My excursions into middle class America have me a bit rattled, the sense of pointlessness is being driven home like never before. From my interactions, people are unbelievably disconnected from the world, with almost no curiosity, awareness, nor appreciate for how the modern world operates and all the details we dependent on. Instead it’s totally self-indulgence, which has carried the price of having to isolate emotionally from the fates of others. It’s like everyone has to have the corporate mentality that yes we gotta walk on bodies to get what we want, it’s simply the way it is, the way of the world, suck it up and start walking.
I’d hate to see the poll where Americans are asked if they know what “biosphere” means.
And me I’m stuck in the world of human interactions reminiscent of century ago, my heroes were explores and pioneers and thinkers living on a great big globe brimming with mysteries, and challenges. I’m back home in our cabin, back to dealing with the woodpile and keeping the stove stoked, taking the dog for walks, reveling in the feeling of wide open space around me, making dinner, back to being an active member of two different community endeavors. I luxuriate in our more modest hot shower, knowing that for most all of mankind journey, such a thing wasn’t even enjoyed by the mightiest of kings. My world is one of savoring the wonders of modern times and thinking about how we got here. Sadly when I try to find others who can relate to such basic primal human feelings, . . . . . . .
I used to think it was a case of casting my net in all the wrong directions, but now I’m increasingly wondering if it’s worse than simply my ineptness.
I think it’s something that fluctuates throughout history. Stable periods lead to chaotic periods and back again. On a bigger scale, liberal democracy itself might be in its old age.
Americans who are under 50 or so probably don’t believe in the old-school American liberalism – because they didn’t grow up with it. Also, I think the country is too diverse now to have widespread belief in one thing or another.
That is what happens to a country that neglects to educate its population.
Ignorance always leads to conflicting perspectives and disagreement. Disagreement breeds violence.
KEY FINDINGS
• The U.S. ranks 14th in the world in the percentage of 25-34 year-olds with higher education (42%).
• The odds that a young person in the U.S. will be in higher education if his or her parents do not
have an upper secondary education are just 29% – one of the lowest levels among OECD countries.
• The U.S ranks 28th in the percentage of 4-year-olds in early childhood education, with a 69%
enrolment rate.
• Across all OECD countries, 30% of the expenditure on higher education comes from private
sources, while in the U.S., 62% does.
• Teachers in the U.S. spend between 1 050 and 1 100 hours a year teaching – much more than in
almost every country.
The sort of situation which seems pure madness to an European, as i understand it:
Studies have shown that, in USA, some ethnic minorities are more affected by COVID than mainstream Whites and more vulnerable.
In consequence, the question has been raised: when drugs are scarce, should not ethnic minoteries members be prioritized to get them when infected ? And a positive answer has been given.
As i understand things, members of ethnic minorities are more affected by COVID because they suffer more other morbidities, are more obese, and so.
That preferential treatment be given to a latino person who is more vulnerable to COVID than an healthy young white male is desirable.
But, for me to prioritize an healthy young latino male who does not present any special risk over an elder white male who present specific risks is a scandal.
I’m all for diversity and my family is very diverse. We all need to talk to each other, work with each other, have various activities with each other. I also think most people who’ve been to college support diversity. My alma mater is very diverse too. My sons, who are younger than 50 not only grew up with old-school liberalism, but at least one has taken it to another level beyond what he grew up with.
I think there can be diversity of culture and still have shared values. Everyone wants clean water and air. We all need enough safety to raise our children. We can build on those. I think this is the experiment of modern civilization. Anything else results on conflict over resources.
The world is diverse in the sense that many different peoples exist. But only a few regions have many groups living side by side. These regions are not nice to live in.
Is that a fact? How do you know this?
Do you have any evidence to support your most sincere conviction?
Have you ever tried “researching” racial diversity across the globe? I ask because although I’ve done no research, it didn’t take long to find others who have researched this and turns out the world’s population are much more diverse than you might be capable of imagining.
Race is the outmoded concept that the human race can be divided into several distinct groups of people based upon shared genetic or ethnic ancestry and/or traits. If a country is considered racially diverse, it is home to many different groups of people who share their own distinct characteristics.
Race is a controversial subject, as genetic studies have confirmed that the concept has no biogenetic basis despite “racial” differences such as skin color and hair texture.
Moreover, today’s scholars point out that race is a cultural invention, largely originating during Europe’s Age of Exploration (approx. 1400-1650), and has never had a clear definition. Sometimes it has referred to physical appearance (caucasian, negro) and at other times to continent of origin (Asians, Africans, Indians), language (Greeks, Arabs), religion (Jews, Muslims), or even nationality or ethnicity (Irish, Koreans, Hispanics).
Racial diversity is often used (incorrectly) as a synonym for cultural diversity, a more scientifically sound concept that disregards genetics and focuses instead upon linguistic and ethnic variety. It is unrelated to the ecological concept of megadiversity.
Is diversity rising or falling in the world?
What does “fractionalization” mean with regard to diversity?
Top 10 Most Diverse Countries in the World (by Ethnic Fractionalization):
Africa, South Asia and the Americas are the most diverse overall. The rest of the world, not so much. That map conveniently leaves out racial/ethnic diversity and focuses on cultural/linguistic diversity; but even still, the most diverse countries are hellholes. I suspect many of the people who favor more diversity are in less diverse nations and are naive about the inevitable conflict. .
Here’s a list of the 50 biggest cities in America. I’ve been to quite a few of them. Everybody is aware of the problems of NYC, LA, Chicago, Philadelphia.
I would like to stay in my hometown of Philly but without the nonstop ghettoization of the city and its metro area.
City size rank; City; Population est. 2015
1 New York 8,550,405
2 Los Angeles 3,971,883
3 Chicago 2,720,546
4 Houston 2,296,224
5 Philadelphia 1,567,442
6 Phoenix 1,563,025
7 San Antonio 1,469,845
8 San Diego 1,394,928
9 Dallas 1,300,092
10 San Jose 1,026,908
11 Austin 931,830
12 Jacksonville 868,031
13 San Francisco 864,816
14 Indianapolis 853,173
15 Columbus 850,106
16 Fort Worth 833,319
17 Charlotte 827,097
18 Seattle 684,451
19 Denver 682,545
20 El Paso 681,124
21 Detroit 677,116
22 Washington 672,228
23 Boston 667,137
24 Memphis 655,770
25 Nashville 654,610
26 Portland, Ore. 632,309
27 Oklahoma City 631,346
28 Las Vegas 623,747
29 Baltimore 621,849
30 Louisville 615,366
31 Milwaukee 600,155
32 Albuquerque 559,121
33 Tucson 531,641
34 Fresno 520,052
35 Sacramento 490,712
36 Kansas City, Mo. 475,378
37 Long Beach 474,140
38 Mesa 471,825
39 Atlanta 463,878
40 Colorado Springs 456,568
41 Virginia Beach 452,745
42 Raleigh 451,066
43 Omaha 443,885
44 Miami 441,003
45 Oakland 419,267
46 Minneapolis 410,939
47 Tulsa 403,505
48 Wichita 389,965
49 New Orleans 389,617
50 Arlington, Texas 388,125
SOURCE: U.S. Census Bureau population estimates
I didn’t know people used that word anymore. I participated in my community, closed down crack houses, built local businesses in once abandoned buildings. I’m sure statistics would show similar progress in your list. You see things you don’t like and we extrapolate
