2- Anstey 
on Aug. 6 2007
Alcuin of York:
I've definitely heard the analogy before. I'm not sure how well it will hold up over time, but there is certainly a case to be made that that is a part, if not all, of it.
For me, the breakdown is the idea of celebrating differences over sameness. It is far more constructive to society to accept difference and celebrate sameness than the alternative.
As we go now, we lose track of the common interests so completely that we end up with virtual civil war. That can't be good.
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- stephan
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1- Alcuin of York
on Aug. 6 2007
Two points: First, I suspect that in most such cases, there are a lot more facts in the case that, if revealed, would probably shift the discussion. The references to rent is just one hint of this.
Second, I think this exemplifies the larger problem, which is the decline of the American empire and culture. Our decline parallels that of the Roman Empire. At its height, Tacitus decried the creeping influences of outside cultures, and the corruption of the leadership. The roads Rome built to carry their culture and armies outward, also carried other people's languages, religions, and cultural beliefs into the empire. The need to secure our borders is not so much an effort to keep any race out (I feel the same way about the 10K Irish who are said to be on the eastern seaboard) but to get control of the flow of immigration, and also to begin exercising something we've lost in the last 7 decades: Competence. Without regaining competence, America will fade as the preeminent power.
Don't believe it? You will in another decade.
Nice subject to bring up, Stephan.
Alcuin