Does the Melting Pot No Longer Work in the US?
Published in El Nuevo Diario
(Nicaragua) on 15 February 2016
by Orlando López-Selva (link to
original)
Recent events in the United States indicate that in the medium term, socio-racial conflicts will be accentuated. This will be disruptive for the world power.
For many years, the U.S. has clung to the idea of white supremacy, a term distorted by some ethnologists that believe only Anglo-Saxons are white. However, since the formal end of slavery in 1865, new ethnic groups have been joining this great population current: blacks and Asians (Latinos are not a race, they are a heterogeneous aggregate group).
This idea is reflected in the political sermons of the Republican candidate Donald Trump, who openly goes against everything that is not mainstream. This portends danger, because Trump’s language will probably force those who do not identify with him to choose Bernie Sanders as a safeguard alternative.
This would put Americans in a dilemma: Choose Trump, a candidate with much unbridled chauvinist pride who proclaims controversial opinions at any cost, or choose someone white and Jewish who aims to sell the idea of socialism in the most capitalist country of the world.
Although the black minority has not been attacked by Trump, I obviously do not believe they will agree with the Republican candidate’s ideas — unless Condoleezza Rice, an African descendant with a great deal of education and intellect, displays her arrogance and shows up at a political event where Mr. Trump praises her.
At the end of the 18th century, there were so many Germans in the U.S. legislative assembly that they were a vote away from deciding that German should be the official language of the new republic, which then consisted mostly of Scottish, German and Dutch descendants. Nowadays, the Washington establishment is reluctant to choose even Spanish as a second language, despite its growth, importance and spread.
After the war with Great Britain in 1812, Washington and London were reconciled, and recognized both their shared ideals and their differences in the form of the state — Great Britain, a kingdom; the United States, a republic. How difficult it was for many Americans to accept that African descendants were also citizens; and it took them another 100 years to acknowledge their full rights!
I dare say that, in the medium term, a socio-racial schism will confront Americans. The statistical trend reinforces this assessment: Minorities will be the majority, and the majority will be the minority.
Will the pancake be flipped? Now whites are starting to protest because they feel threatened; Trump himself embodies a form of protest. Everything is exacerbated when we see that political options already include empowered minorities: Cubans, blacks and Hindus — which is the case for ex-Governor of Louisiana Bobby Jindal, who was briefly a Republican candidate.
I ask: Does the formula for democracy need revision? Will the threats of the aforementioned groups lead to an adjustment of the electoral process and an adjustment of the old bipartisan model? Is the U.S. on its way to becoming a mixed-race nation? There is a risk that American society will split and enter into revolt. Unthinkable?
Who is immune?
After the globalization of the democratic ideal in 1989, the imbalances and weaknesses of various predominantly Western concepts have been revealed.
Australia, Germany and France are dealing with the disconcerting process of socio-racial amalgamation. However, their more tolerant leaders are resigned to the challenges of heterogeneity. What will happen to Mongolia, the Koreas and Japan, which are all nations that are quite reluctant to mingle with foreigners?
The United States is going through a foreign leadership crisis. Merkel and Putin have more global influence than the White House. This is due in large part to Obama’s moderation. But it also takes pride away from Washington — the place that invented the maritime gendarmerie, Superman Hollywoodism and being at center stage.
Is this the evil of a world power, or an exhibitionism that imperial Rome would have wanted?
Domestically, the United States is also in crisis. If Sanders and Trump face off in the presidential race, nothing will be the same. This is caused by the imbalance of the country’s socio-racial composition. Its effects are seen in the massive, previously-unthinkable appropriation of all democratic tools, today driven by new voters who are changing the proposals of the founding fathers: Washington, Franklin, Hamilton and Jefferson. They laid the foundations — more with philosophical intelligence and a patriotic sense than with any long-term foresight — of a republic of European descendants, and of freedoms supporting the ideals of such citizens.
The Washington establishment will defend its interests, and it will do so at any cost.
Will the idea of the melting pot change, or will America adapt to its new demographic?
For many years, the U.S. has clung to the idea of white supremacy, a term distorted by some ethnologists that believe only Anglo-Saxons are white. However, since the formal end of slavery in 1865, new ethnic groups have been joining this great population current: blacks and Asians (Latinos are not a race, they are a heterogeneous aggregate group).
This idea is reflected in the political sermons of the Republican candidate Donald Trump, who openly goes against everything that is not mainstream. This portends danger, because Trump’s language will probably force those who do not identify with him to choose Bernie Sanders as a safeguard alternative.
This would put Americans in a dilemma: Choose Trump, a candidate with much unbridled chauvinist pride who proclaims controversial opinions at any cost, or choose someone white and Jewish who aims to sell the idea of socialism in the most capitalist country of the world.
Although the black minority has not been attacked by Trump, I obviously do not believe they will agree with the Republican candidate’s ideas — unless Condoleezza Rice, an African descendant with a great deal of education and intellect, displays her arrogance and shows up at a political event where Mr. Trump praises her.
At the end of the 18th century, there were so many Germans in the U.S. legislative assembly that they were a vote away from deciding that German should be the official language of the new republic, which then consisted mostly of Scottish, German and Dutch descendants. Nowadays, the Washington establishment is reluctant to choose even Spanish as a second language, despite its growth, importance and spread.
After the war with Great Britain in 1812, Washington and London were reconciled, and recognized both their shared ideals and their differences in the form of the state — Great Britain, a kingdom; the United States, a republic. How difficult it was for many Americans to accept that African descendants were also citizens; and it took them another 100 years to acknowledge their full rights!
I dare say that, in the medium term, a socio-racial schism will confront Americans. The statistical trend reinforces this assessment: Minorities will be the majority, and the majority will be the minority.
Will the pancake be flipped? Now whites are starting to protest because they feel threatened; Trump himself embodies a form of protest. Everything is exacerbated when we see that political options already include empowered minorities: Cubans, blacks and Hindus — which is the case for ex-Governor of Louisiana Bobby Jindal, who was briefly a Republican candidate.
I ask: Does the formula for democracy need revision? Will the threats of the aforementioned groups lead to an adjustment of the electoral process and an adjustment of the old bipartisan model? Is the U.S. on its way to becoming a mixed-race nation? There is a risk that American society will split and enter into revolt. Unthinkable?
Who is immune?
After the globalization of the democratic ideal in 1989, the imbalances and weaknesses of various predominantly Western concepts have been revealed.
Australia, Germany and France are dealing with the disconcerting process of socio-racial amalgamation. However, their more tolerant leaders are resigned to the challenges of heterogeneity. What will happen to Mongolia, the Koreas and Japan, which are all nations that are quite reluctant to mingle with foreigners?
The United States is going through a foreign leadership crisis. Merkel and Putin have more global influence than the White House. This is due in large part to Obama’s moderation. But it also takes pride away from Washington — the place that invented the maritime gendarmerie, Superman Hollywoodism and being at center stage.
Is this the evil of a world power, or an exhibitionism that imperial Rome would have wanted?
Domestically, the United States is also in crisis. If Sanders and Trump face off in the presidential race, nothing will be the same. This is caused by the imbalance of the country’s socio-racial composition. Its effects are seen in the massive, previously-unthinkable appropriation of all democratic tools, today driven by new voters who are changing the proposals of the founding fathers: Washington, Franklin, Hamilton and Jefferson. They laid the foundations — more with philosophical intelligence and a patriotic sense than with any long-term foresight — of a republic of European descendants, and of freedoms supporting the ideals of such citizens.
The Washington establishment will defend its interests, and it will do so at any cost.
Will the idea of the melting pot change, or will America adapt to its new demographic?
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