On the Relationship Between Political Power and Economic Achievement in the U.S.

It is almost nonexistent. a) Japanese-Americans have had virtually no political power in this country and yet they've achieve economically at a higher rate than that of even whites and b) the Irish have had a tremendous amount of political power since the late 19th Century (especially at the local level) and yet they've advanced economically at amongst the lowest rates of all the immigrant groups to America..........................................................................................So, if it isn't political power that brings about economic advancement, what does? My suspicion is that it's probably cultural and familial related in that if you look at black immigrants from Africa and the West Indies (AKA, the Caribbean), for instance (neither of which posses political power in the U.S.), these two populations tend to do exceedingly well while a significant portion of native-born African-Americans struggle; the cultural variables of course being family cohesion, substance abuse, the ability to defer gratification, commitment to education, etc.. I mean, I know that this is a tough pill for the progressives to swallow but when you see in the data that the absence of marriage increases the frequency of child poverty by a whopping 700%, it is well past the time for a different playbook to emerge.