I believe that I'm living at the beginning of the end of western civilization. The overwhelming legal and illegal immigration in the US is just one element in a downward spiral that we are allowing our country to fall into.
I have mentioned illegal immigration before but the numbers are so overwhelming that it is impossible to underestimate the impact that this population is going to have on the US. By 2050 the European population will become a minority in the country that they founded. This is a frightening prospect. Look around the world and look at all the different countries and governments that exist and think what the US will be like if we mirror a Brazil or Argentina.
The European population is not even replacing itself. The riots in France are a precursor to what will happen in the US. When the marches for illegal immigrant rights managed to have so many people so fast, that should have raised alarm bells everywhere.
I guess all great civilizations die and the Roman Empire certainly collapsed after a time, so I guess Western Civilization and the US will be just another chapter in history one day, but I think our guilt and good intentioned rationalization is our ultimate doom.
We now have 36 million foreign born people in our nation. This number is larger by far then any other time then in our history. The assimilation of that population is not happening and in fact they are assimilating our country. When I was in Miami at the airport I felt like the foreigner in my own country. This is a conquest of America by population, the Hispanic population and Asian populations are out breeding the rest of the native American population.
Also most of the immigrants from the countries that are over running us do not assimilate and in fact bring their own culture. They keep their own culture and just transplant it to the US. The reconquista of the American southwest is well underway. On the surface keeping one's own culture may sound noble, but for America to succeed we need to be America's first.
Yet there is no hue and cry from our media or our leaders. We are slowing fiddling away as our civilization is torched. To think that this is not happening is to ignore the overwhelming facts. Maybe the world will be a better place after all is said and done, but I think that is dismissing all the fantastic things Western Civilization brought to the table. After Rome fell we had the dark ages, what is after the end of Western Civilization?
I think other signs are the corruptness of our government. No longer are these people concerned about the populace, they are concerned with power and self gratification. What choice did we have in 2004 Bush or Kerry. The difference between them was minuscule and only was different in how they would continue to lead the country to ruin.
We are living on the third tier of a house of cards and acting as though every thing is fine and it is not. If you speak the truth people will call you xenophobic or worse a racist, but wanting to maintain your culture is okay for others, but not for us! It's okay to have a Latin civilization or a Muslim country, but wanting to maintain our culture is close minded? We are the only culture that does not guard what we have and seem willing to give it all away without a shot being fired.
My generation will be mainly gone by the time the full impact is felt, but I want to fight the cause and raise the alarm so my children and the next generations can enjoy a better world and Western Civilization is the best we have done so far.
You need to stay out of FL.
ReplyDeleteBut seriously, you're glossing over some significant elements in this post. Hispanics and Asians have been assimilating into Amercan culture for 200 years, in the case of Hispanics, and over 100 years for Asians. Just because there are larger numbers coming her now doesn't mean that will change. Like every other immigrant group before, by the time the third generation is here, the native language is lost. Yes, different cultural elements are retained, but that's not new either. Do you think the Founding Fathers celebrated Halloween? No, Irish immigrants brought that later. Hell, they didn't even celebrate Christmas like we do now. That was a Dickensian invention of the late 19th century.
I don't know how you think American culture is being overwhelmed. We're shipping our culture to every corner of the planet. It's one of the reasons so many people want to come here. The immigrants don't want to bring their country here. They want to join up with what we've got. If they liked their native countries so much, they'd stay there. There's no danger of Western Civilization going anywhere any time in the next 100 plus years. Unless the entire world collapses due to a failure to replace cheap oil with another energy source or a failure to replace the adventurism of the Bush administration with a containment doctrine towards Islamic extremism.
Two other smaller points. One is that the riots in France won't happen here. France marginalizes the North Africans, refusing them any chance at citizenship or real participation in the culture of the country, regardless of how many generations they've lived in France. That doesn't happen here. We invite everyone to be a citizen, and in fact automatically grant it just for being born here. Where we encourage joining in, France rejects it. Don't forget, France is the same country that is busily trying to expunge any English words that have creeped into the lengua franca in a desperate attempt to stop the evolution of its own living language. France is run by a bunch of idiots, but that's what they've voted for. That and frequent union strikes, but that's another issue.
