American Immigration, Creativity, and Me
The Mainstream is an important way of thinking about society, so I'm glad Scantron brought it up. In my thinking, the Mainstream is not a constant, it is a variable that measures how tolerant and inclusive a society is, and therefore how receptive it is to new ideas from its fringes. It seems like Mainstreams tend to grow and then reach a peak, like 5th century Athens, and then shrink back down again. This is because incorporating new ideas into society is risky. When we bring in new ideas we have to get rid of new ones, and thus the Mainstream is inherently a measure of how creative a society is willing to be. On the other hand, if you think about Sparta, erq
A lot of these ideas come from a book I am reading called The Rise of the Creative Class right now. I shy away from books like this because I am afraid they are telling me what I want to hear instead of the hard truth that I actually need to know. But this book makes some good points. Let me quote:
This, I think, shows that we must consider how creativity can be encouraged and continued in these United States. As Florida(the author of TROTCC) summarizes Mokyr, "technological creativity has tended to rise and then fade dramatically at various times in various cultures, when social and economic institutinos turn rigid and act against it" (35). We cannot rest on our laurels, absorbing the glory of the computer, the production line, or, for that matter, the washing machine (as someone without, I think this is the fuckin best thing ever). America needs to consider how we can encourage technological progress.
On the other hand, I often question if we really need to do so. We are, after all, the United States of America. We have been a place that created and fostered further creativity since our founding. Our culture seems to embody a "can-do" attitude that demands that we do what we need to do to progress instead of resisting innovation. How can we be cut short?
We can be cut short by a loss of talent, that is how. We need to continue to insure that America is and represents a place that welcomes those who are not accepted in traditional societies. The Sheriff brought up the other day the idea that America has a huge advantage over Europe simply because we do not have the history that they do. Yes! You are 100% right. And we need to continue that. America is all about forgetting your grudges, working together, and making progress. Making this contined hospitable was a hell of a task, but we got it done with that attitude, and the inertia we have from this progress is still with us. But this brings us to another question. How do we encourage further progress?
We encourage further progress the same way we always have. Through fresh blood, fresh spirit, and new ideas. And the way to do that is not through some new communications system, the internet, or some such bullshit. The old fashioned way works best: immi-fucking-gration. We need to import the best of the best from all over the world. We need the smartest indians, chinese, africans, south americans, and the best of the more advanced countries, Germany, Britain, France (Freedom), etc.
The good news is that we are getting them. Look up "brain drain" on the internet and you will see that people are coming to the US of A from everywhere. Simply because our economy is huge and we have absolute freedom, people want to come here from all over the world. I am planning a series of post on this phenomenon, but don't have time here. Suffice it to say that like 25% of our doctors are from other countries. This, actually, leads me to think that our non-nationalized health care system is smart as hell. Because no government values a life as much as rich people, we are importing the best doctors from all over the world. Moreover, these doctors help us develop medicines that provide us with economic strength supported by the world market.
Let me bring this back to the concept of the Mainstream. I'm increasingly interested in practical politics. What can I do, as an individual, perhaps an educated, intelligent individual, but still just one man? This question requires a bit of irrationality. If I really thought about what I could do as an individual, I would realize that I could never do enough to make the effort and time worth it. But, fuck it, I refuse to be rational, what do I do?
Expand the mainstream. Instead of fighting against those who would constrain our society to a small segment of formerly powerful people, we need to embrace those (dickfaced) people in one arm and embrace the fringes of society in another. Let me give you an example, from my own life. I hate religious people, I hate conservatives, etc. Probably more accurately, I hate the ideas they embody. But telling them that does no one any good. I am a six-foot-two, white, straight male. Instead of getting in fights with cowboys who call my friends faggots for wearing tight sweaters, I have decided that I will shame them. When you shame someone you bring them closer. When you really speak with a conservative, and embrace them completely, and tell them what you think, you are expanding their horizons. They are forced to like you, in spite of their will. This is why I want to go to an Arab country and teach english. I want to show people that no matter how weird they are to me, I will still confront them as equals and demand that they account for their beliefs. Why do you believe this? Is that really justified?
In the end, it may appear to be Kantian, a Christian, or a Millian mission. But, as I consider it now, it is Nietzschean. I want to live in a society that forces itself to confront truths that make it uncomfortable. I want to make myself uncomfortable, to work until my eyes bleed, and to create. I think this is only possible with a certain openness, and a certain range of experiences.
