gov improving their skills at euthanizing bovine herds.

I disagree. Some threads get more contentious than others because of the subject material, but if you read every thread on the first page right now you will see that most are not nearly as heated as this one. That's why I asked what I did a couple of pages back to get a discussion going on as to why this is such a vitriolic topic. I know on a forum it's easier to lump others whom you disagree with into a category and assume they are like those reported on in the news, but we're all more complex people that that and putting more thought into the "why" behind it can be a much more fun, and maybe even productive conversation.

ScienceChic wrote: I've been pondering for some time now why racism, in regards to politics, has become such a recent hot topic, why it's the latest "outrage talking point'. Yes, we had our first black president elected but that was, frankly, years ago and it seems to have become a huge story only recently. What's really going on? My best guess: society tends to focus on that which it notices is changing and it fears change. It fights back against change in order to hold onto the status quo, the 'good old days'. Then I saw this article, and it made sense to me.

What do you think?

The Next America
By Paul Taylor
Published April 10, 2014

Demographic transformations are dramas in slow motion. America is in the midst of two right now. Our population is becoming majority non-white at the same time a record share is going gray. Each of these shifts would by itself be the defining demographic story of its era. The fact that both are unfolding simultaneously has generated big generation gaps that will put stress on our politics, families, pocketbooks, entitlement programs and social cohesion.

● America’s Racial Tapestry Is Changing

At the same time our population is going gray, we’re also becoming multi-colored. In 1960, the population of the United States was 85% white; by 2060, it will be only 43% white. We were once a black and white country. Now, we’re a rainbow.

Our intricate new racial tapestry is being woven by the more than 40 million immigrants who have arrived since 1965, about half of them Hispanics and nearly three-in-ten Asians.

● Immigration Is Driving Our Demographic Makeover
● Intermarriage Blurs Labels
● Changing Perception of 'Mixed Race'
● The Generational Divide
● The Age, Race Voting Gaps
● Liberal Youth, Conservative Elders
● The Young Are Less Religiously Affiliated
● The Technology Gap

◉ The Showdown
● We Have a Big Challenge Ahead

At a time when young and old don’t look alike, think alike or vote alike, how will America modernize its entitlement programs so they're in sync with its new demographics? How can we keep faith with the old without bankrupting the young and starving the future? It will be difficult.

● Support for Retirement
● Saving the Safety Net
● Over the Horizon

If Americans can bring to the public square the same genius for generational interdependence they bring to their family lives, the politics of these issues will become less toxic and the policy choices less forbidding.

That’s a big 'if.' But it’s a start.

All of the bulleted points have paragraphs and/or graphs of data - it's long but absolutely worth a look and some time analyzing.

This is just one of the graphs in the article - check out the percentages. Notice that race was the 2nd lowest rated problem. The biggest conflict is between party affiliation - what does that tell you? I have an idea, but I'd like to hear yours first.

From http://www.pewresearch.org/next-america ... he-Horizon