Cultural Suicide

LewRockwell ^ | 07/19/01 | Christopher Manion

[FreedomFriend]

Arguments for "legalizing" the millions of Mexicans illegally in this country abound in economic references to the "shortfall" of low-wage workers legally available. They also invoke certain mantras favorably comparing the Mexicans with the millions of Irish, Italians, Bohemians, and others who arrived legally during the immigration waves of the early twentieth century.

Both of these approaches are off the mark. They amount to "argument by assertion," and they ignore fundamental, unavoidable, and indelible realities. Putting aside the romanticism of the mythical saga of our immigrant forefathers, and the reductionist approach addressing only homo economicus, certain central elements emerge that we cannot ignore. They distinguish the Mexican immigration from its European counterparts, and put the economic arguments into proper – and uncomfortable – perspective.

Briefly stated, the legalization of this illegal alien population amounts to American cultural suicide (because it is done intentionally, rather than by accident) and a political disaster. Both of these elements deserve more than a passing glance; they deserve a depth of analysis commensurate with the gravity of their impact.

Both dimensions are inextricably intertwined, and their consequences are profound. "Legalization’s’ disastrous consequences will not be visited so much on one party, or one ideological faction, rather than another. The damage is deeper, far more abiding, and irreversible by any future election or other invocation of the political process. It will powerfully contribute to the ruin of our free society and rule of law.

Every society before Aristotle recognized and underscored the importance of good habits to social survival and prosperity. Aristotle gave these habits names – virtues. He delineated certain virtues required of a polis, virtues known to us all, because they have remained virtually unchanged for the past two millennia.

The Christian era brought to the formula the indispensable and unprecedented truth that government must be limited – not merely an "improvement" on Aristotle, but a radical "leap" (to use Voegelin’s insightful term) that could not be reversed. Augustine most thoroughly articulated the Christian concept of the limited state in the City of God, basing it on metaphysics (the hierarchy of being – God above all else), and the hierarchy and end (telos) of the human psyche (the soul’s highest purpose, its eternal destiny in heaven or hell, could not be achieved by politics, and so the individual must be allowed the freedom to save his soul, and all the purposes of the state are subordinate to that goal, which is beyond politics).

These preambles to politics, based on a goal of man that is beyond politics, are imbedded deep in the Western psyche, and are fundamental to America’s founding. They are indispensable to the history, the institutions, and the rationale of freedom.

Mexico, I am afraid, does not have them. Zip. Zero. Nada. Eighty years ago, these values were hatefully scorned, abandoned, and persecuted by the PRI – the "Instituitonal Revolutionary Party" – the very name is a parody, hilarious and sick, a cynical invocation of Hegelian "movement of the concept" that Mao only later celebrated in his classic On Contradiction.

Personal disclaimer: I have lived on both sides of the border. I worked on the first hearings on U.S.-Mexican relations in years in the U.S. Senate (1986), much to the chagrin and rage of the PRI, which spent millions to stop them. Those hearings, and the change that they forced in the abysmal policy of the U.S. State Department towards Mexico, caused an eventual eruption in Mexico itself.

The PRI did not go quietly. They killed presidential candidates. They killed Roman Catholic cardinals. They relied increasingly on their long-existing allies, the huge "criminal" drug gangs, to perpetuate their iron-fisted rule.

To this day, I cannot travel to Mexico, which fact raises an interesting point about another preamble to politics, the rule of law. Mexico doesn’t have one.

Ask any friend, business associate, or investor who has a stake in Mexico: "What do you do if you have a difference of opinion with the union, with the local authorities that govern property ownership, with the treasury police?"

Not one of them will tell you, "Why, you go to court, if you have to."

Not one. No, they will say, "You do everything in your power to work it out without resorting to the courts or to the police."

"How do you do that," you might inquire.

"Bribes."

Mordida, the life’s blood of Mexican life. Corruption, so thorough that it is reflected in the paltry salaries made by public employees because they are expected to make up the difference in the bribes that they exact from the poor slobs whose lives rely on their administrative decisions.

"Hagamos una cosa," shouted the man who had caused a fender-bender near my Mexico City apartment one night, as the police arrived (and the staccato tak tak tak of his young female companion’s high-heels disappeared into the dark night).

"Let’s make a deal."

Mexicans never travel without an appreciable amount of money, because they must always be prepared to pay bribes at a moment’s notice. The alternative could be jail without end, without trial, without any justification. If, later, you can afford a lawyer good enough to extricate you from such a situation (with bribes, of course), you can certainly afford the up-front bribes that would prevent it – and the sum total required would be appreciably smaller.

Mexicans – even the good, hard-working, moral, Catholic family men and women that every American employer hopes to hire -- have been taught that government, and even an appreciable chunk of social life, is run on the mordida, the payoff.

The illustrations, analysis, and documentation could fill a vast series of scholarly books. I have often wondered why they have not been written. Businessmen and Mexican nationals documented hundreds of horror stories to me personally – as long as they remained secret. Their businesses, even their lives, depended on it.