Second, it's facile to advocate that Kerry and Bush are interchangable. If nothing else, the last six years has made very clear the differences between the Dems and the GOP. There would have been no Iraq invasion, no selling of government services to no-bid private industry and no abandonment of New Orleans if the Dems were even just in the White House, let alone having any control of Congress. If the Dems manage to take either the House, Senate or both on Nov 7, there will be significant changes in what happens with the feds.
It's easy to argue that all politicians are just out for power and self aggrandizement. There's a certain element of truth to that that has been true as long as there has been any government, be it the clan chief living in the caves or the POTUS or the Pope. It's why we have three branches of divided power in the federal government and a federal system of state and federal power. But on the whole, even if I disagree with their positions, I believe that most of the politicians, at least in the US, actually believe that the positions they advocate and advance are beneficial for the US as a whole. I have my doubts with Bush and his bunch, but even amongst most of the GOP in Congress I think they think they're doing the best thing for the country.
Thomm - You have a more positive view of the elected officials then I do. I no longer believe that they care and believe they have sold out to big business and special interests.
ReplyDeleteAs for the end of Western Civilization, I believe that we cannot assimilate such a large group, especially without closing the borders. When the immigrant population was high years ago, the US shut down the borders to allow time for that assimilation to begin.
Also our culture is under attack. If you think the huge number of single moms is not an erosion of our culture and the bi-lingual culture that is everywhere, then we will never see eye to eye.
The influx of cheap labor is not a positive and is a stop gap measure because the welfare state cannot be supported as the population age demographics change. Government thinks the influx of taxes and a younger population will keep it afloat and business are so short sighted they think cheap labor is great, forgetting that ultimately the labor force they have won't be able to afford their products.
Plus this labor force is displacing our own unskilled labor.
Maybe what comes out the other side will be better, but it took a long time after the collapse of Rome for something better to take shape.
Man, now you're mixing in all kinds of stuff. Single mothers? That's actually been on the decline for the last 10 years. And most of it now is due to divorce, not teenagers.
ReplyDeleteBut back to immigrants. What makes you think they won't assimilate? Where's the motivation for them to remain Mexicans first? They left Mexico for a reason. (I'm using Mexico as the example here because they're the largest single group of immigrants, but it applies to all, really.) They want to be a part of the US economy and culture. A lot of the intitial arrivals won't ever be fluent in English, but a lot will, and all of their children will. So what if they want to make tacos for dinner instead of pot roast? Did we tell the Italians to stop making spaghetti, the Germans to stop with the sausage? Hell, no. We incorporated it into the broader culture. Here's the thing about American culture and assimilation. It's a two way street. The immigrants learn aspects of the existing American culture and America learns and adopts aspects of the immigrant culture, especially the larger groups. The important thing for the immigrants to take from America is learning to participate in a republican government. When they feel like they are a part and parcel of this government, then they are assimilated. The rest is just window dressing. That's the difference between the US and Europe (and Japan, too). We want new arrivals to be a part of the whole. They want to keep new arrivals apart to preserve their historic culture.
In fact, it's that sort of thing that led to the downfall of the Roman Empire. The Romans set themselves apart and weren't letting new blood in after a time. What's worse, they were having the "others" do all the heavy lifting for them, with a mercenary rather than Roman legion.
By the way, since when is Mexico not a part of Western Civilization? When the Germanic tribes overran Rome they were in fact an entirely different culture than Rome. Mexico's heritage has its roots in Europe, albeit Spain rather than England. All the same, it's still a part of Western Civilization. It's not like we're being overrun by Chinese immigrants.
In some respects the illegal immigrant imbrogilio is a tempest in a teapot. Until the end of the 19th century there was no such thing as an illegal immigrant. Whoever showed up got to stay. And the original restrictions were on Chinese and Japanese immigrants, who weren't wanted after the railroads were finished being built. The US-Mexico border was entirely fluid. The southwest has always had a close relationship with Mexico, not the least reason being that it was a part of Mexico for a long time. It's only recently that Hispanic immigrants, not just Mexicans, have expanded out into other parts of the US and caused the big Chicken Little reaction.
By the way, why do we care if our unskilled labor is displaced by the immigrants? Haven't we spent the last 30 years trying to make them skilled labor? If they haven't picked up a skill after all that intensive effort, they're on their own. The nativist versus immigrant unskilled labor is a conflict that's existed as long as there's been industry in the US. Look at the anti-Irish sentiments of antebellum NYC, among others. In a couple generations the decendants of today's immigrants will be complaining about some other group coming in. Hell, some of the Hispanics that have been here a few generations already do.
