Ilana Mercer
Encyclopedia
Ilana Mercer is a writer, born in South Africa
to Rabbi Ben Isaacson and raised in Israel
, where the family decided to move after Rabbi Ben Isaacson's anti-apartheid preaching and activism led to their harassment by South African security forces. She is a Canadian citizen currently residing in the United States
.
Mercer writes a weekly column, "Return to Reason", for WorldNetDaily
. She has written for Front Page Magazine, Globe and Mail, Calgary Herald
, Ottawa Citizen
, Vancouver Sun, The Financial Post, Orange County Register, The American Spectator
, the Ludwig von Mises Institute
, and others. She is a fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for Market Studies
, an independent, non-profit, economic policy think tank.
Mercer's second book, Into the Cannibal’s Pot: Lessons for America from Post-Apartheid South Africa, was published in June 2011. Advance reviewers have described it as "well-written, courageous, and [...] clearly a strong socio-political tract on South Africa" (Irving Louis Horowitz
) and "interesting, important, well-written and well-documented book that informs the reader but is likely to upset, perhaps even anger, some or many of them." (Thomas Szasz
)
philosophy, which recognizes the individual's rights to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness. She argues that governments exist to protect only those rights, without violating the rights of foreigners to their lives, liberty, and property. As a result of this philosophy, Mercer argues for secure U.S. borders and against intervention in foreign nations which do not threaten U.S. national interests. Her first editorial against the proposed U.S. invasion of Iraq appeared in 2002, and she has strongly opposed the war in Iraq since that time.
sense, Mercer differs from libertarian
anarchists
who see the state as the root of all evil and theorize that its dissolution will bring about utopia. Rather, she notes that social determinism ("The State made me do it") runs counter to free will and human agency, and therefore, against the principle of individualism
upon which libertarian philosophy is based. This viewpoint is reflected particularly in Mercer's commentaries on crime and illegal immigration.
Mercer notes that in the condition of anarchy desired by many libertarians
, different and competing notions of justice will arise, some likely contravening common standards of right and wrong based on the natural law
. She argues that while anarchists wish to see the current justice system replaced by one in which restitution for a crime is made according to the prerogative of the victim or his agent, some crimes, including murder, must be punished by society. The right to life, she argues, cannot be alienated, not even by an individual or his proxies. and the potential to reduce justice in such crimes to a "negotiated deal" is "moral relativism if not a recipe for nihilism." She concludes that the current, broken state of the justice system does not constitute "a sufficient reason to support a state of affairs, where, as a matter of principle, proportional, moral retribution will not necessarily be the goal of justice."
coin;” traditionalist Lawrence Auster noted that this concept was “first articulated by Ilana Mercer and then turned into a neat slogan by Steve Sailer.” Mercer views neoconservatives as having corrupted the constitutionally-prescribed use of the American military, employing it as a force “to patrol the borders of Kosovo, Korea, and Kurdistan” while “our own borders remain perilously porous.” These “conservative poseurs,” she notes, seek to remake America into “a disparate people, forced together by an abstract, highly manipulable, coercive, state-sanctioned ideology,” in effect, a “propositional nation” that overrides the traditional nation in which Americans shared language, customs, faith, and culture. Mercer states that an aversion to the concept of nationhood arises from “an inability to distinguish the nation from the State,” the common values, culture, and traditions of the former having once been conducive to liberty in the U. S..“[T]he real individualist,” she adds, “ knows who he is and whence he came.”
she rebutted. Countering the argument that an aggregate, negative balance of trade is insignificant as an economic indicator, Mercer argued by analogy that while there is nothing wrong in the short term with running a deficit with one’s hairstylist or car dealership, economic damages accrue when credit-based purchases are not paid for—a condition she sees as typical of the spending habits of U. S. consumers. She argued further that libertarians who laud consumption do not often account for the fact that this consumption is, in general, supported by debt. In this context, a trade deficit represents “not an increase in wealth, but an increase in indebtedness.”
Mercer believes that dismissal of trade deficits as economic indices arises from a view of the economy as “a series of discrete parts” rather than an “ineluctably interconnected” whole, whose most prominent characteristic is “debt—micro and macro; public and private.” Because of this, Mercer disagrees with libertarians who dismiss the trade deficit by pointing to the U. S. trade surplus during the Great Depression, arguing that the trade surplus during those years does not invalidate the nation’s current trade deficit as an economic indicator. Rather, she suggests that fundamental economic indicators may be worse today than they were in the 1930s, “since this country has never before been so deeply in hock as it currently is.”