Even the financial press has avoided the issue (and the Wall Street Journal even invited a former Mexican president to join its parent company’s board. Is that why Bob Bartley keeps beating the drum for evisceration of the border?) For years the prestige press has avoided even the discussion of constant seizures of Mexican property held by Americans, of commercial kidnappings (they’ll laugh at you in Mexico City if you wear a suit and hail an unknown cab on the street), of blackmail by union thugs who plague the maquilladoras, the thousands of American-owned enterprises near the U.S. border in northern Mexico.

The reader can draw his own conclusions. Whatever scholars and journalists decide to do, let us asses what the average Mexican coming "illegally" into the U.S. will do.

First of all, we must underscore the fact that, as far as the illegal Mexican is concerned, he is here "legally." That is, he has paid all his bribes, to the coyote who spirited him across the border, to the petty official in his hometown who would otherwise plague his family, and to the contact in the U.S. who will supply him with a false ID and bogus Social Security number. He has done all this according to the only legal code he knows: playing the system, and bribes. He is as legal as he knows how to be.

And nobody here bothers to "upgrade" his conception of the rule of law.

So we see our newly-arrived neighbor and see an "illegal"; but what does he see, as he surveys his new home?

Diversity. Multiculturalism. No demand, no suggestion, not even a mention of the desirability of learning about, and adopting, the cultural preambles of the politics of freedom – as foreign to him as Urdu is to you and me -- that form the building-blocks of the basic institutions in his newly-adopted "land of the free."

Instead, he finds entire industries (agriculture, hospitality, construction come to mind) geared towards acquiring his services at low cost, teaching him, in fact, how to "play the system" endlessly. He learns to "disappear" just before the thirtieth day on the job, that being the day he would be required to show a green card (he plays tag-team with others in the same situation); he learns to borrow identities, to "max out" on public and private social services, to play the system any way he can. His wife comes in (illegal, bribes paid all around) just in time to have her child born, at U.S. taxpayer expense, at Loma Linda hospital, one of the finest in the world. And now they are the proud parents of – A U.S. citizen!

There are thousands of vendors of lottery tickets walking the streets of the Distrito Federal, known to us as Mexico City. But it is our illegal friends, and their "legal" offspring, who have won the lottery.

We can only observe with arched eyebrows how "the system" has responded to this abuse (from our point of view; remember, they have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams). Instead of acting to curtail it, American institutions have abdicated. They even encourage it.

Brevity being a virtue, I can mention only a few examples: The University of California system suddenly raises the importance of the College Board Achievement Tests, as opposed to the SAT’s; this is a raw and cynical move to defy the voters of California, who resoundingly rejected affirmative action. Now, certain immigrants who would not otherwise qualify for admission, ace the "achievement" test in their native language, notably Spanish, and, bingo gringo, they’re in. An American-born, English-as-first-language applicant (and applicants whose languages are not included in those tests) are bounced for the one who knows how to play the system.

American courts (for another example) rule that illegal aliens have all the rights of American citizens before American courts, and cannot thus be summarily deported because of their criminal records – domestic or foreign.

American private enterprises – entire industries, mind you – actually lobby Congress for the right to hire these "illegals" without changing (legalizing) their status. These enterprises will be in for a rude surprise when they discover that the employee who harasses, discriminates, or doesn’t wash his hands, can make them liable for millions of dollars in a class–action suit, while he immediately becomes eligible for all the rights accorded to an American citizen in his defense – and legal aid societies, unions, and professional race-advocates suddenly emerge from the woodwork.

The politically-correct "cultural diversity" encountered by the newly-arrived neighbor is designed never to be penetrated by any element of the religious, individualist, even (by today’s standards) libertarian culture that greeted my grandfather when he got off the boat from Ireland. While the Feds pretend that is the case, trotting out the symbols and myths of the old rituals, these artifacts have actually been emptied of all content. It’s reminds me of the cynicism of Notre Dame, my alma mater, sending us old alums reams of nostalgia-filled propaganda posing as a representation of today’s university, all as an adornment for fundraising appeals. In fact, hundreds (thousands?) of universities like Notre Dame have now become dependent on government largesse.

Similarly, millions of newly-arrived immigrants have become dependent on government largesse, from the day they arrive. The last vestige of "law and order" is the agent on the border. Get past him (and try enough, and you will – but you’ll dearly pay a new coyote every time), and you’re home free.

This impression is reinforced by President Bush’s amnesty-and-more plan. In fact (but hardly noticed), changing foreigners (who perpetrated over three million "illegal" acts) into "legal" aliens on the road to citizenship constitutes the greatest application of the Presidential Pardon power in U.S. history.

By making such a fundamental crime, millions of times over, "legal" with the wave of a presidential pen, Bush 43 typifies the Mexicanization of the U.S. political system. This is the way the PRI did things for eighty years. That is the way of life – social, economic, cultural, and political – that the Mexicans grew up under for five generations. The rule of law is a decoration, an adornment on the Christmas tree that our policy towards Mexico has become.

Mexicans, by the way, call it the "Pin~ata."

So here is the "contradiction," to return to Mao’s phrase: Our once-Mexican, now newly arrived neighbor, considers himself legal because he has done everything "by the book" – that book being the thoroughly rotten, corrupt, hypocritical, arrogant, anti-American, anti-Catholic (but that’s another story) government and culture that he grew up in – the only book he knows.

