An eye-opening view into demographics and politics

Columbia University School of Journalism professor and New York Times op-ed contributor Tom Edsall has a very interesting piece citing a number of studies about the correlation between demographic changes and political ideology. Of particular note is the following passage:

"In 1988, the Democratic presidential nominee, Michael Dukakis, carried 26 percent of the nation’s counties, 819 of 3,144, on his way to losing the Electoral College 426-111 and the popular vote by seven percentage points. In 2012, President Obama won fewer counties, 690, but he won the popular vote by four points and the Electoral College in a landslide, 332-206."

While the title of the op-ed piece is misleading, the content is very interesting and worth reading.

Today is the 50th Anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" Speech

Apparently the King family owns the copyright on the text and the video of the entire speech. However, there is a PDF version available at the National Archives that you can download and read.

A Great Map of the Diversity of American Last Names

A blog post and interactive map at National Geographic show the distribution of last names in the United States. A very fascinating map, especially that pocket of the Vietnamese last name 'Nguyen' in California.

However, the blog post also states:

"The map's scale matters too. "If we did a map of New York like this," says project member James Cheshire, "the diversity would be phenomenal"—a testament to that city's role as a once-and-present gateway to America."

This is especially true considering Asians and Latinos comprise, respectively, 13% and 29% of New York City's population but are not very well represented and distributed among the American population as a whole.

America's Investment Problem.

Great op-ed piece by Fareed Zakaria in today's Washington Post. He pragmatically lays out the issues with the economy today, which are none of the things the Republican Party claim are the problem:

"One theory heard a lot these days is that the economy is burdened by excessive government regulation, interference and taxes. All these pressures on business, especially small business, are keeping the economy down. Cut them, the Republican candidates all say, and the economy will be unleashed. It’s a compelling picture, but the data simply do not support it."

Some of the data he presents in his column:

* A World Economic Forum survey that ranks countries on their overall economic competitiveness puts the United States fifth; the countries ahead of it, including Singapore and Finland, are tiny, with populations around 5 percent that of the United States.

* The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released a study last week measuring tax revenue as a percentage of gross domestic product. The United States came in 27th out of 30 countries.

* The World Bank study finds that the only category in which the United States is not in the top 20 is “paying taxes,” where it ranks a miserable 72.

* Only five years ago, American infrastructure used to be ranked in the top 10 by the World Economic Forum. Now we’re 24th. U.S. air infrastructure has gone from 12th to 31st, roads from eighth to 20th.

* The United States used to have the world’s largest percentage of college graduates. We’re now No. 14, according to the most recent OECD data, and American students routinely rank toward the bottom of the developed world.

* The number of engineering degrees conferred annually decreased more than 11 percent between 1989 and 2000. Even with the increase in college attendance over the past two decades, there were fewer engineering and engineering technologies graduates in 2009 (84,636) than in 1989 (85,002).

So yeah, tax cuts are the problem to fix issues in national infrastructure and education caused by a lack of tax revenue. Let me know when this alien math is supposed to work.

"Managerialist America"

This is an interesting take on things:

"...this suggests a structural antagonism not between the rich and the not-rich, but between the corporate managerial class, the diffuse crowd of individuals who actually own the companies the managerial class so jealously control, and the rest of us, who are harmed by the knock-on effects of the sorts of managerial malfeasance enabled by the regulatory reinforcment of the separation of ownership and management, and the amplification of agency problems that reinforcement entails."

"Bakkshlled Singh in particular being a marvel of physical beauty. He stands 6 feet 2 inches and is built in proportion."

All the talk of Manny Malhotra playing for the Vancouver Canucks in this year's Stanley Cup Finals and Brandon Chillar of the Green Bay Packers winning a Super Bowl ring (albeit while being hurt) got me thinking not just about this history of South Asian athletes but South Asians in North America in general. It got me thinking about Robin Bawa, who in 1987 became the first person of South Asian descent to play in one of the pro sports leagues (the NHL.) It also got me thinking about the first documented record of people from the Indian subcontinent arriving in the United States on April 6, 1899:

