Posted on 11/11/2012 6:21:04 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Apart from some fatuous self-congratulation from Asian-American liberals, there has been very little discussion of the 73-26 Asian-American margin of support for President Obama in last Tuesday’s election. That’s slightly smaller than the highest estimate of Latino support for Obama, at 75-23. Asian-Americans are a small minority now but their numbers are growing rapidly.
Most conservatives consider Asian-Americans poster-children for the American model of self-motivated success. The facts bear this out. The Pew Research Center reported last July:
Asian Americans are the highest-income, best-educated and fastest-growing racial group in the United States. They are more satisfied than the general public with their lives, finances and the direction of the country, and they place more value than other Americans do on marriage, parenthood, hard work and career success…
Asians recently passed Hispanics as the largest group of new immigrants to the United States. The educational credentials of these recent arrivals are striking. More than six-in-ten (61%) adults ages 25 to 64 who have come from Asia in recent years have at least a bachelors degree. This is double the share among recent non-Asian arrivals, and almost surely makes the recent Asian arrivals the most highly educated cohort of immigrants in U.S. history.
Compared with the educational attainment of the population in their country of origin, recent Asian immigrants also stand out as a select group. For example, about 27% of adults ages 25 to 64 in South Korea and 25% in Japan have a bachelors degree or more.2In contrast, nearly 70% of comparably aged recent immigrants from these two countries have at least a bachelors degree.
Asian-American kids occupy nearly three-quarters of the places at New York City’s exam-based high schools (including Bronx Science and Stuyvesant) although they comprise less than 12% of the student population. The main threat to the upward striving of working-class immigrant kids who study hard to get into top schools is the NAACP. The New York Times reported Oct. 15:
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and other groups filed a racial bias complaint with the United States Education Department. They charge that reliance on a single test for determining who gets into Bronx Science and seven other specialized high schools discriminates against young African-Americans and Latinos. Other factors, like student grades, need to be considered as well, they say.
Asians “also stand out for their strong emphasis on family,” the Pew study reported. “More than half (54%) say that having a successful marriage is one of the most important things in life; just 34% of all American adults agree. Two-thirds of Asian-American adults (67%) say that being a good parent is one of the most important things in life; just 50% of all adults agree.”
If the Republican Party can’t win the support of the immigrant group with the strongest family values and the most success in achieving the American dream, what can it say to the Hispanics, the immigrant group with the least success in achieving the American dream?
I do not mean to be glib. The issue requires study. But I will venture a guess: Asian-Americans, like any other immigrant group, come here with the hope of bringing family members with them. Tough enforcement of immigration laws makes life as hard for them as it does for any other immigrant group, and frustrates their hope of reuniting families in America. The result of our present immigration laws is that we fail to keep out the illegals we don’t want, and make it harder to absorb the skilled and energetic immigrants we do want. There will be endless discussion during the next few months of Romney’s mistake in moving to the right of Rick Perry on immigration during the Republican primaries, and I will leave the detailed parsing to the professionals. I hope the professionals talk to Asian-Americans first.
America is unlikely to tolerate ethnic quotas (Asians in, Hispanics out). There are plenty of bright Hispanics as well (with 25% unemployment in Spain, German firms are recruiting Spanish engineers to fill the 30,000 job openings for engineers in Germany). But there is a sensible way to encourage the kind of immigration that boosts economic growth and discourage the kind of immigration that impedes economic growth.
The distinguished Canadian economist Prof. Reuven Brenner of McGill University wrote two years ago in First Things magazine:
Without innovation, America faces prolonged stagnation. The outlook seems bleak. Between 1988 and 1998, manufacturing productive growth rose from less than 2 percent to more than 5 percent per annum. By 2008, it had fallen back to the 2 percent range as the great wave of innovation abated. This outcome is not inevitable, however. America has been obtaining a disproportionate flow of skilled innovators by attracting these vital few to its shores. Without their contribution, America may neither sustain the economic growth required to absorb the penurious many nor raise their standards of living. The impact of the vital few does trickle down…
The problem lies in policy. American sentiment toward immigrants has swung from boomtown hospitality to churlish xenophobia in the course of the present recession…
It is hard to blame opponents of immigration. Earlier this year, the Pew Hispanic Center reported that Californias estimated 2.7 million illegal residents7 percent of the states populationadd $4 billion to $6 billion in costs. Cutting off state payments for the American-born children of immigrants supposedly would save about $640 million a year. By similar estimates, Arizonas illegal immigrant population is costing the states taxpayers about $1.3 billion per year. Whether these estimates are exact or only in the ballpark, it is clear that poor migrants drain state finances under the present institutional and regulatory landscape, and the drain is substantial.
…The least the United States can do is try, explicitly, to attract the vital few to its shores and, at the same time, speed up the domestic production of talent.