He might be puzzled, momentarily, that the U.S. has no institution, book, or representative to tell him, "that’s all behind you now. We do things differently here. Now, let me give you the basics of a free society, a government of the people, rulers who are not above the law…." But his momentary puzzlement, brought on by the innate "desire to know" that Aristotle discovered and described at the beginning of the Metaphysics, succumbs quickly to the practical challenges of everyday life.

So our new neighbor goes forward, unawares that he, and perhaps five, ten, even twenty million others, have so successfully and thoroughly retained the marks of the culture that bore them, that the culture receiving them has abdicated without firing a shot.

(Christopher Manion, a small businessman and former staff director of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere Affairs, often volunteers as a translator for the sheriff, game warden, and state police when they conduct sweeps on the riverfront adjacent to his home in the Shenandoah Valley).

July 19, 2001

Christopher Manion [send him mail] is a small businessman in Virginia, An adjunct lecturer at Christendom College, he has taught ethics at Boston University and is a founding member of the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars.

Copyright © 2001 LewRockwell.com

[FreedomFriend]

I thought that some of you may have wanted a chance to read and comment on this.

[FreedomFriend]

Ping for a Great Read.

[x]

Good article, despite the source. A few questions. 1) Is it too late? Isn't this just another step on the same path we've been on for a generation? 2) What does Rockwellian libertarianism really propose to do about immigration? Isn't Rockwellism just a feel-good mishmash of contradictory ideas that aren't intended to be realized? 3) How comes it that Catholic Mexico doesn't represent Aristolelian ideas and Christian ideals? What went wrong?

[It'salmosttolate]

It is almost too late!

[x]

Good article, despite the source. A few questions. 1) Is it too late? Isn't this just another step on the same path we've been on for a generation? 2) What does Rockwellian libertarianism really propose to do about immigration? How can one champion free markets on everything else but immigration? Isn't Rockwellism just a feel-good mishmash of contradictory ideas that aren't intended to be realized? 3) How comes it that Catholic Mexico doesn't represent Aristolelian ideas and Christian ideals? What went wrong?

[LibWhacker]

I agree, of course. Except it's not cultural suicide (which is bad enough), it's cultural murder. Leftists are not killing their own culture, they're trying to kill ours.

[FITZ]

It is a good article. We need to consider the consequences of bringing in millions of people who don't choose to change their culture and never wish to assimilate. What kind of politicians will they help elect? Our government encourages this now for some reason.

[maxwell]

Ping... Good article. I noticed the author lives in the Shenandoah Valley, presumably Virginia's... Having grown up there, I noticed the rapid Latino influx into that area... Always struck me as kind of odd, that that area would be such a popular settling-point.

[swarthyguy]

Enforce a strict English only law for government, business and general commerce.

Anyone is free to preserve their language and culture after school, on evenings, on weekends.

Take out the multilingual forms, ballots etc.

Why this is considered 'rightwing' amazes me. But the bilingual lobby is so big and has a powerful constituency, that its going to be very hard to get them out of the way.
Most Mexicans understand the way to get ahead is English, but since they aren't required to, why bother.

And, lastly, CRACK DOWN HARD on the BUSINESSES that hire illegals.

Right, now i'm off to see the Wizard....

[FITZ]

Leftists are not killing their own culture, they're trying to kill ours.

They're killing theirs too but they're too dumb to realize it. Supposedly they care about the environment but that's not exactly going to benefit by having millions of people moving into the US every year and many of these people don't care anything about the environment. In Europe and other places, women are forced to wear burkas and live like chattel and European feminists are amazingly silent on that.

[jimkress]

Here is the real link to the article.

[ex-snook]

Thanks for the flag.

Where there is no will there is no way. Our 'service economy' lifestyle needs servants and they need a future for their families. If I were a Mexican, I'd now be in California with my children learning English. What we are witnessing is the end game of the "Death of the West". We have met the enemy and it is us. Demographics rule.

[Consort]

Points to ponder:

• Amnesty will not stop illegal immigration.
• Yet, amnesties and illegal immigration with both continue into the foreseeable future.
• But, illegal immigrants will not be deported — won't happen.
• And a two language nation (like Canada) may very well evolve here.
• Meanwhile, the growing illegal population grows the underground economy.
• And the underground economy is a drain on the national economy.
• A massive subculture is the last thing we need.
• Presently, most illegals live in poverty.
• And people living in poverty are a big Democrat constituancy.
• Illegals, by definition, are fugitives.
• And more and more fugitives will cause more and more problems.
• Therefore, they will be legalized (via amnesty) and they will become voters.
• They will also become tax payers and many will feel the same way about taxes as you and I do.
• Both Bush, and now Gephardt, are "correct" — because it's going to happen.
• The longer it takes, the better the Democrats like it and the more they benefit.
• Which is unfortunate because many Hispanics are not averse to Republican ideals.
• Wishful thinking is a real bummer.
• How many potential voters are we talking about?
• No party can afford to concede that many votes.
• How are we going to deal with this new reality to the benefit of America?

[HumanaeVitae]

A country is a culture. It is not a piece of dirt where people do business. I guess that's why I'm surprised to see something like this on a libertarian website.

