We live in a world where CHAOS is the natural state of things.
The Constitution of The United States of America was based upon Christian principles which proclaim morality above all else, i.e. no chaos. This has let to the greatest moments in the history of the world.
The past century, especially thanks to the Administrative State, has steadily accelerated the slope we are on to getting back to the natural state of things as increasingly laws are flat-out ignored as each man does what is right in his own eyes (hence the visceral reactions to a vigorous POTUS).
Progressivism is nothing but a steady diet promising utopia but delivering dystopia.
Good recap of recent events. Always appreciate your take on things.
My great-grandparents moved here from Mexico, first to Texas and then to California, probably in the 40's? (I'd have to check with my family for the exact date). They worked incredibly hard, but they didn't seem intent on protecting their heritage. They wanted citizenship and a better life. Their daughters (my grandma and great aunt) assimilated completely into the USA. There was no romanticizing the past life or nostalgia for what they left behind. Besides the ability to cook some pretty good authentic Mexican food, I don't have any Mexican heritage to speak of.
Something seemed to happen with those with later generations who moved here. There seems to be a victim mentality and entitlement my great grandparents and grandparents didn't have. I see it in my friends parents who moved here decades ago, but who never bought into being an American. I'm very grateful my great grandparents passed on their work ethic and family values and not a victim mentality or entitlement. Whatever they experienced in their home country, it was never talked about. (Now I wish I had asked more questions!).
Your great-grandparents came here at a time when assimilation was the expectation. Assimilation isn't easy. It can even be cruel, in a way. Forcing people to leave their past lives behind completely is a tough ask. But you cannot have a nation, a cohesive society, which includes immigration without expecting assimilation.
What happened with the later generations is that the "Hispanic/Latino" demographic was created in the Census. Previously, Hispanics and Latinos were classified as "White." Some say that was never a meaningful label, due to differences in skin color. But being classified as White gave them something to assimilate into, especially at a time when Whites still dominated society. Once the Hispanic/Latino label was created, it also created group racial consciousness.
I see it like this: assimilation is short-term, typically one or two generations of a tough time followed by generations of being set for life. The "salad bowl" is basically the path of least resistance, but long term, it only leads to conflict and discord, as we're seeing now. Ironically, the salad bowl works best under authoritarian governance. It's the only way to eliminate conflict between groups.
Tyler Cohen and Noah Smith both suffer from a problem common to economics PhDs: a blindness to the importance of culture. Tyler is a radical libertarian and Noah a radical progressive and yet they both consistently make the same mistake in this respect. It's the reason I stopped reading Noah despite his great China coverage.
"In a sane society, one not riven by racial tribalism"
We had the closest thing in history, but it turns out that being the culture most inclined to cooperate and least ethnonarcissistic, especially given its track record, has proven not to be resilient, particularly in the face of post Hart-Cellar immigration.
"What happens when their seat is taken away entirely?"
Decolonization, see South Africa.
"To me, a more appropriate charge would’ve been a lesser degree of murder, perhaps even manslaughter."
This tells me that you (in practice, though probably not intention) want to cooperate with defectors, which means you are defecting on cooperators. The impulses (which I presume are of high intention, seriously) are and have always been wrong, and have been strongly falsified in the last 70 years.
We are finding out how bad things are, per the 2012 green text, and we will find out more still. However, at least today, the Supreme Court has taken some of the shackles off of Trump which is incredibly positive and gives reason for legitimate hope of turning this things around before it is all ashes.
Good musings.
I like it.
Right on.
To respond, I will be very brief:
We live in a world where CHAOS is the natural state of things.
The Constitution of The United States of America was based upon Christian principles which proclaim morality above all else, i.e. no chaos. This has let to the greatest moments in the history of the world.
The past century, especially thanks to the Administrative State, has steadily accelerated the slope we are on to getting back to the natural state of things as increasingly laws are flat-out ignored as each man does what is right in his own eyes (hence the visceral reactions to a vigorous POTUS).
Progressivism is nothing but a steady diet promising utopia but delivering dystopia.
Good recap of recent events. Always appreciate your take on things.
My great-grandparents moved here from Mexico, first to Texas and then to California, probably in the 40's? (I'd have to check with my family for the exact date). They worked incredibly hard, but they didn't seem intent on protecting their heritage. They wanted citizenship and a better life. Their daughters (my grandma and great aunt) assimilated completely into the USA. There was no romanticizing the past life or nostalgia for what they left behind. Besides the ability to cook some pretty good authentic Mexican food, I don't have any Mexican heritage to speak of.
Something seemed to happen with those with later generations who moved here. There seems to be a victim mentality and entitlement my great grandparents and grandparents didn't have. I see it in my friends parents who moved here decades ago, but who never bought into being an American. I'm very grateful my great grandparents passed on their work ethic and family values and not a victim mentality or entitlement. Whatever they experienced in their home country, it was never talked about. (Now I wish I had asked more questions!).
Your great-grandparents came here at a time when assimilation was the expectation. Assimilation isn't easy. It can even be cruel, in a way. Forcing people to leave their past lives behind completely is a tough ask. But you cannot have a nation, a cohesive society, which includes immigration without expecting assimilation.
What happened with the later generations is that the "Hispanic/Latino" demographic was created in the Census. Previously, Hispanics and Latinos were classified as "White." Some say that was never a meaningful label, due to differences in skin color. But being classified as White gave them something to assimilate into, especially at a time when Whites still dominated society. Once the Hispanic/Latino label was created, it also created group racial consciousness.
I see it like this: assimilation is short-term, typically one or two generations of a tough time followed by generations of being set for life. The "salad bowl" is basically the path of least resistance, but long term, it only leads to conflict and discord, as we're seeing now. Ironically, the salad bowl works best under authoritarian governance. It's the only way to eliminate conflict between groups.
Tyler Cohen and Noah Smith both suffer from a problem common to economics PhDs: a blindness to the importance of culture. Tyler is a radical libertarian and Noah a radical progressive and yet they both consistently make the same mistake in this respect. It's the reason I stopped reading Noah despite his great China coverage.
No you are not taking away my airport beer! 😉
Well we can start by selling only beer, the way some venues do.
"In a sane society, one not riven by racial tribalism"
We had the closest thing in history, but it turns out that being the culture most inclined to cooperate and least ethnonarcissistic, especially given its track record, has proven not to be resilient, particularly in the face of post Hart-Cellar immigration.
"What happens when their seat is taken away entirely?"
Decolonization, see South Africa.
"To me, a more appropriate charge would’ve been a lesser degree of murder, perhaps even manslaughter."
This tells me that you (in practice, though probably not intention) want to cooperate with defectors, which means you are defecting on cooperators. The impulses (which I presume are of high intention, seriously) are and have always been wrong, and have been strongly falsified in the last 70 years.
We are finding out how bad things are, per the 2012 green text, and we will find out more still. However, at least today, the Supreme Court has taken some of the shackles off of Trump which is incredibly positive and gives reason for legitimate hope of turning this things around before it is all ashes.