Posted on 02/18/2005 9:21:47 PM PST by DoughtyOne
In the entire universe that has been studied, there is only one galaxy, with one solar system, with one planet that we know of, that supports life. On this planet there are four oceans and seven large bodies of land. We call the land continents. Two of these continents are the Americas. There is North America and South America. Every person who lives on these two continents, are Americans. People who live on other continents are known as Europeans, Africans, Asians, Australians and I suppose Antarticans.
There are numerous nations in the Americas. Only one of them has a Bill of Rights that guarantees to it’s citizens, inalienable rights ‘granted by God’. The key word here is God. It specifies that our rights were not man’s to give, but God’s alone. That one nation is contained on 4% of the planet’s surface. The people who live on the other 96% of the planet have not been officially granted these rights, by their governments.
In all the known universe, only one small nation, on one continent, on one planet, in one average sized solar system, in one galaxy, in the Milky way, in the whole of the whole known universe, is known to acknowledge that “God” granted it’s citizens certain inalienable rights. I would submit to you that there is only one place known to man, where men are free to pursue the American Dream. This evening I’d like to talk a little bit about that dream.
First of all, the American Dream is perhaps a term that should be firmed up a bit. Some people dream of coming to the United States. That is not the American Dream. Some people dream of prospering when they come to the United States. That is not the American Dream. Even those who arrive on the shores of the United States are not guaranteed a slice of the American Dream. Here is why I say that.
I believe there are qualifications that must be met, before you are free to pursue the American Dream. If you are a Citizen of the Republic of the United States of America, you qualify. If you are a “LEGAL” resident of the Republic of the United States of America, it could be argued that you qualify, by the grace of the citizens of the U.S. Some may disagree with this. Still, no other groups are blessed with the good fortune to be covered by our founding documents.
Perhaps the real American Dream should be known as, the U.S. Citizen’s Dream. Perhaps a better title acknowledging our welcomed guests would be more appropriate. And perhaps it’s just as well, that we refer to it as the American Dream. While I think we should be okay with that, I think it’s very important to specify exactly who has a right to something as precious and revered as the American Dream.
The American Dream is your birthright. It was granted to you by our founding fathers, and handed down from generation to generation. Over time, mortal men became less enchanted with our founding documents. Today some actually seek to render parts or all of them null and void. This is evidenced in part, by the discounting of their importance.
Whose documents are the founding documents of the Republic of the United States of America? I would submit they are the documents of the citizen’s of our republic, and theirs alone. I would submit that they are not the documents of the world’s citizens, although the United Nations would love you to believe so. Who then is free to pursue the American Dream? It is our citizen family, and our honored invited legal guests whom we have decided to extend them to, that are. If you wish to claim the invited guests are not covered, I might be inclined to agree. I feel that they are, but I’m not rigid on that.
If you arrived on the soil of the United States without an invitation, you don’t qualify. You are attempting to steal the birthright of others. You are attempting to obtain rights that are due only to the citizens of the United States. Those rights are our rights. They are not your rights.
Peoples in other lands have dreams. Whether it’s the citizens of Mexico, Belize, Malaysia, China, Italy, Russia, France or any other, I hope they realize their dreams. I hope they realize them legally. If they attempt to realize them illegally, I hope they are caught and serve the prescribed penalty. Those who don’t do so legally, impact others. That is not acceptable to me.
I have an American Dream. It’s probably rather similar to yours. It first took shape on the fields of a Missouri farm. It was influenced by my grandparents, farm life and plain wrap country folks. It was influenced by relatives, a country school, and exposures to a myriad of life situations. I’ve spent time in country schools, small town America schools, metropolitan schools and colleges. I’ve spent years of my life with the nearest neighbors over a mile way. I’ve spent years of my life within thirty minutes drive of ten to fifteen million people. I’ve spent time with people who didn’t have much education. I’ve spent decades working side by side with people who held doctorates. I’ve spent time with people who didn’t have much money, and time with people who had plenty. Every bit of this influenced my American Dream.
What my specific American Dream is isn’t important. What is important is that I am free to pursue it. Along with you and every other citizen of the Republic of the United States of America, I do pursue it. I will until I’m toes up under some anthill.
As I said, what my specific American Dream is, is not all that important. We all have our own version. Mine is good for me. Yours is good for you. But as time goes buy, I have begun to realize that parts of what is coming to pass, has nothing to do with what most would consider the American Dream. And that is something we need to address.