I want to spend the first part of my life expanding the horizons of our society, expanding the Mainstream. Later, I want to enjoy it. Until then, it is time to work, and time to create.
A lot of these ideas come from a book I am reading called The Rise of the Creative Class right now. I shy away from books like this because I am afraid they are telling me what I want to hear instead of the hard truth that I actually need to know. But this book makes some good points. Let me quote:
technological progress is like a fragile and vulnerable plant, whose flourishing is not only dependent on the appropriate surroundings and climate, but whose life is almost always short. It is always sensitive to the social and economic environment and can easily be arrested (35, qtd. from Mokyr, The Lever of Riches).
This, I think, shows that we must consider how creativity can be encouraged and continued in these United States. As Florida(the author of TROTCC) summarizes Mokyr, "technological creativity has tended to rise and then fade dramatically at various times in various cultures, when social and economic institutinos turn rigid and act against it" (35). We cannot rest on our laurels, absorbing the glory of the computer, the production line, or, for that matter, the washing machine (as someone without, I think this is the fuckin best thing ever). America needs to consider how we can encourage technological progress.
On the other hand, I often question if we really need to do so. We are, after all, the United States of America. We have been a place that created and fostered further creativity since our founding. Our culture seems to embody a "can-do" attitude that demands that we do what we need to do to progress instead of resisting innovation. How can we be cut short?
We can be cut short by a loss of talent, that is how. We need to continue to insure that America is and represents a place that welcomes those who are not accepted in traditional societies. The Sheriff brought up the other day the idea that America has a huge advantage over Europe simply because we do not have the history that they do. Yes! You are 100% right. And we need to continue that. America is all about forgetting your grudges, working together, and making progress. Making this contined hospitable was a hell of a task, but we got it done with that attitude, and the inertia we have from this progress is still with us. But this brings us to another question. How do we encourage further progress?
We encourage further progress the same way we always have. Through fresh blood, fresh spirit, and new ideas. And the way to do that is not through some new communications system, the internet, or some such bullshit. The old fashioned way works best: immi-fucking-gration. We need to import the best of the best from all over the world. We need the smartest indians, chinese, africans, south americans, and the best of the more advanced countries, Germany, Britain, France (Freedom), etc.
The good news is that we are getting them. Look up "brain drain" on the internet and you will see that people are coming to the US of A from everywhere. Simply because our economy is huge and we have absolute freedom, people want to come here from all over the world. I am planning a series of post on this phenomenon, but don't have time here. Suffice it to say that like 25% of our doctors are from other countries. This, actually, leads me to think that our non-nationalized health care system is smart as hell. Because no government values a life as much as rich people, we are importing the best doctors from all over the world. Moreover, these doctors help us develop medicines that provide us with economic strength supported by the world market.
Let me bring this back to the concept of the Mainstream. I'm increasingly interested in practical politics. What can I do, as an individual, perhaps an educated, intelligent individual, but still just one man? This question requires a bit of irrationality. If I really thought about what I could do as an individual, I would realize that I could never do enough to make the effort and time worth it. But, fuck it, I refuse to be rational, what do I do?
Expand the mainstream. Instead of fighting against those who would constrain our society to a small segment of formerly powerful people, we need to embrace those (dickfaced) people in one arm and embrace the fringes of society in another. Let me give you an example, from my own life. I hate religious people, I hate conservatives, etc. Probably more accurately, I hate the ideas they embody. But telling them that does no one any good. I am a six-foot-two, white, straight male. Instead of getting in fights with cowboys who call my friends faggots for wearing tight sweaters, I have decided that I will shame them. When you shame someone you bring them closer. When you really speak with a conservative, and embrace them completely, and tell them what you think, you are expanding their horizons. They are forced to like you, in spite of their will. This is why I want to go to an Arab country and teach english. I want to show people that no matter how weird they are to me, I will still confront them as equals and demand that they account for their beliefs. Why do you believe this? Is that really justified?
In the end, it may appear to be Kantian, a Christian, or a Millian mission. But, as I consider it now, it is Nietzschean. I want to live in a society that forces itself to confront truths that make it uncomfortable. I want to make myself uncomfortable, to work until my eyes bleed, and to create. I think this is only possible with a certain openness, and a certain range of experiences.
I want to spend the first part of my life expanding the horizons of our society, expanding the Mainstream. Later, I want to enjoy it. Until then, it is time to work, and time to create.
posted by Austin 5-000 at 12:25 AM
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