Posted on 08/06/2005 5:51:00 AM PDT by radar101
Two recent Union-Tribune editorials illustrate how out of touch the editorial board is with middle class Americans: "No place for debate / When nativism invades the playing field" (Aug. 2) and "Protectionism loses / CAFTA passage will promote trade growth" (July 30).
The residents of Danbury, Conn., have it right. The recent wave of illegal aliens and many legal immigrants are not assimilating. One has only to visit Little Havana in Miami or Little Saigon in Orange County to see it. Whatever happened to the melting-pot theory?
The problem is not only a lack of assimilation but the much greater harm caused by the high numbers of immigrants and the speed at which they are arriving. No ethnic group (in this case Latinos) should be coming to America in such high numbers over such a short period of time that it changes the host country in every way, shape and form, instead of assimilating.
The end result is that U.S. companies use the cheap illegal immigrant labor pools while passing on the human costs to taxpayers, at all levels. Couple this with the effects of NAFTA and we are leaving a chunk of middle-class workers (white-and blue-collar) underemployed or unemployed while the culture, traditions and language in their communities change.
Americans from coast to coast should reject high levels of immigration and failed policies like NAFTA and CAFTA. We should also not shy away from Americanism or "nativism," but embrace it like never before. Failure to do so will leave us with a balkanized America with no connection to its proud history. ROBERT LUTON Border Solution Task Force San Diego
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Mexican illegals AND legals send BILLION$ back to Mexico, thus eroding the myth that they contribute SO much to this country.
It was replaced with the "mosaic" theory
Lack of assimilation is now seen as desirable by those who think that America should perish as the world's greatest nation.
What do you care about where the legal immigrants send their money?
You've got that right! And yes Bush is a big part of it. He was elected to bring an end to America, as we have known it. Now it's on to his Dad's vision of "a new world order".
I "care" because one of the MAIN argument FOR legal immigration is that they CONTRIBUTE so much to our society. That argument is incorrect. Mexican immigrants don't when they send BILLION$ back every year to Mexico.
They also say that they are sending money "back home." They consider Mexico their home, forever and always.
That is, they are not assimilating and they never will.
I also think that dual citizenship, FOR ANYONE, is wrong. One pledges allegiance to ONE country, not two. One votes in ONE country, NOT two. I don't care how much "suffering" goes on in the other country or how much the other groups may "suffer" from their problems. If people want to be citizens THERE, then they give up their citizenship HERE. If they become citizens HERE, then they give up their citizenship THERE. End of story.
No exceptions for ANYONE.
MOSAIC--Is that like Muslim?
This is going to be a long debate.
Divide and conquer.
Brought to you under the guise of a "melting pot".
same old....same old...by the elites.
Legal immigrants have always sent some money to their relatives "back home" be they Mexican, Irish, etc. Am I reading correctly that you're against legal immigration altogether since there is a chance they might send money out of the country? I'm only asking because the legal immigrants should be paying taxes, which is where their contribution to society comes in, not unlike ours.
It was replaced with the "mosaic" theory
I prefer what I like to call the "chunky stew" theory. Each bit contributes its own flavor, and is part of the whole, but fully cooked in. No piece disappears. I think that's a more accurate description than the "melting pot" ever was.
A lot of American cities have ethnic neighborhoods that date back close to a hundred years -- Italian, Hungarian, Irish, Jewish, Swedish, German, Polish, Creole, Puerto Rican, etc. But what happened in the past was that within a generation or two, those folks would speak native English and be full participants in the larger society, even if they spoke another language and enjoyed exotic food and music at home. It was only a few decades from the time Italians in New York were scorned to the time they elected LaGuardia, and later Giuliani.
That system has broken down. Our ethnic enclaves today have more and more people who never leave them, never learn English, and run businesses exclusively by and for their "own." That's the problem, and I'll admit I'm short of solutions. Even halting all immigration wouldn't do the trick, because the problem is already here.
The problem with the word "assimilation" is that it has the connotation of abandoning your history -- it's a reminder of the days when Greenberg had to change his name to Green to get a job. "integration" is more precise -- and it's the term the British government uses -- but it might be problematic here because of the history of the '60s.
So here's the closest I've come to an answer: 1) Tighten the borders. 2) Allow "guest workers" only on short term visas and only if they have a specific employer to vouch for them, with dates for the beginning and end of their employment. Screen and document. 3) Allow longer-term stays for immigrants only if they demonstrate a commitment to joining American culture -- minimal functional English, knowledge of American history, the equivalent of an 8th grade civics class, all with deadlines.
mo•sa•ic (m -z k) n.
a. A picture or decorative design made by setting small colored pieces, as of stone or tile, into a surface.
b. The process or art of making such pictures or designs.
Allowing all the pieces to maintain their own identity, as opposed to becoming 'one'.
But certain things must disappear, and new thing put in its place:
1. Learn English, and speak it as the primary language
2. Learn pre- 1960 American History
3. Read "Capitalism and Freedom" by Milton Friedman
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Oh sure, then we'll be called zenophobic, racists...and Buchananites. Great article, btw.
Actually, its because Little Havana is filled with recent immigrants from Honduras and Guatemala. The Cubans moved to suburbia years ago. This whiny ignorant moron probably doesn't know that second generation Cubans prefer English over Spanish.
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