Gravatar I agree that US immigration policy is flawed, but placing blanket blame on those who sneak in is a gross oversimplification.

Depressed wages? Unfortunately, that is a function of a market economy that has been artificially supported for decades, then dropped without a safety net. For people in certain segments of the economy it can be a painful lesson in the drawbacks to a consumer society.

Crime? Well, that's because the US coddles their own criminals. What criminal wouldn't want to test the greener pastures on this side of the fence. Jail is probably better than what they knew back home. It's time to stop coddling criminals here too.

Government services? Yes, that is a drain, but once again goes back to the idea that the government must provide basic services to all. Now, the line blurs and the costs skyrocket. Another example where reform begins at home.

Bilingualism? In the short term, with rising numbers of immigrants (legal or otherwise), it appears that "American culture" is on the decline. Well, it's likely changing, that's for sure, but I'm not quite sold on the idea that's it disappearing just yet. IIRC, when European immigration was peaking in the second half of the 19th century, there were similar conclusions drawn about the impending fall of "Americanism". Over time, assimilation will occur, it's just that this time the newer Americans just won't become quite as "invisible". For my part, I'm embarassed that I'm not bilingual in a second "living" language. You or I should really have worked harder to learn some Japanese, Russian or German when we were younger. I would really like to be able to read primary documents concerning events from WWII. How about you?

And trebuchet. Tsk, tsk. I would have thought that impressment into the naval galleys would have been more productive.


Gravatar I don't know that it's the drawback of a consumer economy. The wage depression in the construction industry, for instance, is very real. And it is due to illegals taking up the jobs.

They're not doing jobs Americans won't do. They're doing jobs Americans won't do at those wages. If employers did not have the option of hiring illegals -- for which I place much of the blame on the feds -- they would have to increase wages for Americans to take those jobs.

As for crime, you'll get no argument for me that we coddle criminals. But these are crimes that could have been easily prevented by just sealing the border and removing incentives for illegals to come here. That's a significant amount of crime gone. When you add the heightened wages for American workers that would be necessitated by a lack of illegals, the reduction in crime would be multiplied.

As for culture, American culture changes all the time, with each wave of immigrants. It's not a bad thing, to be sure. I lost track of all the languages I heard on my recent trip to New York City, for example. But those immigrants also sought to assimilate, weren't in your face about their language, and didn't make a claim to part of your territory on the part of the mother country. There should not even be a possibility of a Reconquista. But we're allowing it.

And threbuchets. Trebuchets can be useful, my Byzantine friend.


Gravatar Well, you've got me on that last one. I forgot about the recent flag ceremony at some southern California school.




Name:

Email:

URL:

Comment:  ? 

 

Commenting by HaloScan