[New York] It’s rare for an 800-word newspaper column to generate as much controversy as the one published a month ago in the Philadelphia Inquirer. In it, Amy Wax and Larry Alexander, law professors at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of San Diego, respectively, argued that the collapse of "bourgeois values" ‐ defined by the duo as, among other things, being "neighborly, civic-minded, and charitable," not using bad language, respecting authority, and eschewing "substance abuse and crime" ‐ can go a long way toward explaining what they see as America’s recent socioeconomic difficulties. They believe it accounts for social trends ranging from low male labor-force participation to the opioid crisis.
Key to their argument is the idea that some cultures embrace bourgeois values more than others:
All cultures are not equal. Or at least they are not equal in preparing people to be productive in an advanced economy. The culture of the Plains Indians was designed for nomadic hunters, but is not suited to a First World, 21st-century environment. Nor are the single-parent, antisocial habits, prevalent among some working-class whites; the anti-"acting white" rap culture of inner-city blacks; the anti-assimilation ideas gaining ground among some Hispanic immigrants. These cultural orientations are not only incompatible with what an advanced free-market economy and a viable democracy require, they are also destructive of a sense of solidarity and reciprocity among Americans. If the bourgeois cultural script ‐ which the upper-middle class still largely observes but now hesitates to preach ‐ cannot be widely reinstated, things are likely to get worse for us all.
It’s worth pointing out that this is not a new argument, of course ‐ it’s a mix of, among others, brand-name conservative figures like Richard Nixon and David Brooks and Charles Murray. Conservative critiques of the counterculture ethos, of the reckless individualism of the liberal ideal, have been going on for decades (or longer). Still, the Inquirer column caused an uproar on the Penn campus, and that uproar became a full-blown conflagration when Wax gave a provocative quote to the Daily Pennsylvanian, a Penn student newspaper, for an article about the growing controversy: "Everyone wants to go to countries ruled by white Europeans," she said, since those countries embody bourgeois values.
#1
Still, the Inquirer column caused an uproar on the Penn campus, and that uproar became a full-blown conflagration when Wax gave a provocative quote to the Daily Pennsylvanian, a Penn student newspaper, for an article about the growing controversy: "Everyone wants to go to countries ruled by white Europeans," she said, since those countries embody bourgeois values.
...Well, there's yer problem right there.
You told the truth.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
09/10/2017 6:50 Comments ||
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#2
@#1 I'm not sure if that is 100% true now. I certainly don't want to go to Germany/Sweden. Asia is becoming a good plan B for hard workers that have grown up expecting just rewards for their efforts. I left the USA for China for the reasons she mentions.
#3
"Everyone wants to go to countries ruled by white Europeans,"
Not my ancestors or many others who left or were thrown out of Europe by it indigenous governments. Do not confuse European with American. They may look alike (to you racists) and seem similar in behavior but they're two different creatures sort of like lamas and camels. Go look for the Bill of Rights in their papers.
#4
....rap culture of inner-city blacks; the anti-assimilation ideas gaining ground among some Hispanic immigrants. These cultural orientations are not only incompatible with what an advanced free-market economy and a viable democracy require
"Free-market economy and viable democracy".... in other words modern civilization.
#5
#2I left the USA for China for the reasons she mentions.
Posted by Beau
Oh, really? Lulz
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/10/2017 8:43 Comments ||
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#6
Remember how they raked Dan Quayle over the coals because he dared to suggest that kids need their daddies?
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
09/10/2017 11:10 Comments ||
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#7
"Bourgeois values" is part of it. Part of the problem imposed by the current american mandarinocracy is that we don't even have the vocabulary to describe the problem.
The values that made us strong were Traditional British Protestant values. The Southern Baptist church down the street may not match that value set as well as one might hope, but everyone else, including the current iterations of the Episcopal Church and the Roman Catholic church, appear to be worse. Sinners in the hands of an angry gaia!
[Breitbart] The NFL opened its 2017 season Thursday night, in much the same way that it played out the 2016 season. The game featured the team that won the final game of the year last season, the game was high-scoring with plenty of offense, the game featured an anthem protest, and the league’s ratings went down.
The game between the Chiefs and the Patriots drew a 14.6 overnight rating on NBC. That rating is down nearly two full points from last year’s 16.5 number for the Panthers-Broncos opener, and more than three points down from the Steelers-Patriots opener in 2015.
Why, the steep decline?
While the ratings have clearly trended down for a number of seasons, last night’s game did feature an anthem protest from Chiefs cornerback Marcus Peters, and it’s entirely likely that many tuned-out after seeing that:
#3
...The funny thing is that the NFL commissioned a secret study a few months ago wanting to know why revenue was down. The answer - clearly stated an backed up with real numbers - was the anthem protests. The reality is that they can NOT face the possibility that they have allowed their employees to utterly alienate the majority of their customers.
The NFL leadership read it, said, "Nahhh, that can't be right," and threw it away. They came up with a whole bunch of other reasons that were, at best, peripheral.
Any business that stupid is NOT getting my money. For the first time in memory - and I am old enough to remember going to Browns games and seeing Jim Brown roar down the field at Lakefront Stadium - I have no intention of watching even a single Browns game.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
09/10/2017 9:11 Comments ||
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#4
Few things still symbolically unite Americans anymore, much of our shared culture is under attack. Respect for the symbol of the nation and it's anthem should be universal, recognizing that it represents deeply held beliefs and pride. When you choose that symbol to insult, you insult me personally. When you think I will then watch you as entertainment and buy the products displayed during that event, you are mistaken. Take your ignorant protest elsewhere before you ruin a great sport.
#5
I didn't see the protest on Thursday. Maybe they kept the TV cameras away from it. But the singer was great.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
09/10/2017 11:03 Comments ||
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#6
The NFL leadership read it, said, "Nahhh, that can't be right,"
Roger Goodell isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, and I'm not just saying that because he screwed the Patriots on the trumped up Deflategate bullshit.
The lone 'protester (KC's CB Peters) was begrudgingly mentioned by Al Michaels, who has zero interest in covering these protests. I doubt he would have even mentioned it unless the suits at NBC had the proverbial gun to his head to do so, so this shit will keep up because it's coming from the top of the network collective.
#7
San Diego supported the mostly-hapless Chargers for 55 years. The owner and all-around-piece-of-shit Dean Spanos moved them up north and they can't even sell out a 27,000 seat stadium. Genius™
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/10/2017 12:16 Comments ||
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#8
I gotta believe that most NFL owners are one helluva lot smarter than Spanos. The NFL didn't lose much with Kapernick. He has the physical skills but he's a head case whose best games are far behind him. It's gonna be a bit more difficult to let some of those other players go.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
09/10/2017 14:09 Comments ||
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#9
This whole national anthem thing is so unnecessary--in all [North] American professional sports. It is a Cold War anachronism. Besides, with so many foreign players in the MLB, NHL, and the NBA (even throw in MLS), any national anthem before a PROFESSIONAL game is ridiculous. These anthems just don't have a place in pro sports.
BTW, having said that, no tears are shed by me about low NFL TV ratings, etc. None.
#10
I disagree, Clem. It kinda shows who we can trust and who we can't. If your foreign players don't like it they are free to go back to their countries of origin. If I was a guest in another country I would think of it as a courtesy to my hosts to stand and show respect at the playing of their national anthem.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
09/10/2017 17:13 Comments ||
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#14
Replacing Goodell with a box of hammers would be a step up. Can't the owners get together and toss him out the nearest window? Or is it that for most of them, owning a team is just a hobby and they can't be bothered while a few malcontents destroy the league?
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