[Captainpaintball]

Asolutely First-RateFR Hall of Fame article!!!!

American private enterprises – entire industries, mind you – actually lobby Congress for the right to hire these "illegals" without changing (legalizing) their status. These enterprises will be in for a rude surprise when they discover that the employee who harasses, discriminates, or doesn’t wash his hands, can make them liable for millions of dollars in a class–action suit, while he immediately becomes eligible for all the rights accorded to an American citizen in his defense – and legal aid societies, unions, and professional race-advocates suddenly emerge from the woodwork.

THIS could be the key to stopping this invasion. Use our legal system to make it unprofitable to keep illegals on the payroll. We have millions of lawyers in this country--isn't it safe to say that we have enough Conservative lawyers around to make life very dificult for these illegals?

[ZeitgeistSurfer]

It is too late.

The forces that actually run this country - multinational coporations, the elite media, professional politicians, et al, want this country's core culture to be destroyed. They imagine that this will soldify their ruling position or they just don't care. Only a massive and unexpected revolution from below will stop this and the liklihood of that happening without massive terrorism sparking it is very, very low.

[Mariner]

I'd like a shot at answering the questions posed to FreedomFriend......

1. Yes, it's probably too late to stem the tide. The political will is not present in either of the law-making branches of government. With resident aliens and illegals voting by "facilitation" of the demos and the new interest expressed by the Bush wing of the GOP, it's simply too late to expel them or restrict further illegal immigration.

2. Gee, I didn't know Lew Rockwell had his own, defined branch of political philosophy:)

3. "Aristolelian ideas" and Catholicism are not the same culture.....in fact contrary in many ways. Our "American Culture" was dominated by "The Enlightenment" which placed individual liberty into the realm of "God Given".....(Join "Christian" and "Reason")..literally placing the reins of government firmly in the hands of the people; as represented by the responsible individual and the rule of law, and as opposed to any institution, religious or secular.

To this day we are unique. The next two people confirmed to the Supreme Court will determine whether our great experiment succeeds or fails.

[swarthyguy]

I wish Dubya would step into the crucible and re-nominate Judge Bork. If nothing else, the fireworks would be grreat.

[Vets_Husband_and_Wife]

Wow...this has been our arguement "against" letting the people who got here "illegally" stay. Sen. Orrin Hatch was just on FOXNews, stating he has a Bill up, that would allow people who are illegal who have been here 5 years, to be granted citizenship. He tried to explain that it would help them get an education, and there would be less crime.

I believe it was Sean Hannity, who told him he disagreed, and that he was only for those who come here legally.

I wish this guy could have been there to debate the subject, as he seems to be very informed! I think this was a great article. And if people don't think the illegal Mexicans who come here aren't a threat.. take a look at what they and some LEGAL Mexicans are trying to do!!

Go to:

http://aztlan.net/def25.htm

The next one, is from a thread I posted regarding my niece. I had sent out an e-mail alerting people to MEChA, and it is the first e-mail. Then the second is her response.. she is a High School teacher, teaching Spanish. She mentions her "Masters Degree"..and is extremely condescending. Her e-mail will give you a frightening example of our our schools are viewing this subject.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/724831/posts

[justshutupandtakeit]

How is the concept of America even articulable without the acknowledgement of the waves of different cultural influences which have washed across our nation?

Did waves of Mexicans vote Three-dollar Bill into office twice or provide the majority of the votes for the plague of democRATS which overwhelms us?

To my shame the majority of those voters where from the "traditional" American WASP types like me and probably you.

Different ethnic groups have played determinative roles in the different eras of our history and it is instructive and interesting to examine the ethnicity of baseball players as an example. (Though, x, you are undoubtedly aware of this.)

This will not change as long as our nation does not rigidify and mistake the form of things for their substance.

I fear no immigrant group even 1/10th as much as the RATS.

[Ohioan]

One can refer to the mistaken values that this essay correctly exposes as "cultural suicide," or one can equally well denominate it as "racial suicide," "ethnic suicide," "national suicide," or "self-imposed genocide."

The hysterical Leftist attacks on physical anthropology and ethnologists have masked the fact that there is an enormous correlation between culture and ancestry. The reality is that a people's culture reflects the people who created that culture. Human society is not a game of musical chairs; where the chairs determine the characteristics of their occupants.

I do not join those who disparage the character of the typical Mexican. He, as we, has his good points and his bad points. But he, as we, reflects the genetic makeup of his family. That plays a major role in steering his cultural development. Conservatives need to stop being afraid of understanding that a nation is about kith and kin; hereditary lines of descent. Call it race, nation, tribe, or whatever. The terminology is not as important as understanding the concept.

All of Socialism--including the Nazi version, which the Left has tried to picture as an evil based upon a "Master Race" theory--is in fact based upon the idea that man is more plastic than any of the actual evidence would suggest. If man is not plastic, how can Socialist Government, whether Communist, Nazi, Social Democratic or Fabian, improve man by dominating his life, and macro and micro managing his social environment? This idea that man is plastic is the single most important Socialist premise--however they may define it verbally.

