Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Diversity can be a good thing.
What I get frustrated with is the expectation that we, as Americans, must honor the cultures of other countries when the immigrants come here, but there is little expectation that they honor the cultures and expectations of OUR country.
If you are going to go to another country to live (or even to visit), it would be prudent to learn the culture, the laws, and the expectations of that country and learn to accept them. You can still honor your heritage, but don’t expect the citizens of the other country to follow your customs.

Can you provide an example of this? There is a lot of expectation that immigrants honor and value the tenets of the American constitution...I think the challenge we face is for people who have been in this country for generations to accept that ultimately that is the primary commonality that brings Americans together. Even at the time of our founding, Georgia was culturally very different from Massachusetts.

Her's an example. Per capita, immigrants commit fewer violent crimes than natives, and collect fewer food stamps and other benefits. What I believe previous PP was suggesting is that they start committing more violent crimes and finding ways into entitlement funds. Only then can we think of them as real Americans.

Anonymous wrote:The question is not, "Diversity, yes or no?" We already have an incredibly diverse nation and there is no going back. That's why it's so important to show and teach our children to get along with all kinds of people. This is a very practical need. Otherwise, they end up turning into adults who believe their race is superior/"normal"/right, and our national problems go on and on.

Anonymous wrote:As a followup to my previous post, those who attribute diversity to America's failings are barking up the wrong tree. The ECONOMIC INEQUITY is what is causing UNHAPPINESS among certain segment of the society that has been left out by globalization or are just plain lazy and entitled. This situation has to be corrected by better economic/fiscal policies that helps the ones left out by various retraining or better education models and other innovative ways. Tax policy and better income allocation can be one of the factors in addressing this situation.

Blaming NON WHITE or ANY one group for economic situation is not a solution. Thats what demagogues do, attribute blame as a solution to a problem.

Anonymous wrote:
Smart people aren't the only ones who contribute meaningfully to society. And just because an immigrant isn't educated enough to be a tech worker, it doesn't mean their children won't be. Most immigrants that I know of who work the toughest blue collar jobs are doing so to provide the absolute best education available to their children.

Anonymous wrote:I would agree if the US had an immigration policy that emphasized bringing in the best and the brightest; we don't. I think it's easy to assume that all immigrants are the same as the ones you (and I) work with in the tech world; they're not. I'm all for immigration of smart people who become productive law abiding members of American society, but our immigration system simply isn't setup for that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Moderate liberal here. I have worked in technology and now in Finance. I have worked with the best and brightest from all races and culture and I think diversity is what has kept America at the cutting edge of innovation and new ideas. No other country is able to match American economic growth and innovative new companies simply because a diverse population can think more out of the box and can come up with solutions that will solve problems of varying nature.

America has always been multicultural, not just now. When Europeans came to the USA, native Americans were already here. And there were some aspects of native American culture that got mixed into the original melting pot. Then the mix with African culture to some extent. Not to mention that Europeans came with distinct and separate culture of their own. Its not like the Dutch, German and English had lot of commonality in the 1800s. (It may look like there is not much difference now, but even in a globalized world there are differences.) Then the Italians and Southern EUROPEANS were not even considered white to begin with not to mention they had distinct culture compared to Northern Europeans. Then when Eastern Europeans(Polish, Ukrainian, Russian etc) immigrated, they were not considered part of the western culture either. Yet they all became part of the American melting pot. Then there was the Latino wave(even though Latinos were original Americans and much older than Irish and Italian Americans) that again became part of the melting pot. Finally the Asian wave has contributed so much to the American culture, economy and intellectual ability. Every first generation immigrant has roots in both culture in varying degrees BUT the second generation,no matter their root, always feel they are american as a rule rather than exception.

Without fresh ideas and out of the box thinikng, any population will get lazy after few decades of continuous prosperity. Thats why civilizations(Chinese, Indian, Greek, Roman, Persian etc) as great as they once were fell. The rot will always set in no matter what. Thats why nothing(empires or corporations or homogeneous society) lasts forever BUT the most successful ones adapt and bring in new and diverse ideas. Europe is facing a demographic decline and they are pushing for diversity and increase in population lil too late. It has to be continuous flow as it is in the USA not a panic open the gates now reaction. Diversity is the secret sauce of why the US is special and it is also a test for human civilization to evolve and build a great society and eventually a great american civilization that can adapt and bring in the best from wherever and be the beacon for everyone to follow and learn from.

