Posted on 08/15/2002 11:23:35 AM PDT by gubamyster
August 15, 2002
As more information from the 2000 Census is released, it's increasingly clear that this is not our parents' country. Ethically, it stopped being their country in the 1960s. Ethnically, it now resembles not a united nation, but a United Nations, with divisions along class, racial, religious, language and ideological lines. Our national motto, E pluribus unum ("out of many, one,") no longer applies.
Census figures show that one out of every nine residents is now foreign-born. The response from politicians? Many are signing up for Spanish lessons. They should be telling immigrants to sign up for English lessons.
Yes, we are a nation of immigrants. There is a difference, however, between the way immigrants were treated a century ago during the Great Wave, and how they are treated today.
Then, they were expected to become part of America, which included speaking our language, knowing our history and respecting our traditions. Now, they are allowed -- indeed, encouraged -- to remain who they are and not bother to learn English or care about American history. Then, we sought to make Americans of immigrants. Today, we hyphenate their citizenship and tell them they may continue to bear allegiance to other countries and causes.
Here are only a few examples of how bad the situation has become: The safety video on the Delta Shuttle between Washington and New York is delivered in both Spanish and English; this November, Denver and several other Colorado counties designated as bilingual counties must print election ballots in English and Spanish; the Department of Justice has ordered Harris County, Texas (which encompasses Houston) to start providing ballots and voting materials in Vietnamese.
Part of the reason for this forming of a less perfect union is that we are no longer sure of ourselves. Embarrassed by our success and riches, we think we're doing the world a favor by engaging in self-flagellation, refusing to repeat for the next generation what was handed to us by the previous one.
A Texas schoolteacher wrote to express his frustration:
"We were raised with 'ultimate consequences' which would dictate punishment when there was no discipline ('When your father gets home...,' 'Your mother wouldn't approve of this...')," he noted. "Now, it's a question of how people can beat the law, rather than uphold it." This especially applies to those immigrants who have seen that if they can get to America illegally, their chances are good of winning amnesty and remaining in this country.
King Solomon warned: "Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint" (Proverbs 29:18). The casting off of restraint is what characterizes us now, from corporate boardrooms to private bedrooms. If immigrants know only how to get here and do not learn what made America so attractive to them, they will live by their own standards, just as we who were born here are doing in increasing numbers, further undermining our strength and cohesiveness.
In his 1992 book, "The Tyranny of Change: America in the Progressive Era: 1890-1920," John Whiteclay Chambers wrote of the great immigration wave of a century ago, noting that a majority of arrivals in this country never intended to stay. Many hoped that "after a few years of work, they could save enough money to return home to an improved position for themselves and their families."
"Although the majority of new immigrants permanently settled in America, a significant number left (with a departure rate of 35 percent for Croatians, Poles, Serbs and Slovenes; 40 percent for Greeks; and more than 50 percent for Hungarians, Slovaks and Italians; the rate among Asian immigrants was much higher, more than two-thirds)," Chambers wrote. Today the departure rate is only about 15 percent and anyone who gets here, even illegally, can now expect his or relatives to legally follow.
Many of those who stayed a century ago had poor skills and became part of large ghettos in major urban areas, where poverty continues to drain human and financial resources. The 1990 Census indicated that ethnic enclaves were huge and growing. In the city of Miami today, about half of the population speaks English poorly or not at all, new census figures show, and 74 percent of residents speak a language other than English at home.
A source for additional facts about how we have failed to assimilate immigrants can be found on the Web page of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (www.fairus.org/).
It would help if we would re-discover what once was considered "self-evident" truths about America, disdaining relativity. If we can't do that for those already here, we will be of no use to current and future immigrants and cannot sustain ourselves as the United States.
Well, here's a bit of reality - even though they're a minority, racists do exist. And yes, from time to time, people like myself do run into them.
Here you illustrate your error throughout. You recognize the considerable variety in American cultures. These--as do all other cultures on this planet--reflect the people who create them. The populations of different areas are different. America has always had traits in common. America has also always had a variety of separate cultures. The traits in common in 1776-1783, were a common acceptance of the idea of independence from the mother country. But each State was settled by different people. Each reflected its own settlers. We had a National conscience in common, and 13 separate national consciences, based upon those differences.