But to dispel the idea, you need look no further than the very subject at hand--the Mexican culture and the effect of its infusion into the United States--to illustrate the point. We lump Mexicans; but the reality is that they are not lumpable. They come from some quite distinct pools of inherited traits; and the contrast even after well over four centuries of living under an imposed Spanish cultural medium, including a common religion, language and Government, has done very little towards removing the immense difference in behavioral patterns between the small actual Spannish elite, the huge Mestizo populations, and the remaining purer Indian types--including those lately desperately trying to reassert their own heritage.

It is not a kindness to anyone to pretend that you can simply assimilate people into cultures designed by other people as a reflection of those other people's social traits, and achieve the same happy, congenial society, as that which tends to characterize a prosperous homogeneous society.

There is such a thing as a fusion--it usually takes about 200 years to really work--where compatible types form a new variety of man; but this is not something that you can program--that is assuming there would be some reason why you would want to. Far, far better, that we learn to respect one another for our very differences--often the small, unique characteristics which make life more interesting and rewarding. Reggie White had the right spin on the subject in his speech to the Wisconsin Legislature--the one that was denounced by almost every Leftist in America. But in that mutual respect, there is no argument whatsoever for increasing the Mexican Mestizo contingent in the population of the United States. Indeed, consider the flip side. Do you think, after their Texas experience, the Mexicans would suddenly want to see a sizeable Anglo settlement in another part of Mexico?

This is not intended as a criticism of the article, which is excellent. I am only making an additional point.

One other matter, is this Manion by any chance a descendant of the late, great Dean Clarence Manion, of the Notre Dame Law School, and Conservative leadership fame? I know that some of his children were very active and dedicated Conservatives, but I am not familiar with a Christopher.

William Flax Return Of The Gods Web Site

[4Freedom]

Great article. Thanks for the ping.

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!!

[Twodees]

What does Rockwellian libertarianism really propose to do about immigration? Isn't Rockwellism just a feel-good mishmash of contradictory ideas that aren't intended to be realized? 3

There's no such thing as "Rockwellian" libertarianism or of "Rockwellism" except in the minds of people who don't think articles from his site should be allowed here.

How comes it that Catholic Mexico doesn't represent Aristolelian ideas and Christian ideals? What went wrong?

Mexico hasn't been a Catholic country since the revolution. It's a socialist state in which most of the peons are still Catholic but who have no voice in the government. That you have to ask what went wrong there shows you need to refrain from lecturing others on history.

[Vets_Husband_and_Wife]

I fear no immigrant group even 1/10th as much as the RATS.

You should!! Here is but a small excerpt regarding MEChA. They are ON OUR HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE CAMPUSES!! Seemingly, with the blessings of school administrations. After a brief synopsis, I will provide a link for you to read a thread that was recently posted here. Even if it takes an hour to read through the WHOLE thing. I hope you will. It is a real danger..and it is happening right under our collective noses!!!

From AZATLAN UNDERGROUND!!

Here is what is stated on the MeChA HOME PAGE about AZTLAN.

The fundamental principles that led to the founding of Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán are found in El Plan de Santa Barbara (EPDSB). The Manifesto of EPDSB sees self-determination for the Chicana and Chicano Chicano and Chicana Movement in El Plan Espiritual de Aztlán (EPEDA). A synopsis of El Plan stipulates:

1) We are Chicanos and Chicanas of Aztlán reclaiming the land of out birth (Chicano and Chicana Nation);

2) Aztlán belongs to indigenous people, who are sovereign and not subject to a foreign culture;

3) We are a union of free pueblos forming a bronze nation;

4) Chicano and Chicana nationalism, as the key in mobilization and organization, is the common denominator to bring consensus to the Chicano and Chicana Movement...

Here is another "goodie" from the MeChA website:

In the spirit of a new people that is conscious not only of its proud historical heritage but also of the brutal "gringo" invasion of our territories, we, the Chicano inhabitants and civilizers of the northern land of Aztlán from whence came our forefathers, reclaiming the land of their birth and consecrating the determination of our people of the sun, declare that the call of our blood is our power, our responsibility, and our inevitable destiny.

And, finally, these "goodies:"

5. Economic program to drive the exploiter out of our community and a welding together of our people's combined resources to control their own production through cooperative effort.

6. Creation of an independent local, regional, and national political party.

A nation autonomous and free - culturally, socially, economically, and politically- will make its own decisions on the usage of our lands, the taxation of our goods, the utilization of our bodies for war, the determination of justice (reward and punishment), and the profit of our sweat.

El Plan de Aztlán is the plan of liberation!

There is more.. A LOT MORE!! You can read more about their manifesto here:

"A Liberal HS Teachers Views on MEChA"

[Free the USA]

Index Bump

[Twodees]

Did waves of Mexicans vote Three-dollar Bill into office twice or provide the majority of the votes for the plague of democRATS which overwhelms us?

In fact they did. Clinton won both of his elections due to vote fraud. Democrats keep getting elected because of vote fraud. Why do you think the democrats are so vehemently opposed to requirements of proof of identity at the polls? They routinely get out the illegal vote, which is how Clinton, and later Gore, carried California.

I fear no immigrant group even 1/10th as much as the RATS.