Thomm - I was mixing in all sorts of stuff because I see a host of issues facing our society.
ReplyDeleteYour agruements are everything has worked before and I find that what is happening today does not mirror the past 100%.
Without making some changes (closing the borders is number 1) we have serious problems. I hope that you are right and I am wrong because I want my children and potential grand children to have a better tomorrow, but I think I'm right.
By the way your point about a mercenary army is interesting as the US now has a program that allows citzenship to be fast track if you go into the service. Also we have a military that is only built on the backs of the lower class and the upper class avoids service.
Thomm - good discussion by the way, I miss having you sit behind me as you are great at challenging people beliefs and putting them to the test. Not enough of that exists.
ReplyDeleteMuchas gracias. :)
ReplyDeleteIn that vein, I'd note that fast tracking soldiers to citizenship is the antithesis of the Roman legions farming out the work to mercenaries who could never hope to be considered Romans.
You're correct that there's not a 100% match to past history. There never is. But I don't see a difference in current trends, with regard to immigration, that would warrant a belief that things will be markedly different this time around. Read up on the Know-Nothings of the 1840s and 1850s. You'll be surprised at how much of their POV is similar to the POV of the nativists today.
Why are you a nativist, anyway? I thought you were a libertarian in your leanings. Nativism is very protectionist and heavy on the government hand. Not at all the free flow of libertarianism.
Thomm - I'm not a nativist. I think legal immigration is a good thing. I think illegal immigration is a bad thing.
ReplyDeleteThinking that the massive inflow of people illegally over the Mexican border is the same as prior times or that they will be absorbed is naive.
This is not the same issue as any other time in our country and if our country is to survive I don't believe a bi-lingual society is conducive to that survival.
Like I have said before I would be happy to be proven wrong and only time will tell, but I don't believe the elected officials have our best interest at heart and I don't believe having a huge influx of a lower class is helpful. Also I wonder if our country can withstand the economic strain of these issues.
You know, this is the second time someone in this blog's comments has called me naive. Seems like a weak fall back for having run out of arugment.
ReplyDeleteOf course the illegals now aren't the same as previous generations. But that's only because of a change in terminology and law. There were no illegal Mexicans in previous generations because no one was trying to stop them coming. They were all legal.
There was a very good article/profile in the Sun yesterday about a guy who came over as an illegal in 1987 and who is now a surgeon at Hopkins. Those who see an agenda everywhere no doubt see the article as the Sun trying to influence the public against the nativist view. I see it simply as a profile on an unusual person who lives and works in Baltimore. It's not like the Sun is trying to argue that all illegals are going to become surgeons.
But I digress, the most interesting thing about the article was that the doctor said that the reason he came to the US was that in Mexico there's no chance to move up in the world unless you're already a member of the upper class. So, a 700 mile fence along the border, making illegals into felons and all the other punitive measures in the current nativist doctrine (and it is nativist to want to keep the immigrants out, illegal or not) useless. There are only two ways to reduce the flow of illegal immigrants. One is for the US to decline in status and stature, such as the economy being such that there are no opportunities for the immigrants. The other is for Mexico to become more egalitarian and allow its own citizens an opportunity to advance. I don't see either happening any time sooon, so the more realistic and practical approach is to do everything possible to encourage and enable illegals to become legal and productive citizens, invested in the US as their own country. But, as is often the case, we're schizophrenic and hold out carrots on occasion and whack with sticks on others.
Saying that someone's agruement is naive is not running out of counter points, it is pointing out a fact.
ReplyDeleteAnd to constantly call a viewpoint that you disagree with nativist is bullshit. I'm not against immigration, I'm against illegal immigration.
The fact is that our government and major business want to borders to be open forever, the cheap labor and influx of people is intoxicating for companies only interested in the bottom line and a government that knows bankruptcy of major social programs is knocking at their door.
The fact that you can not see the problems, does not equate with the problems not existing.
Closing down of emergency rooms in many communities because they cannot handle the illegals, over running our school systems, having more uninsured motorists claims, etc. etc. are all thinks that impact on our social struture. Also an importing of a cheap labor force will ultimately erode the middle class.
The end of this cycle does not mean Mad Max, but I'm not convinced that the transitional period to an information based society will not be without major problems.