"There are four Sikhs who arrived on the Nippon Maru the other day were permitted yesterday to land by the immigration officials. The quartet formed the most picturesque group that has been seen on the Pacific Mall dock for many a day. One of them, Bakkshlled [sic] Singh, speaks English with fluency, the others just a little. They are all fine-looking men, Bakkshlled Singh in particular being a marvel of physical beauty. He stands 6 feet 2 inches and is built in proportion. His companions-Bood [sic] Singh, Variam [sic] Singh and Sohava Singh-are not quite so big. All of them have been soldiers and policemen in China. They were in the Royal Artillery, and the tall one with the unpronounceable name was a police sergeant in Hong Kong prior to coming to this country. They hope to make their fortunes here and return to their homes in the Lahore district, which they left some twenty years ago.-San Francisco Chronicle April 6, 1899, p.10"

It got me thinking about Bhagat Singh Thind, who was a US Army veteran in World War I but was denied US Citizenship in a case that went to the United States Supreme Court.

It got me thinking about Dalip Singh Saund, who in 1956 became the first person of South Asian descent to be elected to the United States Congress.

Then it got me thinking that too many people of South Asian descent don't know the history of South Asian peoples in North America so I had better post this on my blog so someone can read it sometime somewhere soon.

Immigration, Canadian-style

In a blog post on May 12th, I weighed in on a Slate article about our immigration policies and compared it to the Canadian model, which is more welcoming to highly-skilled immigrants and got some positive thoughts in a blog post on The Economist:

"...the United States really should be more open to high-skilled immigrants. They're good for the economy, and an uptick in demonstrably uncontroversial immigrants might mitigate anxiety about the group as a whole."

"We'll make it. Just don't ask me how."

Washington Post columnist Steven Pearlstein wraps up his two-week sojourn to India with a wrap-up of where India has been and where she's headed. In the end, there is a sense of reserved optimism or hopeful pessimism in India, which goes hand-in-hand with the quote that I used for the title of this post, "We'll make it. Just don't ask me how."

The blurb from the article that stood out for me, for personal reasons, was:

"Cummins, the big U.S.-based engine company, has had a plant in Pune since 1962, and demand for its products are so brisk that it will open a second, bigger production campus 90 miles away."

My family comes from Pune and my father had a job offer from Cummins in 1970. He had also just gotten an immigration visa to the United States and decided to turn down the Cummins job offer and move to the United States instead. It's kind of nice to see Cummins still operating in Pune and still holding the same presence that I had always heard about.

US States: The Good and the Bad and Ugly

Great map posted on Ezra Klein's blog on WashingtonPost.com yesterday about the pros and cons of each state in the Union. Now some of the pluses are questionable, such as Kentucky being the "Best Armed" or just seem like a pathetic reach, such as Oklahoma being "Best License Plate". Some of the negatives are funny, like Utah with "Porn Usage" or Washington with "Bestiality". My personal favorite is the seemingly obvious connection between Ohio's pro ("Highest Library Usage") and con ("Nerdiest state").

It would have been nice to see a side by side list so I made one up myself below. See if you can find any other interesting connections. Enjoy!

Alabama
Good: Church Attendance
Bad: Stroke

Alaska
Good: Most Equal
Bad: Suicide

Arizona
Good: Sunniest
Bad: Alcoholism

Arkansas
Good: Bromine Production
Bad: Worst Credit Score

California
Good: Safest for Workers
Bad: Air Pollution

Colorado
Good: Lowest Obesity Rate
Bad: Cocaine Use

Connecticut
Good: Lowest Carbon Emissions
Bad: Breast Cancer

Delaware
Good: Best State to Incorporate In
Bad: Abortion

Florida
Good: Affordable In-State Tuition
Bad: Identity Theft

Georgia
Good: Hosts Busiest Airport Hub
Bad: Most Sickly

Hawaii
Good: Highest Life Expectancy
Bad: Cost of Living

Idaho
Good: Highest Per Capita Computer Manufacturing Output
Bad: Weakest Government Influence

