a) Which group is the best off?
We're used to white Americans being portrayed as the privileged group, which then leads to calls from the left for "whiteness" to be deconstructed.
But the Census Bureau report confirms information that I've presented previously, namely that Asian Americans are significantly better off in terms of income than are white Americans. So all the talk about "white privilege" is false when it comes to income.
The information is contained in Table A-2 on pages 36 and 38. In 2010 the median income for whites alone (not Hispanic) was $54,620 and the mean income was $73,439. For Asians alone (not Pacific Islander) the equivalent figures are $64,308 and $84,828.
In other words, the median income of Asian Americans is 18% higher than that of white Americans.
b) Money spent to help black Americans hasn't worked
On page 9 of the report we learn that the ratio of income of black Americans compared to white Americans has hardly changed since the early 1970s:
Between 1972 and 2010, the change in the Black-to-non-Hispanic-White income ratio was not statistically significant.
That doesn't surprise me given the poor state of the black family in America. If you look at a report called "The State of Our Unions 2010" you find (p.56) that the illegitimacy rate in black families (births to never married mothers) soared between 1982 and 2008, so much so that the illegitimacy rate amongst black women without a high school degree has reached 96%.
If black women choose not to marry, and so do not engage black men in a provider role within a family, then it seems highly unlikely that income levels will rise relative to other groups.
c) Women who marry are less likely to live in poverty
Men do still play a significant role in keeping families protected from poverty. In married couple families the poverty rate was 6.2% in 2010. In single mother families the poverty rate was 31.6%. So a single mother family is over 500% more likely to experience poverty than a married couple family. (p.18).
Perhaps there are liberals who will respond to this information by concluding that single mother families need more wealth transfers to reduce the gap. But the more obvious conclusion to draw is that married couple families should be encouraged as promoting a better standard of living for families.
d) Median male earnings have fallen since 1973
In the US, real median male earnings have fallen by $1500 since 1973 (see Figure 2, p.12). Men without tertiary level education have been hardest hit.
Men have also been hit harder than women by the depressed economy in the US. Since 2007, the number of men working full-time fell by 6.6 million, compared to 2.8 million for women. (p.5)
"In other words, the median income of Asian Americans is 18% higher than that of white Americans."
ReplyDeleteEast Asians are also forming a new elite here in Australia.
As Peter Wilkinson noted in his book The Howard Legacy:
"In selecting skilled immigrants, those who have done a degree in Australia receive bonus points in the criteria for acceptance for residency. In effect the policy selects those Asians who have higher cognitive ability, predominantly ethnic Chinese. In the ‘knowledge economy’ of today a premium is paid for qualifications and cognitive ability. They and their children (who will inherit their higher intelligence) will fill the professional and managerial ranks in Australia. They will dominate the cognitive class and hence have disproportionate influence in the country. This has important ramifications for both internal and external policies as ethnic demographic change continues."
Source
Mark, on the issue of the immigration crisis facing the Anglo countries, have you by any chance come across ex-Macquarie University professor Andrew Fraser's new book, The WASP Question?
ReplyDeleteFrom the publisher:
"Andrew Fraser’s The WASP Question deals with the question of Anglo-Saxon life in the United States, Australia and everywhere across the world where they have settled. Having for the most part lost a sense of their own ethnic identity in a time of increasing globalism and international multiculturalism which values nearly every culture except their own, the ‘WASPs’ – White Anglo-Saxon Protestants – are alternatively mocked, attacked and ignored in their own lands. Professor Fraser addresses the many questions involved in the matter with impeccable erudition and proposes possible solutions for the future. Constitutional and legal history, evolutionary biology and Christian theology all come into play as Fraser tackles one of the most burning questions of our time. As an analysis of the problems, and possible way forward, faced by a European ethnic group, the book will be of interest to anyone concerned about the fate of not just the Anglo-Saxons, but any specific cultural and racial identity in the postmodern, multicultural age."
Asians best off perhaps, but most privileged? The general view seems to be that Asians in the West get their rewards by diligence and hard work and do not embody anything like "white privilege". The latter comes with cultural baggage that Asians do not carry. The comparison seems apt only in strict terms of income levels.
ReplyDelete"Men have also been hit harder than women by the depressed economy in the US. Since 2007, the number of men working full-time fell by 6.6 million, compared to 2.8 million for women. (p.5)"
This is potentially misleading since there is no reference to the actual numbers of men and women in the workforce. A per capita figure would be helpful. I looked at the document and didn't see anything illuminating in this regard.
