Posted on 08/10/2005 10:01:09 PM PDT by neverdem
Let's say you are an 18-year-old kid with a really big brain. You're trying to figure out which field of study you should devote your life to, so you can understand the forces that will be shaping history for decades to come.
Go into the field that barely exists: cultural geography. Study why and how people cluster, why certain national traits endure over centuries, why certain cultures embrace technology and economic growth and others resist them.
This is the line of inquiry that is now impolite to pursue. The gospel of multiculturalism preaches that all groups and cultures are equally wonderful. There are a certain number of close-minded thugs, especially on university campuses, who accuse anybody who asks intelligent questions about groups and enduring traits of being racist or sexist. The economists and scientists tend to assume that material factors drive history - resources and brain chemistry - because that's what they can measure and count.
But none of this helps explain a crucial feature of our time: while global economies are converging, cultures are diverging, and the widening cultural differences are leading us into a period of conflict, inequality and segmentation.
Not long ago, people said that globalization and the revolution in communications technology would bring us all together. But the opposite is true. People are taking advantage of freedom and technology to create new groups and cultural zones. Old national identities and behavior patterns are proving surprisingly durable. People are moving into self-segregating communities with people like themselves, and building invisible and sometimes visible barriers to keep strangers out.
If you look just around the United States you find amazing cultural segmentation. We in America have been "globalized" (meaning economically integrated) for centuries, and yet far from converging into some homogeneous culture, we are actually diverging into lifestyle...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Wait, This is the New York Times? Am I reading this right? Do I need glasses?
Would someone post the entire article?
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
Most Americans are realizing that this multiculturism idea isn't working the way it's supposed to, yet it is shoved down our throats on a daily basis. Force feeding causes resentment...
You mean you've never used bugmenot.com?
Nice piece by D. Brooks, but he doesn't even mention genes. You just can't go there these days; and yet, that is where many of the answers are to be found. I know it is a dangerous area and I understand why people don't want to go there. Still a very murky area....
Great tip.. ....thanks.
Of course! It is only an 'idea' that makes us truly American in the first place!
Use bugmenot.com once and it should continue working as long as you accept cookies. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but if you accept a cookie, the sender will recognize your computer on the net.
I wish David Brooks would run for President. Every word he writes is just perfect.
Sure you can. As long as you are only talking about dogs, cats--any creatures other than humans.
Interestingly enough, it is high school and college aged kids who are challenging multiculturalism most - right in the class rooms. Not because they don't agree with it (in most cases), but rather because it is a monolithic cult being imposed by all their teachers. And as the generation of the 60's always said, rebelling against authority (in this case aging hippies preaching liberalism) is a cool thing to do when you're young.
I regularly read Brooks and John Tierney at the Times. Here's Tierney's last piece, Debunking the Drug War .
Most of their other OpEd columnists and masthead editorials are good for exercises in frustration and barf alerts, unless you want to mock them in detail. Their OpEd Contributors, i.e. those who contribute guest opinion pieces, and occasionally Friedman and Kristof can surprise you occasionally with good writing, but the latter two authors are usually compelled to make at least one obligatory swipe at the Bush administration, marring an otherwise good article.
I tried it for the NY Sun. It called me Penis hed and wouldn't allow me in.
D. Brooks is their token conservative and Friedman is often conservative. They are not to be confused with the general culture and adcocacy of the NYT.
You mean that Zimbabwe is not the same as the United States? Where did you get an idea like that?
"Zimm-bahb-wayy" - it's fun to say but it's an ugly place. Can't for the life of me figure out why the media won't use the "C" word when describing it. You know, "Communist."
Hey! I used to be one of them. I've burned out a lot of those brains cells along the way however, LOL.
Read the excerpt, sounded like NYT pure pablum. Get a job in engineering or computer sciences.
What the Eurosocialists, including the NYT apart from Brooks and Friedman, fear is precisely the emergence of an American Civilization that will greatly influence many others in the world. They prefer to ally with Islamic fascism rather than admit that there even is an American civilization based on the ideas which we borrowed from the liberty thinkers of England and a few other places in order to break from those in Europe who always sought to crush those ideas.
"The Soul of a Jew Yearns..." in the Israel national anthem.
Say, isn't that promulgating a religion? Non-Jews might be offended. It must be illegal to sing that or say that in America and especially on federal property. Why hasn't this come to light before now?
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