Posted on 05/18/2007 8:09:21 PM PDT by chronotrigger
The forth century A.D., the century in which Rome began its irreversible decline; massive invasion and balkanization -once ignored because of a prosperous economy- killed the greatest empire in world history. In a similar sense, such is the fate of America - once ignored issues suddenly rising like the reaper to claim payment for the ignorance and apathy of its populace. America may have reached such a moment in her history - when her years of apathy have come back to rob her of her latter years of stability.
As I learned of this amnesty yesterday, I must say that I was overcome by two conflicting feelings - shock and unsurpise, if that’s even an emotion, or a word. Unsurprised in the sense that I expected such a thing to happen eventually, shocked in the since that it happened so soon. Much in the same way that all people realize that their own death is one day a certainty, but most people would also be surprised if told it would happen to them tomorrow. I realized this in its entirety just yesterday and the feeling still hasn’t lessened. I can barely compose myself enough to write something intelligible (yeah, I‘m upset at what has happened and I am not ashamed to admit it). However, I believe that the following points will make what I’m trying to say a little clearer.
Predictions for the future:
1) America will become a one party state (Democratic) which, like China, will be essentially a no party state. Liberals will find this situation agreeable, to put it blandly…for a while, until corruption and tyranny emerge - which is the destiny of all one party states; 1933-145 Germany, the Soviet Union, Mexico (for a long time it was dominated by only one party), etc. - all one party states at one time, all occupying the 2nd circle of hell.
2) The GOP cannot and will not attract enough Hispanic votes to offset the massive flood of new voters into the Democratic party, not without: 1) openly and forcefully advocating massive annual increases in Mexican immigration 2) openly and forcefully advocating ethnic entitlements 3) dropping “English is the national language” 4)…well, I think you get the point.
3) The number of hate crime laws will increase - perhaps, one day, becoming thought crime laws, de facto. In any balkanized society, all potential points of tension must be eliminated in order to avoid violence and conflict. In other words - free expression will be limited in the future - see Fahrenheit 451; many people falsely see this book as an attack on the right wing - not so, it is fairly balanced…see the parts where Captain Beatty explains to Montag why books were banned (books potentially being a metaphor for contentious speech that might upset some minority of people).
4) The last remnants of American culture will disappear as now legal-illegal aliens are able to move to any state they wish without limitation. Imagine South Carolina as present, actually a very beautiful Southern state. Now imagine 500,000 people waving Mexican flags through the streets ten years from now - hardly something you would think as indigenous to the culture of South Carolina - thanks Lindsey Graham! Think that’s impossible? Well, just look at the way Georgia is going, with massive numbers of immigrants changing the culture of the state - and Tennessee, where the mayor of Nashville refused to recognize English as the official language on the premise that it was discriminatory to ‘immigrants’, which are pouring into the state - it is even happening in Louisiana, North Carolina, and Alabama (recently there, illegal aliens present everywhere in the town I grew up in - in many places, no longer ‘the heart of Dixie,’ sad really, gone is another unique element of American culture ). It has already happened, in part, to Florida - a once Southern state (actually, the full brunt has yet to reach it, but it will)…and it will happen elsewhere. My point? If it has happened to the once culturally unified South and you happen to be living somewhere else, somewhere like Colorado or Oregon…you are screwed. It will happen there too. There is no hope for this county; we have passed the point of no return. “Empire” is the best description of what we are presently, not “nation” as it has been.
As far as I know, America, unlike other nations, has no culture minister - sad. Rather than promote and encourage our own culture, we sacrificed it in the name of quick material gain.
5) 2008 will be the last time the GOP has a realistic shot at national office. No matter what the GOP tries to do in an attempt to lure Hispanics, they will fail - even if they attract 40%, they lose.
6) America will become more oppressive in general. Tense times ahead.
7) If the economy, for some reason, ever collapsed in this ever more diverse society…“Iraq part 2” might become an applicable phrase.
8) Republicans will brainwash themselves into accepting this amnesty bill, to their everlasting detriment.
The Western Roman Empire was never able to recover from its woes; I get the feeling that America won’t either. I don’t believe this is too pessimistic a view, but instead, a big dose of a bitter tasting reality.
The Sky is falling! We’re Dooomed!!!
This is good.
Anyways, we ain't dead yet and if anybody can stop it, it's Americans.
That said, I am VERY scared for the future of this country.
I’m curious about the reasons you think this is unlikely.
Good post. This also reminds me of Virgil’s Aeneid book 2, in which the Trojans were so eager to pull the Trojan Horse into their walls.
Maybe if our senators were better educated, they would think about the painful lessons learned in the past. Or even the lessons of Amnesty 1986.
Ironically, there were instances of Romans acting on such mentalities; in 475 A.D. the Roman government naively surrendered the town of Clermont to the barbarians with the understanding that they would, in exchange, relinquish the important towns of Arles and Marseille. They miscalculated and lost Clermont, Arles, and Marseille forever. They simply couldn’t fathom the notion of the future being any different from the past, in other words “losing.”
