No, if we are on the same page, there is no reason to nitpick. I just thought it would elicit more commentary, even if only by stimulating a few collateral observations.
By the way, a good example of a conservative social scientist I admire is James Q. Wilson, who originated the "broken windows" thesis: that if the police completely overlook quality of life crimes, like vandalism, it encourages an anarchic atmosphere and the growth of other, more troubling crime. He also developed the idea of community policing, that is, of having cops become more involved in their communities, and therefore figures of trust around whom the neighborhood can organize things like watches. His ideas were widely applied by Republican mayors like Guiliani, and there was a precipitous drop in many categories of crime, greater than in those cities where the techniques were not implemented. Rarely is there as striking a confirmation of such theories. Rudy, for example, not only cleaned up vandalism in the projects, but got rid of the squeegie guys harassing commuters into Manhattan, cleaned up the parks, and rezoned to limit the red light areas in the city. He also implemented community policing, especially in high risk neighborhoods. Street crime plummeted. Interestingly, of course, this is an instance where sociology and conservative premises about upholding standards mesh. |