, editorial director of Antiwar.com
, responded saying it is not Israel, but its "American amen corner, typified by La Mercer", whom libertarians despise, also characterizing Mercer as "an intellectual street-walker". Despite this characterization Raimondo later on welcomed Mercer as an Antiwar.com contributor, and published 20 of her columns.
Mercer has noted that members of the European right are far more likely to defend Israel against Hamas than are American paleoconservatives
and paleolibertarians
. Objecting to Mercer's use of the term "Judeo-Christian West", Razib Khan argued that between 500 and 1800 C.E., Jews were not major players in Western civilization. Mercer responded by pointing to the biblical Hebrews' "ethical monotheism, developed centuries before classical Greek philosophy".
, who argued that Jewish leaders in movements such as neoconservatism
promote exclusively Jewish interests including mass immigration into the U.S. from the Third World
, Mercer noted that "Jewish activism, if anything, is self-defeating as a group strategy". She has argued that while many Jewish organizations promote liberal causes such as multiculturalism
, a contradiction exists between the "leftist ideology so many Jews embrace, with its indifference to assimilation and its extreme tolerance for alternative lifestyles, and the survival of the Jewish religion and people", also referring to MacDonald's work on Jews as "The MacDonald Fe-Fi-Fo-Fum Science" of Jews.
Mercer responded to Pat Buchanan
's argument that the push to invade Iraq
in 2003 came from a Jewish neoconservative "cabal" advising George W. Bush
and acting in the best interests of Israel
, rather than the U.S., by noting that in fingering Jewish neocons specifically, Buchanan was "seeing causal connections where none exist" while failing to note the influence upon Bush by inner-circle gentile neocons such as Condi Rice and William Bennett
. In addition, she noted that Bush's own vision for U.S. intervention in the Middle East was in place before the September 11 attacks. She also argued that many Jews strongly opposed the Iraq War from the outset, including George Soros
, Robert Reich
, and Michigan
senator Carl Levin
, and she attributed Jewish prominence in both pro- and anti-war circles to the tendency of Jewish individuals to rise to the top in many fields of endeavor.
's radio show discussing her commentary in defense of NFL
Quarterback Michael Vick
and against "animal rights
". Hannity noted that Mercer's arguments arise from "an intellectually honest point of view—you have given the most articulate argument I've heard on the other side of this, one that is consistent with many of the views you have".
In addition, Mercer opposes affirmative action
and argues against the therapeutic society that seeks to attribute individuals' negative or criminal actions to disease or social disorders.
: “Sinophobia is sanctioned among American opinion makers, and is seen as falling within the realm of perfectly respectable economic theory... Accordingly, the Chinese have levered themselves out of poverty not through industry, frugality, and ambition, but by manipulating their money and stealing American intellectual property."
She sees China as trending away from Communism and towards capitalist, free-market practices: “While America is becoming more militaristic; China is growing increasingly capitalistic….The Chinese have money on their minds; murder, not so much.”
In a WorldNetDaily.com column from February 29, 2008, Mercer made several notable observations about how China
compared to the United States. As the American society became "increasingly silhouetted by the State", U.S. schools engaged in the “unproductive business of graduating lawyers,” while Chinese schools were in the “productive business of graduating engineers.” The sheer volume of individual economic activity in China, Mercer argues, is overpowering the state: "...the current crop of Chinese commissars is weak; power is no longer concentrated in Beijing." She further argues that the U.S. should be as honest as the Chinese concerning its economic system, and properly call it “Socialism with American characteristics” instead of free-market capitalism. Mercer concludes that, “China is becoming freer, America less free. The devil is in this detail.”
in American politics, Mercer commented on Donald Trump
’s presidential bid, still in its infancy, characterizing Trump’s agenda as a “plan to reclaim global greatness and glory,” using “a strategy America has yet to try: the use of force.” Mercer observed that “Strutting around on the world stage, showing those Saudis and Chinese who is boss … may serve as a perfect panacea for the deficiencies in Trump's persona, but is hardly a solution to US woes, at home or abroad.”