Never mind "fearing" them, you should be aware that they are the voters the democrats are using to win elections they would have no chance of winning otherwise. They're also the population which will be used to swell the next census and justify the redistricting of the entire US and the addition of more representatives for newly created districts of non-english speaking illegals.

You're so scared of being called a xenophobe by the democrats that you'd willingly let them use illegals to win elections. Worse than that, you want to stand with the democrats and point fingers at conservatives who can see what you're too foolish to even look for.

Your attitude is what makes the GOP the stupid party. Justshutupandtake off the blinders.

[Brownie74]

Thanks for the ping. Great article. The part about bribery and corruption being a part of life in Mexico is very true. And this is the lifestyle that they are bringing to America.

Briefly stated, the legalization of this illegal alien population amounts to American cultural suicide (because it is done intentionally, rather than by accident) and a political disaster.

How many people have said exactly the same thing on this forum?

[Reaganwuzthebest]

How do politicians expect American citizens to obey laws when they say to illegals do whatever you want, we'll reward you with amnesties and other goodies?

There's a very simple answer to the whole problem of illegal immigration, a no-brainer, a third grader could figure it out- enforce the law.

[cowgirlcutie]

This is a VERY good read! As I've said before, I'm half Mexican. However, I was taught that I am 101% American and proud of it! The majority of Latin Americans coming here now, have NO desire to assimilate. They only wish to tear down our society. They take terrible advantage of our government system, so that people who really need help, have a h*ll of a time getting it. "Mr." Fox is sending his unwanted citizens up this way, so that we can take care of them and he doesn't have to. My husband and I were behind two young Spanish-only speaking people at the grocery store this morning. They had one toddler and one on the way. The wife had nice clothes on and lots of jewelry and they paid for their groceries with food stamps and then got into their new car out in the parking lot! It sickens me when I think of all the hard working people here, trying to make ends meet, who are having to support people who have no concept of obeying the law and most of all, don't want to.

[F16Fighter]

"The next two people confirmed to the Supreme Court will determine whether our great experiment succeeds or fails."

Poignant observation...

Hopefully Dubya has been saving his trump card for such a critical affectation and nominate and insist on strong conservative adherents to the SC. The ruinous Bader-Ginsberg/Breyer/Souter (thanks Daddy) triad of liberalism must be neutralized in the coming years, or else...

[jpl]

Leftists are not killing their own culture, they're trying to kill ours.

I believe that many leftists are indeed suicidal depressives, but instead of having the decency to just kill themselves, they try to drag us normal people down to their miserable level.

[FryingPan101]

Man. Does it cause you to think about everything you always thought anyway? Thanks for the ping, my FreedomFriend. I need to show this to a lot of other folks. I only wonder if knowledge can change anything or if it only lets you see what happened.

[SR71A]

One of the best articles I have read on the subject of illegals. Too bad it won't gain wide circulation, since it deals with one of the great cultural taboos of our time...the illegal alien population explosion.

One earlier poster asked if there are conservative lawyers who might be enlisted to aid in the fight against the illegals. I hope that there are, too; but they will be outnumbered by the (sleazy, lowlife, scummy) immigration lawyers...let's not forget them. An amnesty will be a bonanza for them. They'll charge 2 or 3 thousand for each poor schmuck that wants to apply, for 15 minutes of filling out a form. Quick and easy loot, and it makes the tobacco settlements look petty by comparison.

If the above offends some lawyer that may stumble across this thread, GOOD!

[x]

It's interesting how today's conservatives make so much of the Enlightenment with respect to the Middle East and now Mexico. Russell Kirk, M.E. Bradford and other conservative lights were very critical of the Enlightenment as the parent of revolution. Maybe the distinction between the moderate, empirical British Enlightenment and the radical, rationalist French Enlightenment makes the difference. But the world looks very different now than it did in previous decades when the socialist or communist longing for total revolution was such a powerful force on the political scene.

Rockwell does link to articles from a variety of sources, but so many of the articles read like they've come out of a cookie cutter: Mises, Hoppe, secession, state-bashing, flirtation with anarcho-capitalism. I don't know if Rockwell deserves an "ism" of his own, but "Rockwellism" is pretty good shorthand for a very eccentric mix of ideas that seems to come out of Mises Center seminars and symposia.

[x]

Mexico hasn't been a Catholic country since the revolution. It's a socialist state in which most of the peons are still Catholic but who have no voice in the government. That you have to ask what went wrong there shows you need to refrain from lecturing others on history.

Au contraire, Deedee. If it was that easy to eradicate an older cultural heritage, that fact is very significant in itself and has great importance for ourselves and our future. Never be ashamed to ask for information or clarification. It's a good way to learn things.

[FreedomFriend]

I can't say for sure whether it is too late. In honesty, I don't think that it would be too late if we had honorable politicians who put the country's interests first. However, as it now stands, there are very few of them.

I do think that the timeframe for turning around the pending madness is very short, perhaps five to ten years. However, given the enormous influx of illegal immigration, I'd say that this issue has to be dealt with in a strong manner within the next few years, or the United States is likely to drift into a third world state in much of the country. Time is of essence for the southwest. Many of our major cities are seeing the same effects that are plaguing the southwestern region. Atlanta, Washington DC, Chicago and Denver are now seeing the same effects that Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Diego and Phoenix have been seeing for the last fifteen to twenty years.

