"The greatest Hell is remembering happier times"
--Mephistopheles, Dr. Faustus
One of the most memorable scenes of any movie was from "Do The Right Thing" by Spike Lee, in which two old Black men sit on a street corner, looking across the street at the Korean owner of a market/ bodega. One says to the other, "Look at that guy. Been here in this country, maybe 10 years, max. And look at him. Owns that store. Doing fine."
"And look at us," says the other.
"Yes, look at us. Been here our whole lives and what we got? Nothing."
"So," says his friend, without rancor, in genuine perplexity, "What's wrong with us?"
Today, I'm looking around a convention of doctors. I've spent the morning talking to young doctors, just finishing their training, as they stand in front of posters describing a patient or a research project which was deemed worthy of presentation at the convention's meeting. Eighty, maybe ninety percent are foreign born or first generation, from South Asia, East Asia, some from Europe and most will shortly be going out into the country to join practices where they will frequently be treating white males in red counties in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, Trump country. More than half are women.
They will be driving to work in their BMW's and living in large homes, because they have significant earning power, practicing in a specialty, endocrinology, which includes diabetes and thyroid disease. There is a terrific market for them.
Well, they will be taking those positions if Mr. Trump does not deport them. But assuming they are allowed to stay, they will be the doctors for his most ardent supporters.
And these white males--why are they not the doctors of tomorrow? They are not doctors because they come from families who do not produce college graduates, much less doctors. Like their parents and uncles and cousins, their lives consisted of going to high school, and if they were lucky their lives peaked right there. They were football stars or basketball heroes and then they graduated and went to work at the factory. But now the factories are closed.
They live within 10 miles where they grew up because they cannot sell their skills, such as they have skills anywhere farther away. So they depend on work their families or friends can provide, but they cannot compete in the wider world, much less in the global economy.
As J.D. Vance demonstrates in Hillbilly Elegy, these people are ignorant and their ignorance makes them afraid and when you are afraid, you cannot learn. Anxiety blocks learning.
But the thirty somethings who surround me today do not fit that profile. They are educated, confident, optimistic and smiling. They tried hard and worked harder than their peers from grade school on and now they are poised to enter the world. And the white males looking at them are not asking the questions posed by Spike Lee's characters. They are looking for answers and the answers provided.Mr. Trump and his friends are: You were cheated. That's why you are losers.
It's not your fault.
For Mr. Trump rumor is fact; opinion is evidence and truth is what you can get away with.
For the men who are receiving this message the truth is opaque to them. They never knew a family with a tiger Mom who insisted they do their homework, study hard, show up on time at school and not miss class. They simply don't know what hit them.
So they are open to suggestion.
--Mephistopheles, Dr. Faustus
One of the most memorable scenes of any movie was from "Do The Right Thing" by Spike Lee, in which two old Black men sit on a street corner, looking across the street at the Korean owner of a market/ bodega. One says to the other, "Look at that guy. Been here in this country, maybe 10 years, max. And look at him. Owns that store. Doing fine."
"And look at us," says the other.
"Yes, look at us. Been here our whole lives and what we got? Nothing."
"So," says his friend, without rancor, in genuine perplexity, "What's wrong with us?"
Today, I'm looking around a convention of doctors. I've spent the morning talking to young doctors, just finishing their training, as they stand in front of posters describing a patient or a research project which was deemed worthy of presentation at the convention's meeting. Eighty, maybe ninety percent are foreign born or first generation, from South Asia, East Asia, some from Europe and most will shortly be going out into the country to join practices where they will frequently be treating white males in red counties in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, Trump country. More than half are women.
They will be driving to work in their BMW's and living in large homes, because they have significant earning power, practicing in a specialty, endocrinology, which includes diabetes and thyroid disease. There is a terrific market for them.
Well, they will be taking those positions if Mr. Trump does not deport them. But assuming they are allowed to stay, they will be the doctors for his most ardent supporters.
And these white males--why are they not the doctors of tomorrow? They are not doctors because they come from families who do not produce college graduates, much less doctors. Like their parents and uncles and cousins, their lives consisted of going to high school, and if they were lucky their lives peaked right there. They were football stars or basketball heroes and then they graduated and went to work at the factory. But now the factories are closed.
They live within 10 miles where they grew up because they cannot sell their skills, such as they have skills anywhere farther away. So they depend on work their families or friends can provide, but they cannot compete in the wider world, much less in the global economy.
As J.D. Vance demonstrates in Hillbilly Elegy, these people are ignorant and their ignorance makes them afraid and when you are afraid, you cannot learn. Anxiety blocks learning.
But the thirty somethings who surround me today do not fit that profile. They are educated, confident, optimistic and smiling. They tried hard and worked harder than their peers from grade school on and now they are poised to enter the world. And the white males looking at them are not asking the questions posed by Spike Lee's characters. They are looking for answers and the answers provided.Mr. Trump and his friends are: You were cheated. That's why you are losers.
It's not your fault.
For Mr. Trump rumor is fact; opinion is evidence and truth is what you can get away with.
For the men who are receiving this message the truth is opaque to them. They never knew a family with a tiger Mom who insisted they do their homework, study hard, show up on time at school and not miss class. They simply don't know what hit them.
So they are open to suggestion.
No comments:
Post a Comment