Some thoughts on… Keeping up with the Jones
As the world economy grows dimmer and enters into a gloomy Holiday season, in the US we are still basking in the enduring rays of a historic election. The country has a black President-elect and can claim a moral high-ground once again.
From formal and informal polls, world-wide support for Obama is strong, and especially in Europe it is overwhelming.The EU support is sincere and appreciated, but is there an underlying hypocrisy to the sentiment? Similar to the South-Asian family that celebrates the marriage of their friends’ daughter to a black man and secretly prays that it never happens in their home, would any of the Big-5 European countries ever elect a non-white head of state?
A high-level glance at demographics shows the number and composition of the non-white population in the US is significantly larger than the other countries.Total Population in Millions (% of Population that is White)
UK - 60.8 M (84%)
France - 64.5 M (85%)
Spain - 40.5 M (94%)
Italy - 59.5 M (95%)
Germany -82.4 M (92%)
US - 305.7 M (68%)
Source: Government Census Projections
Evidently, the US can draw from a much larger ethnic population and has a much larger pool of talented, people of color. Presumably, once the non-indigenous groups in these other nations grow, a minority leader is bound to emerge. This reasoning is naïve, for the answer to the EU election question is not simply an availability of talented non-white people resident in these countries.
Within a major democracy, the possibility for electing a person from a minority group is precipitated by 1) the willingness and urge of a person to take on such a position, and 2) the means that the society provides to achieve the goal. The cultural landscape provides some insight into these two criteria. Billy Elliott: The Musical is a new Broadway show that captures the joy of the original movie and plays it out to the music of Elton John. Set during the harsh days of the Miner’s Strike of 1984 in a Northern England town, the show describes the story of an 11-year old growing up in a generations-old, coal-mining family. The recent loss of his mother, the deteriorating state of the town’s economic situation, and the slow break-down of his own family are harsh realities of his upbringing. But Billy is uplifted by an internal inspiration – his desire to dance – and he secretly joins ballet class at the community center.
His talent is undeniable and the show unspools to resolve the central conflict: a dream of attending the Royal Ballet School balanced by the need to first convince his miner family and then escape from the embittered landscape of a community that rarely steps outside of its own borders. The show delights in the idiosyncrasies of small-town dynamics – the communal warmth, the disregard for change, the hidden pride for those who succeed outside. In the end, Billy’s dreams are realized through the support of the entire town that breaks its own stereotypes in recognition of a true gift.
The trippy, unswerving and intoxicating film Slumdog Millionaire is a unique invention of cultural globalization. Jamal is a child from the slums of Mumbai, growing up in the accelerating world of modern India. We meet him as a contestant on the Hindi Who Wants to be a Millionaire? This uneducated slumdog has somehow managed to answer a succession of questions that could win him the contest. Has he cheated? Is he just lucky? Or is it written?
The movie swirls through the world of literally rags-to-riches India. Dev Patel portrays the hero with an engrossing earnestness that draws the audience into the stories he relates. Even as he is being challenged by the police, the show’s producers, and life in general, Jamal relentlessly pursues his drive to win and thus gain the heart of his life’s love.
In the US, we thrive on tales of the underdog overcoming adversity to achieve an unattainable goal. It is our folklore, our ethic. The fundamental morality feeds an urge to succeed and sets up the enabling mechanisms. It is a positive reinforcement cycle – the more we enable disenfranchised youth to succeed, the more the younger generation takes on leadership roles, the more the country benefits. You can be anything you want to be in the States. The systems are not perfect, but they seem to be further evolved than our counter-parts across the Atlantic.
Europe has missed this cycle, and likely will not catch up for decades. A nascent ethnic population that feels unheard and disconnected from the center of power; a political system composed of closed doors and willful separation; and a lack of population diversity all lead to one too many hurdles to overcome.
Maybe we need to look to the emerging democracies of India and Brazil with their relatively diverse populations to keep up with the American Jones’ and set a similar example of political leadership?
From formal and informal polls, world-wide support for Obama is strong, and especially in Europe it is overwhelming.The EU support is sincere and appreciated, but is there an underlying hypocrisy to the sentiment? Similar to the South-Asian family that celebrates the marriage of their friends’ daughter to a black man and secretly prays that it never happens in their home, would any of the Big-5 European countries ever elect a non-white head of state?
A high-level glance at demographics shows the number and composition of the non-white population in the US is significantly larger than the other countries.Total Population in Millions (% of Population that is White)
UK - 60.8 M (84%)
France - 64.5 M (85%)
Spain - 40.5 M (94%)
Italy - 59.5 M (95%)
Germany -82.4 M (92%)
US - 305.7 M (68%)
Source: Government Census Projections
Evidently, the US can draw from a much larger ethnic population and has a much larger pool of talented, people of color. Presumably, once the non-indigenous groups in these other nations grow, a minority leader is bound to emerge. This reasoning is naïve, for the answer to the EU election question is not simply an availability of talented non-white people resident in these countries.
Within a major democracy, the possibility for electing a person from a minority group is precipitated by 1) the willingness and urge of a person to take on such a position, and 2) the means that the society provides to achieve the goal. The cultural landscape provides some insight into these two criteria. Billy Elliott: The Musical is a new Broadway show that captures the joy of the original movie and plays it out to the music of Elton John. Set during the harsh days of the Miner’s Strike of 1984 in a Northern England town, the show describes the story of an 11-year old growing up in a generations-old, coal-mining family. The recent loss of his mother, the deteriorating state of the town’s economic situation, and the slow break-down of his own family are harsh realities of his upbringing. But Billy is uplifted by an internal inspiration – his desire to dance – and he secretly joins ballet class at the community center.
His talent is undeniable and the show unspools to resolve the central conflict: a dream of attending the Royal Ballet School balanced by the need to first convince his miner family and then escape from the embittered landscape of a community that rarely steps outside of its own borders. The show delights in the idiosyncrasies of small-town dynamics – the communal warmth, the disregard for change, the hidden pride for those who succeed outside. In the end, Billy’s dreams are realized through the support of the entire town that breaks its own stereotypes in recognition of a true gift.
The trippy, unswerving and intoxicating film Slumdog Millionaire is a unique invention of cultural globalization. Jamal is a child from the slums of Mumbai, growing up in the accelerating world of modern India. We meet him as a contestant on the Hindi Who Wants to be a Millionaire? This uneducated slumdog has somehow managed to answer a succession of questions that could win him the contest. Has he cheated? Is he just lucky? Or is it written?
The movie swirls through the world of literally rags-to-riches India. Dev Patel portrays the hero with an engrossing earnestness that draws the audience into the stories he relates. Even as he is being challenged by the police, the show’s producers, and life in general, Jamal relentlessly pursues his drive to win and thus gain the heart of his life’s love.
In the US, we thrive on tales of the underdog overcoming adversity to achieve an unattainable goal. It is our folklore, our ethic. The fundamental morality feeds an urge to succeed and sets up the enabling mechanisms. It is a positive reinforcement cycle – the more we enable disenfranchised youth to succeed, the more the younger generation takes on leadership roles, the more the country benefits. You can be anything you want to be in the States. The systems are not perfect, but they seem to be further evolved than our counter-parts across the Atlantic.
Europe has missed this cycle, and likely will not catch up for decades. A nascent ethnic population that feels unheard and disconnected from the center of power; a political system composed of closed doors and willful separation; and a lack of population diversity all lead to one too many hurdles to overcome.
Maybe we need to look to the emerging democracies of India and Brazil with their relatively diverse populations to keep up with the American Jones’ and set a similar example of political leadership?