What ever happened to the melting pot?

Ok...Before I get cries of liberal propaganda, let me first state that I am someone who believe that America should have an official language: English. Most countries have an official spoken language, and to this day I do not understand why America does not.

Now on to my rant. Today I had the great pleasure of listening to a man rant about how America was falling into the shitter because of all these new immigrants (Indians, Mexicans, etc.) and how they were disrupting the society that we had with their new cultures. He then when on about how the left wants us to abandon our good old American values and make the cultural switch. Now, the problem is, this isn't an isolated incident. Americans today fear that we are going to lose what our country is with the influx of Spanish speaking individuals from South of the Border (for the sake of this argument, I am only going to address those who legally enter. Illegal immigration is a whole other issue). Their are two things I would like to address:

1. Our culture arises from a mixing of previous immigrant groups. America today looks nothing like America from 100 years ago, never mind 10.

2. This Nativist reaction isn't new either and has been a part of our culture since the nation was founded

Addressing 1, we have always been a country comprised of amalgamations of different nationalities. Now, I could understand some outburst at the president's statement that maybe instead of complaining about the Mexican kid in your classroom, your kid should be more worried about your kid learning Spanish (In fact, it annoyed me. Spanish is the one subject I have never done well in.) I feel that it may be pushing it to far to say that we should worry about adopting parts of the culture. But at the same time, it doesn't mean that:

A. There is nothing to gain from their culture

B. Learning a language spoken by approximately a third of our nation is a bad idea

I mean, lets look back at other immigrant groups for point A. We would not have a great deal of our modern culture if we had completely ignored incoming cultures. For example, Cold Beer and Franks can be ascribed to our German compatriots (we would have warm lager otherwise), and you can't get more good old American than that plus a game of baseball. Other things we take for granted stem from other immigrant groups . So condemning are absorbtion of other cultures would mean we have to forsake much of what

As for point B, a lot of people do speak Spanish, so learning it is not a bad idea. I am not saying though that they should not also learn English or given leeway. But the fact is, most first generation immigrants do not learn the language well, regardless of what group they are from. Many Italian immigrants in the the early 19th century learned only enough english to get by. It usually is only the second or third generation that fully adopts English as their primary language as they have been exposed to it long enough to be comfortable with it. Given time, we will likely see English beginning to become more common place in the Hispanic Communities.

Now as to problem 2, the nativist aspect isn't new either. For example, the Irish were hated on for a long period of time because they were Catholics. Most Mediteranean (Greeks and Italians) faced a great deal of dislike because they were of darker complexion and were less likely to speak English off the boat. The Chinese and other Asian cultures were disliked because they were beleived to be inferior humans, and Jews and Eastern Europeans were often viewed with suspicion. All were hated because they took jobs from good, honest "native Americans" (ironic, sicne most actual native Americans were treated as bad or worse then the immigrants at this time period). Though some of those groups still face predjudice from a small portion of the population, they have for the most part been accepted and aspects of their culture somehow fit into the hodgepodge of American culture. And now we have another group of non-white, non-english speakers trying to enter our country and we are faced again with a loud cry of hate. What is both ironic and sad is that it is almost the same outcry, that good, honest "native Americans" are losing out, when many are no more than third generation Americans themselves. America was built off of immigrants, and to now say that we no longer want to be such a nation is unfair, especially when you consider how much we like to promote that America is the nation that does not judge and where any man can rise from nothing.

Honestly, we should take it as a compliment that people are still fighting to get into our country.

Exiting the Victorian Era: Dealing with Teen Pregnancies

Okay, so I know this is a little after the fact (the study has been out for a while) but I saw a news clip this morning that reminded me of it. At the end of 2006, teenage pregnancies have actually gone up. Now, this comes after 15 years of decrease, and it it implies a reversal of the trend for at least the next couple years. Though Obama reversed the ruling that stated that those who taught safe sex would not receive federal funding, this does not mean that we are going to see hundreds of schools switching over. Many districts choose to pursue abstinence even though their is strong evidence that it does not work, and even common sense should tell us that it does not work (as a teenager, when someone told you not to do something, did you listen?). The areas that promote abstinence only programs also have the highest rate of teenage pregnancies, with the South and Southeast both having the highest number of abstinence only programs and also the highest number of teen pregnancies. High poverty areas also have these issues, such as District of Columbia (outside the main part of DC) and parts of California (The heavily Hispanic, thus Catholic, areas for example) and this goes in line with a poorer education on the subject (low income areas are 7 times more likely to disregard or minimize sexual education).

And why does this happen? Because it is much easier to not talk about something and hope you do not have to deal with it then to outright address the issue, or that we feel that exposing them to the subject will cause them to see it as an endorsement. In a country where information is so readily available (between TV, Libraries, and the Internet) you would hope that people would know more. But to this day, people still have tons of misconceptions about sex, pregnancy and birth control (I actually have heard someone reciting the line "You can't get pregnant on top" from Knocked Up as a fact. She was 16). Parent's will fight to make sure their kids know nothing about the subject, and then let them watch television shows that promote sex without consequence. There is no context for sex, and the consequences are not depicted with any realism. Argueing that teaching about something is endorsing means that we shouldn't teach about the Holocaust because we are then endorsing it. In Europe, where sex is actually addressed and contraception is made available, England has the highest teen pregnancy birth rate, and it is half that of the United States. Most have a fifth or less. They also start later in most nations and are more likely to use both types of contraception (16% is the average in Europe for teenagers using them in conjunction, which is over 5 times higher than the US for similar ages.)

Now, I am Catholic. My church puts a big deal on waiting for marriage, about not using artificial contraception, and about the sanctity of sex. Now do not get me wrong, I am not saying that pursuing these is wrong or that I think teenagers should be having sex. But there is a huge gap between should and reality. You should love your partner, you should be responsible about it, and you should be ready to accept any consequences if you do choose to pursue sex. The problem is that abstinence simply says that you shouldn't have sex (and sometimes includes consequences but usually only as scare tactics), and doesn't address what you should do if you choose to pursue sex. And I will admit, that safe sex programs do not usually address the seriousness of the emotional aspect of sex and can address with no more passion then a biology class. What I would like to see is combining the concept of waiting and treating sex as more than a fun thing to do to be combined with the thought if you do it here is how to avoid/minimize negative consequences and this is what is actually happening. It is how I currently run my talks on our campus (though with my Audience, most either already know it or are too old to care) and it almost always gets a positive response. If this method of teaching could be brought into Middle and High School levels, I am sure that it would improve our standings and bring us more in line with the rest of the First World Nations. If only we as a country will move out of the cloistered and timid approach to sex that has been with us since the Victorian Era can we hope to see any change in the behavior of our teenage populations.

Introduction

So, I finally decided that I needed a place to vent/discuss topics that I have been thinking about or hoping to throw out there for feedback. I am probably going to fall into politics alot, but I will likely cover everything and anything that I find myself thinking about. I strongly invite feedback and commentary, and if you have a topic of interest, I will be happy to discuss it. I likely won't get into the full swing of things until I am back at school, but I will try and get some posts going before I get back.