| There's a new book out which talks about how "White America" is coming apart at the seams, and how there is now an upper 20% and a lower 30% separated not by income and assets but by culture. Gawker has an interesting take on the whole situation. You can take the quiz by clicking here, and find out how culturally involved (lower 30%) or culturally isloated (upper 20%) you are. The Gawker piece goes a step further and takes the test on behalf of the current crop of GOP candidates and President Obama. It's an interesting set of considerations: that there is now a "real" "white" America and the rest of us are unengaged...then again, I have some questions about their questions. So go take the test, and see how you do. Then come back and answer my questions... - For Quiz Question 2: does "mind" count as a body part?
- For Quiz Question 4: is NASCAR really the only American "sport"? Is driving a car really a sport? Does driving as if one were a NASCAR driver on the West Side Highway count?
- For Quiz Question 13: does John Molloy's original "Dress for Success" count as a uniform?
 If those answers are no, yes, no, no and no, this is my certificate --->
Yes, it's true, I ate at the Outback, but since it was with a group, I didn't choose the restaurant, and I only ordered broccoli and salad, I'm not sure it really counts. Most importantly, based on what Gawker wrote, does this affect my ability to vote for Obama, since he's SO MUCH MORE American than I? Seriously, I believe that Charles Murray and David Brooks are correct: there is a divide in America. But it's insulting for them to say that all white people are fat and stupid. Remember, Murray is the guy who wrote The Bell Curve, and contended that genetics dictated intelligence and thus whites were more intelligent than others. (Racism, AGAIN on the part of the wacko right.) I'm unclear what made him "stupify" white people a couple decades post-Bell Curve. Anyway, I got a kick out of the whole thing, and thought you might, too. For the third weekend in a row, the local power company will be turning off all the electricity in my neighborhood. Each time they do, I think about HOW DEPENDENT I AM ON ELECTRICITY. How much I take it for granted. And how aligned I am with the rest of my racially, ethnically and religiously integrated neighborhood, where most everyone over 18 either has a college degree or is in college, and no one has a truck, no one works in a factory (since they all closed) and at the end of the day, all our heads hurt because there is no electricity. Again. |
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