Paging Dr. Putnam—Diversity vs Patriotism
06/30/2010
A+
|
a-
Print Friendly and PDF
From El Paso Times:
El Paso was, once again, rated low by Men's Health magazine. This time the category was "Most Patriotic Cities."

Of 100 cities, the magazine rated El Paso No. 99, ahead of only Jersey City, N.J.

Portland, Ore., was ranked as the most patriotic city in the USA in the list published in the magazine's July/August issue. How does one measure something as unmeasurable as patriotism?

The magazine based its rankings on the percentage of registered voters who turned out for state and federal elections 2004 to 2008; money spent on military veterans per capita; percentage of residents who volunteer; and sales of fireworks and U.S. flags.

This is a mish-mash list of measures, but various studies of "civic-mindedness," such as Robert D. Putnam's big analysis of 40 communities, tend to come up with the same usual suspects at the top and bottom of the lists.
Lubbock, Corpus Christi and New York City were also among the bottom 10 patriotic cities ranked by the magazine. Men's Health stated on its website that it is not suggesting any city is un-American. "There are no unpatriotic towns," the magazine stated.

Most patriotic cities 1. Portland, Ore. 2. Salt Lake City, Ut. 3. Kansas City, Mo. 4. Seattle. Wa. 5. Tampa, Fla. Bottom five 96. Yonkers, N.Y. 97. Corpus Christi. 98. Honolulu. 99. El Paso. 100. Jersey City, N.J. Source: Men's Health Magazine

Audacious Epigone took a look at military enlistment rates by state recently. They tend to be driven by what fraction of the population is ineligible to enlist due to lack of education, intelligence, honesty, or slenderness.

Utah did well on eligibility, but poorly on enlistment, probably because Mormon young men are supposed to serve 2-years overseas as missionaries. The FBI likes to hire Mormons because they tend to be honest and to lack dual loyalties to foreign powers.

Print Friendly and PDF