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
to Rabbi Ben Isaacson and raised in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, where the family decided to move after Rabbi Ben Isaacson's anti-apartheid preaching and activism led to their harassment by South African security forces. She is a Canadian citizen currently residing in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Mercer writes a weekly column, "Return to Reason", for WorldNetDaily
WorldNetDaily
WorldNetDaily is an American web site that publishes news and associated content from a U.S. conservative perspective. It was founded in May 1997 by Joseph Farah with the stated intent of "exposing wrongdoing, corruption and abuse of power" and is headquartered in Washington, D.C.-History:In...
. She has written for Front Page Magazine, Globe and Mail, Calgary Herald
Calgary Herald
The Calgary Herald is a daily newspaper published in the Canadian city of Calgary, Alberta.- History :The paper was first published on August 31, 1883 by Andrew Armour and Thomas Braden as The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate and General Advertiser. It started as a weekly paper with only...
, Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa Citizen
The Ottawa Citizen is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Canada. According to the Canadian Newspaper Association, the paper had a 2008 weekly circulation of 900,197.- History :...
, Vancouver Sun, The Financial Post, Orange County Register, The American Spectator
The American Spectator
The American Spectator is a conservative U.S. monthly magazine covering news and politics, edited by R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. and published by the non-profit American Spectator Foundation. From its founding in 1967 until the late 1980s, the small-circulation magazine featured the writings of authors...
, the Ludwig von Mises Institute
Ludwig von Mises Institute
The Ludwig von Mises Institute , based in Auburn, Alabama, is a libertarian academic organization engaged in research and scholarship in the fields of economics, philosophy and political economy. Its scholarship is inspired by the work of Austrian School economist Ludwig von Mises...
, and others. She is a fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for Market Studies
Jerusalem Institute for Market Studies
The Jerusalem Institute for Market Studies is an independent, nonprofit economic policy think tank whose mission is to promote social progress in Israel through economic freedom and individual liberty....
, an independent, non-profit, economic policy think tank.
Books
Mercer's first book, Broad Sides: One Woman's Clash With a Corrupt Culture, was published in 2003; a second edition with new material was issued in late 2009. It is a collection of essays, offering a "wide-ranging exploration of contemporary life through the filter of timeless principles." Mercer described it as a "personal manifesto... aimed at rolling back the modern Leviathan State and reclaiming civil society".Mercer's second book, Into the Cannibal’s Pot: Lessons for America from Post-Apartheid South Africa, was published in June 2011. Advance reviewers have described it as "well-written, courageous, and [...] clearly a strong socio-political tract on South Africa" (Irving Louis Horowitz
Irving Louis Horowitz
Irving Louis Horowitz is an American sociologist, author and college professor who has written and lectured extensively in his field.-Personal Life:Horowitz was born in New York City on September 25, 1929, to Louis and Esther Tepper Horowitz...
) and "interesting, important, well-written and well-documented book that informs the reader but is likely to upset, perhaps even anger, some or many of them." (Thomas Szasz
Thomas Szasz
Thomas Stephen Szasz is a psychiatrist and academic. Since 1990 he has been Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at the State University of New York Health Science Center in Syracuse, New York. He is a well-known social critic of the moral and scientific foundations of psychiatry, and of the social...
)
Political philosophy
Mercer adheres to classical liberalClassical liberalism
Classical liberalism is the philosophy committed to the ideal of limited government, constitutionalism, rule of law, due process, and liberty of individuals including freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and free markets....
philosophy, which recognizes the individual's rights to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness. She argues that governments exist to protect only those rights, without violating the rights of foreigners to their lives, liberty, and property. As a result of this philosophy, Mercer argues for secure U.S. borders and against intervention in foreign nations which do not threaten U.S. national interests. Her first editorial against the proposed U.S. invasion of Iraq appeared in 2002, and she has strongly opposed the war in Iraq since that time.
Contributions to paleolibertarianism
A proponent of ordered liberty in the BurkianEdmund Burke
Edmund Burke PC was an Irish statesman, author, orator, political theorist and philosopher who, after moving to England, served for many years in the House of Commons of Great Britain as a member of the Whig party....
sense, Mercer differs from libertarian
Libertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
anarchists
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
who see the state as the root of all evil and theorize that its dissolution will bring about utopia. Rather, she notes that social determinism ("The State made me do it") runs counter to free will and human agency, and therefore, against the principle of individualism
Individualism
Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology, or social outlook that stresses "the moral worth of the individual". Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires and so value independence and self-reliance while opposing most external interference upon one's own...
upon which libertarian philosophy is based. This viewpoint is reflected particularly in Mercer's commentaries on crime and illegal immigration.