Asians best off perhaps, but most privileged?
ReplyDeleteYes, because the Asians run Hollywood and control the biggest lobbies in DC.
Anon 2,
ReplyDeleteI've bought Professor Fraser's book but haven't had time to read it yet. I'll review it when I do.
Anon 3 wrote:
The general view seems to be that Asians in the West get their rewards by diligence and hard work and do not embody anything like "white privilege".
Right, so this is a retreat position - it is granted that whites are not the best off, but the claim now is that all the other groups reach their position by hard work whereas for whites it's just privilege.
Look, I know you can very vaguely run a case like this in terms of the US because of slavery (though in the first century of its existence, as I understand it, the US relied on indentured white labour and after that the large majority of labour would have been carried out by a white working and middle-class.)
But in Australia it's a retreat position that has nothing to back it up at all. It was whites who did the hard work of building up the nation from scratch.
The retreat position won't hold.
Asians may be the best off, but that's because they WORK THEIR ASSES OFF for what they have; they got what they have the way we whites would have gotten things back in the day: they EARNED them!
ReplyDeleteWhen you talk about privilege; when you talk about who gets the most for the least effort; when you talk about who has gotten things that they DON'T deserve; then it's women and blacks in America. Also, these are the same two groups that cannot, in any circumstances, be mocked, disparaged, or impugned in any way. Even so, they can bash and trash white men all day, yet nothing happens to them. They say that you can tell who's in power, i.e. who's privileged, by the fact that you cannot mock them-how true it is...
Asians hit unevenly in the US. They do very well, but are very much crowded into certain disciplines (sciences, medicine) and rather low represented in many others (law, humanities, high-level business executives). In large degree this is because the Asian families emphasize certain things over others. The kids mostly go to public school (the parents like to spend their money on real estate and not school tuition), *but* also receive substantial if not massive private tutoring, often in "Asian schools" that take place on the weekends and in some cases in the evenings. In some cases, these "Asian schools" have prepared their students for the entire public school curriculum a year in advance, so that the grade system can be more or less completely "gamed", whereas white and other parents are more stupid about the process and end up being outcompeted by the Asians who actively game the system. In California, many parents actively avoid sending their kids to public schools where Asians are a large or dominant demographic, because if that's where you are, you have to play by the "Asian rules", too, in order to compete.
ReplyDeleteI would say that the most privileged class across the board in US society today is clearly white women. Many of these come from privileged backgrounds but are favored by employers for hiring and promotion as if they came from slavery. It's a nearly total racket. Of course, women don't predominate at the highest executive levels, but it's well recognized (Catherine Hakim and others) that this is choice-related to a large degree. On the other hand, women are very much starting to predominate at the level right below that (middle managers reporting to corporate alpha male senior executives), which seems to be a very comfortable position for the smarter set of women. So, in the white collar world at least, the US is beginning to approach a system which is still mostly male at the very top, but where the next level or two of management is female, and the lower levels are male. That also pretty much explains what has been happening with pay as well, even leaving aside the blue collar question: more men in blue collar work than women, which also follows the general, emerging social arrangement of alpha men on top, women next, and non-alpha men last.
Anon,
ReplyDeleteNice comment, but I have one quibble. The data I've seen shows Asian women outearning white women to a considerable degree. So I'm not sure it's correct to say that white women are the most privileged group.
Don't let the fact that women are in middle management deceive you. Their numbers are no where near the women who work in low pay service jobs. For them, the need for a stable man in their lives if they plan on families is the greatest. And they have the most to lose if they end up, whether by choice or not, going the single parent route.
ReplyDeleteThis is the problem I find with most of the blogs about relationships. They focus mainly on white collar jobs when my experience is completely the opposite. Yeah there are many people who have those jobs but even they are downsizing. Especially the non-profits that women hold most of the positions in. All this alpha, beta, and other definitions in that are used have no real meaning in the job world when so many factors are apparent.
Many of the Asians that we see in fields such as science and the like were financed by parents who worked in shops and other jobs that required physical labor. And when those that keep bringing up gender relations or gender roles in the workforce ignore people who work those jobs relative to white collar, they're ignoring a great many in the population. Both male and female.
"Asians best off perhaps, but most privileged?...
ReplyDeleteYes, because the Asians run Hollywood and control the biggest lobbies in DC."