Did your American Dream go something like this? When I grow up I’d like to live in a town where few people speak English. I’d like the area I live in to have homes with bars on the windows. I’d like tall fences around every home in my area. I’d like to see businesses without signs that I can read. I’d like to be able to go inside of businesses and not be able to find anything because the signs are not in English.
Did you dream of driving down the roads you’d been driving since you were young, that would look more like a foreign nation, than your home town. Did you dream of rotting roadways, clogged chuck full with millions of uninvited guests?
Did you dream of owning your home, providing for your own health insurance needs, but skip the part about financing the dwellings and healthcare of others? Did you dream of your child getting the same type of education you received from the public school system, only to find that by the time your kids were school age, the public schools system was unfit to teach them?
Did you dream of starting to pay tuition for your children’s education from the first grade on? Did it even enter your mind that your child wouldn’t be able to attend the nearest public school, because they’d spend a third or more of their day reading, while the children of foreign nationals got 100% of the teacher’s attention?
Did you dream of your local school system providing 75% (Los Angeles), 80% (Santa Ana) or 90% (Fresno) of the lunches for the students that attend, because the parents know that you will foot the bill?
Did you dream that over 90% of the babies delivered in your county hospital, would be the children of foreign nationals? Did you dream that over 75% of the other services at those hospitals would be provided to foreign nationals? Did you dream of seven hospitals in your area closing because there were so many poor people and foreign nationals demanding services, that they couldn’t stay in business? Did you dream that the services provided by the other hospitals in your area, would deteriorate so noticeably due to unfounded services they must provide?
Did your dream include roughly 35% of the schools in your state failing the President’s No Child Left Behind mandate, mostly because they were full of children who couldn’t speak English? Did you dream of your local public school system being inundated by so many new students each year, that they simply could not humanly build enough new schools, fast enough, to house them all?
Did your dream include your state’s jail and prison system having to house roughly double the illegal aliens by percentage, compared to U.S. citizens?
Did your dream include citizens of a foreign nation becoming involved in your nation’s elections?
Did you ever dream of your fellow citizens having to lock themselves inside their homes, essentially becoming a prisoner there, while citizens of a foreign nation rifled their belongings each night, killing pets, stealing anything not nailed down?
Did your dream envision a time when by 2015 60 to 75 million foreign nationals would have flooded onto your nation’s soil?
Did you dream of a time when kids would have a hard time finding those entry level jobs you and I did? Did you dream of a time when fellow citizens would be unable to find jobs, due to the employment of foreign nationals?
Did your dream include handing all this off to your children, grandchildren and future generations?
I mentioned my background earlier, because there’s one thing about me that I want people to know. I’ve seen it in a lot of other people too. Don’t shuck and jive me about the positive effects of illegal immigration. There’s still apart of the country boy in me, and those folks can spot a pile of manure from quite a ways away.
Did you ever dream, that your elected officials in Washington, D.C., would seek every way possible to facilitate this? Did you ever dream that folks claiming to be conservatives, the ones you should be looking to for help with this issue, would instead seek to force this dream upon you?
Was this your American Dream? Well, for many people, the American Dream has become to a varying degree, an American Nightmare. Sadly, this nightmare is different than every other nightmare you’ve had. I am sad to say to you my fellow citizens of the Republic of the United States of America, this one won’t end until others wake up.
Illegal Immigration Has Proven to Be a Divisive Issue for the Two of You
http://www.hotr.us/articles/ii050216.pdf
By the Wave of His Hand
http://www.hotr.us/articles/ii050217wave.pdf
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
and it is time to do just that, Wake up!
Thanks DoughtyOne..
...and criminality?
Thank you!
Jim, both you and I agree that every person on the planet is created equal. We also must realize that every person is subject to reasoned laws. I have no reason to believe that our laws are unjust, or that our nation is abusing God's will by enacting those reasoned laws.
Jesus said, "Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's." If a Jew in Jesus day, occupied by a foreign nation, could encourage his citizens to respect the laws of that occupying force, I would submit we could honor our nation's laws as long as they are reasoned.
Allowing one nation's citizens PREFERENCE over all others when it comes to access to this nation, is in itself very problematic for me. It is biased.
Yeah, kinda. And don't forget to mention a countryside not dotted and pockmarked by Walmarts and Targets selling the always abundant "Made in China" goods.
