CliffsNotes of the Zeitgeist, 132nd Edition. Voting with their feet

For the first time in US history, more Americans are moving to Europe than the other way around.

Indeed, European immigration to the US is at historic lows.  US emigration is at historic highs.

Why?

Simple, the US has become a dumpster fire.  It's no longer really a democracy but a semi democracy presently ruled by an insane (if we don't assume worst) megalomaniac who is destroying the economy.  We look like uneducated morons, which a lot of us actually seem to be.  There are absolutely no positive indicators which the US tops the charts at.  We are the 23d happiest country on the planet.  Finland, Iceland, and Denmark are the first three.  We cling to obsolete signs of greatness, such as refusing to have a national health care system and having a tax system that grossly under taxes Americans and funds a government that benefits us little, while people like Reid Rasner campaign for even lower taxes.  We've gone from being a country that had nearly no military to having one that has a bloated military that serves an insane President.

What's not to love?

Well, there is the country, but that involves being realistic, which will get you accused of being a left winger (which should not in and of itself be regarded as an insult) by insufferable twat waffles like Chuck Gray.

We are really due for an overhaul.

Ironically, the orange buffoon destroying the White House probably helps show us the way on this.  He's shown us where we have massive institutional defects.  And he's taken us off the global map as a great power and made us a second rate one.  Part of our descent into ignorance was a legacy of what was then a noble Cold War response to things, including a big military and governments that meddled bigly.  

Now we are going to have to dance to the tune of others, but the good thing is that the others are adults.

To progress at all, which doesn't mean a return to high immigration or anything of that sort, we're really going to have to get back into education, which people like the Wyoming Freedom Caucus and other right wing zealots hate.  Better to be dumb is their default position.

Better to be smart, and educated, and face our problems honestly.

And the sooner the better.

Last edition:

CliffsNotes of the Zeitgeist, 131st Edition. Ballroom Blitz

Labels: 2020s, 2025 White House Vandalization, 2026, Donald Trump, Epstein Scandal, The Second Trump Administration, White House Correspondence Dinner Assassination Attempt 2020s, Zeitgeist

Thursday, March 24, 1825. State Colonization Law of March 24, 1825.

The Mexican legislature passed the State Colonization Law of March 24, 1825, allowing immigrants to take up agricultural lands in Texas for a nominal fee, provided that they took oath promising to abide by the federal and state constitutions, to worshiped according to the Catholic faith, and to display sound moral principles and good conduct. 

Immigrants arrived, but they were largely Protestant (Southern) Americans, violated Mexican slavery laws, and demonstrated very little loyalty to Mexico.

Perhaps they should be deported.

There are a lot of lessons in this story.

Last edition:

Saturday, March 19, 1825. Fort Vancouver opens.

Labels: 1820s, 1825, Hudson's Bay Company, The Frontier West, Washington

Cliffnotes of the Zeitgeist, 65th Edition. Toilet Paper Day, Swedish immigration and emigration, Wyoming trending on Twitter.

1.  Today's day:

August 26th – National Toilet Paper Day

2.  For the first time in fifty years, more people are leaving Sweden than entering it.  

3.  Wyoming was trending this morning on Twitter for no apparent reason.  Well, two reasons.  One was the recent grass fires, which seem to be getting a lot of attention, and the other were complaints about the electoral college.

Last edition:

Cliffnotes of the Zeitgeist, 64th Edition. Things authentic and important.

Labels: Apostolic Christianity, Authenticity, Christianity, Clothing, Conservatism, Eastern Rite Catholic, Ethnicities, Music, Pop Music, Punk Music, religion, Roman Catholic, trends, Women, Zeitgeist

Thursday, May 10, 1923. The Chicago Tribune notes The Great Migration.

The epic mass exodus of African Americans from the South had been on for a decade, and it was on in such numbers now that it could not be ignored.

Up until 1910, 90% of the black population of the United States lived in the South, a legacy of slavery.  Starting in the 1910s, after twenty years of the restoration of die hard segregation following the collapse of Reconstruction, followed by the rise of Southern racism in the form of The Lost Cause myth, and aided by improved transportation, they began to leave for Northern cities.  European immigration collapsed during World War One, and employment opportunities increased, boosting the departure rate.

The massive social trend continued up into the early 1970s, by which time it had transformed the ethnic map of the country.