The Cost of Intolerance

The Detroit News' Laura Berman writes:

"He is an eminent scholar of Victorian literature, recruited in a national search and selected as one of three finalists for an elite academic position -- dean of arts and sciences -- at Oakland University. Then he withdrew his name. One factor, university officials say, was the state's grim economic outlook. But a harsh social climate didn't help, especially a recent state appeals court decision ruling that state universities could no longer offer domestic partner benefits to gay and lesbian staff members. ...Voters who in 2004 defined marriage and its social benefits specifically to include only those formally and legally joined in heterosexual unions, are getting what they perhaps wished for: a specialized kink in the brain drain that is affecting ability to keep and retain faculty members."

"Michigan's effectively becoming a laboratory for legal ways to drive out some of its smartest citizens -- and to keep out others....Jo Reger, an associate professor of sociology at Oakland University, said that after Michigan voters passed measures defining marriage, and another banning affirmative action, "Michigan just doesn't seem like a welcoming place anymore"."

The full story is here.

I'm not saying that lack of openness is the root-cause of Michigan's problems, and neither is Laura Berman. The state is suffering the consequences of decades of absolutely mind-boggling mis-management by the Big Three. But the two are related. The state's economic decline generates the fear and anxiety that produces this kind of backlash. That intolerance then chases away the top talent at the state's fantastic higher-education institutions which are the key to its revival, while chillng the market for new talent. As Henry Baskin, a Oakland University trustee originally appointed by Michigan's former Republican Governor,  John Engler told the paper: "Anytime you eliminate parts of society, you hurt yourself."

Comments

[Ken]

Doesn't Virginia have a similar law?

[Wendy]

Witch hunt by another name?

This seems a lot like a common feature in human history, often best described as a "witch hunt." When societies cannot explain -- or do not want to face -- the real reasons for their troubles, a particular identifiable group can be made a scape goat.

Whether intelligent, independent women (the classic "witches") or gays, lesbians, Mexicans, or Muslims -- blaming "witches" can be an outlet for anger, such that individuals in power may encourage this blame to deflect responsibility for the real roots of the problems away from themselves.

Blaming witches can also make a struggling group feel better, such that they don't need to look at how they personally might be responsible, or partially responsible, for their own problems.

[Wendy]

And I should have added...that in thinking about past societies that have engaged in witch hunts, most have done so not from a position of strength but of weakness -- a society or political regime on the way down, or struggling in some way.

And if you look at the USA, the cities and regions embracing the creative class and the tolerance of Richard's 3 T's are generally in areas with good economic growth and opportunity -- there's enough to go around.

The two reinforce each other: prosperity allows for more tolerance which in turn creates more prosperity.

(Or there is probably a chicken and egg argument to be made between tolerance and prosperity-- but I like the mutually reinforcing theory better).

[Richard]

Wendy - Nicely said. Witch hunt is exactly what it is. And it is getting worse because of the growing class and regional differences we face. I am amazed that chicken and egg causality arguments persist. An sentient person who recognizes that we are talking about dynamic processes that occur over time in mutually reinforcing ways, not static ones that occur with one way causality in a timeless vacuum. Ron Inglehart's most recent work adds to the growing body of studies which provide evidence of the importance of openness and tolerance to innovation and economic prosperity.

[Matt S.]

Ken,
Yep, VA did pass the same law. Suprisingly, southern Virginia voted for it overwhelmingly, while in the north, it failed.

It shows you just how education and technology can flourish up north--thanks to Tech., Tolerance, and Education--while the south lags behind. I feel sorry for Virginia, we lost a lot of good people with that one vote.

[Robert]

I read somewhere homosexuality is illegal in India and that hasn't stopped high paying software development jobs including top end research and development jobs from moving to India from America. The idea that tolerance toward homosexuals is required for economic development is ridiculous.

I also recall Richard Florida saying something a few years ago to the effect that no one nation can challenge America economically? Well what about China with 1 trillion dollars in foreign exchange reserves? If China were to go on a spending spree it would destroy the American economy overnight. How powerful is America when a foreign country can destroy America's way of life overnight?
Also, how tolerant is China to homosexuals?

The bottom line is most of the people a city will need to develop an advanced economy are best classified not as homosexual but "foreign" thus "Professionalism" in dealing with foreigners is more important than domestic tolerance towards homosexuals.

India and China became economic giants not because of tolerance toward gays but because of tolerance and "professionalism" toward foreigners, specifically foreign businessmen and foreign high skilled workers.

[Richard]

Robert--Interesting comments. Fact of the matter is we've run the numbes, the latest numbers with two very careful technical people Charlotta Mellander and Kevin Stolarick. The reality is controlling for everything else including professionals, humsn capital, creative occupations and what not, gay and lesbian people as well as artists and creatives add considerable additional explanatory power to our models of regional prodcutivity and income. Moreover, Marcus Noland of the Peterson Institute of International Economics found the same thing in his detailed econometric models of international financial performance. Michigan University professor Ronald Inglehart also found independent evidence of the role of openness and tolerance toward gays and lesbian populations in his large scale surveys of world values and economic development. And his Michigan colleague, Scott Page lays out a general economic theory for the positive economic effects of diversity in his book THE DIFFERENCE. Really, we are beyond opinions on this. The facts and evidence speak for themselves.

[Robert]

TO: Richard Florida

I honestly still think your methods have some holes in them. I can point to India, China, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore as well as others that do not fit your idea that tolerance toward gays specifically contributes greatly to a country's economic development. Saying that tolerance toward gays is needed for economic development is similar to the belief that only multi-party representative democracies can become powerful prosperous countries. What I see is a single party Communist China with a market oriented socialist system with 1 trillion dollars in foreign currency reserves with 20 billion more coming in each month.

I remember a while back that based on statistics more young people were volunteering to help out in their communities. The reason was that more high schools were requiring students to "volunteer" in their community as a prerequisite to graduate high school. Thus, the "volunteering" was not really voluntary and one could have easily misinterpreted what was really going on.

As for the positive relationship between the percentages of gays and lesbians and economic development that you cite, are significant numbers of people really going to certain areas because of tolerance to gays?

I could easily assert another theory that the key to economic development is individualism not tolerance. By individualism I mean the kind individualism that expresses itself in people wanting to distinguish themselves from others by starting their own businesses, inventing new products and services, conducting new research into science and technology related areas, and working harder and longer hours than your co-workers to gain their respect and distinguish yourself from the crowd.
Thus, it would not matter if for example, gay marriage were outlawed. Most of the people you need to develop your city would probably not even notice. Those people are in that densely populated city in order to do productive work that will distinguish themselves as an individual.