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Politics : President Barack Obama -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Vosilla who wrote (100808)	9/5/2011 3:43:32 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 149317

Seattle did a great job. I wonder how much demographics, education, proximity to Asia, even the breathtaking scenery play into it. NYC for example with all the gentrification in and around Manhattan, apparently has 2 million people on welfare You really can't compare Seattle to NYC. NYC stands with a special group of American cities which act as a port of entry for poor immigrants from all over the world. Its NY, LA, Miami......maybe Chicago......that's about it. Yes, immigrants do find their way to other American cities but most immigrants come first through these ports of entry before they make it to cities like Seattle. That makes a significant difference in their acculturation and their impact on demographic statistics. I think a better comparison is to rate Seattle up against cities like Pittsburgh, Boston, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Tampa, Dallas, Houston et al to decide whether its doing a great job or not. If it is doing a better job than those cities, then its because of education and the kind of immigrant groups it attracted in the past.........I am thinking mostly of the Scandinavians.......who truly seem to believe in democracy and equality. But its also something that is endemic to the PNW itself. The Native Americans that populated this region were different from their cousins in the rest of North America. They were known as the Potlatch tribes. They had a tradition called Potlatch which at the end of each year, the more advantaged would invite the less advantaged in the region to participate in a celebration whereby the elites would give away gifts of food and clothing to the poor. The more you gave away the more elevated your status in the region. It was such a foreign tradition that it was banned by both the Canadian and American national gov'ts. Missionaries reported that it went against the belief system of 'civilized' people and certainly was an affront to capitalism. Nonetheless, the tradition of the Potlatch is taught in our schools and has a special place in PNW history. And while I may be romanticizing the whole thing, I think the values behind the Potlatch remain in the region.