Data points to ponder

The Pew Research Center has published what it calls "18 Striking Findings from 2018". A few upended or amplified things I knew in interesting ways.

• "... unauthorized immigrants are increasingly likely to be long-term U.S. residents: Two-thirds of adult immigrants without legal status have lived in the country for more than 10 years." These people that the Trump regime is making war on have been part of our communities for decades. The panic about them is just bonkers.

• "Non-U.S. countries resettled more than twice as many refugees as the U.S. in 2017, marking the first time since the adoption of the 1980 U.S. Refugee Act that America’s total fell below the combined total from the rest of the world." In a world awash in people driven from their homes, we're doing less and less of our part.

• "Most people around the globe say China plays a more important role in the world today than it did a decade ago – but most also say it’s better for the U.S. to lead the way." Does this express familiarity with US empire or does Chinese hegemony arouse realistic fears?

• "Almost seven-in-ten Americans (68%) feel worn out by the amount of news there is these days. While members of both parties say this, Republicans are feeling it more..." I'd have thought this would go the other way.

• "Income inequality in the U.S. is greatest among Asians. Asians near the top of the income ladder earned 10.7 times as much as Asians near the bottom in 2016, a ratio that has nearly doubled since 1970. Asians have displaced blacks as the most economically divided racial or ethnic group in the U.S." These are the people I prefer to call "people of various Asian origins" -- Asia is big place. And there are big divides among them.

• "Most Americans (59%) say climate change is affecting their local community at least some, especially those who live near a coast. Two-thirds of those who live within 25 miles of a coastline (67%) say this, compared with 59% of those who live 25 to 299 miles from a coast and half of those who live 300 miles or more from a coast." Are rising sea levels felt as an immediate threat? Or is there some other reason that coastal proximity makes us aware of climate change? I live by a coast, but the most immediate impact I've felt here has been from drifting inland smoke from our massive fires.