I would agree if the US had an immigration policy that emphasized bringing in the best and the brightest; we don't. I think it's easy to assume that all immigrants are the same as the ones you (and I) work with in the tech world; they're not. I'm all for immigration of smart people who become productive law abiding members of American society, but our immigration system simply isn't setup for that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

One glaring example, IMO, is that there is no expectation that immigrants who come here learn English. While English is not the “official” language of our country, I don’t think anyone can claim that it isn’t the primary language, and that if you want to get ahead in business or as a resident of our country, you need to learn English.
For our country to bend over backwards to translate material into 10 or more languages is really ridiculous. It comes at great expense for businesses, school systems, and our government.

Agreed but the market takes care of that. People get hung up on trees and ignore the forest. There is no data to conclude that children of immigrants do not know English. Can you post any link to your comment about school materials being translated into 10 OR MORE languages? It does make sense to translate immigration related materials to be translated into 10 or More languages to cater to NEW immigrants who may not know English.

This is not ten, but it is seven. There are probably other documents on the FCPS website with more translations. And, there are translations for many, many documents in FCPS.
I am sure other area school districts are similar.
http://www.fcps.edu/it/byod/index.shtml

There's a difference between translating announcements that intended for parents and translating classroom materials. I seriously doubt that FCPS is providing classroom instruction in all 7 of those languages.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Moderate liberal here. I have worked in technology and now in Finance. I have worked with the best and brightest from all races and culture and I think diversity is what has kept America at the cutting edge of innovation and new ideas. No other country is able to match American economic growth and innovative new companies simply because a diverse population can think more out of the box and can come up with solutions that will solve problems of varying nature.

America has always been multicultural, not just now. When Europeans came to the USA, native Americans were already here. And there were some aspects of native American culture that got mixed into the original melting pot. Then the mix with African culture to some extent. Not to mention that Europeans came with distinct and separate culture of their own. Its not like the Dutch, German and English had lot of commonality in the 1800s. (It may look like there is not much difference now, but even in a globalized world there are differences.) Then the Italians and Southern EUROPEANS were not even considered white to begin with not to mention they had distinct culture compared to Northern Europeans. Then when Eastern Europeans(Polish, Ukrainian, Russian etc) immigrated, they were not considered part of the western culture either. Yet they all became part of the American melting pot. Then there was the Latino wave(even though Latinos were original Americans and much older than Irish and Italian Americans) that again became part of the melting pot. Finally the Asian wave has contributed so much to the American culture, economy and intellectual ability. Every first generation immigrant has roots in both culture in varying degrees BUT the second generation,no matter their root, always feel they are american as a rule rather than exception.

Without fresh ideas and out of the box thinikng, any population will get lazy after few decades of continuous prosperity. Thats why civilizations(Chinese, Indian, Greek, Roman, Persian etc) as great as they once were fell. The rot will always set in no matter what. Thats why nothing(empires or corporations or homogeneous society) lasts forever BUT the most successful ones adapt and bring in new and diverse ideas. Europe is facing a demographic decline and they are pushing for diversity and increase in population lil too late. It has to be continuous flow as it is in the USA not a panic open the gates now reaction. Diversity is the secret sauce of why the US is special and it is also a test for human civilization to evolve and build a great society and eventually a great american civilization that can adapt and bring in the best from wherever and be the beacon for everyone to follow and learn from.

I would agree if the US had an immigration policy that emphasized bringing in the best and the brightest; we don't. I think it's easy to assume that all immigrants are the same as the ones you (and I) work with in the tech world; they're not. I'm all for immigration of smart people who become productive law abiding members of American society, but our immigration system simply isn't setup for that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Diversity can be a good thing.
What I get frustrated with is the expectation that we, as Americans, must honor the cultures of other countries when the immigrants come here, but there is little expectation that they honor the cultures and expectations of OUR country.
If you are going to go to another country to live (or even to visit), it would be prudent to learn the culture, the laws, and the expectations of that country and learn to accept them. You can still honor your heritage, but don’t expect the citizens of the other country to follow your customs.