Again, time is of the essence. Will the Republic be restored and illegal immigration, as well as the immigration system, curtailed? Your guess is as good as mine. However, given the current state of affairs, and the apparent impotence of the U.S. Legislature, things don't look positive.

[FreedomFriend]

Yes, I suppose that you're correct, for the most part. It is Leftists who have foisted this damaging demographic/ideologic component onto America. It is they who are attempting to murder the culture. After all, it was Ted Kennedy who helped bring about the 1965 Immigration Act which changed America's immigration patterns from one that was distinctly European to one that was third world. Furthermore, it was Bill Clinton who signed a bill to increase the number of legal immigrants allowed per year. Then you have the Leftist within Congress who do not want to solve the illegal immigration debacle. Of course, there are the Left Wing attorneys who are representing the illegal alien and the left wing judges who claim that they have the same rights as American citizens. Thus, in this regard, you are correct.

However, some responsibility does lie on the American population at large. The citizenry has become so lazy, so unpolitical, so apathetic that as long as they have their football, television, and unlimited internet access (Minus Conservative sites, of course), and if the problem isn't directly effecting them, they don't seem to give it a thought.

Have you ever wondered why there are very few midwesterners posting on the immigration threads? It is because, by and large, the problem in their region (minus Chicago and a few other cities) hasn't become as large as it has in other regions of the country. They, for the most part, still see an America of the old days. In my opinion, the Heartland is very out of tune to this issue. Yet, the Heartland's support is pivotal in dealing with this problem. We know that the northeastern liberals are too busy talking about diversity to want to do anything about it. I'm talking about politicians and most of their citizens.

As it now stands, this issue needs to command more broad scale support, more than what it is currently receiving from southwestern citizens, as well as a sizeable number of citizens from the south and northeast.

[bok]

English is being displaced by not just Mexicans but those who don't wish to speak english. The EO 13166 is law and applies to hundreds of languages. However SPANISH is the predominant language taking hold in the united states.

[FreedomFriend]

Fitz, I agree. However, I've thought about this issue many times, analyzing the trends I see, as well as the overall traits of the demographic catastrophe.

I used to say that as long as people came here and wanted to assimilate, that it didn't matter where they came from. However, as I'm seeing more and more, I'm doubtful whether those from the non-western world will ever fully assimilate into the mainstream. Studies are showing that most aren't, with the exception of some of the Asian communities.

I've come to the conclusion that for any of these groups to fully assimilate, it could take up to one hundred years, perhaps more. Thus, with the rate and number of third world immigrants arriving, or crashing our border every year, the likelyhood that we'll assimilate them into the mainstream is very unlikely, especially given the era of social identity politics, interest groups and hyphenated Americans.

I've also thought that many people aren't taking into account the human condition of people wanting to live around individuals who look, think, and act like them. All one has to do is drive around different areas of a major city to see the way different races and ethnic groups congregate amongst themselves. This is due to comfort, and I'm doubtful whether it will ever be different. I think that political correctness has led many to forget about these common, everyday behavior patterns. Sure, different groups have to associate with one another at work and at different places, but I do not see the same level of togetherness that I see among certain group members.

I've also often though that a main reason why third world immigrants don't want to assimilate is that they do not view the United States as their country, but rather see it as a European outpost, a beacon of western heritage and culture, something that is foreign and alien to them. Many of them also don't want to give up their culture, but instead want to hold onto their traditions and customs. I will agree that many of their children assimilate somewhat into society. However, its not like you'd see from an individual whose roots go back at least seventy five to one hundred years.

As much as people may disagree, I have to include the racial component. Race is and has been a part of life, and different races have viewed things differently. There are many within all races that view things in a racial perspective, and it is not any small margin. This goes for blacks, whites, Asians, "Hispanics", etc. This is one of the reasons, along with the dominant, easily seen evidence, that I think that if immigration is to occur, it has to be contained to the traditional, largest group, Europeans. Otherwise, given the socialist marxist ideals and basic human behavior, we'll most likely balkanize.

[FreedomFriend]

Where precisely is the Shenandoah Valley? Is that close to DC or Richmond?

Yes, there are a lot of places that you wouldn't think Mexicans would be settling. However, given the economic and political setting within Mexico, along with the corporate and government attitude of the U.S., it doesn't surprise me.

[maxwell]

Shenandoah Valley is west of Richmond, past Charlottesville...

The local poultry processing plant, where many Hispanics are employed, has signs all over in Spanish. Just an example of the many concessions that have been put into place over the past decade or so.

[Phillip Augustus]

I am a Midwesterner, and live in a major city with virtually no immigration issues, yet I watch these issues like a hawk.

The problem, of course, is not Immigration as such; it's Turd World immigration. North American and Europe must end Turd World immigration immediately.

[FreedomFriend]

Those are some very good suggestions.

Multilanguage ballots have definitely got to go. Afterall, we're America, aren't we? Our language is supposed to be English, right?

