Stetson

“The United States used to be, like China, an engineering state. But in the 1960s, the priorities of elite lawyers took a sharp turn. As Americans grew alarmed by the unpleasant by-products of growth—environmental destruction, excessive highway construction, corporate interests above public interests—the focus of lawyers turned to litigation and regulation. The mission became to stop as many things as possible. As the United States lost its enthusiasm for engineers, China embraced engineering in all its dimensions.”
― Dan Wang, Breakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future

“Today, in a manner unknown since the arrival of the Pilgrims, the cultural
center of the American nation is fragmenting. The results of the year 2000
census show Hispanics to be overtaking African Americans as the largest
minority, while non-Hispanic whites have declined to just two-thirds of
the U.S. population and have become a minority in the most populous
state, California. Contemplating their demographic decline, white Americans
are engaging in an increasingly bitter, internecine “culture war” that
pits liberal against conservative in a polarized political climate. Against a
demographic backdrop known as the “Browning of America,” the forces
of multiculturalism vie for influence with popular initiatives proclaiming
“English Only,” “immigration reform,” and a Christian America.”
― Eric Kaufmann

“With creators no longer required to pursue artistic excellence, culture has become a lowest-common-denominator fight for attention. Where there is no value other than money, honor is meaningless; and where there is no honor, there cannot be shame. And without shame, fame and infamy become indistinguishable.”
― W. David Marx, Blank Space: A Cultural History of the Twenty-First Century

“But at some point – a point I think we are well past, given the body of research – the
weight of the evidence is so strong that the most reasonable conclusion is that even
if there were some unobservable differences between single and married parents,
the thing staring at us from the data is overwhelming: having a second parent in the
home, with the added resources (money, time, etc.) that second parent brings, is, on
average, beneficial for children’s outcomes.”
― Melissa S. Kearney, The Two-Parent Privilege: How Americans Stopped Getting Married and Started Falling Behind