This sounds like a rerun of criticisms of the Jews.
Asians do not culturally dominate Australia and for the most part stay below the radar getting on with things as was said. This is not a self hating delusion btw I see them flogging themselves at uni and in menial jobs to help pay for it all the time and they are not actively vocal during elections.
International students, ie predominantly Asians, are denied concession card student status on public transportation. Little benefits like that you’d think would be easily granted to them if they were truly a dominate group. These students are brought in because they're seen as money bags to be shaken down as much as possible, which hardly speaks of a highly privileged status.
Jesse,
ReplyDeleteWhat we're dealing with are people who believe that the very existence of white societies is built on the oppression of others - Asians, blacks etc. Therefore, it is thought, whites are uniquely guilty and should be displaced.
I wrote a post a few months ago about Tom Hayden, the left-wing activist husband of actress Jane Fonda. When his son married a black woman, Tom Hayden commented in his wedding speech that this gave him special pleasure because it meant:
"another step in a long-term goal of mine: the peaceful, nonviolent disappearance of the white race"
Hayden has expressed the belief that "what is whiteness but privilege?" - he sees whiteness only in terms of an advantage against others.
So, pointing out that Asians do better in terms of education, employment and income is intended to bring things back to reality. It is not intended to endorse the left-wing framework and to put Asians in the "guilty" category rather than whites. Instead, the idea is to show that the left-wing view doesn't fit the facts.
Asians hit unevenly in the US. They do very well, but are very much crowded into certain disciplines (sciences, medicine) and rather low represented in many others (law, humanities, high-level business executives).
ReplyDeleteAsians make great technicians, but they generally lack for creativity and innovation. The same is true of Indians. They excel at memorizing information.
Also, the "Tiger Mother" culture that Asians subject their children to is pretty horrifying and borders on pathological. I went to school with a few Asian kids whose parents saw a test score of 98% as abject failure. I think that, like white liberals, Asians tend to see their children as merely extentions of themselves. They just express it differently.
I wouldn't say all asians are hardworking maybe the Japanese are.
ReplyDeleteSimply filling a place a native Anglo could fill doesn't automatically make you a hard worker.
The service some asians give in business is terrible with poor communication and a very lazy work ethic with cutting corners and not reaching guidelines for safety.
A lot of asians cheat in and game every system they enter. Wether it be a driving test or university.
Theres been incidences of asians uncharacteristically attacking people when they refuse their bribes. Its that ingrained in their culture.
Another thing every Australian should observe is advertised jobs that specify Chinese speakers only even if the jobs don't require it. Indeed there are some jobs advertised that specify asian languages only. Basically refusing anyone who isnt asian.
They are shutting out Australians.
I agree with a lot of what the last anonymous said and I agree with Mark's post. I nonetheless do think it would be a mistake to go down the road of racial politics, accusing this or that race for the situation we're in. If white people support large immigration rates, and the political left support this with many white citizens being apathetic, that has to be our first priority to change.
ReplyDeleteJesse,
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Often it's middle-class Anglos who are the most religiously committed to the anti-white stuff. We need to give them an alternative.
but the claim now is that all the other groups reach their position by hard work whereas for whites it's just privilege.
ReplyDeleteThe first, and maybe second, generation can always make the "hard work" claim. After that it's a lot of legacy stuff.
These students are brought in because they're seen as money bags to be shaken down as much as possible, which hardly speaks of a highly privileged status.
Exactly. They're cash-cows, and their entrance qualifications are often lower than the natives that are rejected. College Admissions Directors Finally Admit They Want RICH Students More Than SMART Students
Maybe they pass loaded students for humanities;
ReplyDeleteIt is always fun looking at places that are rigourous with the awarding of Computer Science degrees ... typically 30 out of 300 graduate.
That's where ... even if your "entrance requirements" are lower,
if you don't have what it takes to finish ... it "don't mean a thing".
"Asians may be the best off, but that's because they WORK THEIR ASSES OFF for what they have; they got what they have the way we whites would have gotten things back in the day: they EARNED them!"
ReplyDeleteTrue. But don't confuse Asians in Asia with Asians in the US.
The reason Asians in Asia "seem" to work harder, is because in many universities in Asia, 100% attendance is REQUIRED to take final year exams.
So even if the lecturer is crap or marks students down ...
there's very little students can do.
I should know - I was one of them, got fed up of being marked down, went overseas, got my qualification.