Can you provide an example of this? There is a lot of expectation that immigrants honor and value the tenets of the American constitution...I think the challenge we face is for people who have been in this country for generations to accept that ultimately that is the primary commonality that brings Americans together. Even at the time of our founding, Georgia was culturally very different from Massachusetts.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

One glaring example, IMO, is that there is no expectation that immigrants who come here learn English. While English is not the “official” language of our country, I don’t think anyone can claim that it isn’t the primary language, and that if you want to get ahead in business or as a resident of our country, you need to learn English.
For our country to bend over backwards to translate material into 10 or more languages is really ridiculous. It comes at great expense for businesses, school systems, and our government.

Agreed but the market takes care of that. People get hung up on trees and ignore the forest. There is no data to conclude that children of immigrants do not know English. Can you post any link to your comment about school materials being translated into 10 OR MORE languages? It does make sense to translate immigration related materials to be translated into 10 or More languages to cater to NEW immigrants who may not know English.

This is not ten, but it is seven. There are probably other documents on the FCPS website with more translations. And, there are translations for many, many documents in FCPS.
I am sure other area school districts are similar.
http://www.fcps.edu/it/byod/index.shtml

Anonymous wrote:

One glaring example, IMO, is that there is no expectation that immigrants who come here learn English. While English is not the “official” language of our country, I don’t think anyone can claim that it isn’t the primary language, and that if you want to get ahead in business or as a resident of our country, you need to learn English.
For our country to bend over backwards to translate material into 10 or more languages is really ridiculous. It comes at great expense for businesses, school systems, and our government.

Agreed but the market takes care of that. People get hung up on trees and ignore the forest. There is no data to conclude that children of immigrants do not know English. Can you post any link to your comment about school materials being translated into 10 OR MORE languages? It does make sense to translate immigration related materials to be translated into 10 or More languages to cater to NEW immigrants who may not know English.

Anonymous wrote:

I can't wait for some of the older blacks and whites to die off so we can move beyond the whole race issue

Both hateful and inaccurate.

Anonymous wrote:Moderate liberal here. I have worked in technology and now in Finance. I have worked with the best and brightest from all races and culture and I think diversity is what has kept America at the cutting edge of innovation and new ideas. No other country is able to match American economic growth and innovative new companies simply because a diverse population can think more out of the box and can come up with solutions that will solve problems of varying nature.

America has always been multicultural, not just now. When Europeans came to the USA, native Americans were already here. And there were some aspects of native American culture that got mixed into the original melting pot. Then the mix with African culture to some extent. Not to mention that Europeans came with distinct and separate culture of their own. Its not like the Dutch, German and English had lot of commonality in the 1800s. (It may look like there is not much difference now, but even in a globalized world there are differences.) Then the Italians and Southern EUROPEANS were not even considered white to begin with not to mention they had distinct culture compared to Northern Europeans. Then when Eastern Europeans(Polish, Ukrainian, Russian etc) immigrated, they were not considered part of the western culture either. Yet they all became part of the American melting pot. Then there was the Latino wave(even though Latinos were original Americans and much older than Irish and Italian Americans) that again became part of the melting pot. Finally the Asian wave has contributed so much to the American culture, economy and intellectual ability. Every first generation immigrant has roots in both culture in varying degrees BUT the second generation,no matter their root, always feel they are american as a rule rather than exception.

Without fresh ideas and out of the box thinikng, any population will get lazy after few decades of continuous prosperity. Thats why civilizations(Chinese, Indian, Greek, Roman, Persian etc) as great as they once were fell. The rot will always set in no matter what. Thats why nothing(empires or corporations or homogeneous society) lasts forever BUT the most successful ones adapt and bring in new and diverse ideas. Europe is facing a demographic decline and they are pushing for diversity and increase in population lil too late. It has to be continuous flow as it is in the USA not a panic open the gates now reaction. Diversity is the secret sauce of why the US is special and it is also a test for human civilization to evolve and build a great society and eventually a great american civilization that can adapt and bring in the best from wherever and be the beacon for everyone to follow and learn from.