Burdens of Freedom

<p>Today I’m posting something a little different than normal. This is a conversation with <strong>NYU political scientist Larry Mead</strong>. It’s part of his series “Culture and Poverty,” and he’s generously allowed me to repost it here at The Glenn Show. We discuss some ideas from Larry’s book, <a href="https://amazon.com/Burdens-Freedom-Cultural-Difference-American/dp/1641770406" target="_blank"><em>Burdens of Freedom: Cultural Difference and American Power</em></a>. Larry argues, among other things, that one of the major distinctions between “Western” and “non-Western” cultures is <strong>the role of individualism</strong>. Larry sees Western culture—as exemplified by the US—as predominately individualist in its orientation. When immigrants from non-Western cultures <strong>struggle to assimilate</strong>, he argues, it’s often because they have problems adjusting to this individualist orientation.</p><p>There are certainly merits to this argument. But in this discussion, I push back on Larry’s description of African American culture as <strong>basically non-Western</strong>. This, it seems to me, ignores a number of important facts about African American social and political history after the Civil War. It’s a lively back and forth, and I’m curious what you think. </p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3peLjjQBsHE&#38;t=0s" target="_blank">0:00</a> Intro </p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3peLjjQBsHE&#38;t=124s" target="_blank">2:04</a> Larry's view of Western and non-Western culture </p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3peLjjQBsHE&#38;t=332s" target="_blank">5:32</a> Is African American culture "non-Western"? </p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3peLjjQBsHE&#38;t=897s" target="_blank">14:57</a> Larry: "Freedom is a threat" to Black and Latino families </p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3peLjjQBsHE&#38;t=1448s" target="_blank">24:08</a> African American individualism after emancipation </p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3peLjjQBsHE&#38;t=2160s" target="_blank">36:00 </a>The "paradox" of Asian academic success </p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3peLjjQBsHE&#38;t=2906s" target="_blank">48:26</a> What are the origins of European political development? </p> <br /><br />This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://glennloury.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_2">glennloury.substack.com/subscribe</a>