engenders outrage. And givenrnthe federal government’s record ofrnsuccess, the fear of losing eternal clientrnstatus is probably groimdless. Save as arnresult of funding cutbacks, it is hard tornimagine a black-oriented agency foldingrnup, mission accomplished.rnThe “womb-to-tomb” nature of thisrndependency is critical. Bureaucratic assistancernexists for every stage of a person’srnlifetime, regardless of his condition. BigrnSister never retires; clients pass from onerngovernment agency to another. Evenrnleaving welfare for private employmentrn—the alleged big jump—does notrn44/CHRONlCLESrnrnrn