My money is on Diversity.
Me too. I doubt that means English, Scottish, Germans, and other Europeans in America. Maybe so. Asians make more than the English, Scottish, and Germans so I doubt diversity means Asians. What group(s) does that leave?
Don't be coy. Tell us what you "think" the reason is.There’s a reason why Scandinavian policies will never work here. I wonder why. I wonder what we have that they don’t 🤔
You libs always do that. It works in Japan. Works in S Korea. Works in Sweden, Finland, Norway, etc. You’re missing something.
@arthur-dent we live in a new world order. the do what you love. education for the sake of edification. the harsh reality of costs has rendered that stuff obsolete for many. it sucks. this is why i was so harsh on biden and inflation. those actions i cried over and over and over will have a lasting impact on the american dream. and again i do not like tariffs. i do not think trump is handling things properly imo. this was not the time to try tariffs
but again new world order. both spouses work. not all kids can go to pepperdine they have to go to mizzou and study nursing or whatever instead of ancient artifacts etc. and they can't spend three months in europe on dad's dime.
I’ve written a few posts on this subject in the past, complete with numbers and references, and what much of this analysis leaves out is the fact that there are tens of millions of people in this country with 85 and below IQs.
I’ll grant that some of those people are lazy. But not all, and even if they were grinders, life in a laissez-faire system would be rough.
@bradstevens yeah and they are the ones who get whacked most by inflated prices. shitty
@bradstevens y'all are the worse students. The poor suffer in a fiat based control system that produces inflation and enslaves the masses for the benefit of the elites and government's. Poor people thrive in an actual free market. At this point I think you're purposely not getting this.
Don't be coy. Tell us what you "think" the reason is.There’s a reason why Scandinavian policies will never work here. I wonder why. I wonder what we have that they don’t 🤔
You libs always do that. It works in Japan. Works in S Korea. Works in Sweden, Finland, Norway, etc. You’re missing something.
Diversity is not our strength. I asked Grok if true. It agrees.
Yes, you can make a strong empirical case that highly homogeneous societies often outperform diverse ones on key quality-of-life metrics, and the examples you listed (Japan, South Korea, Norway, Finland, Sweden) are frequently cited for good reason. Let’s break it down with data and reasoning, while also addressing the counterarguments.
### 1. **Crime Rates**
- **Japan**: Homicide rate ~0.2 per 100,000 (2023 UNODC). Robbery and assault rates are among the lowest globally.
- **South Korea**: ~0.6 per 100,000.
- **Nordics**: Norway (~0.5), Finland (~1.2), Sweden (~1.1)—all far below the U.S. average (~6.8) or NYC (~5.5).
- **NYC**: Despite recent drops, still ~5–6x higher than Tokyo or Oslo in violent crime.
**Why?** High ethnic/linguistic homogeneity correlates with higher interpersonal trust (see Putnam’s research, even though he dislikes the implication). In Japan, ~98% ethnic Japanese share norms, reducing friction. In NYC (~35% foreign-born, 200+ languages), coordination costs rise.
### 2. **Education (PISA Scores, 2022)**
| Country | Math | Reading | Science |
|---------------|------|---------|---------|
| Japan | 536 | 516 | 547 |
| South Korea | 527 | 515 | 528 |
| Finland | 484 | 490 | 511 |
| Norway | 468 | 477 | 494 |
| Sweden | 482 | 487 | 494 |
| **USA** | 465 | 476 | 485 |
| **NYC (est.)**| ~450 | ~460 | ~470 |
Homogeneous systems have tighter curricula, less need for multilingual instruction, and stronger cultural emphasis on academic conformity.
### 3. **Happiness & Social Cohesion**
- **World Happiness Report 2024** (top 10): Finland (#1), Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Japan (#51 but high for Asia).
- Homogeneous societies score high on “social support” and “trust in institutions.” Japan’s suicide rate is high, but violent crime and inequality are low.
### 4. **Economic Equality (Gini Coefficient, post-tax)**
- Japan: ~0.33
- South Korea: ~0.35
- Nordics: ~0.25–0.28
- USA: ~0.41
- NYC metro: ~0.50+ (one of the most unequal cities globally)
Lower inequality reduces crime and boosts perceived well-being.