…Congress should first increase visas for skilled immigrantsthose who would invest in their own entrepreneurial ventures in the United States in particular. Congress also should facilitate a temporary worker program, but without instantaneously bestowing on those workers the many monetary government benefits for which Americas already taxpaying citizens are eligible. For immigrants in the United States who do not have proper documentation but who have built up equity in this country, opportunities should be provided to obtain legalization if they can demonstrate good moral character. Such an earned legalization should be achievable and verifiable in an accountable manner.
As Prof. Brenner observes, immigrants have made a disproportionate contribution to American economic growth in recent years. “At the height of the last tech boom in 1999, Chinese and Indian engineers were at the helm of 24 percent of the technology companies started in Silicon Valley,” he writes, adding:
In 25.3 percent of [high-tech and engineering] companies, at least one key founder was foreign-born.
Of all immigrant-founded companies, 26 percent had Indian founders; 7 percent had founders of British and Chinese origin; 6 percent had founders from Taiwan; Japanese and German founders each led 5 percent; 4 percent had founders from Israel; 3 percent had founders from Canada; and 2.5 percent had founders from Iran.
In Massachusetts the single largest founding group was Israelis, at 17 percent.
Indian entrepreneurs dominated in New Jersey, leading 47 percent of all immigrant-founded start-ups.
Immigrants also represented 24.2 percent of international patent applications filed from the United States in 2006. Chinese filed the largest number of patents, followed by Indians, Canadians, and British.
If we Republicans can’t persuade our most successful, entrepreneurial, family-oriented citizens to support us, we won’t be in business much longer.
That's exactly right. I posted a long reply on a thread about this very subject yesterday, and one of the things I pointed out is that for all their intelligence and their dedication to hard work, Asians as I've known them don't even begin to comprehend what "independence" is, from an American perspective. Almost all of them come from places where there is a cultural expectation for nanny-state government.
According to their lights, they are being “smart”. As long as there is a racial spoils system in this country for every racial-ethnic group except whites, the members of those groups are going to vote to get their “share” of the spoils every time. Unless we can get rid of affirmative action, race-based preferences of any kind, racially-targeted “testing” for schools and for jobs, people are going to vote for who offers them them the most from the system. The only other option is for both parties to pander, and there are of course multiple problems with that. For one thing, the left is already way ahead in that game. For another, that strategy leaves whites and the few minority conservatives completely out in the cold. As long as reward isn’t based on merit, whites will be taken for granted.
Good summary.
Romney was NOT the problem this election no matter what some want to say here. Wasn’t my favorite choice, but the people saw the striking contrast and were informed of the dire consequences ahead and voted Santa Government again.
The issue is that a large segment want Santa (other people to pay for their life).
New immigrants who are citizens are especially liking the big government Santa because they come to America with also the extended family who all need to eat off our Dole for survival.
They are IMO a pathetic group, but this is mainly what is dragging us down.
We have a built in anchor with all the third world immigrants wanting Santa Government and they make up a good deal of the vote, and when added to liberals, teacher’s union government employee types you get President Obama again and again.
People don’t want to deal with the economic reality that you can’t have a solvent government and nation when it offers cradle to grave massive social safety nets for all.
Someone has to pay. We will have austerity here at some point. We will have the losers rioting here as well wanting their freebies to ride this nation all the way down.
At some point will there be enough grown ups in this nation to teach shame and pride again to the masses who have lost it? Can we regroup and come out strong some day or are we seeing the end like the fall of the Roman Empire?
Conservatives need to learn how to get elected. Liberals advance liberalism by keeping their mouths shut during campaigns. For example, at no point in 2008 did Obama talk about gays in the military and gays were smart enough not to ask him about it. Meanwhile, we force all of our candidates to kiss the rings of various single-issue groups which do nothing but drive voters away.
What the conservatives/GOP would need to do is identify ONE point in each group it wants to win as having a conservative value in common with it, and HAMMER on that value in its outreach programs.
Sometimes I wonder if Democrats even figure out what exactly it is they are "winning" when they leave their principles at the front door.
Even if they don’t know the details of the party platforms, no one except an utter ignoramus doesn’t roughly know already what each of the parties, at least ostensibly, stand for. The Republican party, at least on paper, is for smaller government, pro-life, pro-self responsibility, etc.
Other than pandering and becoming the “me too” party, what kind of outreach do you suggest?
I have heard for years about how blacks and hispanics are culturally conservative. There is no way that they don’t already know that the GOP is pro-life and pro- traditional marriage , amongst other things. But they still vote rat. Why? Because their desire for the “gimmees” outweighs their supposed cultural conservatism.
The Republicans have already been infiltrated by such groups as the “Log Cabin Republicans”. How much of our platform do we dismantle in order to gain the votes of these supposed “socially conservative” groups who nonetheless vote for the gimmees? All of it? Since this election, they’ve already lost voters like me who say “no more”. They’re not going to make large inroads on the “gimmee” voters without outpandering the rats, and in the process, they have lost voters like me. How many like me do they lose while stilll being behind the rats in the pandering race?
Im my humble opinion, there will never be enough people to give up cable, intertainment, etc to make a difference.
I just won’t happen.
