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The US is alienated from widespread fear of crime, immigration (aka the actual sociological results of Robert Putnam, rather than the yammerings of some Buzzfee

The US is alienated from widespread fear of crime, immigration (aka the actual sociological results of Robert Putnam, rather than the yammerings of some Buzzfeed wanker), poisonous oligarch funded divisive politics, and the general disintegration of anything resembling a family life or social fabric in US society. There are various obvious ways of decreasing social alienation in US society; the problem with that is, most people aren't going to like it. The opposite of alienation and social atomization is basically conformity and homogeneity, and that's bad for business; and especially bad for the oligarch types who engender this kind of alienation. You can replace US with Western Society, because everything you described I can find analogs too in the UK/Europe. Fear of immigrants - check, fear of crime from immigrants - check, oligarch funded politics - check (Brexit). Maybeeee, there is a touch of truth to the family part with the US's high incarceration rate for African-Americans that could impact families in ways that Europe doesn't have; but wage stagnation also means young adults aren't leaving the home as early as previously so there's that. I just don't think what you laid out is unique to the US.

bilbo0s 7y ago
>there is a touch of truth to the family part with the US's high incarceration rate for African-Americans that could impact families in ways that Europe doesn't have Black americans are a minority though. So if they are, say 20% (which I don't think they are even that), what explains the alienation in the other 80%?
- jbigelow76 7y ago
  I'm not saying overall alienation isn't a fact. But the GP laid out a list of reasons why it was problematic in the US and my point was those reasons a) mostly aren't unique to the US and b) probably not as big a contributor to alienation as they think. The mentioning of the high incarceration rate was to address their specific reason that the US is somehow unique in no longer having cohesive family units.
papreclip 7y ago
I think you're not parsing his sentence the way he intended it to be read "alienated due to fear of immigration" vs "alienated due to immigration". Of course, the EU also have their own share of immigration, at least in the past few years. But even with a whopping 15% of their residents being foreign-born, often the remaining 85% look the same, sound the same, are members or atheist ex-members of the same church, etc

bilbo0s 7y ago

>there is a touch of truth to the family part with the US's high incarceration rate for African-Americans that could impact families in ways that Europe doesn't have Black americans are a minority though. So if they are, say 20% (which I don't think they are even that), what explains the alienation in the other 80%?

jbigelow76 7y ago
I'm not saying overall alienation isn't a fact. But the GP laid out a list of reasons why it was problematic in the US and my point was those reasons a) mostly aren't unique to the US and b) probably not as big a contributor to alienation as they think. The mentioning of the high incarceration rate was to address their specific reason that the US is somehow unique in no longer having cohesive family units.

papreclip 7y ago

I think you're not parsing his sentence the way he intended it to be read "alienated due to fear of immigration" vs "alienated due to immigration". Of course, the EU also have their own share of immigration, at least in the past few years. But even with a whopping 15% of their residents being foreign-born, often the remaining 85% look the same, sound the same, are members or atheist ex-members of the same church, etc