As a side note, I think W's guest worker initiative has a good purpose: To take the strain off border guards and thereby allow them to hunt-down those who want to sneak into America to do us harm. Plus if an American doesn't want to take out the trash at Joe's Bar and Grill in San Diego, I couldn't care as long as said Mexican is fingerprinted and ID'ed upon entry, obeys the law, and promptly leaves when said time expires.
Yes, people ought to stand in line like all the others.
I agree. For illegal immigrants, their time expired when their first foot hit U.S. soil.
Dear DoughtyOne,
Thank you for trying to define the American Dream, a welcome topic. But I have to add one caveat: I don't mind whoever comes to our shores as long as they don't expect to receive any welfare, food stamps, medical care for free, social security, etc. How can we blame the eternal poor for coming here when we line their pockets with our gold? The system is so broken I don't believe we can fix it anymore, thus the dissension on our own FR.
Again, there would be no "illegal problem" if there were zero handouts...just like in the days when my grandparents had to be sponsored and have jobs if they wanted entrance to our soil. They followed the rules. They prospered.
End entitlements for all immigrants legal and illegal and the problem will end.
The Westerner
Thank you for the comments. I will bow out now and let others discuss what I have written.
Illegal immigrants should be fingerprinted, photographed, and documented and unceremoniously ejected from the U.S. of A. and told that if they ever come bak illegally they can give birth to 90 days in jail and another unceremonious expulsion.
I just wanted to get your reaction to my idea which is to reverse American culture 150 years. I can dream, can't I?
Well done!
Subtle is not your middle name -
Now I'll have to email this thread URL out and use it to bring more good FReepers.
Very nice.
I can't add anything here.
It matters to some.
It's no "big deal" to others.
We shall see who prevails in this country politically over this. This debate will chart our course.
My wife and I are attending a dinner roundtable March 6th here in Nashville with Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn (my district) and Congressman James Sensenbrenner Jr to discuss precisely this issue.
Thanks for the ping!
AMEN!!!
I understand Vicente Fox has printed them pamphlets to aid their immigration here, and is suing our governments to insure their continued welfare.
I lost another tile job to some fellows who speak no engles y tambien left large holes in the owners' countertop.
But the owners only see them half the year as the other half they're up with Patty Murray.
But I am certain they do not actually vote twice.
Well I am poquito certain.
But I am not complaining, ya lo creo.
Wait till Mrs Clinton gets elected and you will be paying for healthfare too!
The Privileged Few
DoughtyOne
02/19/05
http://www.hotr.us/articles/ii050219privfew.pdf
The day starts early when you are poor, and live in a nation without much hope. Your dwelling is sub-par. It’s too hot or too cold most of the time. The food supply is lacking. Neither you nor your family members are well nourished. This has been the norm for generations.
The government is of little help. Natural resources have been tapped and there’s money being made, but it’s not making its way down to the average citizen. Crime is a problem. Health is a problem.
Gang activity is on the rise. Drug lords are not uncommon and crossing one is something you avoid with a passion.
If you’re lucky the world’s middle class has found places nearby where they can vacation. Perhaps someone you know will get a job in one of these resorts, and a small handout may come your way. It’s one of the few options available to you.
You dream of escaping the poverty, moving on to another nation to start over, achieve the dreams others have realized.
Your political leaders are indifferent. They sound off every once in a while, just to let you know how much they care. You have been aware of how much they cared for most of your life. They don’t.
Other governments seem to play along with your government. They act as if they are friends, but it’s fairly obvious they loathe each other. There’s no demand from foreign government leaders, for your leaders to help you.
You don’t have much education. Your children don’t have much education. You are nearly functionally illiterate in your own nation. Your functionality in any other nation would be almost nonexistent. None the less you dream of a chance to try.
Then one day you face reality. It’s time to bundle the family up, and move to a new nation. It’s a nation where dreams are fulfilled. It’s a nation that will lend a helping hand. It’s a nation you will never reach. You are not one of the privileged few.
All over this tired old planet are people who starve, watch their children starve, watch their neighbors starve, live and die, seldom if ever knowing a good healthy meal. Hundreds of millions if not billions live under the threat of starvation and extreme poverty. None of them live in a nation by the United States.
Each year three million people from a nation that does not see it’s citizens dying from hunger, are traveling across the border of the United States, ahead of others who are experiencing real tragedy on a daily basis.
Extreme poverty exists in India, Sri Lanka and Asia. Extreme poverty does not generally exist in Mexico. When the charge is made that we must extend a helping hand to the Mexican national, it’s basically a canard. While there are undoubtedly poor in Mexico, by our standards, by other places in the worlds standard, Mexicans are the privileged few. They are the privileged few that push their way in line ahead of every other nation’s citizens on the planet.
