I see so much entitled selfish small minded behavior that I don't imagine you would see 50 years ago. Feel free to tell me this is wrong but explain why the individual should come first please.
What I got from this is that not only do young people of all races but mostly non white feel that not only is there a glass ceiling in western society but that it is white dominated so there is no point in "assimilating" because they will only be able to go so high? If that is the jist of it I have to tell you as a relatively young white male this sentiment is shared other than the thought of whites being in charge.
My impression is that the ceiling exists (or at least is perceived to exist, which has the same effect for how people think about it), and so that contributes to the general idea that it's not worth it to assimilate. It doesn't do it on its own, there are still other factors. And like you, I also feel that same ceiling and don't think it is something that is race-specific but rather wealth-specific. If you're born into a wealthy family you will almost always have far more opportunities, education, connections, and influence than anyone who is poorer. That's something that transcends race and culture.
There is still opportunity in America but the wealth seems to be becoming more and more concentrated in the hands of the few.
I tend to agree, for one main reason. The lack of social mobility I mentioned. A detailed article on it can be found [here]http://scholars-stage.blogspot.com/2013/07/economies-of-scale-killed-american-dream.html) if you're interested. Essentially the article boils down to how universities have changed to a meritocracy approach to admissions rather than just wealth.
There's a secondary reason as well, which is a bit more speculation on my part, but I think is a reasonable jump of logic. Basically as a family gains wealth, they tend to get involved in one of business or politics, one way or another. Power and wealth are concentrated in those two fields in particular - politics because businesses are intertwined with them, so lobbyists, special interests, and so on, have an interest in "greasing the wheels of government", so to speak. The fact that basically all members of Congress get law-exempt insider trading is just a plus. Business tends to be the same, partially because it's the natural desire of many to pass their own wealth to their children, and partially because many business people work with those in Congress - so they get some appropriations, subsidies, favoritism on projects that come up, and so on. This is not even going into legislation itself, where regulations almost always favor big businesses over small ones.
So combine the two, and you have a decent recipe for keeping families wealthy without much chance for catastrophic loss. Decades after George H. W. Bush became president, his family is still wealthy, and deeply involved in politics (I'm sure business too, though I haven't looked it up). Rockefellers, Kennedys, Clintons, Hiltons, and others are all families that have retained their wealth successfully over many many years.
> What I got from this is that not only do young people of all races but mostly non white feel that not only is there a glass ceiling in western society but that it is white dominated so there is no point in "assimilating" because they will only be able to go so high? If that is the jist of it I have to tell you as a relatively young white male this sentiment is shared other than the thought of whites being in charge.
My impression is that the ceiling exists (or at least is perceived to exist, which has the same effect for how people think about it), and so that contributes to the general idea that it's not worth it to assimilate. It doesn't do it on its own, there are still other factors. And like you, I also feel that same ceiling and don't think it is something that is race-specific but rather wealth-specific. If you're born into a wealthy family you will almost always have far more opportunities, education, connections, and influence than anyone who is poorer. That's something that transcends race and culture.
> There is still opportunity in America but the wealth seems to be becoming more and more concentrated in the hands of the few.
I tend to agree, for one main reason. The lack of social mobility I mentioned. A detailed article on it can be found [here]http://scholars-stage.blogspot.com/2013/07/economies-of-scale-killed-american-dream.html) if you're interested. Essentially the article boils down to how universities have changed to a meritocracy approach to admissions rather than just wealth.
There's a secondary reason as well, which is a bit more speculation on my part, but I think is a reasonable jump of logic. Basically as a family gains wealth, they tend to get involved in one of business or politics, one way or another. Power and wealth are concentrated in those two fields in particular - politics because businesses are intertwined with them, so lobbyists, special interests, and so on, have an interest in "greasing the wheels of government", so to speak. The fact that basically all members of Congress get law-exempt insider trading is just a plus. Business tends to be the same, partially because it's the natural desire of many to pass their own wealth to their children, and partially because many business people work with those in Congress - so they get some appropriations, subsidies, favoritism on projects that come up, and so on. This is not even going into legislation itself, where regulations almost always favor big businesses over small ones.
So combine the two, and you have a decent recipe for keeping families wealthy without much chance for catastrophic loss. Decades after George H. W. Bush became president, his family is still wealthy, and deeply involved in politics (I'm sure business too, though I haven't looked it up). Rockefellers, Kennedys, Clintons, Hiltons, and others are all families that have retained their wealth successfully over many many years.
You put a lot of time and effort into this and I really appreciate that. I will have to read this a few times and may come to alternative conclusions over the coming conversations. What I got from this is that not only do young people of all races but mostly non white feel that not only is there a glass ceiling in western society but that it is white dominated so there is no point in "assimilating" because they will only be able to go so high? If that is the jist of it I have to tell you as a relatively young white male this sentiment is shared other than the thought of whites being in charge. It is a great observation that people used to come here and had a much better chance to succeed than in their wealthy top heavy society. There is still opportunity in America but the wealth seems to be becoming more and more concentrated in the hands of the few.