Now since you recognize the differences, consider this. You can go almost anywhere, today, in the world--I won't say anywhere, because I do not know for sure--but certainly anywhere that I have ever been--and regardless of the surrounding culture, anywhere that you will find a Chinese Restaurant, you will almost always find an owner--and probably some of his family--who work harder than the average restaurant owner in the particular area or country, and have a better chance than the average person attempting that business, to actually succeed in that business. In other words, people take their traits with them. They do not abandon those traits like chameleons, when they go far away. (Now please, do not cite some isolated case, where you heard of a lazy Chinese restauranter--I cannot vouch that there never was such, but the evidence of its rarity is very apparent.)
And as for all that "fly over" space. Would you sprawl suburbia over the best farmland? Do you think we should settle the dessert--the tops of mountains--the great woodlands of the Northwest? The fact is that we do not need anymore settlers. We should pick and choose very carefully, whom we do allow in.
And you need, also, to get away from lumping all Spanish speaking peoples together. They are not all alike, you know. The use of the term Hispanic is just more of the "Liberal" newspeak, like calling American Indians, "Native Americans," people in a wide variety of States, Appalachians," or Negroes, settled here for almost four centuries, "African-Americans." The Left is playing down the qualities that make people unique, in order to focus on their geography or language--and sometimes on such things as skin color. This also confuses people's sense of their own identity, because it reflects constantly changing terminology.
William Flax Return Of The Gods Web Site
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!
So the problem is that they all speak Spanish? As someone who's lived the last 25 years in the middle of La Reconquista let me tell you: if La Raza manages to take over our country it's because we're pathetic and didn't deserve to live.
Nice to see how much you love America.
I've got another idea: Reduce immigration and fix our culture. Unlike you I love this country.
You forgot about the Italian and Sicilian immigration during the same period, that's important, without that mass immigration we lose an entire genre (considered to be a true American genre) of movie. That's an important influx to me because my grandmother (3rd generation American of German extraction) met Al Capone (2nd generation American of Italian extraction).
I have a far dimmer view of the Mafia and organized crime. We would be a better country without it, even at the loss of a few good movies. I have far more concerns about the rise of the "white-slave" trade in America (illegal immigrant women forced into prostitition by the Russian and Chinese Mafias) than for the career or even nationality of Mario Puzo.
Communism got introduced in that period because, at the time, Marx was right. The worker was treated like crap and paid next to nothing. Work place death from physical abuse and unsafe conditions was common place.
1. Marx was right? Good Conservative aren't you.
2. A virtually unlimited supplty of unskilled labor is what allowed the poor working conditions. If someone got hurt, they could be replaced by someone off the boat. Immigration reduced the impetus for improving productivity through technology, which would have also necessitated workplace changes. Teh truth is that far more than the unConsitutional government programs it is the change of technology which helped workers. Immigration hurt this and fostered socialism. Look at agraculture today, if you thik I'm kidding. We have Guatamalns picking fruit more cheaply than machines would.
Luckily capitalism showed why it's the best, we adapted. The companies (largely spearheaded by Ford) learned you could actually turn a profit and treat your workers well at the same time (as Ford learned, well paid workers and employee discounts creates a customer base, which gets your product seen and provides free advertising).
Again as increase in productivity through rasiing skilled labor is what allowed this. Immigration stalled this. It is no coincidence that Ford did this just as the US was closing the last great wave of immigration.
The only reason the immigrant population was involved in the communist movement was because they were the primary source of cheap (ie abused, at that time) labor. Once they started getting treated like humanbeing communism experienced it's first big fizzle.
Communism, perhaps but not socialism. tow things happened in the 1920s and 1930's.
1. Immigrants became enfranchised as they became citizens and their children grew up.
2. The programs of the Socialist and Progressive Parties became teh platform of the Democrat Party, which was ellected by the "white ethnics" in the North.
The north east became a bastion of the left because of the colleges. Communism has always been popular with the over educated faux elite. Where all all the ivy league colleges? This actually happened before the big immigration boom, the over educated fell in love with Marx immediately. Really even before Marx the colleges of the east had serious tendencies towards what we now call liberalism, it just didn't have a name until Marx showed up. Blaming the immigrants for this is stupid.
I would argue that the Northern Wasp elite was drained by the Civil War both in numbers and morally. That is what allowed new ideologies to be accepted.
However the influence of foreign professors cannot be ignored. Many of the intellectuals from the failed revolutions of 1848 came to the US.
However, the treason of teh elites, did not have the electoral effect we are debating. The WASP middle and lower classes in New England were overwhelmed and displaced by immigrants in the mid and late 19th century. I would suggest that you read Henry Adams.
