Random Thoughts
So I was listening to the news today (as usual since I am such an intellectual!) and heard this piece on the "great immigration debate"... First of all it's the great Mexican immigrant debate affecting all the other people pretty much insignificantly!!!
Here's my take: Firstly, I am an imigrant (without any plans of staying on here if I can help it)
secondly, I am democratic and pretty liberal i.e I think I am a reasonably understanding person and sympathetic to the underdog and would prefer if Bush hadn't been voted into office the second time... but you know what luckily it still is a democracy and obviously 51% of the people felt strongly enough about him... besides I don't vote and it's not my country....
Thirdly I do have a daughter who was born here and so feel some ties to this place that has given me a career and a family and am always asking myself if I want to pursue residency here....
So with that let me say I have no sympathy at all for the all protestors out there on the street today. Honestly why is there even a debate about this? Because they came here in large enough numbers that they feel entitled to demand legalization? I can understand the fact that people who've been here 5, 10, 20 years don't want to be treated like criminals and sure make them legal if they haven't been criminals or whatever . But frankly, this is a country with laws and if the rest of the world can respect that and you don't treat any other country this way there is really no need to expect that you can coolly walk over and expect the host country to say yeah sure you contribute to our economy so stay.
I came here after standing for hours in line at the consulate along with hordes of people who'd done the same and slept overnight on the road in line for the chance. We showed our papers, got humiliated by the immigraiton officer there, grit our teeth and bore it and rejoiced when we got the chance to come here to do what we wanted. I stood in line, at the "alien" admission counter, thanked my stars they didn't interrogate me, proceeded to work 14 hour days, 6-7 days a week, kept a low profile, got treated like a second-rate citizen, still am treated like a second-rate citizen, don't get to see my family for extended periods of time but I stay legal. And I don't claim that any of my countrymen who snuck in deserve to be treated better than me (even if they are hardworking and contribute to the economy by providing low-cost services) and given amnesty .. for that is what this is. A free pass for those who broke a law.
These protestors want the fruits of living in this country claiming that the US destroyed theirs (like the french ruled the algiers but not quite in the same league) but don't want any of the responsibility of making their own country stronger. For over 50 years our country and its countrymen were derided as uncouth, backward, developing, filthy, weird, hare ramas, rabid but faintly exotic. We are trying our best to fix that slowly but surely and in our country/ies. Then of course, when we do fix ourselves and get competitive I and my like who are legally in this country get treated daily to Lou Dobbs and his like who don't like us playing the capitalism game as well as this country did a few years ago. But the point is we are doing it in OUR countries. What absolves Vincente Fox of doing good for his own people within his own country? What absolves all Mexicans working as hard and doing as well in Mexico? Why waste all this talent and hard work on dreaming about crossing the border? And if you do dream of crossing, why choose the easy way out instead of doing the right thing?
There is a middle path here... do what the US has to do as if it were any other country... build a wall/fence, make laws that are meant to be maintained, but maybe you can make that pro-active affecting only those who break it from hereon now... that is a more than fair solution to the impasse... start a guest worker program and if that isn't good enough for people in Mexico, advertise the positions in Asia and in Europe... I can guarantee that you will find cheap and hardworking labour willing to accept low wages and hard work and grateful for the chance to better their lives.
So anyways, there's my rant for the day...got other things to do now...
So I was listening to the news today (as usual since I am such an intellectual!) and heard this piece on the "great immigration debate"... First of all it's the great Mexican immigrant debate affecting all the other people pretty much insignificantly!!!
Here's my take: Firstly, I am an imigrant (without any plans of staying on here if I can help it)
secondly, I am democratic and pretty liberal i.e I think I am a reasonably understanding person and sympathetic to the underdog and would prefer if Bush hadn't been voted into office the second time... but you know what luckily it still is a democracy and obviously 51% of the people felt strongly enough about him... besides I don't vote and it's not my country....
Thirdly I do have a daughter who was born here and so feel some ties to this place that has given me a career and a family and am always asking myself if I want to pursue residency here....
So with that let me say I have no sympathy at all for the all protestors out there on the street today. Honestly why is there even a debate about this? Because they came here in large enough numbers that they feel entitled to demand legalization? I can understand the fact that people who've been here 5, 10, 20 years don't want to be treated like criminals and sure make them legal if they haven't been criminals or whatever . But frankly, this is a country with laws and if the rest of the world can respect that and you don't treat any other country this way there is really no need to expect that you can coolly walk over and expect the host country to say yeah sure you contribute to our economy so stay.
I came here after standing for hours in line at the consulate along with hordes of people who'd done the same and slept overnight on the road in line for the chance. We showed our papers, got humiliated by the immigraiton officer there, grit our teeth and bore it and rejoiced when we got the chance to come here to do what we wanted. I stood in line, at the "alien" admission counter, thanked my stars they didn't interrogate me, proceeded to work 14 hour days, 6-7 days a week, kept a low profile, got treated like a second-rate citizen, still am treated like a second-rate citizen, don't get to see my family for extended periods of time but I stay legal. And I don't claim that any of my countrymen who snuck in deserve to be treated better than me (even if they are hardworking and contribute to the economy by providing low-cost services) and given amnesty .. for that is what this is. A free pass for those who broke a law.
These protestors want the fruits of living in this country claiming that the US destroyed theirs (like the french ruled the algiers but not quite in the same league) but don't want any of the responsibility of making their own country stronger. For over 50 years our country and its countrymen were derided as uncouth, backward, developing, filthy, weird, hare ramas, rabid but faintly exotic. We are trying our best to fix that slowly but surely and in our country/ies. Then of course, when we do fix ourselves and get competitive I and my like who are legally in this country get treated daily to Lou Dobbs and his like who don't like us playing the capitalism game as well as this country did a few years ago. But the point is we are doing it in OUR countries. What absolves Vincente Fox of doing good for his own people within his own country? What absolves all Mexicans working as hard and doing as well in Mexico? Why waste all this talent and hard work on dreaming about crossing the border? And if you do dream of crossing, why choose the easy way out instead of doing the right thing?
There is a middle path here... do what the US has to do as if it were any other country... build a wall/fence, make laws that are meant to be maintained, but maybe you can make that pro-active affecting only those who break it from hereon now... that is a more than fair solution to the impasse... start a guest worker program and if that isn't good enough for people in Mexico, advertise the positions in Asia and in Europe... I can guarantee that you will find cheap and hardworking labour willing to accept low wages and hard work and grateful for the chance to better their lives.
So anyways, there's my rant for the day...got other things to do now...
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