border control
Now, I know that the folks here that are still posting about this subject have firmly established and well defined views concerning immigration, but I would like to make a point in what I perceive to be opposition. It seems to me that there are certain similarities between border control and gun control. In both cases, legislation attempts to deal with a symptom rather than the actual problem.
With gun control, the thought, assuming purity of motive, follows that fewer guns leads to fewer gun crimes. This logic completely ignores other means of violent crime and in so doing removes the guilt from the individual perpetrator, as though without the gun the assailant would otherwise be a model citizen. Politico types usually back this up by exaggerating the decline in gun violence while completely ignoring the drastic increase in other forms of thuggary; Look to the UK or Australia as examples. This is a topic frequently discussed on THR and I typically agree with the consensus, that when a greater portion of the population is involved in the reduction of violent crime by arming themselves, crime goes elsewhere.
While it is a separate issue, I see border control in a similar light. The problem is not immigration. This country was founded on the spirit of immigration. How many here actually had family in America four or five generations ago? The reason we enjoy the freedoms we do is that there is no overwhelming majority. You can preach natural rights all you want but within a democratic-esque system, but anytime there is such an overwhelming majority, you roll with everyone else or you get run over. By way of immigration people with all sorts of backgrounds and cultural upbringings are free to practice their beliefs and the net effect is typically neutral, and by that I mean few laws that dictate behavior (‘morality’ by legislation). The real problem is that there is a substantial portion of these people that refuse to integrate into the American citizenry. Human beings deserve a certain amount of respect and dropping the hammer on anyone for crossing a line in the sand is ridiculous. On the other hand there are those who distain the laws of this country and contribute to the violent crime. My response to that is my CCW.
Rather than shut out (or kill, as suggested above) people for attempting to secure for them selves and families their lives, liberty and pursuits of happiness we should focus on integration. Relax the immigration laws, get a larger portion of them to pay taxes (so they are paying for their children’s education so that they in turn have greater opportunities in life), and actually deport the illegals.
I think the worst thing we can do is continue to support the multi lingual trend on a national level. I’m all for local cultural freedom, but there are certain baseline American ideals, as put forth in the Constitution and it is my opinion that if you want to reap the benefits you need to abide by those. Our constitution acknowledges the rights of minorities by establishing a government that legislates on the principle of very specific non-specificity. The problem with the national Spanish trend is that it creates an artificially strong barrier to integration by amplifying the effect an American subculture has on the rest of the population creating an ‘us vs. them’ mindset and that is my biggest concern.
All in all, as I stated before, immigration is not the problem. I think if people want to be recognized as Mexican, they should stay in Mexico or be made to stay, but if they value freedom and the opportunities America represents, I say the more the merrier, so long as they pay their buck ‘o five like the rest of us.
Sorry for the wicked long post, this started out as a simple idea but I’ve been simmering for a while now and it feels good to boil over. I hope my post is received with some consideration.
-Jon
Long time lurker, first time poster and huge fan of THR
initum.
