{"id":56168,"date":"2014-08-04T06:24:07","date_gmt":"2014-08-04T14:24:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=56168"},"modified":"2014-08-04T06:25:55","modified_gmt":"2014-08-04T14:25:55","slug":"will-los-angelenos-trust-government-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=56168","title":{"rendered":"Will Los Angelenos Trust Government Again?"},"content":{"rendered":"

From Los Angeles Magazine<\/a>: “Garcetti believes that such criticisms miss the whole point of what he is doing. Far from playing \u201csmall ball,\u201d as his critics assert, he believes he is engaged in the most wide-ranging and important of all enterprises. He says that by demonstrating that city government can handle its primary responsibilities effectively, he will be able to convince one of America\u2019s most skeptical constituencies to trust government again.”<\/p>\n

No, Los Angelenos will never trust government as long as they are so racially diverse. LA is the most racially diverse big city in America and hence has the least trust. A major reason America has a comparatively small welfare state is that the country is so diverse and people don’t want to vote for benefits for other races. <\/p>\n

Jason Richwine writes about the conclusions of Robert Putnam<\/a>: So how did Putnam come to conclude that ethnic diversity is so problematic? The answer begins with the notion of \u201csocial capital,\u201d which Putnam defines in simple terms\u2014\u201csocial networks and the associated norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness.\u201d Social capital turns out to be an exceptionally valuable commodity. Building complex networks of friends and associates, trusting others to keep their word, and maintaining social norms and expectations all grease the wheels of business by enabling cooperation.<\/p>\n

But the value of social capital goes well beyond economics. Many of the activities from which people draw the most deep and lasting satisfactions are stronger and more prevalent in areas with high social capital. People living in these places tend to have more friends, care more about their community, and participate more in civic causes. Where social capital is greater, Putnam says, \u201cchildren grow up healthier, safer, and better educated; people live longer, happier lives; and democracy and the economy work better.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Bowling Alone, Putnam\u2019s next step was to determine why some communities have more social capital than others. To find out, he helped organize a large nationwide survey of social capital indicators that sampled about 30,000 people from a broad array of cities, towns, and rural areas. By collecting demographic information about the individuals and the places they lived, Putnam hoped to gain insight into what makes for a trusting and neighborly community.<\/p>\n

When he spoke to my class in 2004, Putnam had started to analyze the survey data, but he had not yet published any findings. He began by telling us about one result he encountered that was thoroughly upsetting to him\u2014the more ethnically diverse a community is, the less social capital it possesses. When a person lives in a diverse community, he trusts everyone less, including those of his own ethnic group. In describing the behavior of people in diverse areas, Putnam told us to imagine turtles hiding in their shells.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From Los Angeles Magazine: “Garcetti believes that such criticisms miss the whole point of what he is doing. Far from playing \u201csmall ball,\u201d as his critics assert, he believes he is engaged in the most wide-ranging and important of all … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-los-angeles"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t