Posted on 06/03/2013 11:39:11 AM PDT by jazusamo
One of the many sad signs of our times is the way current immigration issues are discussed. A hundred years ago, the immigration controversies of that era were discussed in the context of innumerable facts about particular immigrant groups. Many of those facts were published in a huge, multi-volume 1911 study by a commission headed by Senator William P. Dillingham.
That and other studies of the time presented hard data on such things as which groups' children were doing well in school and which were not; which groups had high crime rates or high rates of alcoholism, and which groups were over-represented among people living on the dole.
Such data and such differences still exist today. Immigrants from some countries are seldom on welfare but immigrants from other countries often are. Immigrants from some countries are typically people with high levels of education and skills, while immigrants from other countries seldom have much schooling or skills.
Nevertheless, many of our current discussions of immigration issues talk about immigrants in general, as if they were abstract people in an abstract world. But the concrete differences between immigrants from different countries affect whether their coming here is good or bad for the American people.
The very thought of formulating immigration laws from the standpoint of what is best for the American people seems to have been forgotten by many who focus on how to solve the problems of illegal immigrants, "living in the shadows."
A recent column in the Wall Street Journal titled "What Would Milton Friedman Say?" tried to derive what the late Professor Friedman "would no doubt regard as the ideal outcome" as far as immigration laws were concerned.
(Excerpt) Read more at creators.com ...
Specific equals racism to a liberal; abstract cannot harm any one group of immigrants.
Sowell need to read this in front of the republicans in the House & Senate.
Agreed, in fact several times to try to pound it into their heads.
Correct. Once wouldn’t suffice.
However, modern "immigration reformers" adamantly remain obtuse to simple arithmetical facts. That is that since the fiasco of "1965 Immigration Reform," the numbers of immigrants has grown immensely. E.G., over 35 million legal Mexicans. The new "immigration reformers" also refuse to deal with the true number of illegal aliens here. The ludicrous official number is 11 million! I will bet many pesos that there are more illegals than that in Southern California alone.
How the hell can this be compared to 1 million Poles, or Greeks, or a half-million Norwegians, or 3 million Jews, 5 million Italians, or 3 million Irish? Combine'em all, throw in a few Swedes and 3 million Germans, and one still falls far short of the number of legal Mexicans. In fact, all those immigrants from 1895 forward do not equal the number of legal, illegal Mexicans and other Latinos, who now form very close to 1/3 of the US population.
Since when did the instructions on your new blender have to be in Polish? Swedish? Italian? Earlier immigrants had to communicate, for better or worse in English, at least with the numerous members of ethnic groups other than their own.
There are now cities and towns all over America where English is becoming unnecessary in daily life. Spanish is the primary language.
Add in a timeline. 100 years for Europeans, and 50 years for the Latinos. Your children will live in the new world's northernmost Latin American country.
Sorry, but that ain't a good thing. If you don't believe, go live and work in Mexico for 6 months, as I have, and report back to us.
” However, modern “immigration reformers” adamantly remain obtuse to simple arithmetical facts. That is that since the fiasco of “1965 Immigration Reform,” the numbers of immigrants has grown immensely. E.G., over 35 million legal Mexicans. The new “immigration reformers” also refuse to deal with the true number of illegal aliens here. The ludicrous official number is 11 million! I will bet many pesos that there are more illegals than that in Southern California alone. “
LaRaza claims 7 million in California alone.
” There are now cities and towns all over America where English is becoming unnecessary in daily life. Spanish is the primary language.
Add in a timeline. 100 years for Europeans, and 50 years for the Latinos. Your children will live in the new world’s northernmost Latin American country.”
That is the plan, with many Republicans touting amnesty.
Thomas Sowell should be required reading in all American high schools.
This is a problem which seems to be the biggest we are facing and it involves those horrible repub congressmen and senators. It’s happening as we are trying to find out what’s going on in the admin with the scandals
They are not approaching this with any brains and we deserve more we have the right to more from our elected officials whom we hire to represent us to protect and defend the constitution
This may or may not be to try for Hispanic votes but it is to secure corp votes
We get treated so poorly in favor of span speakers in the stores and out and about
Don’t forget about those greedy folks who look at bottom line over constitution which protects them and us ultimately
It’s not just Free stuff America whose gimme attitudes are danger to our country’s principals it’s these people NOT representing the interests of the founders and therefore our future and our kids’ future
Dr. Sowell is100% on this, as usual. It just takes thought with principal in mind and our reps are treacherously absent from duty on this
Those greedy folks are Harvard MBAs and that school has been well left of center for decades, hasn’t?
The Left’s plan is coming together, unfortunately.
The storekeepers toss us under the bus for retail money they think its fine its capitalism. No we are a nation of laws and principls who recognize capitalism and free market affords us the best not a big market society who throws under the bus people who are of this country but don’t come racing through en masse spending wildly for the moment
This is horrible that veterans and people who built this place the illegals are using are tossed aside because we don’t represent a strong temporary demographic
Enough with the greed
They are very bad
New immigrant citizens vote 80% for the Democrat Party.
I’m just noticing the catch, why the rubies want them other than stupidity. The people who want their money and chea labor don’t vote dem ESP if the GOP hands them silver platter.
Political suicide...especially when these useful eaters (Pubbies supporting amnesty) are no longer needed. The $$ will dry up and quickly go directly to a Dim opponent.
Agree. They are all myopic on this and that is unacceptable for leading a country. They’re acting like CEOs or cfos. Unacceptable for what we hire th for too much corruption.
I thought David North was the only scholar who was aware of that.
Sowell knows his stuff!
Good article you linked, thanks.
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