This is very true and this in a nutshell is the hard counter to the work hard and succeed fallacy that is spearheading the USs precipitous decline. That there are some exceptional people and enterprises in the US - even more than in most countries - does not change the fact that most people are not exceptional and that it is unreasonable to argue that a social system should be predicated on the exceptional. I very much see myself as the exception that proves the rule - a highly intelligent and antisocial individual from an upper-middle class family who leverages his familys dwindling privilege by striving to win at a game I recognize a sham by treating it as such. Suffice to say, most people cannot and should not think this way, and our society should reflect that and serve the interests of the middle class...which it is currently failing to do. Some people, including me, like to point out that our country still gets immigrants - either by way of claiming they are bringing their poverty with them to mooch off our social system, or to point out that this country still offers much opportunity. What these people miss is that this country, founded by European immigrants, is now getting immigrants almost exclusively from the Third World because Europe, Japan and the rest of the First World have largely solved their own problems and leapfrogged the USs obsolete social system, and our country is now only superior to totally dysfunctional Third World nations. Even that is not such a sure thing. If the value of the dollar stopped being subsidized by the strong external demand created by the requirement of most Arab nations to sell petrol exclusively in dollars even to third parties, the dollar would be worth little more than the peso and much less than the yen, won, euro or even the Canadian dollar, and immigrants would simply stop coming here. Already more and more of the most highly skilled Indians are concluding they can do more with their skills back home. Google reverse brain drain India if you dont believe me. When I visited France, one of the things that most struck me, and that I was totally unprepared for, was how many immigrants there were and how assimilated they had become. I still remember the Bangladeshi crepe guy unable to understand English and not only yabbering away in French but displaying stereotypical French mannerisms (head cocking and bombastic exuberance). What that and similar incidents - e.g., Guinean cops around the Eiffel Tower and serving dinner in an upscale restaurant, Chinese merchants and Japanese patrons at the Isle of St Michael - really demonstrated to me was that Europe was pulling ahead of the US not only in terms of its excellent mass transit systems, urban beautification, fully funded educational systems and sustainable energy projects, but by usurping its most fundamental strength, being a beacon of hope to the rest of the world.
Posted on: Sun, 02 Nov 2014 23:47:12 +0000
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