And it doesn't have to be that way. The racialization of everything in our political and social discourse does not help. The political Left has become hypersensitive to race.
In America we have constructed a society where racial minorities can be more successful and more integrated into the broader society than in any other country on Earth. Racial divisions of the past are melting away. And yet the Identity Politics of the Far Left have come to dominate the worldview of many in a way that pushes them away from MLK's vision of a world in which people don't care about race, to one in which all they seem to care about is race.
We are well on our way to achieving MLK's dream, but it is in spite of Identity Politics.
The issue is that by people from minority racial groups becoming hyper sensitive to race they end up perpetuating racial division.
Trevor Noah's comments are an example. His view of the world is probably significantly influenced by race due to real or perceived discrimination he has experienced, but by his commentaries focusing on race he pushes a worldview that directs people's attention to the fault lines of race rather than the things which unite us in spite of racial differences.
The MIT model is so naive in its construction it's worthless as a tool to understand the real world.
Random events significant enough to alter one's life trajectory once set are the exception, not the rule. Furthermore intelligence is only one small component of what precipitates financial success.
It's almost as if the researchers went into their research with their minds made up already, trying to construct a model to confirm their initial prejudices.
Among the constellation of positive traits people can have, many unique combinations may lead to success. Intelligence is certainly very useful, but determination, focus, affability, vision etc are all independent of raw intelligence to some extent.
It's fashionable among cynics to believe and advocate that meritocracy is dead, but meritocracy is alive and well.
People who possess the big 4 positive traits of focus, intelligence, likability and ambition will find success in any number of different fields and life paths, regardless of the circumstances of their birth. Of course it's easier to reach the top if you are already at the top and harder to reach the top if you are at the bottom, but there are many more ways to live a "successful" life than simply being in the top 1% of wealth.
That poor person who dedicates themself to their work with vigor and intelligence will very likely do better than their peers who do not, barring exceptional circumstances. If success is measured in terms of a stable comfortable life, such a person will very likely merit and achieve this success.
Men being stronger (physically, financially, etc) is a sexually desirable thing for most straight women. This is the result of tens of millions of years of mammalian evolution and hundreds of thousands of years of Ape and then Human evolution.
It is emphatically not the result of social norms or our societal structure. It is innately biological and will really never change.
Powerful men will always attract women, and relationships in which the man is weak will usually leave the woman disatisfied to some extent.
Or: How to Lose a War Against a Nation Wielding Autonomous Weaponry Before it Even Begins
The feel good calls to ban new weapons tech are as ancient as weaponry itself, but do not put the cart before the horse. First humanity must unify politically before considering serious weapons bans and restrictions.
Edit: Love the downvotes. The hypocrisy of the Left continues to be exposed day by day. Even though my comment was a bit tangential to the main thrust of the article, it addressed a direct quote from the article and a relevant aspect of the issue.
I'm sure that if the content of my post was enthusiastically sympathetic with the Left, it would not have been flagged. But it addressed the hypocrisy of the Left, and so it was flagged.
Double standards like this weaken the position you've staked out on the moral high ground. People are noticing.
>"“You know, the British pit Hindus and Muslims against one another,” Pawar told The Intercept at the time, drawing on his Indian-American heritage. “Pit people against one another based on class and geography, caste … this is no different. Chicago versus downstate. Downstate versus Chicago. Black, white, brown against one another. All poor people fighting over scraps.”"
I'm glad Pawar has the presence of mind to recognize this, but he should also recognize that it is his Democrat party and their radical embrace of racialized and racist identity politics that drives the wedge of division further between us all.
>"The Vermont Law School has had an ongoing budget deficit of more than $1 million over the past several years and the administration has said the revocation of tenure is part of a plan to develop a “sustainable financial model.”"
How about shedding bureaucratic staff salaries rather than maligning the very people doing the core work of the University.
In spite of rapidly increasing tuition costs, Universities have budget issues because every time there's a tuition increase they take their newfound wealth and hire more staff. It's essentially cancerous.
You need to look at the bureaucracies. They are huge and growing. I've worked in University administration, I've seen the cost breakdowns. Personnel and administrative costs represent the bulk of University spending.
To be honest I don't like the US model. All the extra fluff isn't helpful in any substantive non-zero-sum way.
You have the freedom to be entirely focused on academics in the US, participating in research etc. But you also have the freedom to live off your loans without any serious focus on academics, treating college like a vacation more than anything else. For the "students" who are tempted by the latter option, college is a waste.
Europe is able to keep its colleges and Universities free or mostly free because the European collegiate experience is a much simpler and stripped down version of what you find at US Universities.
In the US, living on campus is the norm, a vast array of amenities and services are offered to students, and University bureaucracies are huge and growing by the year.
Contrast this with Europe, where many Universities are simpler affairs with students living at home, commuting to classes (which have higher student to professor ratios) at Universities without student centers, gyms, etc.
It's not that the US through sheer stupidity is missing out on some easy fix for college costs, the issue is simply that in the US Universities offer more than in Europe. This is in keeping with our overall culture.
>“What’s at stake if we don’t build a true centralized digital arm is falling further behind the Republicans and continuing to lose ground, the battles on key issues and elections at every level,”
No... Talk about things people care about in a reasonable and inclusive way and you will stand a chance. Otherwise, the number of tech hipsters you summon to do the bidding of the DNC will be irrelevant.
Socialism, open borders, hysteria over every breath the President takes, attacks on law enforcement, attacks on white people, on men, on straight people etc will do nothing but alienate the majority of the country.
I love seeing people write off things like the #walkaway movement as the work of "Russian bots" when myself and many of my (registered) Democrat friends/family (who are not Russian bots, I think) are disgusted with the Democrats and, while not necessarily planning to vote for Republicans, will certainly abstain from voting if the Democrats don't turn things around.
In America we have constructed a society where racial minorities can be more successful and more integrated into the broader society than in any other country on Earth. Racial divisions of the past are melting away. And yet the Identity Politics of the Far Left have come to dominate the worldview of many in a way that pushes them away from MLK's vision of a world in which people don't care about race, to one in which all they seem to care about is race.
We are well on our way to achieving MLK's dream, but it is in spite of Identity Politics.