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>>>I'm never sure which ancestors I'm supposed to research :o) Do I consider the American Indians? Or the Norwegians? Or the Germans? Or the English? I can go back the furthest on my father's side (Norwegians), but even two generations ago the people were harsh (as a grandchild I considered them mean) and lived hard lives. The Germans, well, I won't go there :o) The English? My English ancestors don't have a lot to be proud of either. However, the Anishinaabe's have the most interesting stories, were the most snobbish actually (everyone except my great grandmother stayed within the tribe) - and they insist they are the first people so there ya go :o) My daughter has to consider the Scots as well...
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>>>I love the comment that "people are the same everywhere." I've been to a LOT of places and it just hasn't been my experience in every case....
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>>I don't find people even vaguely similar, a lot of times. <s>
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>>I remember when I first discovered one strain of my ancestors had been in this country for almost 300 years and the great sense of pride a superiority that gave me. It was only when I factored in the singular lack of accomplishment in those three centuries that I got some perspective. You would have thought that somebody would have had the sense to buy an acre of farmland in lower Manhatten Island in the 18th century and just be smart enough not to be swindled out of it, go to Harvard College when you could still get in, or at least go to California and buy a cheap orange grove.
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>>A good friend came of a family of Polish Jews who arrived when my grandfather was in his thirties, ignorant of English and with no more skills than what it took to push a cart. They currently own at least an acre of Lower Manhatten ( and Long Island and Westchester county and ... )
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>>BTW, ( thinking of my ancestors made me think of this ) finally saw "Winter's Bone". Wow. It was hypnotic on a level I never expected.
>
>Me too. I'm Scottish/Irish/Indian that I know of. That comment about people being the same ignores history, but you know have stubborn facts can be. The jews are way over represented in the achievement group. Look at any list of intelligence, wealth, genius, etc and it will be dominated by the jews.

The really interesting part, for me, is that it is obviously all about culture, not genetics or race or whatever. Live a certain way, have certain values and traditions and get certain results. The formula is there. The Jewish immigrants and Chinese immigrants to the US didn't have much of the same blood running in their veins, but had some cultural similarities that lead to some similar outcomes.

Watching Winter's Bone all I could think about what how it was the vanilla version of some of the stark, bleak urban movies - same hopelessness, same meanness, same lack of seeing outside the small world of a marginalized culture.

Humans are pretty obviously more the same that different on a genetic level. But cultures make them almost different species.

BTW, Thomas Sowell's book "Black Rednecks and White Liberals" is fascinating and if you haven't read it I recommend it to you

http://www.tsowell.com/Rednecks.htm

I think you would really like it.