I don't see this ending well: old & white versus young and brown

Source: http://www.nationaljournal.com/njmagazine/cs_20100724_3946.php

"Over time, the major focus in this struggle is likely to be the tension between an aging white population that appears increasingly resistant to taxes and dubious of public spending, and a minority population that overwhelmingly views government education, health, and social-welfare programs as the best ladder of opportunity for its children. "Anything to do with children in the public arena is going to generate a stark competition for resources," Frey says.

The twist is that graying white voters who are skeptical of public spending may have more in common with the young minorities clamoring for it than either side now recognizes. Today's minority students will represent an increasing share of tomorrow's workforce and thus pay more of the payroll taxes that will be required to fund Social Security and Medicare benefits for the mostly white Baby Boomers. Many analysts warn that if the U.S. doesn't improve educational performance among African-American and Hispanic children, who now lag badly behind whites in both high school and college graduation rates, the nation will have difficulty producing enough high-paying jobs to generate the tax revenue to maintain a robust retirement safety net.

"The future of America is in this question: Will the Baby Boomers recognize that they have a responsibility and a personal stake in ensuring that this next generation of largely Latino and African-American kids are prepared to succeed?" contends Stephen Klineberg, a sociologist at Rice University in Houston, who has studied the economic and political implications of changing demographics. "This ethnic transformation could be the greatest asset this county will have, with a young multilingual, well-educated workforce. Or it could tear us apart and become a major liability.""


Sorry but I think this is going to tear us up.

ucation levels in the USA.

Msongs

Things change and life goes on. In my job at UC I see a lot more brown and black student faces now. I think that's great. During the Summer UC has an outreach program dedicated to bringing school children on tour outings with the express effort of putting the idea of higher education in their heads. They reach out to schools all over the Bay Area of every ethnic group. And the Bay Area has them all.

It's one of the things I like about working at UC.

I was involved in the civil rights movement, starting in the mid-60s. You've made an unfair characterization.

Of course HERE you won't find a bunch of racist and/or Conservative 65+.

Where did I make an unfair characterization? I'd love for you to point it out to me.

The last sentence is the only thing that reveals my opinion. ONE sentence.

There are plenty of young, white people who have the same characteristics.

You named a group, but did not offer any qualifications. That makes it a general statement. Sorry.

If you think I'm targeting old people then so be it.

or whatever, the kids are our future, and they are all innocent and unprejudiced until they are infected by society's racial and class customs and mores. With the passing of generations, color will matter less and less as the races mix. Do you know any young people who don't have some kind of mix? Someday soon, it will not be an issue. Now, about rich vs. poor......

"Keep the government out of my Medicare!"

These are not the seniors of the Greatest Generation of the Depression and WWII. Team players. Communitarians who could appreciate sacrifice for their country. There are fewer of the them every day. No, the seniors we increasingly hear and see are their younger brothers and sisters; the selfish "me, me, gimmie, gimmie" crowd that was born between c. 1935 and c. 1945.

ALL older voters are singled out as being increasingly resistant to taxes and dubious of public spending. I'm old and all I know are not resistant to taxes and dubious of public spending. That said, maybe we are the minority. Some of us haven't changed since the 60's. Just my $.02...

That said, I also hope baby boomers wake up. Many are living in la la land thinking everything comes for free with no taxes. That's what I always feel is so lame about republicans, all they can ever talk about is reducing taxes, like that is the F'en solution to everything.

Thanks for posting this!

:toast:

American youth instead of what racial background they come from we might be able advance in this country.

We should be looking at this as an American problem of our overall youth not getting the education they need to compete.

It will only tear us up if we let it.

is that the discussion revolves around PEOPLE, "race" is a stupid construct from the 1800s, and I think everyone would be better off if everyone made babies with everyone else; of course, there'd still be a "need" for some to feel like they're better than others, so it would probably involve money. And of course the "conservatives" already have that distinction covered, even though their "base" is too stupid to realize they're being played.