by Simon 551 Replies latest social current
Ruby - I suppose it would be pointless for me to ask you the question yet again as you seem determined to avoid giving me a y/n answer. Perhaps Pacopoolio might like to answer it as it was originally put to him/her.
So, what do you think the main problem is?
"Stressing hard work" is one of a multitude of things that would help in conjunction with a ton of other things on both sides. Telling people to do hard work and education won't solve the problem if mass media (not run by those people) constantly stresses negative imagery at the same time, as one out of a gazillion examples.
The side discussion had in this thread gives examples why - there's normally too much working against people from the start and constantly to just say "they just don't work hard enough."
http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/social/current/288777/9/Was-justice-served-fairly-in-the-Micheal-Brown-tragedy-whats-your-opinion
A family is the proving ground for co-operation, goal setting, honor, pulling together toward goals of mutual benefit.
A family with a father and a mother who set the goal of education for their children is NUMBER ONE in setting the
path for the income of that child when he/she grows up.
Unless I'm greatly mistaken, black communities with great unrest are communities without father+mother and the
emphasis on good education.
It is very disturbing to see the differences between Asian families who arrive from across the ocean with a strong
work and education ethic completely overtaking and out-performing our American black families in almost every venue.
Can we doubt the cause as unwed pregnancy and fatherless homes?
Asian families live with several generation under one roof, all pulling together, pooling income and sharing child-rearing.
These contrasts and comparisons aren't easy to face without anger and blame-shifting.
Instead of these ethnic minorities learning from each other, their appears to be a barrier of unnecessary enmity.
The glaring difference, it would seem between Asian and Black communities is the absence of a FAMILY BINDING.
The core of civilization is FAMILY.
I was speaking to an Asian friend of mine a while back. He told me of the shame any young person would bring
to themselves or their family if they didn't make excellent grades in school.
I have a two daughters and a son in college. All three have told me of the extraordinary dedication to excellence
in study and grade performance of their Asian roommates.
My daughter Lily told me she herself was shamed into spending a lot more time hitting the books and making the
effort to not just PASS a class, but to do so with top marks.
Terry, and why do you think the Asian immigrant family system might have a better starting structure than black (and native Americans) in the first place?
Ok thanks, Pacopoolio for answering my question.
BTW in stressing hard work I didn't have mindless drudgery or dead end jobs in mind. I meant people - black, white, rich, poor - should take school seriously and have in mind a career at whatever it is they enjoy. Then, work hard to better themselves and achieve something they can be proud of.
BTW can't disadvantaged people - black or white - ignore negative imagery? I mean, they're capable of independent thought, right?
BTW can't disadvantaged people - black or white - ignore negative imagery? I mean, they're capable of independent thought, right?
Hell, even I can't ignore negative imagery. I keep looking at this thread!
Your thought process and brain is shaped at the hugest amount, from ages 0-16 or so. Why would you expect kids to be able to reason like adults with perspective, about all of the influences that they recieve that shapes their entire worldview?
Why would you expect kids to be able to reason like adults with perspective - I wouldn't.
However, surely teenagers are capable of some independent thought. Plus, encouragement from parents and teachers can help point them in the right direction. I'm not exactly asking for the impossible here.
You're simplifying what composes a "person" to a large degree. You can't default undo years of conditioning in the developmental years with one or two or a few positive influences later in life. It can happen, but it usually does not. That's just how chance works.
I mean, you're bringing up "parents and teachers." Read that case study I linked to. The parents had even worse upbringing than their children, and their parents than them and so on until you get to the ridiculously low start they had in this country (as compared to, say, hard working immigrants who worked hard to get here and would instill that, and their hope, to their children as a default). As stated in the linked thread - it's not rocket science to figure out how the people that are mostly descendants of slaves or descendants from people that were almost genocided and then shunted off into bad living conditions are doing the statistical worse of any ethnic group in the U.S.
Aboriginals in Australia have some similar aguments put forth against them. After being forcibly killed and subjected and treated as second class citizens, they're now living in poverty in statistically large numbers and prone to the violence and crime that goes along with poverty among any people, and you have a lot of Australians asking "why don't they just pick themselves up and educate themselves"
Do you understand how outside influences shape every single thing about a person? People are basically asking why a person with a ratio of 10 bad influences to every 1 good one can't have ignored all of those influences in their entire life for the few good ones, because someone with a 10-4 good to bad ratio on the other side took advantage of their good influences. Chances are, someone with more bad influences, from early in their life on, will have their minds shaped by those influences, and miss or not take advantage of the relatively few good ones.
That's just unfortunately how life works, which is why the goal is to increase good influences from the outside (telling parents who have been similarly or worse influenced, with less education and taught reasoning ability and little hope or perspective, to "do better" when the focus in their lives is day to day survival in already bad conditions aint going to work).
