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Culture War Roundup for the week of July 17, 2023

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Would you rather be an average Brazilian or an average American?

Because that seems to most likely outcome for the United States to me. Not hell on earth, just a very unequal and somewhat corrupt country where anyone with money barricades themselves behind fences and guards. Perhaps add in a touch of third world ethnic spoils politics.

Looking at modern large and diverse countries like Brazil, India or South Africa seems more relevant than comparing America to premodern empires.

I've lived in the southwest and as far as I can tell the 90s - early 2000s scaremongering about how mestizos would turn the US into a gang-war ridden nightmare and possibly embark on mass murder of whites has simply failed to materialize. There are counties on the US-Mexican border where hispanics are already a huge majority and they aren't much like Brazil. Brownsville, Texas, the most hispanic city in America, has a homicide rate on par with some of the lily whitest states in New England and the midwest.

I've lived in the southwest and as far as I can tell the 90s - early 2000s scaremongering about how mestizos would turn the US into a gang-war ridden nightmare and possibly embark on mass murder of whites has simply failed to materialize.

Would you be willing to change your mind if presented with evidence of increased cartel presence and criminal activity in the southern border regions?

Sure, the cartels operate along the border. They mostly keep the murder in Mexico, though.

Brownsville, Texas, the most hispanic city in America, has a homicide rate on par with some of the lily whitest states in New England and the midwest.

That's true. In fact, most of the Hispanic areas of Texas and New Mexico have low murder rates by U.S. standards.

Yest, on the other side of the border, the murder rates are incredibly high.

My guess is that state capacity is the difference. Texas is capable of prosecuting murderers and imprisoning them until they are no longer a threat. Mexico is not.

Unfortunately, the current attitude towards crime in many U.S. cities is less than encouraging. If we dropped 10,000 Central Americans men (age 18-25) off in downtown Seattle tomorrow, I can only imagine what would happen to our crime rate.

Unfortunately, the current attitude towards crime in many U.S. cities is less than encouraging.

And Texas notably does not share this attitude towards crime, nor does it allow its cities to engage in that kind of wishful thinking.