[MBZ] WHAT DRIVES SUCCESS IN AMERICA?
What Drives Success? A SEEMINGLY un-American fact about America today is that for some groups, much more than others, upward mobility and the American dream are alive and well. It may be taboo to say it, but certain ethnic, religious and national-origin groups are doing strikingly better than Americans overall. Indian-Americans earn almost double the national figure (roughly $90,000 per year in median household income versus $50,000). Iranian-, Lebanese- and Chinese-Americans are also top-earners. In the last 30 years, Mormons have become leaders of corporate America, holding top positions in many of America’s most recognizable companies. These facts don’t make some groups “better” than others, and material success cannot be equated with a well-lived life. But willful blindness to facts is never a good policy. Jewish success is the most historically fraught and the most broad-based. Although Jews make up only about 2 percent of the United States’ adult population, they account for a third of the current Supreme Court; over two-thirds of Tony Award-winning lyricists and composers; and about a third of American Nobel laureates. The most comforting explanation of these facts is that they are mere artifacts of class — rich parents passing on advantages to their children — or of immigrants arriving in this country with high skill and education levels. Important as these factors are, they explain only a small part of the picture. Today’s wealthy Mormon businessmen often started from humble origins. Although India and China send the most immigrants to the United States through employment-based channels, almost half of all Indian immigrants and over half of Chinese immigrants do not enter the country under those criteria. Many are poor and poorly educated. Comprehensive data published by the Russell Sage Foundation in 2013 showed that the children of Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese immigrants experienced exceptional upward mobility regardless of their parents’ socioeconomic or educational background. Take New York City’s selective public high schools like Stuyvesant and Bronx Science, which are major Ivy League feeders. For the 2013 school year, Stuyvesant High School offered admission, based solely on a standardized entrance exam, to nine black students, 24 Hispanics, 177 whites and 620 Asians. Among the Asians of Chinese origin, many are the children of restaurant workers and other working-class immigrants. Merely stating the fact that certain groups do better than others — as measured by income, test scores and so on — is enough to provoke a firestorm in America today, and even charges of racism. The irony is that the facts actually debunk racial stereotypes. There are some black and Hispanic groups in America that far outperform some white and Asian groups. Immigrants from many West Indian and African countries, such as Jamaica, Ghana, and Haiti, are climbing America’s higher education ladder, but perhaps the most prominent are Nigerians. Nigerians make up less than 1 percent of the black population in the United States, yet in 2013 nearly one-quarter of the black students at Harvard Business School were of Nigerian ancestry; over a fourth of Nigerian-Americans have a graduate or professional degree, as compared with only about 11 percent of whites. Cuban-Americans in Miami rose in one generation from widespread penury to relative affluence. By 1990, United States-born Cuban children — whose parents had arrived as exiles, many with practically nothing — were twice as likely as non-Hispanic whites to earn over $50,000 a year. All three Hispanic United States senators are Cuban-Americans. Meanwhile, some Asian-American groups — Cambodian- and Hmong-Americans, for example — are among the poorest in the country, as are some predominantly white communities in central Appalachia. MOST fundamentally, groups rise and fall over time. The fortunes of WASP elites have been declining for decades. In 1960, second-generation Greek-Americans reportedly had the second-highest income of any census-tracked group. Group success in America often tends to dissipate after two generations. Thus while Asian-American kids overall had SAT scores 143 points above average in 2012 — including a 63-point edge over whites — a 2005 study of over 20,000 adolescents found that third-generation Asian-American students performed no better academically than white students. The fact that groups rise and fall this way punctures the whole idea of “model minorities” or that groups succeed because of innate, biological differences. Rather, there are cultural forces at work. It turns out that for all their diversity, the strikingly successful groups in America today share three traits that, together, propel success. The first is a superiority complex — a deep-seated belief in their exceptionality. The second appears to be the opposite — insecurity, a feeling that
Re: [MBZ] WHAT DRIVES SUCCESS IN AMERICA?