I= it
We will start seeing a Conservative/GOP turnaround when we start seeing outreach centers in strip malls in ethnic neighborhoods. Want the Vietnamese vote? Get a storefront next to the nail salon. Want the Hispanic vote? Get a storefront next to the burrito restaurant. The Conservative/GOP presence is great at showing up at big rallies but needs to be at least equally great in maintaing a humble and consistent presence among the people it wishes to reach, and not just when elections roll around.
Here’s one clue.
Long history of emperors, triads and other tyrants. It’s all they know. Corruption is almost a way of life in many such cultures. One thought about the democracy movement that led to Tianamen Square is that it failed largely because the movement really had no earthly idea what a democracy was, what they were fighting for. They essentially wanted - although they never clearly articulated it - to replace a tyrannical dictator with a benign one. It’s all they’ve ever known.
One point to consider is that the original Asians knew and hated Communism. And they voted against the Dem who like communism. We’re now seeing a second generation of Asian voters who were indoctrinated by the public schools.
Nationally, for Prez, rinos are losers.
Akin lost because he's just a complete dumbass because of the stupid comment he made, I have no idea why Mourdock lost. But it has nothing to do with their conservative stance.
I'm saying that even if the folks in the groups mentioned before have a similar outlook, etc. that matches conservatism, they aren't going to join a party that is perceived to be for WASPs only and looks down upon them since they aren't White Christians. We can say we don't think or do that but I see this mindset from too many people on this board day in and day out that supports their perception of Conservatives/Republicans.
when we start seeing outreach centers in strip malls in ethnic neighborhoods.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Yes, that is a start.
My fathers family was Middle/Working Class Irish in NYS.
My mothers family (Mass) ‘claimed’ ties back to Mayflower.
She was Protestant, her mother Christian Scientist.
Both Mother and Father RN’s.
Grandfather 40+ mailman on ‘small town’ walking route.
He was ‘upset’ when I joined Navy in 1956 because that ‘damn Republican (IKE) was pres and no war going on’.
So, in effect me at 18 leaning toward the Republican side is/was much the same as a Black Conservative today.
A minority that the D’s took for granted - the old “where else are they going to go” attitude.
When we see ‘campaign rallies’ with Blacks on the “R” stage, ‘WE’ have to point out that a ‘couple’ of Blacks were there.
Very subtly the ‘press’ managed to show - when appropriate - BO in rallies surrounded by fawning Whites and didn’t make a big deal of it.
I used to say the ‘problem’ with the R’s is they wanted to start as a Senator and go up from there.
The D’s would start out as ‘dogcatcher’, school board, city/town council other local positions so by the time they were running for Congress, they were a ‘household name’.
So, to the minorities (be it Irish minority, Italian Minority, Black Minority, Hispanic Minority etc(whomever happens to be the Minority at the time)) the R’s are for the elitists.
Like, back in the day, the ‘raffles’ sponsored by the Church. It was ‘always’ a surprise that a Priest or Nun won the ‘new car’ appliance or whatever the raffle may be.
The ‘Santa Claus’ attitude is a good one, how else would you explain how a LIAR, in the case of MA has been lying all her life, taking advantage of the system, (based on a lie) and the Senator from CT in ‘10 lying about his achievements etc about his USMC service (granted the strongest candidate didn’t run against him) but a good man, Alan West, goes down in flame - where is the RNC demanding etc...bet your bippy if Debby ‘wacky’ etal was in the same spot as West, the DNC, DOJ would be having probes, and the WH would be throwing in with their .02....
Like them or not, the Libs do stick together...
Used to be a saying years ago “When the Russians arrest an American for spying, the Americans arrest 5 Americans for spying”.
If a Lib comes up on charges, they circle the wagons and go to bat for him/her, no matter how bad the situation.
If a Rep comes up on charges, you can pretty much bet that enough R’s will support the charge to make expulsion virtually mandatory.
Of course, take the high moral ground and someday you will have to live up to it.
I oppose “outreach” to groups based on race, all it does is legitimise the idea that groups (other than white) have racially-based interests rather than American interests. When a majority of hispanics support amnesty for illegal immigrants, we have no common ground.
Yes, but you changed your stance based on principles, not on ethnic pandering. If the existing principles aren’t enough, what is? That’s why I make the point that these days of mass, omni-present media, only an ignoramus doesn’t know at least roughly where the parties at least ostensibly stand on issues, and they still choose the party of gimmees, above every other consideration, icluding their own supposed “social conservatism”. I no longer believe in that supposed social conservatism of the majority of people. I just saw an article touting the idea that most blacks are not opposed to homosexual marriage after all. If true, it doesn’t surprise me. When it came down to the wire, it was a choice between their supposed social conservatism and their desire for freebies, and it’s no surprise that the freebies won. I never could see how a group with the highest rates of bastardy could be so socially conservative, and that applies to a large number of whites also. Surprisingly, one group who lives in a socially conservative way, despite their support in principle for libertinism, is successful white liberals. They don’t practice what they preach, because they know the score. So why are they so adamant in support of a lifestyle of failure for others?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.