Mercer notes that in the condition of anarchy desired by many libertarians
Anarcho-capitalism
Anarcho-capitalism is a libertarian and individualist anarchist political philosophy that advocates the elimination of the state in favour of individual sovereignty in a free market...
, different and competing notions of justice will arise, some likely contravening common standards of right and wrong based on the natural law
Natural law
Natural law, or the law of nature , is any system of law which is purportedly determined by nature, and thus universal. Classically, natural law refers to the use of reason to analyze human nature and deduce binding rules of moral behavior. Natural law is contrasted with the positive law Natural...
. She argues that while anarchists wish to see the current justice system replaced by one in which restitution for a crime is made according to the prerogative of the victim or his agent, some crimes, including murder, must be punished by society. The right to life, she argues, cannot be alienated, not even by an individual or his proxies. and the potential to reduce justice in such crimes to a "negotiated deal" is "moral relativism if not a recipe for nihilism." She concludes that the current, broken state of the justice system does not constitute "a sufficient reason to support a state of affairs, where, as a matter of principle, proportional, moral retribution will not necessarily be the goal of justice."
Criticism of neoconservatism
Mercer has argued that “Inviting an invasion by foreigners and instigating one against them are two sides of the same neoconservativeNeoconservatism
Neoconservatism in the United States is a branch of American conservatism. Since 2001, neoconservatism has been associated with democracy promotion, that is with assisting movements for democracy, in some cases by economic sanctions or military action....
coin;” traditionalist Lawrence Auster noted that this concept was “first articulated by Ilana Mercer and then turned into a neat slogan by Steve Sailer.” Mercer views neoconservatives as having corrupted the constitutionally-prescribed use of the American military, employing it as a force “to patrol the borders of Kosovo, Korea, and Kurdistan” while “our own borders remain perilously porous.” These “conservative poseurs,” she notes, seek to remake America into “a disparate people, forced together by an abstract, highly manipulable, coercive, state-sanctioned ideology,” in effect, a “propositional nation” that overrides the traditional nation in which Americans shared language, customs, faith, and culture. Mercer states that an aversion to the concept of nationhood arises from “an inability to distinguish the nation from the State,” the common values, culture, and traditions of the former having once been conducive to liberty in the U. S..“[T]he real individualist,” she adds, “ knows who he is and whence he came.”
On the U. S. Trade Deficit
Mercer’s position on the U. S. trade deficit differs from that of many libertarians, including economist Don Boudreax whose “typical libertarian post-graduate cleverness”she rebutted. Countering the argument that an aggregate, negative balance of trade is insignificant as an economic indicator, Mercer argued by analogy that while there is nothing wrong in the short term with running a deficit with one’s hairstylist or car dealership, economic damages accrue when credit-based purchases are not paid for—a condition she sees as typical of the spending habits of U. S. consumers. She argued further that libertarians who laud consumption do not often account for the fact that this consumption is, in general, supported by debt. In this context, a trade deficit represents “not an increase in wealth, but an increase in indebtedness.”
Mercer believes that dismissal of trade deficits as economic indices arises from a view of the economy as “a series of discrete parts” rather than an “ineluctably interconnected” whole, whose most prominent characteristic is “debt—micro and macro; public and private.” Because of this, Mercer disagrees with libertarians who dismiss the trade deficit by pointing to the U. S. trade surplus during the Great Depression, arguing that the trade surplus during those years does not invalidate the nation’s current trade deficit as an economic indicator. Rather, she suggests that fundamental economic indicators may be worse today than they were in the 1930s, “since this country has never before been so deeply in hock as it currently is.”
