by rangerone314 » Sun 17 Oct 2010, 20:00:37
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cid_Yama', 'T')his thread has drifted.
Don't try to tell me this study was posted from political/cultural neutrality.
It isn't even Putnam's fault. His study has been twisted to be used by those who want to claim cause for their bigotry.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he Saguaro Seminar, under the leadership of Robert D. Putnam, has been conducting research on the inter-relation of diversity (mainly examining race and ethnicity), immigration and social capital since 2001. We have also been examining the relationship between inequality and both diversity and social capital.
There are three key elements of this research, each equally important:
1 - Increased diversity and immigration are essential, inevitable and generally strengthen advanced nations;
2 - But in the short-term, diversity and immigration challenges community cohesion; and
3 - Longer-term, successful immigrant societies overcome these challenges by building a broader sense of "we". America has successfully done this with the wave of immigration from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. This integration can be done through popular culture, education, national symbols, or common experiences (like national service).
link Putnam calls the right-wing seizure of religion (from which much past progressivism stemmed from) as an aberration.
Is it an aberration or the new norm?
I also wonder what the real reasons are for the US being such a dominant power. People who are pro-immigration would say immigration made us strong. Pro-capitalism people would say it was unfettered market capitalism. I tend to think it is mostly circumstances (many with a base in geography) that determine outcome.
The reason the US got so powerful was the US was the most intact industrially, financially and socially after WWI (which practically erased an entire generation of youth in Europe) and WWII (which devastated the industries and economies of the developed world). We were in that position because geographically we were isolated from the rest of the world (being in our own hemisphere, with many natural resources, and not hindered by having strong neighbors to hem us in)
After defeating the British in 2 wars (which was our version of Rome's Punic Wars--except that we didn't have to destroy Britain), we did not have any significant obstacles, just like the Romans did not. And like the Romans we have reached the limits of our power, after having made countless mistakes over decades that were simply not as costly to us as they would have been to other nations, simply because of no significant opposition to us (especially after the Cold War ended) and because of inertia (a large object tends to keep moving).
Now those mistakes are catching up to us... the chickens are coming home to roost. Americans are going to have wakeup calls, one after another, as American "exceptionalism" dies an ugly death at the hands of reality. And among those, we are probably going to find out the price you pay for diversity can be a Bosnia, Kosovo, or Sudetenland.
No problem though. Given the tendency towards "cognitive dissonance" exhibited by both liberals and conservatives, most Americans would not recognize a wake up call but instead get killed in their sleep.
An ideology is by definition not a search for TRUTH-but a search for PROOF that its point of view is right
Equals barter and negotiate-people with power just take
You cant defend freedom by eliminating it-unknown
Our elected reps should wear sponsor patches on their suits so we know who they represent-like Nascar-Roy