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Jim Greenwood, the CEO of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO).
“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.”
― Breakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future
― Breakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future
“If the mothers who are not married are not married precisely because the men with
whom they have fathered children would not meaningfully contribute positive
resources to the raising of their children, then the observed marriage gap in children’s outcomes is not a good approximation for what their children would gain
from parental marriage.”
― The Two-Parent Privilege: How Americans Stopped Getting Married and Started Falling Behind
whom they have fathered children would not meaningfully contribute positive
resources to the raising of their children, then the observed marriage gap in children’s outcomes is not a good approximation for what their children would gain
from parental marriage.”
― The Two-Parent Privilege: How Americans Stopped Getting Married and Started Falling Behind
“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.”
― Blank Space: A Cultural History of the Twenty-First Century
― Blank Space: A Cultural History of the Twenty-First Century
“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.”
―
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.”
―
“The survival of an ethnic caste-ideal does not alter the general picture of collapsing ethnic boundaries. The immigration of new ethnic diasporas might mitigate ethnic decline somewhat, but—given ecological constraints—
only for a limited period. Over the longue duree, this thesis would suggest that racial boundaries, as with ethnic boundaries, will continue to weaken, thereby generating a symbolically fluid, highly privatized, post-ethnic social environment. The only foreseeable force that could reverse the decline of dominant ethnicity in the United States is an intellectual crisis in which the cosmopolitan paradigm is jettisoned. This
would entail the American cultural elite losing faith in liberty and equality
as the ultimate standards of social progress. In effect, these Enlightenment ideals would need to be superseded as the definition of the Good in America. Such an about-turn would represent a civilizational cataclysm,
rupturing a progressive narrative that is hundreds of years old, a truly post-“modern” development that is nowhere in sight.”
― The Rise and Fall of Anglo-America
only for a limited period. Over the longue duree, this thesis would suggest that racial boundaries, as with ethnic boundaries, will continue to weaken, thereby generating a symbolically fluid, highly privatized, post-ethnic social environment. The only foreseeable force that could reverse the decline of dominant ethnicity in the United States is an intellectual crisis in which the cosmopolitan paradigm is jettisoned. This
would entail the American cultural elite losing faith in liberty and equality
as the ultimate standards of social progress. In effect, these Enlightenment ideals would need to be superseded as the definition of the Good in America. Such an about-turn would represent a civilizational cataclysm,
rupturing a progressive narrative that is hundreds of years old, a truly post-“modern” development that is nowhere in sight.”
― The Rise and Fall of Anglo-America
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Stetson’s 2025 Year in Books
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