On the U.S.–Mexico border
As a result of her stand against an open U.S. border, Mercer has argued against welfare payments and other assistance for those who cross the border illegally. Libertarian Tibor Machan replied by noting that "Refusing to extend welfare to illegal immigrants will amount to an arbitrary, indeed mean-minded policy based on nothing more than nationalism or even worse, such as preference for members of one's own race or age group or some such nonsense." While noting that Machan was the only libertarian to respond to her argument, Mercer countered by stating that while his reply appeared predicated on "egalitarian treatment (of the world)", her stance as a strict propertarian was to "limit theft, not extend its spoils fairly".On Israel
Mercer has argued against U.S. foreign aid for all countries, including Israel. She has also noted that Israel's struggle for self-defense and the U.S.-led War on Terror should not be seen as the same phenomenon, particularly by Israelis. During the Israeli incursion into Lebanon, she noted that "Israel's pulverizing of Lebanon—blowing the place to kingdom come, killing hundreds of civilians, and displacing thousands—threatens to sunder its moral superiority." Nevertheless, she has been characterized as reflexively pro-Israel by some libertarians. In response to Mercer's support of Israel's construction of a border fence on the West Bank, Justin RaimondoJustin Raimondo
Justin Raimondo is an American author and the editorial director of the website Antiwar.com. He describes himself as a "conservative-paleo-libertarian."-Background:...
, editorial director of Antiwar.com
Antiwar.com
Antiwar.com is a website devoted to opposing aggressive war, imperialism, and assaults on freedom associated with both. The editors describe their politics as libertarian. Their stated motiviation is, "to show how the imperialistic tendencies of the American government lead to a loss of civil...
, responded saying it is not Israel, but its "American amen corner, typified by La Mercer", whom libertarians despise, also characterizing Mercer as "an intellectual street-walker". Despite this characterization Raimondo later on welcomed Mercer as an Antiwar.com contributor, and published 20 of her columns.
Mercer has noted that members of the European right are far more likely to defend Israel against Hamas than are American paleoconservatives
Paleoconservatism
Paleoconservatism is a term for a conservative political philosophy found primarily in the United States stressing tradition, limited government, civil society, anti-colonialism, anti-corporatism and anti-federalism, along with religious, regional, national and Western identity. Chilton...
and paleolibertarians
Paleolibertarianism
Paleolibertarianism is a school of thought within American libertarianism associated with the late economist Murray Rothbard, and the Ludwig von Mises Institute. It is based on a combination of right-libertarianism in politics and cultural conservatism in social thought...
. Objecting to Mercer's use of the term "Judeo-Christian West", Razib Khan argued that between 500 and 1800 C.E., Jews were not major players in Western civilization. Mercer responded by pointing to the biblical Hebrews' "ethical monotheism, developed centuries before classical Greek philosophy".
On Jews and neoconservatism
Responding to paleoconservative academic and writer Kevin B. MacDonaldKevin B. MacDonald
Kevin B. MacDonald is a professor of psychology at California State University, Long Beach, best known for his use of evolutionary psychology to inform his study of Judaism as being a "group evolutionary strategy."...
, who argued that Jewish leaders in movements such as neoconservatism
Neoconservatism
Neoconservatism in the United States is a branch of American conservatism. Since 2001, neoconservatism has been associated with democracy promotion, that is with assisting movements for democracy, in some cases by economic sanctions or military action....
promote exclusively Jewish interests including mass immigration into the U.S. from the Third World
Third World
The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either capitalism and NATO , or communism and the Soviet Union...
, Mercer noted that "Jewish activism, if anything, is self-defeating as a group strategy". She has argued that while many Jewish organizations promote liberal causes such as multiculturalism
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
, a contradiction exists between the "leftist ideology so many Jews embrace, with its indifference to assimilation and its extreme tolerance for alternative lifestyles, and the survival of the Jewish religion and people", also referring to MacDonald's work on Jews as "The MacDonald Fe-Fi-Fo-Fum Science" of Jews.
Mercer responded to Pat Buchanan
Pat Buchanan
Patrick Joseph "Pat" Buchanan is an American paleoconservative political commentator, author, syndicated columnist, politician and broadcaster. Buchanan was a senior adviser to American Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan, and was an original host on CNN's Crossfire. He sought...
's argument that the push to invade Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
in 2003 came from a Jewish neoconservative "cabal" advising George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
and acting in the best interests of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, rather than the U.S., by noting that in fingering Jewish neocons specifically, Buchanan was "seeing causal connections where none exist" while failing to note the influence upon Bush by inner-circle gentile neocons such as Condi Rice and William Bennett
William Bennett
William John "Bill" Bennett is an American conservative pundit, politician, and political theorist. He served as United States Secretary of Education from 1985 to 1988. He also held the post of Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy under George H. W...
