"American culture is diverse, shaped by history, immigration, and regional differences, but several core tenets recur across sources like sociological studies (e.g., Hofstede's cultural dimensions), historical analyses (e.g., Tocqueville's Democracy in America), and contemporary surveys (e.g., Pew Research on American values). These are not universal—exceptions and debates exist—but they form a widely recognized foundation." Core Tenets of American Culture
The US has consistently swung back and forth between more or less open door immigration policies, to highly restrictive ones. And we tend to swing back to restrictive policies when the number of immigrants in the US reaches about 15% of the overall population.
See here: https://www.migrationpolicy.org/programs/data-hub/charts/immigrant-population-over-time
So, for example, in the later 19th C. we wanted folks to come because we wanted their labor. That's how my Italian great-grandparents come - great-grandpa was recruited to come dig holes for the NYC subway system.
Beginning at the turn of the 20th Century, folks began freaking out about it all, and by the 20's that resulted in the Immigration Act of 1924, which basically said no more immigrants from Asia at all, and far fewer from Eastern and Southern Europe. No more slant-eyes or swarthy garlic-eating weirdos. Right? Sound familiar?
So now we're back at around 15% and everybody is freaking out, like we always do. And Trump et al are riding that train.
Next, a question.
What "American culture" do we expect people to "assimilate" into? There are probably a couple dozen "American cultures" in play. I won't try to enumerate them, because we don't have all day here, but suffice it to say that there are *very many* places in this country where people speak different languages, practice different religions or no religion at all, listen to different kinds of music, eat different food, have different family structures.
It would appear from Vance's speech that what he would like is for everyone to speak primarily or exclusively English, be Christian (and preferably Catholic or evangelical Christian), and belong to a two-parent nuclear family with a male and female parent. I guess this is based on the idea that "English language", "Christian", and the "Leave it to Beaver" nuclear family are somehow "more American".
About 1 in 5 people in this country speak a language other than English at home. Are they "unassimilated"?
About 62% of people here identify as "Christian", but only about 3 in 10 people here attend church once a week or most weeks. About 28% of us identify as "religiously unaffiliated". The remaining 10% or so encompass all of the other faiths.
Are just that 3 in 10 "assimilated"?
Almost a quarter of American children live in single-parent households. Which is very high when compared to the rest of the world, but is not function of our rate of immigration. Are all of those families "assimilated"?
What is this "American culture" Vance et al are on about? What does it mean to be "assimilated" into that culture, whatever it is? Which of the variety of cultures that exist here get to be officially sanctions "American" ones?
I took up teaching maths part-time for the local university some time after I retired from full-time work. Sometimes I feel exploited, because the overseas students pay the universities very well, and the university pays me not much. But it is a joy to work with young people who take pleasure in learning.
novakant,
I don't know if this will cheer you up or not but I've got almost 40 years of teaching experience, and post COVID, I downgraded my expectations to be happy if I could get the class to learn one thing during a class session. I'm getting to the point where I'm happy if I can get a few students to learn one thing in class.
No believing Christian fundamentalist accepts that Mormons are real Christians. Farther outside the pale than even Catholics.
Consider that Italians and Irish were considered black around 140 years ago. 60 years ago, people doubted that a president could be Catholic while at the same time not accepting that Martin Luther King represented actual Christian beliefs. Never underestimate the ability of Americans to do backflips on points of cognitive dissonance.
I have to admit I was very curious to know what Usha thinks of this when I saw the video, particularly because when he first rose to prominence as possible VP pick all the stuff about her seemed to show that she was a) bright and b) fairly liberal. It's a mystery.
But yes, his response to that amazingly brave student shows how sneaky and tricksy he is in evading questions, and turning them round to say exactly whatever populist claptrap will play best with his audience, and how well that plays with such audiences. Horrifying is exactly the right word. And, as nous upthread remarks, very reminiscent of Charlie Kirk.
novakant - At least I feel on most days that I’m doing something useful, though I don’t really know what I’m doing yet.
I know a lot of teachers (myself included) with a decade or more of teaching experience that still feel like this - at least part of the time. We feel it less often, but it never quite goes away. We just get better at letting go of our expectations and more adept at flowing around the obstacles.
wj - a surprising number of evangelical fundamentalists have embraced their catholic co-religionists in the name of Christian Nationalism and being pro-forced-birth. They are also very positive where the various Orthodox denominations are concerned. They can all get along so long as there are no gays, women belong to their men, and none of the Catholics support these last couple Marxist Anti-Popes.
And they will be polite and keep their mouths shut on the whole Mormon thing for the sake of politics so long as no one presses them to affirm that Mormons are Christians.
But the JWs are still on the outs.
Gotta make concessions if you want to have your Christian Red Caesar.