This is an outstanding synthesis that seems well supported by facts. It is totally consistent with this old man's observations and life experience. I am surprised only by the source: NYT. Both the information presented and conclusions seem to conflict (rather violently) with the normal NYT editorial bias. Thanks for sharing. Scott -Original Message- From: Mercedes [mailto:mercedes-boun...@okiebenz.com] On Behalf Of arche...@embarqmail.com Sent: Sunday, January 26, 2014 5:10 PM To: Mercedes Discussion List Subject: [MBZ] WHAT DRIVES SUCCESS IN AMERICA? What Drives Success? A SEEMINGLY un-American fact about America today is that for some groups, much more than others, upward mobility and the American dream are alive and well. It may be taboo to say it, but certain ethnic, religious and national-origin groups are doing strikingly better than Americans overall. Indian-Americans earn almost double the national figure (roughly $90,000 per year in median household income versus $50,000). Iranian-, Lebanese- and Chinese-Americans are also top-earners. In the last 30 years, Mormons have become leaders of corporate America, holding top positions in many of Americas most recognizable companies. These facts dont make some groups better than others, and material success cannot be equated with a well-lived life. But willful blindness to facts is never a good policy. Jewish success is the most historically fraught and the most broad-based. Although Jews make up only about 2 percent of the United States adult population, they account for a third of the current Supreme Court; over two-thirds of Tony Award-winning lyricists and composers; and about a third of American Nobel laureates. The most comforting explanation of these facts is that they are mere artifacts of class rich parents passing on advantages to their children or of immigrants arriving in this country with high skill and education levels. Important as these factors are, they explain only a small part of the picture. Todays wealthy Mormon businessmen often started from humble origins. Although India and China send the most immigrants to the United States through employment-based channels, almost half of all Indian immigrants and over half of Chinese immigrants do not enter the country under those criteria. Many are poor and poorly educated. Comprehensive data published by the Russell Sage Foundation in 2013 showed that the children of Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese immigrants experienced exceptional upward mobility regardless of their parents socioeconomic or educational background. Take New York Citys selective public high schools like Stuyvesant and Bronx Science, which are major Ivy League feeders. For the 2013 school year, Stuyvesant High School offered admission, based solely on a standardized entrance exam, to nine black students, 24 Hispanics, 177 whites and 620 Asians. Among the Asians of Chinese origin, many are the children of restaurant workers and other working-class immigrants. Merely stating the fact that certain groups do better than others as measured by income, test scores and so on is enough to provoke a firestorm in America today, and even charges of racism. The irony is that the facts actually debunk racial stereotypes. There are some black and Hispanic groups in America that far outperform some white and Asian groups. Immigrants from many West Indian and African countries, such as Jamaica, Ghana, and Haiti, are climbing Americas higher education ladder, but perhaps the most prominent are Nigerians. Nigerians make up less than 1 percent of the black population in the United States, yet in 2013 nearly one-quarter of the black students at Harvard Business School were of Nigerian ancestry; over a fourth of Nigerian-Americans have a graduate or professional degree, as compared with only about 11 percent of whites. Cuban-Americans in Miami rose in one generation from widespread penury to relative affluence. By 1990, United States-born Cuban children whose parents had arrived as exiles, many with practically nothing were twice as likely as non-Hispanic whites to earn over $50,000 a year. All three Hispanic United States senators are Cuban-Americans. Meanwhile, some Asian-American groups Cambodian- and Hmong-Americans, for example are among the poorest in the country, as are some predominantly white communities in central Appalachia. MOST fundamentally, groups rise and fall over time. The fortunes of WASP elites have been declining for decades. In 1960, second-generation Greek-Americans reportedly had the second-highest income of any census-tracked group. Group success in America often tends to dissipate after two generations. Thus while Asian-American kids overall had SAT scores 143 points above average in 2012 including a 63-point edge over whites a 2005 study of over 20,000 adolescents found that third-generation Asian-American
Re: [MBZ] WHAT DRIVES SUCCESS IN AMERICA?
Good article! It was marred only by failing to mention the other selective entry NYC high school: Brooklyn Tech. HS. It's about the CULTURE and FAMILY! Greg Disclaimer: I'm a graduate of Brooklyn Tech. My brother was also a Tech. graduate, and daughter currently teaches math there. -Original Message- From: Mercedes [mailto:mercedes-boun...@okiebenz.com] On Behalf Of arche...@embarqmail.com Sent: Sunday, January 26, 2014 2:10 PM To: Mercedes Discussion List Subject: [MBZ] WHAT DRIVES SUCCESS IN AMERICA? What Drives Success? ___ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
Re: [MBZ] WHAT DRIVES SUCCESS IN AMERICA?
And I from Bronx Science, my older brother from Stuyvesant. Any other ex New Yorkers? On Sun, Jan 26, 2014 at 5:53 PM, Greg Fiorentino gf...@dslnorthwest.netwrote: Good article! It was marred only by failing to mention the other selective entry NYC high school: Brooklyn Tech. HS. It's about the CULTURE and FAMILY! Greg Disclaimer: I'm a graduate of Brooklyn Tech. My brother was also a Tech. graduate, and daughter currently teaches math there. -Original Message- From: Mercedes [mailto:mercedes-boun...@okiebenz.com] On Behalf Of arche...@embarqmail.com Sent: Sunday, January 26, 2014 2:10 PM To: Mercedes Discussion List Subject: [MBZ] WHAT DRIVES SUCCESS IN AMERICA? What Drives Success? ___ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com ___ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
Re: [MBZ] WHAT DRIVES SUCCESS IN AMERICA?
On a similar note, years ago, Ford noticed they were having a lot of trouble with Ranger transmissions going bad. They had 2 plants building what were supposed to be identical assemblies. One in the US, one in Japan. They noticed the units from the US plant seemed to be the ones with the most failures. After much research they found the problem. When an employees in Japan was given a print and a part was supposed to be within a range of say .002-.005 he would strive to get as close to perfect as possible while the US worker would be happy as long as it was within spec. Draw your own conclusions. Mike On Jan 26, 2014 6:01 PM, Andrew Strasfogel astrasfo...@gmail.com wrote: And I from Bronx Science, my older brother from Stuyvesant. Any other ex New Yorkers? On Sun, Jan 26, 2014 at 5:53 PM, Greg Fiorentino gf...@dslnorthwest.net wrote: Good article! It was marred only by failing to mention the other selective entry NYC high school: Brooklyn Tech. HS. It's about the CULTURE and FAMILY! Greg Disclaimer: I'm a graduate of Brooklyn Tech. My brother was also a Tech. graduate, and daughter currently teaches math there. -Original Message- From: Mercedes [mailto:mercedes-boun...@okiebenz.com] On Behalf Of arche...@embarqmail.com Sent: Sunday, January 26, 2014 2:10 PM To: Mercedes Discussion List Subject: [MBZ] WHAT DRIVES SUCCESS IN AMERICA? What Drives Success? ___ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com ___ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com ___ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
