There are many reasons why some countries are poor and others more well off. Jared Diamond's book "Guns, Germs, & Steel" has some good explanations.
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I like that book quite a bit. But it presents a strong argument that circumstances, rather than something inherent to individuals, explains national outcomes, which is the opposite of what the president said.
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Precisely! And that is why people from poor "sh*thole" countries can come here and become very successful.
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He advocates a merit based system like Canada's, where educational level, English ability, and job skills are the focus. Maybe he was referring to the Diversity Visa Lottery, where the "conditions" typically include a lack of education. Random picks from such spots = dumb policy.
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From reports he was just talking about the countries and the people themselves. Its not just the best and brightest right now that make America so strong. None of my immigrant family members had educations when they came here, all of their descendants have.
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Unfortunately the pattern of your family is not common across the board, and upward mobility today is also much worse in the US than it used to be. Most critically, though, is the loss of low skill jobs that pay enough that folks don't qualify for SNAP, medicaid, EITC, etc.
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Its true, upward mobility is less likely here than in many other countries. I would argue that is an issue to deal with concurrently rather than use as a backstop for other less than ideal policies.
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Sorry to go back to the anecdote argument, but the era's I was referring to of my family immigrating were the 1920's and 1940's, both periods where it was possible to work hard and put multiple kids through college on an uneducated person's salary.
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Culture counts is now racist? Does this work in Europe too? Want to know how far you’d go with Merkel.
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The problem is being a billionaire doesn't mean u r worldly smart. Just because u r a successful businessman doesn't mean u r worldly smart. Those who r worldly smart study, read, experience, explore, r curious & spend everyday learning something new. Its a lifelong commitment.
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Culturalist, not racist. Certainly some cultures are more broken than others.
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