Illinois
Good: Most Average
Bad: Robbery

Indiana
Good: Most VPs Born
Bad: Least ‘green’ state

Iowa
Good: Sick Days Taken
Bad: Oldest State

Kansas
Good: Wheat Production
Bad: Poorest Health

Kentucky
Good: Best Armed
Bad: Cancer Deaths

Louisiana
Good: Biggest Pork
Bad: Gonorrhea

Maine
Good: Least Violent Crime
Bad: Dumbest State

Maryland
Good: Highest Income
Bad: AIDS

Massachusetts
Good: College Grads
Bad: Worst drivers

Michigan
Good: Best Freshwater Access
Bad: Unemployment

Minnesota
Good: Best Heart Health
Bad: Tornadoes

Mississippi
Good: Churches per Capita
Bad: Obesity

Missouri
Good: Political Bellwether
Bad: Bankruptcy

Montana
Good: Native American Political Empowerment
Bad: Drunk driving

Nebraska
Good: Least Public Corruption
Bad: Violence on Females

Nevada
Good: Most Liberalized Prostitution Laws
Bad: Crime

New Hampshire
Good: Least Poverty
Bad: Corporate Taxes

New Jersey
Good: Lowest Suicide Rate
Bad: Taxes

New Mexico
Good: Spaceport Home
Bad: Anti-social

New York
Good: Transit Use
Bad: Daily Commute

North Carolina
Good: Best Value University
Bad: Teacher salary

North Dakota
Good: Lowest Unemployment
Bad: Ugliest residents

Ohio
Good: Highest Library Usage
Bad: Nerdiest state

Oklahoma
Good: Best License Plate
Bad: Female criminals

Oregon
Good: Most Breastfed Babies
Bad: Homeless population

Pennsylvania
Good: Most Hunters
Bad: Arson

Rhode Island
Good: Lowest Coal Consumption per Capita
Bad: Drug use

South Carolina
Good: Golf Holes per Capita
Bad: Most mobile homes

South Dakota
Good: Fewest Mental Health Days Taken
Bad: Rape

Tennessee
Good: Immunization
Bad: Corruption

Texas
Good: Most Wind Power Production
Bad: High School Graduation

Utah
Good: Highest Reported Wellbeing
Bad: Porn Usage

Vermont
Good: Healthiest
Bad: Infertility

Virginia
Good: Presidential Birthplace
Bad: Motorcycle deaths

Washington
Good: Lowest Infant Mortality
Bad: Bestiality

West Virginia
Good: Most Retirees
Bad: Heart Attack

Wisconsin
Good: High School Graduation Rate
Bad: Binge drinking

Wyoming
Good: Cleanest Air
Bad: Fatal car crashes

If you scratch my back...

It's kind of embarrassing for India that the three countries ahead of it for having the most prevalent cultures of bribery are Liberia, Afghanistan, and Iraq: one country artificially created by the United States in the 19th century that is forever enthralled in political turmoil and two countries where the United States has actively engaged war recently. Perhaps this means the reason we Americans are so far down on the list is because we tend to export bribery inducement to other places?

On the other hand, considering India's economic progress over the past decade or so, I'd be curious to know if this percentage has actually decreased over that period.

"There's an App for That" (Trademark Apple Inc.)

Apparently the US Government has a number of apps for the average citizen and one even for international audiences to learn about the US.

Can we ever develop a culture of responsibility?

Was John Edwards on to something? Regardless of what you think of John Edwards the person or John Edwards the trial lawyer, John Edwards the politician may have been on to something with his focus on The Two Americas, one America for the wealthy and one America for everyone else. Reuters’ Chrystia Freeland (formerly of The Financial Times and a frequent guest on all of the cable news outlets) pens a blog post titled America’s two-speed economy, quite similar to Edwards’ concept of the Two Americas.

The quote from this piece that stands out is the one that essentially sums up our problem in a nutshell:
Yet [CEO of Applied Materials Michael] Splinter’s critique contained its own contradictions: on one hand, he called on the government to spend more on R&D and education, but his chief complaint was that “frankly, our tax rate is not competitive” and that it was likely to increase.

Unless we change our culture from one of entitlement to one of responsibility, the fear of America turning into Brazil, which was raised in the article, will become a reality. It was harsh to use Brazil as an example, considering Brazil has a booming economy and Brazilian companies are buying American companies very aggressively. That said, there is known to be a wide income gap between rich and poor in Brazil (as I’ve witnessed firsthand in India, the other country mentioned in the Slate article.) I’m not knowledgeable enough about it to discuss the culture of responsibility in Brazil but I know whenever there is any talk of communal responsibility versus individual liberties in the United States, we hear misplaced screams of socialism and communism from the right. I’m all for individualism but we have to develop a mindset that we hold our individual pursuits in check if they come at the expense of the society in which we live.

This requires ethical standards, that cannot be applied by a government policy, to become the social norm. Unfortunately ethics are usually not profitable and therein lies the rub. Thoughts?