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A Tiger of a Book

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  • A Tiger of a Book

    A short book review from Thomas Sowell, but the important points are here:

    In their own words, "Although rarely mentioned in media reports, the studies said to show the demise of upward mobility in America largely exclude immigrants and their children. Indeed, the Pew Foundation study most often cited as proof of the death of upward mobility in the United States expressly cautions that its findings do not apply to 'immigrant families,' for whom 'the American dream is alive and well.'"

    Some immigrant groups have risen spectacularly, even when they arrived here with very little money and sometimes with little knowledge of English. "Almost 25 percent of Nigerian households make over $100,000 a year" in America, the authors point out, compared to just 11 percent of black American households.

    Other groups that have risen dramatically over the years include Mormons, immigrants from India and Iran, and refugees who fled Cuba when Fidel Castro took over there, back in 1958.

    Those Cubans had to leave most of their wealth behind and, even when they had been doctors or other professionals in Cuba, they had to start out at the bottom in America, "crammed into small apartments and became dishwashers, janitors, and tomato pickers." But, by 1990, Cuban American households had middle class incomes twice as often as Anglo Americans.

    Americans from India have the highest income of any ethnic group the Census keeps track of, "with Chinese, Iranian and Lebanese Americans not far behind."

    Despite many who argue that black Americans cannot rise because of racist barriers, black immigrants rise. A majority of the black students at Harvard are from Africa or the Caribbean, and Nigerians "are already markedly overrepresented at Wall Street investment banks and blue-chip law firms."
    Sowell's (and the authors') point here is that there is no racism holding Black people down. Those days are dead and gone. And that's a very important point. But this also dovetails into something that I've been stressing for years now: immigration is a good thing. Legal immigration that has reasonable controls on it is good for the economy. Those people who come here legally usually are quite successful economically. This book, The Triple Package, apparently drives home that point as well.

    We're not doing ourselves any economic favors by saying that only X number of Germans may immigrate to the US, but only Y number of Guatemalans may come here. We are shooting ourselves in our economic foot with our existing immigration system. It needs to be completely scrapped and started anew. What we DON'T need is amnesty for the illegals who are here.
    It's been ten years since that lonely day I left you
    In the morning rain, smoking gun in hand
    Ten lonely years but how my heart, it still remembers
    Pray for me, momma, I'm a gypsy now

  • #2
    The ship on amnesty has sailed. It'll never be politically viable to do anything meaningful on immigration reform either.
    "Faith is nothing but a firm assent of the mind : which, if it be regulated, as is our duty, cannot be afforded to anything but upon good reason, and so cannot be opposite to it."
    -John Locke

    "It's all been melded together into one giant, authoritarian, leftist scream."
    -Newman

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    • #3
      Originally posted by scott View Post
      The ship on amnesty has sailed.
      I'm not so sure. When you've got even Boehner and that lot on board, and they still haven't pushed it through, even with the cheering-on of a bunch of supposedly conservative pundits, it seems to me that all of them, R & D both, fear the wrath of the people. My guess is that their internal polling is still telling them that the majority of voters will be mad as hell about it and wouldn't forget about it in the next election cycle.

      Originally posted by scott View Post
      It'll never be politically viable to do anything meaningful on immigration reform either.
      That's likely true, which is a cryin'-ass shame. It's something that Washington actually could manage to do right if they tried and had some genuine leadership on the topic
      It's been ten years since that lonely day I left you
      In the morning rain, smoking gun in hand
      Ten lonely years but how my heart, it still remembers
      Pray for me, momma, I'm a gypsy now

      Comment


      • #4
        My hope is that middle class blacks and Hispanics will see themselves in this book and be like, "Damn straight!".

        We're aren't supposed to talk about the Protestant work ethic anymore but it's exactly these 3 traits: superiority, insecurity, and delayed gratification.

        In Protestant-speak they are: righteous conduct, modesty, and avoidance of temptation. The Chinese know all about this thanks to Confucian precepts which teach the same thing.

        You have to believe in your principles (which starts with actually having some). Principles are better than feelings or notions or wild hairs. You can apply a principle to many, many different situations and it will remain the same. Conversely, your principles might be altered through reason (not your Twitter feed). Either way, you have a solid basis for making decisions and that makes for a confident attitude.

        Modesty is your understanding that you are not "all that". No matter how smart, sensible, determined, knowledgeable, experienced, or "passionate" you are, there are bunches of people who are way more whatever than you can ever hope to be. This means you have to keep learning, trying, and persevering toward your goals despite your lack of luck, position, or even talent. Humility and modesty keep you sharp and prevent you from becoming (or staying) superficial and stupid.

        Delayed gratification is pretty much the only way an ordinary person can acheive anything. Whether it's education, employment, marriage, avoiding crime or addiction, or developing a talent, you can't do anything you want, whenever you want and still succeed.
        "Alexa, slaughter the fatted calf."

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