I have a lot of stress factors in my life at the moment, not least a late career pivot to become a teacher. At least I feel on most days that I'm doing something useful, though I don't really know what I'm doing yet. The kids can be a real pain but also funny and sweet, and while the pay is middling, it's stable.
My daughter makes me happy everytime I see her, she is extremely bright, funny and kindhearted. I worry about the future our generation will have left her with: rampant capitalism, global warming and a continous deterioration of democracy, the rule of law and basic human decency.
Reading (books, TLS and NYRB) watching French films and TV series and running helps me relax a bit.
Couchie would very much love to be the heir to the Charlie Kirk throne, and judging by the way that he sidesteps the questions, reframes them, gaslights, and performs entirely for the audience while refusing to engage with any of the actual questions being asked of him, I'd say that he's learned the patter needed to try to be the paterfamilias of TPUSA.
I don't think his performance is all that convincing for the people outside the room, but it's probably reassuring for those in attendance who were hoping to be a part of the moment when we all watched the triumph of Couchie's will.
What's funny (not "ha ha") to me is that the notion of immigration undermining organized labor is based on an unstated assumption that Americans are too racist to join a labor union with "those people." But, at the same time, people who think this way will tell you that racism is no longer a problem worthy of addressing through public policy.
Vance is setting himself up to the next Trump by going all in on the hatemongering for the Other. That's probably why he's publicly distancing himself from his wife's religion, saying he's trying to get her to convert to Christianity. I wonder if she regrets the marriage.
So however many years ago some dude told him immigration would weaken organized labor, which means liberals are stupid. Well, sh*t ... I guess that settles it.
There are two weeks between Andrew's statement, and the Palace's. They must have thought the former would do enough - but subsequent public disquiet about Andrew's lies about the timeline, and (if my reaction is anything to go by) disgust at his sanctimonious claim to be acting as always in the interest of the country, in addition to the release of Giuffre's book, clearly made it necessary to cut him loose.
"Relinquishing" as opposed to "being stripped of".
I'm put in mind of the executives who get offered the choice of resign or get fired. Or the occasional enlisted military methodology (for undesirable, but not actually dangerous, tasks): "I want 3 volunteers. You, you, and you."
Colleges and universities have an issue with silos. The mindset is that everything ought to fit into one of them.
They will (depending on the particular college) accept a double major. But the mindset is that, whatever the two majors, they must have some kind of synergy. Thus someone may have an undergraduate double major in chemistry and biology, and the faculty will nod sagely and say "aiming for biochemistry in grad school" (there being no undergraduate program in biochemistry). They can wrap their heads around that.
But I had a double major in Mechanical Engineering (fluid mechanics) and in Cultural Anthropology. Drove the professors in both majors nuts. In their minds, there must be some synergy there somewhere. They were seriously frustrated that, apparently, I could see it but they could not. The idea that I just found two disparate subjects which both interested me? Simply inconceivable, apparently.
I was in the high school band, and we did everything from marching to concerts of all sorts to pep band to classical ensembles to the music when the drama people did a musical. The band director was a retired master sergeant from one of the US Army bands. In addition to teaching us a lot about music, he also instilled things like "excellence is a habit", "if we all succeed, I've succeeded", and an understated "we're just that damned good". When he retired hundreds of former band members from all over the country went to the picnic.
The only insurrection I know about is when I was a senior, and he was out of town so a couple of us were running the pep band for the Friday night basketball game, and the cheerleaders got to do the only performance of their dance/cheer routine for the "Jeremiah Was a Bullfrog Polka". The backstory to that might be worth a post :^)
You can't help wondering how some of the other people who "played" with Epstein are feeling about this. Interestingly, Giuffre's brother and SIL, and the other Epstein victim interviewed on Newsnight, were all very approving of and grateful for the King's behaviour in this. I wonder whether this will to a large extent lance the boil, at least over here and regarding the Royal Fam.
The statement from Buckingham Palace in full: His Majesty has today initiated a formal process to remove the style, titles and honours of Prince Andrew.
Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. His lease on Royal Lodge has, to date, provided him with legal protection to continue in residence.
Formal notice has now been served to surrender the lease and he will move to alternative private accommodation.
These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him . Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse.
On “Horrifying stuff”
What is “American culture”?
Here are some of the basics.
"American culture is diverse, shaped by history, immigration, and regional differences, but several core tenets recur across sources like sociological studies (e.g., Hofstede's cultural dimensions), historical analyses (e.g., Tocqueville's Democracy in America), and contemporary surveys (e.g., Pew Research on American values). These are not universal—exceptions and debates exist—but they form a widely recognized foundation."
Core Tenets of American Culture
"
So, first, an observation.
The US has consistently swung back and forth between more or less open door immigration policies, to highly restrictive ones. And we tend to swing back to restrictive policies when the number of immigrants in the US reaches about 15% of the overall population.