Over the last fifteen years, tens of millions of people have died around the world, looking for a decent meal, a chance to continue living. Where are the articles addressing the Mexican nationals among them?
When people advance the theory that Mexican nationals must be helped, it’s just a feel good excuse for them to think they’ve done something magnificent. Sadly, the tens of billions of dollars they cost our nation, could actually have been used to help more deserving people, but let’s not concern ourselves about that.
If we really think that it’s important that we help unfortunates around the world, how about we help those who may not be alive weeks from now, instead of helping those who will be around for years to come, sapping this nation dry?
We are allowing one nation’s citizens a special dispensation that is the ultimate insult to justice. While other’s die, we allow these people to abuse our nation like no other people before. I happen to think that is terribly wrong.
Illegal Immigration Has Proven to Be a Divisive Issue for the Two of You
http://www.hotr.us/articles/ii050216.pdf
By the Wave of His Hand
http://www.hotr.us/articles/ii050217wave.pdf
An American Dream?
http://www.hotr.us/articles/ii050218dream.pdf
TW, Sure there would. Maybe not as many, but a great many. Most of the illegal immigrants are hard working people who would do better without the bums they bring along. But, they are STILL illegal. And thus, just don't belong in a "nation of laws". And, they WILL create the nation of the "elite's" personal whims of the day that they left. That's where we're headed. And illegal immigration is very much an enabling factor fot the "elite" who would run this country as all others in the world are run.
D1, THANKS!!!! Peace and love, George.
Great read DO, thanks. Blackbird.
next essay title? :
http://pro.lookingat.us/CaliforniaDreaming.mid
The Run Of The "Free-Boarders"?
Dang, why can't folks remember this says 'PURSUIT', not----inevitable...If politicians did, maybe they'd stop stealing from those who pursued it and gained it?????????
Here ya go, D1. Great essay, keep 'em coming.
We could make them legal with amnesty.
and by doing that encouraging more illegals to break into our country. Where does it stop?
We could make them all legal. I was facetiously pointing out the fact that the distinction between legal and illegal is a matter of the ink drying on a piece of paper.
Fair enough.
"End entitlements for all immigrants legal and illegal and the problem will end."
End all entitlement period and there won't be any job "that Americans won't do"!
We're living the Mexican Nightmare.
If you arrived on the soil of the United States without an invitation, you don't qualify.
What is an invited guest?
It ain't a "pile of manure" if it's true. ILLEGAL aliens are IMO invited guests. I lived overseas in the 1980s. The few I talked to where the subject came up the attitude was that you just went to the U.S. and that was that. Though I suppose a majority including the ones I sponsored went through the INS procedures.
With wink, winks and nudge, nudges our leaders, business and government, talked law but decreed that that there is no law and all are more than welcome to come.
Did you ever dream, that your elected officials in Washington, D.C., would seek every way possible to facilitate this? Did you ever dream that folks claiming to be conservatives, the ones you should be looking to for help with this issue, would instead seek to force this dream upon you?
You say the same about our leaders. I only suggest that no matter what happens -- deportation or acceptance -- that those who are not trouble makers be cut a little slack. Yes, they all knew that there really was a law but Hey! if the Americans don't care then . . . .
(FR Open Border Opinion Poll captured on 13 Feb, 2005 at 10:00 PM EST)
Free Republic Opinion Poll: Please indicate whether or not you support or oppose open borders and illegal immigration.
| Composite Opinion | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| I OPPOSE open borders and illegal immigration. | 94.4% |   |
4,020 |
| I SUPPORT open borders and illegal immigration. | 2.9% | |
125 |
| Undecided/Pass. | 2.7% | |
115 |
| 100.0% | 4,260 | ||
| Member Opinion | |||
| I OPPOSE open borders and illegal immigration. | 94.3% | |
2,954 |
| Undecided/Pass. | 3.4% | |
105 |
| I SUPPORT open borders and illegal immigration. | 2.3% | |
73 |
| 100.0% | 3,132 | ||
| Non-Member Opinion | |||
| I OPPOSE open borders and illegal immigration. | 94.5% | |
1,066 |
| I SUPPORT open borders and illegal immigration. | 4.6% | |
52 |
| Undecided/Pass. | 0.9% | |
10 |
| 100.0% | 1,128 | ||
They don't and they aren't and the illegal invasion continues to go unopposed.