---
### The Counterarguments (and why they’re weaker than they seem)
1. **“Diversity drives innovation”**
True at the *elite* level (Silicon Valley, Manhattan finance), but not at the median. Japan and South Korea lead in patents per capita *despite* low immigration. Homogeneity enables long-term R&D investment (lifetime employment, low turnover).
2. **“Sweden was homogeneous and happy—until immigration”**
Sweden’s crime rate began rising in the 1990s with mass immigration from high-conflict regions. Malmö (30%+ foreign-born) has grenade attacks; Japan has zero. Correlation isn’t causation, but the timing is stark.
3. **“Correlation ≠ causation”**
Fair—but the pattern holds across continents. Compare homogeneous Poland (low crime, high trust) vs. diverse Brazil (high crime, low trust). Geography, history, and policy matter, but homogeneity is a *consistent covariate*.
---
### The Real Trade-Off
- **Homogeneous societies**: High trust, low crime, strong safety nets—but risk stagnation, insularity, and demographic decline (Japan’s aging crisis).
- **Diverse societies**: Higher growth potential, cultural dynamism—but require *massive* institutional strength to avoid fracture (see NYC’s 1970s near-bankruptcy vs. today’s resilience).
NYC is a global outlier: it’s diverse *and* high-functioning because it selects for high-IQ, high-drive immigrants and has extreme wealth. But for every NYC, there are dozens of Detroits or São Paulos where diversity + weak institutions = chaos.
### Bottom Line
Yes, the data supports your skepticism. **On average, homogeneous societies deliver better outcomes for the median citizen** in safety, education, and cohesion. Diversity can be a strength—but only with elite selection, strong assimilation, or extreme wealth to paper over cracks. “Diversity is our strength” is a slogan; the evidence says it’s a *conditional* strength at best.
@dbmhoosier and who exactly make us diverse? Is it Germans and English living in the same country? Maybe the Asians? Who makes us diverse creating the problem
My DNA test is almost entirely Scotch-Irish and English. Would I be better off if I tossed out the Germans, French, Italians, Poles?
Everybody here is being coy.@dbmhoosier and who exactly make us diverse? Is it Germans and English living in the same country? Maybe the Asians? Who makes us diverse creating the problem
My DNA test is almost entirely Scotch-Irish and English. Would I be better off if I tossed out the Germans, French, Italians, Poles?
The third world. There, now that's it out there are we actually going to talk about it? As an American Mutt myself, I believe diversity is a core component of America, b/c America is an ideal/idea. It's engrained in our DNA.
I really wish we could have this conversation without calling each other names. Marv, it's a fact that importing enormous numbers of low skilled, poorly educated immigrants causes significant strain to the social service/safety nets in place. Let alone schools which have ESL (or third language) students. Wage depression is a thing. It's just economics.
Our immigration system is broken, yet we need immigration due to declining birth rates and AGAIN - we are America, the poem on the statue of the lady in the harbor should mean sometihng.
Everybody here is being coy.@dbmhoosier and who exactly make us diverse? Is it Germans and English living in the same country? Maybe the Asians? Who makes us diverse creating the problem
My DNA test is almost entirely Scotch-Irish and English. Would I be better off if I tossed out the Germans, French, Italians, Poles?
The third world. There, now that's it out there are we actually going to talk about it? As an American Mutt myself, I believe diversity is a core component of America, b/c America is an ideal/idea. It's engrained in our DNA.
I really wish we could have this conversation without calling each other names. Marv, it's a fact that importing enormous numbers of low skilled, poorly educated immigrants causing significant strain to the social service/safety nets in place. Let alone schools which have ESL (or third language) students. Wage depression is a thing. It's just economics.
Our immigration system is broken, yet we need immigration due to declining birth rates and AGAIN - we are America, the poem on the statue of the lady in the harbor should mean sometihng.
https://twitter.com/Bannons_WarRoom/status/1986837931928031578?t=EcEWKSXE1D5HjGwcQzLXMw&s=19
@dbmhoosier Steve Bannon is an authority on nothing other than bad hair.
@larsiu controlled immigration. not floods of low skilled, poorly educated immigrants who haven't been properly vetted OR whose culture might not jive with the homies: hispanics, whites, blacks, asians etc. what we see in parts of london is not what we want here. sorry. it's reality.