See here: https://www.migrationpolicy.org/programs/data-hub/charts/immigrant-population-over-time
So, for example, in the later 19th C. we wanted folks to come because we wanted their labor. That's how my Italian great-grandparents come - great-grandpa was recruited to come dig holes for the NYC subway system.
Beginning at the turn of the 20th Century, folks began freaking out about it all, and by the 20's that resulted in the Immigration Act of 1924, which basically said no more immigrants from Asia at all, and far fewer from Eastern and Southern Europe. No more slant-eyes or swarthy garlic-eating weirdos. Right? Sound familiar?
So now we're back at around 15% and everybody is freaking out, like we always do. And Trump et al are riding that train.
Next, a question.
What "American culture" do we expect people to "assimilate" into? There are probably a couple dozen "American cultures" in play. I won't try to enumerate them, because we don't have all day here, but suffice it to say that there are *very many* places in this country where people speak different languages, practice different religions or no religion at all, listen to different kinds of music, eat different food, have different family structures.
It would appear from Vance's speech that what he would like is for everyone to speak primarily or exclusively English, be Christian (and preferably Catholic or evangelical Christian), and belong to a two-parent nuclear family with a male and female parent. I guess this is based on the idea that "English language", "Christian", and the "Leave it to Beaver" nuclear family are somehow "more American".
About 1 in 5 people in this country speak a language other than English at home. Are they "unassimilated"?
About 62% of people here identify as "Christian", but only about 3 in 10 people here attend church once a week or most weeks. About 28% of us identify as "religiously unaffiliated". The remaining 10% or so encompass all of the other faiths.
Are just that 3 in 10 "assimilated"?
Almost a quarter of American children live in single-parent households. Which is very high when compared to the rest of the world, but is not function of our rate of immigration. Are all of those families "assimilated"?
What is this "American culture" Vance et al are on about? What does it mean to be "assimilated" into that culture, whatever it is? Which of the variety of cultures that exist here get to be officially sanctions "American" ones?
What is "American culture"? Who gets to decide?
On “I got depressed so I bought hydrangeas”
I took up teaching maths part-time for the local university some time after I retired from full-time work. Sometimes I feel exploited, because the overseas students pay the universities very well, and the university pays me not much. But it is a joy to work with young people who take pleasure in learning.
"
novakant,
I don't know if this will cheer you up or not but I've got almost 40 years of teaching experience, and post COVID, I downgraded my expectations to be happy if I could get the class to learn one thing during a class session. I'm getting to the point where I'm happy if I can get a few students to learn one thing in class.
On “Horrifying stuff”
No believing Christian fundamentalist accepts that Mormons are real Christians. Farther outside the pale than even Catholics.
Consider that Italians and Irish were considered black around 140 years ago. 60 years ago, people doubted that a president could be Catholic while at the same time not accepting that Martin Luther King represented actual Christian beliefs. Never underestimate the ability of Americans to do backflips on points of cognitive dissonance.
"
I have to admit I was very curious to know what Usha thinks of this when I saw the video, particularly because when he first rose to prominence as possible VP pick all the stuff about her seemed to show that she was a) bright and b) fairly liberal. It's a mystery.
But yes, his response to that amazingly brave student shows how sneaky and tricksy he is in evading questions, and turning them round to say exactly whatever populist claptrap will play best with his audience, and how well that plays with such audiences. Horrifying is exactly the right word. And, as nous upthread remarks, very reminiscent of Charlie Kirk.
On “I got depressed so I bought hydrangeas”
novakant - At least I feel on most days that I’m doing something useful, though I don’t really know what I’m doing yet.
I know a lot of teachers (myself included) with a decade or more of teaching experience that still feel like this - at least part of the time. We feel it less often, but it never quite goes away. We just get better at letting go of our expectations and more adept at flowing around the obstacles.
Every new class is a learning experience.
On “Horrifying stuff”
wj - a surprising number of evangelical fundamentalists have embraced their catholic co-religionists in the name of Christian Nationalism and being pro-forced-birth. They are also very positive where the various Orthodox denominations are concerned. They can all get along so long as there are no gays, women belong to their men, and none of the Catholics support these last couple Marxist Anti-Popes.
And they will be polite and keep their mouths shut on the whole Mormon thing for the sake of politics so long as no one presses them to affirm that Mormons are Christians.
But the JWs are still on the outs.
Gotta make concessions if you want to have your Christian Red Caesar.
"
Snarki, that's nonsense. No believing Christian fundamentalist accepts that Mormons are real Christians. Farther outside the pale than even Catholics.
On “I got depressed so I bought hydrangeas”
I have a lot of stress factors in my life at the moment, not least a late career pivot to become a teacher. At least I feel on most days that I'm doing something useful, though I don't really know what I'm doing yet. The kids can be a real pain but also funny and sweet, and while the pay is middling, it's stable.
