'Mexifornia' Is a Tragedy in the Making

Los Angeles Times ^ | June 29, 2003 | Victor Davis Hanson

[Mister Magoo]

COMMENTARY

'Mexifornia' Is a Tragedy in the Making By Victor Davis Hanson

Victor Davis Hanson, a fellow at the Hoover Institute and a classics professor at Cal State Fresno, is author of "Mexifornia. A State of Becoming" (Encounter, 2003).

June 29, 2003

My hometown of Selma — like most other communities in rural Central California — used to be a stable municipality. Immigrants from Europe, Japan, China, Armenia, the Punjab and Mexico flocked here to farm and prospered from their hard work, acumen and the natural bounty of the San Joaquin Valley. They came in one-time waves, under legal auspices and, within one or two generations, emerged as assimilated English-speaking citizens.

By 1970, Selma was a rich, multiracial society bound together by a cohesive and common culture.

That dream is now slipping away. Here in Central California, we have de facto apartheid towns made up almost exclusively of Mexican immigrants. Many are illegal residents who do not speak English and cannot and do not participate in the civic life of the state — voting, community service organizations and jury duty.

[mikegi]

Slowly becoming a 3rd World State?

You know what's really sad? In two hundred years someone will land on the moon and find the US flag there. They will be very confused. They will look at the USA as it exists then and wonder how America ever made it to the moon. Kinda like we see the pyramids today and wonder how Egyptians could have ever made such magnificent structures.

[Brian Allen]

<< I will not register with the LA Time or the Washington Post.

If people have interesting things to say and would like them to be read, I'd advise them to find decent paper to print them in. >>

Me too.

Never!

[Skywalk]

I realize that the Asian population doesn't grow at the same rate as the Hispanic, but do you really think Asians want to live in a Zimbabwe-type arrangement?

If anything, they'll be in those enclaves with you, along with other freedom-loving Americans.

[DoughtyOne]

I think Joe was pretty accurate in his reponse to you. You know what's up.

[ought-six]

I was born and raised in California (in the 1950s). I left for good in 1979 and have not been back since (except for weddings, funerals, family matters, etc.). I would never live there again. California used to be paradise; it was a wonderful place with wonderful people. It began to change in the late 1960s, and by the late 1970s I saw it was doomed. Thus, I left. I was back there a couple weeks ago for some family matters and for a trek into the High Sierras, and I was shocked at how bad things were: they are light-years worse now then what they were in 1979 when I left (and I thought it was terrible then). California has so deteriorated that it is, in fact, just an extension of Mexico, and in no time at all will be as completely foul and vile as Mexico. The illegals, and the La Raza fascists that so dominate California today, have made that a certainty.

[quebecois]

"but the expats only do it for the money, and perhaps adventure. Most of us will be broke too, living right beside our third world neighbors."

You are probably correct on both points. If you have some capital, the ex-pat lifestyle can be fun and glamorous. There are several towns in Mexico with large, mostly retiree Anglo communities. They love it down there. Large swaths of the USA will become like that.

The downside is that those who depend of the sale of their labor for a living (esp unskilled labor) will suffer. Their standard of living will be averaged out over the hordes of third worlders....leaving them with a lifestyle similar to that of a mexican migrant or african coolie.

[quebecois]

"do you really think that asians want to live in a zimbabwe-type arrangement?"

What asians, or the white middle class for that matter, want is not relevant. The economic elites want mass immigration to supply dirt-cheap labor. The big-government political elite wants a compliant third world voting bloc. The fact that our borders remain wide open almost 2 years after 9/11 shows just how powerful the special interest groups are who want this continued flow of immigrants. Not even a massacre of thousands of americans can stop it.

So, no, I don't think that the asians want a zimbabwe-type arrangement. As to whether they will live in walled compounds with the remnant white population....i'm not sure. It depends on the demographics. In Hawaii, the Asians are the absolute majority, and they generally have a negative, hostile view of whites and frequently discriminate against them. In those areas where the asian population is smaller, they will probably integrate fairly easily with the white minority ex-pats.

I'm not so sure, by the way, that zimbabwe is a good example. I don't think that the same level of antagonism exists between anglos and mexicans....so I think that the analogy is more like the anglo retirees living in various mexican cities. They have nice lives down there, generally speaking....but they don't have political power and they don't have the same protections and freedoms that our limited government Republic used to give Americans.

[riri]

Having lived the expat life, I can say it can be a financial windfall but it has a price tag. There is always a sense of vulnerability. You are a stranger in a strange land.

Damn, if I have to feel like that again--in my own country.

On second thought, there are areas in town I am sure I could feel like that.

A random thought. I brought my daughter to a schoolmates birthday party some weeks back. They are a Mexican family. We were the ONLY non-hispanic people there. Well, us and another Dad from her class I actually got to know during a power outage waiting to vote last November. Where were all those tolerant soccer mom types? Seems only the two evil conservatives showed up to the party.

[Under the Radar]

I like your tagline.

[gubamyster]

ping