America’s political, social and economic culture is far stronger than you are giving it credit for. The left might be ascendant for a while, but they will overreach, they always do. And when they do they lose like they did in 1968, 1972, 1980, or 1984. They’ve won a majority in a presidential election four times in 60 years (1948, 1960, 1964, 2000). That is not the record of an unstoppable juggernaut
More to the point, You underestimate the effect of American culture on immigrants, both legal and illegal.
This rampant pessimism on FR is for the birds...
How many years did it take for Mexico to lose Texas? 10 years of uncontrolled immigration from the U.S. til the Alamo? 15 to lose California, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington in the Mexican-American war? History repeats itself in reverse.
This is, of course, precisely the mentality that made the 1920’s the hey day of the KKK. The WOPs were driving everybody nuts. I just learned that WOP was an acronym for without papers. Now Italians are running the House and may elect a president. They passed strict quotas for immigration ion 1924, and the melting pot did its magic. It probably will again. At least, the Europeans are watching to see how we do it. And, the Indians are luring their people back home.
Agree with you on the larger point. This deal is garbage and belongs en la basura...
And General Santa Anna is smiling in his grave.
Come spend some time with me in L.A.
Incorrect. The Eastern Roman Empire limped along until it eventually fell in 1453 (Byzantine Empire)* , the traditional Roman Empire (the west) fell nearly 1000 years before - which had disastrous effects upon many in the former empire, Britain devolved to a lower state than before Rome’s arrival: “Like wheel-turned pottery, coinage, once common, had effectively disappeared from fifth - a sixth- century Britain.”*
*“…how the East managed to resist very similar external pressure. Here, I believe, it was primarily good fortune, rather than innately greater strength, that was decisive.” Brian Ward-Perkins “The fall of Rome and the end of civilization” Hardcover page 58.
*page 112
“America’s political, social and economic culture is far stronger than you are giving it credit for.”
Every system has a breaking point. Tens of millions of immigrants over just a few decades might just do it.
Sorry, but when you’re not even allowed to celebrate Columbus day without having “Indian Genocide” mentioned by protestors, among many many other things, it is not unreasonable to assume that something has gone wrong with the system.
“The left might be ascendant for a while, but they will overreach, they always do.”
That’s pie in the sky. You’re assuming people vote based on reason and logic, not emotion and group think - which is often the case. For example, blacks, on average, are more conservative than other Americans on issues such as gay marriage - but they vote democratic 9 to 1 (and always will). As the Hispanic population booms, republicans will need to garner a large portion of that vote in order to win federal offices nationally (the presidency in particular). In order to do that, they will have to embrace issues that will fundamentally alter the GOP - and even then it may not be enough.
“More to the point, You underestimate the effect of American culture on immigrants, both legal and illegal.
No, I think it is you who underestimate the affect of massive numbers of immigrants on American culture. You make the most common fallacy possible when it comes to understanding immigration: assuming that the past equals the future. There is a difference between the immigration eras of the early 1900s and the new immigration era of today. The former era consisted of large numbers of Europeans - 1) people who could easily blend in 2) were forced to assimilate in order to survive. The latter is composed of immigrants who are 1) ethnically very different, which on a subconscious level affects how others perceive them “Race matters to 3-month-olds, studies find” http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/060212_racefrm2.htm 2) have entire Spanish language television networks, newspapers, radio programs, and communities where they can be free not to assimilate.
You and others are seeing what you want to believe, not the truth.
“Duped and Clueless: How Easily We Fool Ourselves” http://www.livescience.com/health/051006_choice_blindness.html
“People see what they believe, not vice versa,” http://www.livescience.com/health/070228_moral_outrage.html
“Democrats and Republicans Both Adept at Ignoring Facts, Study Finds” http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/060124_political_decisions.html
“Democrats and Republicans alike are adept at making decisions without letting the facts get in the way, a new study shows. And they get quite a rush from ignoring information that's contrary to their point of view.” “The test subjects on both sides of the political aisle reached totally biased conclusions by ignoring information that could not rationally be discounted, Westen and his colleagues say. Then, with their minds made up, brain activity ceased in the areas that deal with negative emotions such as disgust. But activity spiked in the circuits involved in reward, a response similar to what addicts experience when they get a fix, Westen explained. The study points to a total lack of reason in political decision-making.”
They’ve won a majority in a presidential election four times in 60 years (1948, 1960, 1964, 2000). That is not the record of an unstoppable juggernaut
Again, falsely asserting that the past equals the future. America was a different country then. Tell me, how many times has the republican candidate for the presidency carried the state of California, a state that now has no majority ethnicity and a very large Latino population, since 1988? If you’re having a hard time answering, I’ll just give you the answer in short: ZERO times. Outside of nominating an aging celebrity from a terminator movie to serve as a token republican in a state dominated on every level by democrats, republicans have no chance there…which will be the case nationally at some point. What you’ve asserted is specious and plainly absurd. You can believe in “Pie in the Sky” fantasies if you want, but they aren’t even close to being true.
I think you’d be hard pressed to find much history of Mexico owning Oregon and Washington.
LA is the dividing line. People who lived there for a long time get it, people who were born there like my friend B.A. can’t believe the change. Even from the time I first arrived, 1980, until now, the changes are pretty stark. And they are accelerating.
“Now Italians are running the House and may elect a president.”
I knew it! It ain’t the Islamists, it’s the Dagos!
CWII Ping.
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