Social mobility dumbs down the lower classes...........

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....... Because the best and brightest just pull themselves out of dysfunctional environments and leave.

In more rigidly stratified societies in the past, the best and brightest of the poor could never elevate themselves from their lowly stations due to their inferior pedigree. So naturally their talents were turned towards mobilizing and organizing the downtrodden into insurrection. Thus the poor were able to retain some intelligent people who never advanced within society, and these repressed potential-bourgeois became the face and voice of social upheaval.

These days, people who are intelligent enough to pull themselves out of dysfunctional and violent communities just move to the suburbs and decent areas to become part of the middle class. The ghettos only retain the leftovers.

Mabye Affirmative Action is even a reverse-psychology ploy by conservatives to bring and recruit "the best and brightest" over to the Buppie ranks so that the inner-cities never have any intelligent leadership actually capable of posing a serious challenge?

The cream of the poor just bring themselves up and leave the disadvantaged areas brain-drained of a reservoir of talent to actually fix things.

The Bell Curve?

yes I agree but isnt that the whole point of America or any democratic capitalistic nation? Even if you don't live in a democratic/capitalist country the subconcious effect of "moving up" is pretty much ingrained into many ppls psyches because of the USA and other leading countries...If you have the ability, the heart and the willpower you should and will move yourself up in society. Nobody said your responsibility was to your social class, its a great idea to bring the poor up but ultimately I think most poor people who are intelligent would rather use their brainpower to strike rich or at least make a decent living for themselves and their families.

Active involvement in the ghettos and less affluent areas by people already in the so called 'higher classes' is what will bring the overall level up...that and better environments for kids to grow up in (food on tables, decent public education, available minimum wage jobs, ). People in the ghettos cant advance because of things not in their control + the upbringing of their parents and grandparents before them. they were not given a good education, they are surroudned by people society deems as delinquents and parasites (but those ppl only do what they do to survive) its just a vicious cycle that the upper classes perpetuates by hoarding the wealth and only letting a trickle of it down to the poorer. Entrepuneurship is a great way to dig the less fortunate upwards but it is not at a level where it is making a noticeable difference on the large scale yet.


but hey I would say as a whole the USAs better off than MOST other countries taking into consideration we have 330,000,000 citizens + illegal aliens. If you look at the most developed countries (Japan, Germany, Netherlands, the UK, Sweden and the like) they all have relatively small populations compared to the USAs massive citizenship. its much easier to provide jobs and more equal distribution to 60 million people as opposed to 330 million, especially when the latter includes recent immigrants with little capital to being with. its hard to move up if you dont even have a home, a car, an education or have a in on the language and culture either.

I firmly believe that what you are speaking of is a regrettable by-product of capitalism and the American Dream. For every person who is successful there HAS to be a few others who are not. its a balance of success (if you define sucess by financial advancement)

On the one hand, there's something about this argument that seems nastily elitist. On the other hand, you have a point. I'll have to think about this one.

I don't really think it is a bad thing. It was just something I was thinking about and scribed down.

I assume we are talking about "minorities" here.

Let's say you are white and grew up in some "white trash" trailer park full of drunken violent loser rednecks.

What makes you think you have to "save" them or "fight for their rights"?

Get an education. Get the hell out of there and never look back.

^ Anyone can "become a disadvantaged minority" with a modicum of searching and justification.

I am an oppressed Left-hander living in a society that caters to Right-handers. Damn using those awful Right-handed scissors. Damn smudging my pages as I drag my left hand across the ink on the paper. I demand more accommodations ! !! I want a to go to college totally on the government dole to an all-left handed institution with school-supplies totally designated for lefties. Its my perrogative. I have to learn how to write Right to left in order to even function in this oppressive backwards society.

Normal people "look at me funny" when I accidently hold my left hand out to shake. This makes me feel uncomfortable. Visible bigotry.

edit

its the usage of "inferior pedigree" implying interbreeding between inter city folk. thats bull because like JnathanK said, behavior is learned and ingrained into culture. Just look at rednecks/white trashy people- they are white just like any successful white corporate CEO and might have the same genetic 'pedigree"...but they are where they are most likely because its how their parents and grandparents before them were....its self perpetuating. its got nothing to do with ancestry, just upbringing. the ones with willpower and desire dig themselves out of the pit, some try but fall back in...and some dont even try cuz their families have been in the bottom for generations and they see it as ok.

Your theory assumes that all intelligent people desire to ascend from the 'lower' classes. It also assumes that an intelligent person has access to an education.(or knowledge that education is even an option) An intelligent person is nothing without having learned something and in our society the amount of information needed is higher than it is elsewhere. Otherwise its pretty sound.