Preview of Coming Apart: The State of White America,

[PoliticalChic]

I just listened to Bill Bennett interview Charles Murray about his new book,

"Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010" [Hardcover]
Charles Murray (Author)

I have already put in an order for the book, but his exposition was so exciting, that I wanted to turn some of our readers on to it, too.

Murray discusses two hypothetical towns, one of which is composed of college educated elites, and the other of blue collar workers.

He uses the following areas of focus, and comparison between the two:
1. Honesty
2. Marriage
3. Industriousness
4. Religiosity

At an earlier time, the two areas were fairly comparable in these areas...but this has changed and he goes into the reasons for same, showing the deleterious effects of the counter culture of the 60's.

An interesting point is that, while both sets of classes fell to the effects of the 60's, the elites were able to re-adjust into the prior more stable culture...while the others could not, or would not.
He gave an analogy....an earthquake in Mexico has a far worse and more lasting effect than one in Los Angeles,which had a stronger infrastructure to begin with.

And he used this phrase: "Preach What You Practice...."
...meaning that the elites here should stop glorifying behaviors that they don't suffer from and stop being "non-judgemental"! The non-elites need to be supported in good behavior and told so when the behavior is harming them.

Further...he makes the point that changes have to come from the people not from the government.

Hope it's a best-seller!

 

[zzzz]

Just think, the people who experienced... defined the '60's are in their 60's now. The effects of that time are still being felt. I suppose the educated (college graduate) have a more worldly view although back then only a small portion of society had a college education. Today College graduates approach 25% of the adult population which may explain the behavior.

The people have the power to make changes yet if they meekly follow those who dissect and feed us information without questioning who, what or why then that power is not realized, just inferred. The '60 brought about change, the people; the blacks, the poor, the young, they all came together and forced change.

I am sure we will hear more about this book after you read it.

 

[Katzndogz]

It's unfair to use the term "white America" to describe what's coming apart. What is coming apart is western civilization, the foundation of white America. Considering that this did come from the 60s where the chant was "Hey hey ho ho western culture's got to go" this should not come as a surprise. It's doubtful that all those educated but absymally ignorant people have thought about what they would prefer instead of western civilization.

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

I just listened to Bill Bennett interview Charles Murray about his new book,

"Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010" [Hardcover]
Charles Murray (Author)
...

The non-elites need to be supported in good behavior and told so when the behavior is harming them.

So we the people need elites to tell us what is good for us?

whoooeee!!! thank you for being honest about supporting a nanny state

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bell_Curve

 

[PoliticalChic]

It's unfair to use the term "white America" to describe what's coming apart. What is coming apart is western civilization, the foundation of white America. Considering that this did come from the 60s where the chant was "Hey hey ho ho western culture's got to go" this should not come as a surprise. It's doubtful that all those educated but absymally ignorant people have thought about what they would prefer instead of western civilization.

Well, Katz....having taken a beating for focusing on African-Americans in "The Bell Curve", Murray might be simply avoiding an obvious avenue of attack.


You certainly hit the nail on the head with "Considering that this did come from the 60s where the chant was "Hey hey ho ho western culture's got to go"....

1. Port Huron was an early convention of SDS, a small group of alienated, left-wing college students, 59 from 11 campuses.

2. One member gave this prescription: “four-square against anti-Communism, eight-square against American-culture, twelve-square against sell-out unions, one hundred and twenty against an interpretation of the Cold War that saw it as a Soviet plot and identified American policy fondly.” Todd Gitlin, “The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage,” p. 109-110

3. A draft of the meeting can be found at
Port Huron Statement of the Students for a Democratic Society, 1962.
It sets forth an agenda for changing human nature, the nation, and the world. In it, one can hear the ignorance and arrogance so inherent in adolescents: the euphoria due to being convinced of their own wisdom, moral purity, and ability to change everything.

And we're still suffering from it today!

 

[Baruch Menachem]

The deal is the idiots fall out of the elites in each generation. And there are new elite members who did the right thing. Position in society is never static.