Again if our culture can't handle it we're too stupid to live. Better find smarter numbers.
1. Americans don't want to have their culture destroyed and country stolen. Every poll makes this clear.
2. Instead of killing htis country, why not reduce teh strain so we can fix our problems.
3. Whence your actual hatred of America?
What's 34 million immigrants? It's 1.8 of the population.
Your math is as sloppy as your reasoning. (34/280)*100=12.14285%
Roughly 1/8th of the population is foreign. I would say that it is time to cut the inflow and assimilate them and their children (I am a member of the later group).
According to some a million people a year move to LA (nobody says how many flee, what a crappy city). If they can handle it we can handle it.
LA is a sh*t hole. Real wages are declining, middle class flight, increased crime. Politicians who have no loyalty to America and utter contempt for its principles and people. If that is your vision of America, I want no part of it!
most of the Mexican immigrants don't believe their entitles to anything.
So why are so many on welfare? Why are they screaming to have in state tuition for thier criminal alien children?
. La Raza is mostly stupid college kids, always has been.
La RAZA (the race) is the NAACP for Mexicans. you are thinking of the far more frightening revanchist group, MeCHA.
The truth is that you should be woried. A prominent meber oif La Raza and a former student leader of MeCHA, Anthony Villagroza (sp?) was almost elected Mayor of LA. The threat is open and in front of you. You refuse to see it.
I used to work for a 1st generation Mexican-American, I asked him about La Raza, he laughed and said it was a great way to get laid.
Quite a few men signed up to various Hippy causes for the same reason. Look at the damage the New Left and their drugged out followers caused in teh last 35 years!
Why should we keep a political culture like our founding fathers? It's a different world.
1. Because it is the foundation of this country!?
2. Conservative people believe that working traditions should not change.
3. Because it defines who we are. I'm sorry that you hate this country. Move to Canada.
They built our Constitution with the ability to be ammended (or even scrapped and rewritten from scratch) for a reason.
The only reason you gave is that we should continue to allow immigrants. It is a circular arguement which underlines your contempt for this country.
They new the world would change and the nation would have to change with it. We proved a hundred years ago with the first influx of immigrants that our strength was our adaptability. The tree that cannot bend in the wind will break.
1. If the costs of the stran is the destruction of the country, why continue it?
2. WE are not the same country we were 100 hears ago. We are less able to assimilate immigrants.
Putting unreasonable demands on a new immigrant population that they behave differently from all other immigrant populations is pointless. Might as well demand day not be bright and hot.
As I amply should in my last post, previous immigrants did assimilate, but it took time and they brought some problems with them.
2. Why not simply stop immigration if the immgrants can't assimilate? Unlike you, I am devoted to this country, not some ideal of allowing the whole world into the US, even at the cost of destroying it.
Let things run their natural course. That's what's going to happen anyway, the only question is how much you embarass yourself saying the sky is falling when it's not.
1. You admitted that the country is being destroyed. To me that means the sky is falling.
2. There is nothing natural or inevitable about immigration. We controlled it very well between 1924 and 1964.
If you mean you admire a person like him, then you're obviously a racist. And by default, a disgusting human being that the world would be better without.
But hey...That's YOUR choice...
39 posts before somebody talks with any sense! America has *always* taken in new citizens from other lands and often the first wave learn little more than a rudimentary understanding of English - enough only to find a job and make a living. In most cases, they depend on their own kind to help them adjust to our country and culture. The only difference is we now have governement mandates that are more accommodating to foreign tongues than before.
The children are often sent to American schools where they do learn English and become Americanized much faster than the first generation did. This is how the process has historically worked and assimilated - not with the first generation but with the second.
It is an inescapable fact that the vast majority of our leaders in government are still white males. Look at the racial make-up of the U.S. House and Senate and you'll see few non-white faces. The whites still control the government. And the foreigners, those that even bother to vote, are overwhelmingly electing white candidates.
Now look at the business sector and, again, you'll see white males in great dominance. It is well-known, too, that, without a good working vocabularly in English, your chances of succeeding in American business are slim. There *is* pressure for all immigrants to learn English to be able to do more than menial labor in America.
I honestly don't fear what immigrants are doing to our country and our culture as much as what liberalism and the media are doing to our country and our culture. While it is easy to blame those who don't speak your tongue, the real evil comes from the whites who want to indoctrinate immigrants and their children with their liberal mores and mindset.
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