. In addition, she noted that Bush's own vision for U.S. intervention in the Middle East was in place before the September 11 attacks. She also argued that many Jews strongly opposed the Iraq War from the outset, including George Soros
George Soros
George Soros is a Hungarian-American business magnate, investor, philosopher, and philanthropist. He is the chairman of Soros Fund Management. Soros supports progressive-liberal causes...
, Robert Reich
Robert Reich
Robert Bernard Reich is an American political economist, professor, author, and political commentator. He served in the administrations of Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter and was Secretary of Labor under President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1997....
, and Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
senator Carl Levin
Carl Levin
Carl Milton Levin is a Jewish-American United States Senator from Michigan, serving since 1979. He is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services. He is a member of the Democratic Party....
, and she attributed Jewish prominence in both pro- and anti-war circles to the tendency of Jewish individuals to rise to the top in many fields of endeavor.
On Michael Vick
In September, 2007, Mercer was featured on Sean HannitySean Hannity
Sean Hannity is an American radio and television host, author, and conservative political commentator. He is the host of The Sean Hannity Show, a nationally syndicated talk radio show that airs throughout the United States on Premiere Radio Networks. Hannity also hosts a cable news show, Hannity,...
's radio show discussing her commentary in defense of NFL
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
Quarterback Michael Vick
Michael Vick
Michael Dwayne Vick is an American football quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League...
and against "animal rights
Animal rights
Animal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...
". Hannity noted that Mercer's arguments arise from "an intellectually honest point of view—you have given the most articulate argument I've heard on the other side of this, one that is consistent with many of the views you have".
In addition, Mercer opposes affirmative action
Affirmative action
Affirmative action refers to policies that take factors including "race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national origin" into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group, usually as a means to counter the effects of a history of discrimination.-Origins:The term...
and argues against the therapeutic society that seeks to attribute individuals' negative or criminal actions to disease or social disorders.
On China
Mercer has argued that the mainstream American commentary on China, both liberal and conservative, is strongly influenced by SinophobiaSinophobia
Sinophobia or anti-Chinese sentiment is the fear of or dislike of China, its people, overseas Chinese, or Chinese Culture...
: “Sinophobia is sanctioned among American opinion makers, and is seen as falling within the realm of perfectly respectable economic theory... Accordingly, the Chinese have levered themselves out of poverty not through industry, frugality, and ambition, but by manipulating their money and stealing American intellectual property."
She sees China as trending away from Communism and towards capitalist, free-market practices: “While America is becoming more militaristic; China is growing increasingly capitalistic….The Chinese have money on their minds; murder, not so much.”
In a WorldNetDaily.com column from February 29, 2008, Mercer made several notable observations about how China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
compared to the United States. As the American society became "increasingly silhouetted by the State", U.S. schools engaged in the “unproductive business of graduating lawyers,” while Chinese schools were in the “productive business of graduating engineers.” The sheer volume of individual economic activity in China, Mercer argues, is overpowering the state: "...the current crop of Chinese commissars is weak; power is no longer concentrated in Beijing." She further argues that the U.S. should be as honest as the Chinese concerning its economic system, and properly call it “Socialism with American characteristics” instead of free-market capitalism. Mercer concludes that, “China is becoming freer, America less free. The devil is in this detail.”
On Donald Trump
In January 2011, while addressing the phenomenon of SinophobiaSinophobia
Sinophobia or anti-Chinese sentiment is the fear of or dislike of China, its people, overseas Chinese, or Chinese Culture...
in American politics, Mercer commented on Donald Trump
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump, Sr. is an American business magnate, television personality and author. He is the chairman and president of The Trump Organization and the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts. Trump's extravagant lifestyle, outspoken manner and role on the NBC reality show The Apprentice have...
’s presidential bid, still in its infancy, characterizing Trump’s agenda as a “plan to reclaim global greatness and glory,” using “a strategy America has yet to try: the use of force.” Mercer observed that “Strutting around on the world stage, showing those Saudis and Chinese who is boss … may serve as a perfect panacea for the deficiencies in Trump's persona, but is hardly a solution to US woes, at home or abroad.”