My daughter makes me happy everytime I see her, she is extremely bright, funny and kindhearted. I worry about the future our generation will have left her with: rampant capitalism, global warming and a continous deterioration of democracy, the rule of law and basic human decency.
Reading (books, TLS and NYRB) watching French films and TV series and running helps me relax a bit.
On “Horrifying stuff”
Since we seem to be in the worst possible timeline, I expect Juicy Divan to convert to Ye Olde Mormonism, and take Erika Kirk as his new 2nd wife.
"
Couchie would very much love to be the heir to the Charlie Kirk throne, and judging by the way that he sidesteps the questions, reframes them, gaslights, and performs entirely for the audience while refusing to engage with any of the actual questions being asked of him, I'd say that he's learned the patter needed to try to be the paterfamilias of TPUSA.
I don't think his performance is all that convincing for the people outside the room, but it's probably reassuring for those in attendance who were hoping to be a part of the moment when we all watched the triumph of Couchie's will.
"
What's funny (not "ha ha") to me is that the notion of immigration undermining organized labor is based on an unstated assumption that Americans are too racist to join a labor union with "those people." But, at the same time, people who think this way will tell you that racism is no longer a problem worthy of addressing through public policy.
"
Sociopaths don't suffer from cognitive dissonance.
"
Vance is setting himself up to the next Trump by going all in on the hatemongering for the Other. That's probably why he's publicly distancing himself from his wife's religion, saying he's trying to get her to convert to Christianity. I wonder if she regrets the marriage.
"
So however many years ago some dude told him immigration would weaken organized labor, which means liberals are stupid. Well, sh*t ... I guess that settles it.
On “Monarchy in the UK”
There are two weeks between Andrew's statement, and the Palace's. They must have thought the former would do enough - but subsequent public disquiet about Andrew's lies about the timeline, and (if my reaction is anything to go by) disgust at his sanctimonious claim to be acting as always in the interest of the country, in addition to the release of Giuffre's book, clearly made it necessary to cut him loose.
On “Horrifying stuff”
Zing!
What more can be said? How he copes with the cognitive dissonance, how his family copes, is a mystery.
On “Monarchy in the UK”
"Relinquishing" as opposed to "being stripped of".
I'm put in mind of the executives who get offered the choice of resign or get fired. Or the occasional enlisted military methodology (for undesirable, but not actually dangerous, tasks): "I want 3 volunteers. You, you, and you."
On “Ramsayer, Korea and me”
Colleges and universities have an issue with silos. The mindset is that everything ought to fit into one of them.
They will (depending on the particular college) accept a double major. But the mindset is that, whatever the two majors, they must have some kind of synergy. Thus someone may have an undergraduate double major in chemistry and biology, and the faculty will nod sagely and say "aiming for biochemistry in grad school" (there being no undergraduate program in biochemistry). They can wrap their heads around that.
But I had a double major in Mechanical Engineering (fluid mechanics) and in Cultural Anthropology. Drove the professors in both majors nuts. In their minds, there must be some synergy there somewhere. They were seriously frustrated that, apparently, I could see it but they could not. The idea that I just found two disparate subjects which both interested me? Simply inconceivable, apparently.
On “Monarchy in the UK”
Interesting stuff. I wonder if anyone vetted Andrew's statement. Clearly damage control mode.
On “Weekend Music Thread #04 John Mackey”
I was in the high school band, and we did everything from marching to concerts of all sorts to pep band to classical ensembles to the music when the drama people did a musical. The band director was a retired master sergeant from one of the US Army bands. In addition to teaching us a lot about music, he also instilled things like "excellence is a habit", "if we all succeed, I've succeeded", and an understated "we're just that damned good". When he retired hundreds of former band members from all over the country went to the picnic.
The only insurrection I know about is when I was a senior, and he was out of town so a couple of us were running the pep band for the Friday night basketball game, and the cheerleaders got to do the only performance of their dance/cheer routine for the "Jeremiah Was a Bullfrog Polka". The backstory to that might be worth a post :^)
On “Monarchy in the UK”
You can't help wondering how some of the other people who "played" with Epstein are feeling about this. Interestingly, Giuffre's brother and SIL, and the other Epstein victim interviewed on Newsnight, were all very approving of and grateful for the King's behaviour in this. I wonder whether this will to a large extent lance the boil, at least over here and regarding the Royal Fam.
"
The statement from Buckingham Palace in full:
His Majesty has today initiated a formal process to remove the style, titles and honours of Prince Andrew.
Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.
His lease on Royal Lodge has, to date, provided him with legal protection to continue in residence.
Formal notice has now been served to surrender the lease and he will move to alternative private accommodation.
These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him
.
Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse.
On “Ramsayer, Korea and me”
Michael, I love the structure of the three reasons. I think this is why we all understand comedy...
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.