Biological Bias

Oliver James opines that "genes are left wing" and, further, that "politics may be the reason why the media has so far failed to report the small role of genes." James, writing in the UK's Guardian, says that "the Human Genome Project is rapidly providing a scientific basis for the political left." According to James, the political right is more apt to believe that "that genes largely explain why the poor are poor, as well as twice as likely as the rich to be mentally ill." Rather than looking toward genetics to explain the prevalence of mental illness, post-HGP leftists maintain that "genes play little part in why one sibling, social class, or ethnic group is more likely to suffer mental health problems than another" and that "childhood maltreatment, economic inequality, and excessive materialism seem the main determinants," he writes.