Please correct me if I am misinterpreting - are you suggesting that America would be "better" if it was less white? If so, please inform us what is inherently wrong about being white (given, as suggested, America would be better if we had less of it)
I'm absolutely not speaking for Anitram here, but I'll offer my own answer to this if you don't mind...
Yes. I think America would be better if it were less white.
Why?
Diversity is essential for successful evolution. And my take on life at the ripe age of 38 is that evolution is everything. How we evolve as people, as parents, as lawmakers, nations, etc - as well as a species.
Evolution needs diversity as when new and challenging circumstances arise, a diverse population can succeed - even if it's only a small portion of that population. The successful portion can then take the rest with them.
Politically/nationhood-wise, I think this is becoming ever more important. Jet airliners. Internet. Cell phones. International trade. Science marching forwards, answering question after question. All this shrinks the 'world' in a political sense.
As the world shrinks, more and more diverse views, ideas, systems, problems, solutions etc etc are thrust in the face of all of us.
There are opportunities - both good and bad - with this, but if America isn't taking the positive opportunities and other nations are, America will lose some of its political capital. It will essentially go backwards.
It might be a growing level of unrest on American soil, as traditionalists struggle to accept/understand new people/ideas. It might mean dropping productivity if the American economy fails to adapt to changing ways of manufacturing. It might mean environmental issues that become increasingly worse if left unchecked, while other countries deal with them earlier and prosper accordingly.
So I believe America needs to embrace diversity.
But less white? Well, yes. Less white.
'White man' comes from, geographically at least, a relatively small portion of the world. Most 'white' people come from similar nations, similar cultures, similar climates, similar religions. Of course there is massive diversity there. But I would argue there is less diversity there than a 'boatload' of immigrants from other ethnicities. Someone from India, a thousandth generation Indian, will bring different perspectives. Likewise someone from Ghana, or Indonesia, or Vietnam. Or Mexico.
Diversity will spread the risk, increase your options re adaptability, help educate and open the minds of conservative Americans to the world outside their borders, and make the country generally stronger.
Now, Aeon, please don't go off on a straw man argument, or any other logical fallacy, and defend white people. I'm not comparing white or yellow or green or striped people. I am not saying white people are any less, more, better, worse. I'm just saying diversity trumps uniformity.
Yes, the USA was largely dreamed up and constructed by white people. Never mind the magnificent civilisations that existed there for thousands of years prior to that. But yes, the USA of today is to an extent a product of white people.
But jet airliners, internet, satellite tv, etc etc, mean the world is a different place than it was in 1865.
So yes, I think America would be better in the future if the 'white' population was proportionally smaller than it is today.