The concern is not about how much Americans can aid the starving citizens of Mexico, the concern is how much Americans can make off of them once they get here.
Over $420 BILLION is lost in American tax revenue each year from employers paying for illegal Mexican labor "under-the-table."
That would pave a lot of roads here in this country.
And it will be a beautiful day when other nations start to realize this and emulate our success. Until then, there's just not enough room here to house the rest of the world until they figure this out.
The fact is, U.S. citizens do send aid to Mexico. Many religious organizations operate missions inside Mexico. They help clothe, feed and educate Mexican children. Physicians Without Borders go down there and perform surgeries and provide other normal forms of heathcare for the citizens for free. If there's a natural disaster down there, our nation probably provides as much or more than the Mexican government does. If not, it is still quite significant.
Of course you've touched on a sore point, with regard to what citizens and business do with regard to this issue. I'll morph the story of the fish...
Just about everyone knows the story of the providing a poor person with a fish, rather than teaching them to fish. Here's what we do. We have four fish with which to feed our family. We take one of those fish and give it to the Mexican national in the U.S. We could have taught him how to fish in Mexico, thereby not only providing him with fish but also keeping the food necessary to feed our own family, and additionally providing a source for other Mexicans to obtain fish at home. We short circuit every positive aspect of the Mexican economy by doing what we do.
If U.S. businesses and citizens had half a clue, which they have proven without a doubt that they don't, they would still send some amounts of aide in the short term, but more importantly launch a start-up business campaign that would see the Mexican economy transformed in little under a decade. Literally tens of thousands of start up businesses would see Mexico's citizens working, rising in economic standing, providing a better education for their kids, and living a much more productive healthy life, withn a proud and thriving Mexico. We make this all but impossible.
Yes, the dirty little secret is that this is about more bucks in the pockets of business owners, the social problems persuant, not their concern.'
Yes, the undergound economy is alive and well. U.S. taxpayers are pleased as punch to facilitate it, while they run up bills their great great grandchildren will be writing the checks to cover.
Well written and well reasoned. I too have lived in the "dream" this article explains. In my district, schools almost closed down because the wealthy kids could not afford to live where their parents did. The schools were "saved" by immigrants, (many illegal, and no I don't know how I know) these immigrants found a way to live in the expensive area, they lived two and three families to a home, and they do the maid, gardner, maintenance, and hotel work in the area. They also wait on curbs and take drive up work of all kinds for low wages.
Citizens have tried to pass legislation to curb the rights of immigrants, and it has been found to be unconstitutional at a state level to do this. It will go to the Supreme Court one day and will be upheld, it is a matter of time because of the reasons outlined in Doughty's article.
Where we went wrong was in reducing citizen birth rates. The US birth rate is at 2.0, barely maintaining our population size. This opened the door to other cultures/countries where living in crowded conditions was acceptable. Our social security system was based on a scheme where there were larger numbers entering the work force than there were retiring from it and drawing benefits. Our business system looks for workers and labor jobs will take the workers willing to work for the least, (or minimum wage). Our collectivist citizens are faced with an increasingly conservative electorate and are hopeful that immigrants willing to register and vote will support their side. Except for the negative issues raised above, the two political parties each see a benefit from immigrants, and are thankful that these immigrants are not part of the radical Islamic rising, or at least the majority of them. Other democracies, like in Europe, are faced with the same issues of declining population -- threatening their economies--and they are opening the doors to radical Islam. This creates additional problems for them and shows another potential problem facing the US.
This is an issue that deserves a critical debate and approval of a carefully reasoned solution that recognizes all of the issues in play.
FYI
The FAIR website (click on Immigration in Your Backyard - What is it Doing to Your State) shows the impact of illegal immigration on each individual state. It's not good, and will only get worse until existing immigration laws are actually enforced.
Marking for future read. BTW, what is the correct pronunciation of "Doughty?" Thanks.
The equivelent of 64 fully loaded commercial airline passenger jets full of illegal migrants cross into the United States from Mexico every day.
One must ask why.
I have only heard of one answer that anywhere comes close to making sense.
BTTT for later read - thanks!
Great post. Another one saved to floppy.
in my family it is - dow tee
I was close. Thanks.
The way it looks now, Hitlery anticipated the ranks of the GOP would oppose Bush on this and she's poised to move in for the kill.
Yo hablo Spanglish, tambien. See post no. 49.
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