Through a video interview endorsed by the New York Times, best-selling author Richard Florida suggests there is an association between homosexuals and economic prosperity.
Florida researched cities of economic affluence during the recession and was curious to discover their secrets. He met with a statistics wiz who also studies social relations. Together, they revealed that flourishing cities like Seattle, San Francisco, Boston, and Austin are also the “gayest” cities, or most populated with homosexuals.
Florida does not suggest that homosexuals cause economic growth. He believes that social, cultural factors like self-expression, open-mindedness and diversity encourage economic growth. Because creativity is usually oppressed in the “company man” (or woman), they usually take that imagination and inspiration home with them. They do not use any of that energy at work because their only incentive is their salary.
This is in contrast to people with inventiveness or ingenuity who can express themselves in the workplace. Because of peoples’ freely articulated skill and craft they gain an entrepreneurial edge. This, Florida suggests, is what solidifies to their businesses’ success.
I would like to add that creativity does not invest itself only in homosexuals. I do not believe Florida was suggesting that the open-mindedness trait omits heterosexuals, merely, most homosexuals are innovative. I am unsure of his stereotypical beliefs, but Florida says that the evidence of an association between economic prosperity and homosexuality is statistically significant. This means that the observed effect would rarely occur by chance.
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Yeah I definitely belive Florida when he talks about the correlation. Yet, I don't quite understand what we're supposed to do with it. To me it's really just an interesting observation. Are we supposed to make other cities "more gay"? It is pretty interesting to hear this though. A
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ReplyDeleteI think the trend with homosexuals and economic growth is interesting, but the statistics are not all that overwhelming. There are homosexuals that live all over the United States and in different areas. I do not think that just because a city or area has a large population of homosexuals' means that economic growth is certain. There must be other outside factors that influence the economy besides the fact that the people are homosexual. (A)
ReplyDeleteI don't think that Florida was even talking about the open-mindedness of homosexuals, but rather the open-mindedness and general acceptance of the majority of the city. It makes sense, no matter what kind of discrimination you are talking about, that one would more likely choose to live in a place where they are accepted and appreciated. And becasue of this genereal acceptance, a person would be happier with their life over all because they don't feel that they have to hold theirself back--and that includes in the work-place.
ReplyDeleteCierra, I didn't think about it that way. That makes a lot of sense too.
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