Word: contrarians
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Helen Suzman, who was buried Sunday after dying at 91, was a lifelong contrarian. Born into white privilege in a society that was becoming progressively more racist, she served as a lawmaker in South Africa's parliament from 1953 to 1989, fighting government repression of the country's black majority and the imprisonment of Nelson Mandela and his fellow anti-apartheid fighters. For 13 years, from 1961 to 1974, it was a battle she fought alone as the sole anti-apartheid member of South Africa's parliament...
...while Downing Street is insisting Merkel's omission was innocuous and that the event, which business leaders also attended, was never conceived as an intergovernmental meeting, the more cynical view suspects that the German Chancellor may have been included if she did not hold a contrarian view on how to respond to the economic crisis. In a Dec. 1 speech, Merkel took a swipe at the theology so devoutly promulgated by Brown and Sarkozy - as well as by the U.S. President-elect Barack Obama - that governments should spend their way out of recession. "We will not take part...
...Even if it would save the artwork, Banksy, forever the contrarian rebel, doesn't want his art classified as an advertisement, and in his statement says he was "offended" by the suggestion. "Advertising makes people feel inadequate and worthless. Graffiti doesn't do that. Graffiti doesn't emotionally blackmail you, graffiti doesn't make you feel fat and graffiti doesn't make you rush out and buy things - except maybe high-strength cleaning products," the statement reads. (Read "Statement Issued from Banksy's Spokesperson...
...past, he's made a fortune with similarly contrarian bets in devastated emerging markets, most memorably in Russia after it defaulted on its debt in 1998. At the time, says Weiss, the entire Russian stock market was valued at about half the price of the U.S. company Home Depot. Now, markets in countries like Russia, China, Vietnam, Brazil and India - all adored by investors until recently - have crashed. But Weiss still isn't ready to plunge in. "I don't think the emerging markets are cheap enough yet," he says. "I don't think people hate them enough...
...However, we must also strive for honesty in our examination of these concerns. Instead of criticizing Charles Murray and contemporaries who are pushing through contrarian positions, we should embrace all the data available for us. Equalizing educational opportunities is a noble goal, but there should be nothing to fear in the truth...