Blog #3

Over the past ten to fifteen the US has had an evolving atmosphere to the inclusion of non-English speakers.  I remember often non-English were greeted with forcefully in an attempt to deride their willingness to come to the States.  The general consensus was if you wanted to come to the US, one should first learn English.  However as time progressed and the demographic changed, the prevailing attitude had become more welcoming.  Some may say for more political reasons than for genuine acceptance.   There are signs, labels, company standards of procedure written in Spanish.  Being able to speak Spanish can be the difference in whether a candidate is hired at all.  I believe Anderson would agree due to the changing demographic of Latinos in the US.   At one time, Latinos were greeted with intense fear. 
 Their importance has now been an indisputable fact that comes with many political consequences.  It was often said during  the last presidential election that the republicans would never win again without being more inclusive.  Becoming more flexible on issues like immigration could greatly affect how our leaders are chosen.  Anderson speaks about the idea of imagined communities and these changes in the US almost mirrors the demise of one community (all white majority) to the growing reality of a majority minority amidst the graying of America.   Anderson said due to the printed word there was a shift in how people viewed their world.  It added the dissemination and flow of info across all boundaries in time.  Thomas Paine wrote Common Sense that was able to inspire a nation to revolution.  In our own time the internet has had the same effect on our population.  The internet can be seen as this intense paradigm that can expand the world of billions of people simultaneously.  It can provide insurmountable amounts of knowledge and yet there a people without access.  There are still people who are illiterate. Are people too concerned with with their own success to worry about others?  I have certainly been guilty of this in my own life.  I also think it is safe to say the rioters in ‘92 were guilty of this as well.