I do agree with making English the official language in government and business dealing with the government. If a private business wants to advertise in their own language, that's their right. However, they have to realize that they risk alienating a large contingent of possible customers.

The Bilingual Lobby is insane. Most of them actually despise America and its Anglo-Saxon traditions. If they don't despise it, they seek to take advantage of the current demographic setting by creating rifts between newcomers and Native Americans.

You make a good point in regard to the problem of catering. That is, if ballots, services and business is done is given in their home language, why bother learning the language. After all, learning a language takes effort, but not having to do anything is so much easier. Thus, eliminating separate services and bilingual facilities would go a good way in helping preserve the autonomy of the country.

Your suggestions are great, as I have said. However, as I stated to Fitz, I've come to think that regardless to the amount of progress that is made in trying to bring newcomers into the fold, full assimilation may never occur due to tremendous differences in culture. If full assimilation does occur, it could very well take one hundred years. However, given the huge numbers, along with human behavior, bilingual services and social identity politics, those one hundred years could very well turn into never. I'm not talking about individuals per se, but am generally speaking about entire separate groups.

[FreedomFriend]

I agree. In this troubled and non-perfect world, demographics loom large in the whole scope of things. Political Correctness has brought about much of the problems in America, including illegal immigration.

Political Correctness helped bring about the 1965 immigration act which shifted immigration from being that of a European phenomenon to one that is primarily Asian and Latin American.

Political Correctness has brought about, or helped maintain, social identity politics, affirmative action, bilingual education, multiculturalism, as well as a lot of other nonsense.

With each passing year, things have continued to get worse and worse. A lot of the problem has been an apathetic populace, along with a near-sightedness that plays well into political correctness. Many people aren't thinking long term and, instead, have a time span that exceeds less than five years into the future. Many have been blinded into all the cliches, and most do not compilate all the components in order to reveal where we are most likely headed. Like I said, if people are comfortable with their computers, television, food in their stomachs, and sports, they're not likely to become passioned to fight for what is most important. It's a shame, no doubt.

[Regulator]

I have nothing further to add to this man's article. It is quite simply the precise reason that I am so vehemently against Mexican illegal - and overwhelming legal - "immigration". His explanation of the perceptions of the average illegal who has bribed his way into America are dead on, and I'm sure totally alien to most Americans, who are probably shocked by such a description.

This is the definition of an alien culture, antagonistic to all of our values. The truth of it is here in writing, but it cannot be totally conveyed this way. People have to feel it, hear it, see it, and then be allowed to understand it by contemplation. When they do understand it, they will see it for the lurid chaos, the grim horror that it is. And then they will feel fear, and understand that something like a border fence on the U.S. - Mexico border is simply a wall to keep out the worst virus that could ever infect the United States, and already has: the vicious legacy of 5 centuries of feudal despotism.

Somehow, someway, the ordinary people of Mexico have to rise up against this. But we cannot simply let them stampede in here, running from the horror. That just serves the purposes of the Caudillo's that perpetuate the evil, because it can only end in destroying us, and giving them a foothold here (they already have it, of course..). Think of turning over the government to the Mafia...and then multiply by 10.

I have known many Mexicans who were born and raised here, and are completely assimilated in the egalitarian ideas that were embodied in this country's birth. Assimilation is possible, but only in manageable numbers.

We are far, far past anything approaching "manageable" numbers.

[FreedomFriend]

Jimer, while you start off stating the obvious problems with illegal immigration, you then go on to state that we might as well make due with what we have.

As I see it, this course, over the long term, will lead to the same thing as doing nothing, albeit will take longer.

There are only a few possible things that can be done. Take note that what I am about to say is not out of intolerance but of a love for country. I've looked long and hard into the problem, and without a plan that has some "meat", all attempts will be to no avail. Therefore, I'll list what needs to be done.

With regard to the illegal aliens already in the country. If the United States Government made a legitimate push to close the borders, and this includes increasing the border patrol 500-1000% or using the military on the borders and only the borders, then we may be able to get a handle on things. That is, if we make sure that our number one priority is our line of defense, then way may not have to go about rounding up illegals.

I would concur that every car be inspected at all border crossings. I am mainly referring to the border crossings with Mexico, for Canadians aren't slipping into our country left and right. Though I do think that border security should be strenthened with the Canadian border. The U.S. Government should put the word out several months to implementation that border checks will become mandatory until otherwise stated. If a worker happens to live in Mexico and works in the United States, and vice versa, they would be eligible to apply for a everyday cross passport with stipulations that he/she is the only person that shall be allowed to pass. Anyone else within the car, will not be admitted. Furthermore, passes will have to be checked monthly to assure that illegals aren't moving into the United States.

The hope is that border crossings will become so complicated that most residents will decide to stay within their own countries and find work there. In fact, daily border crossings have been one of the problems in debacling this whole mess. The goal is self sufficiency.

Meanwhile, the U.S. should pull out of NAFTA, GATT, and tell the Mexican Government that they will have to deal with their own people. Again, self sufficiency.

The last thing that should be done, short of rounding up illegals at their homes, would be to increase the INS in the interior, of which a program will be set in place with a set start and end time. The word will be given out six months in advance to members of certain industries that have been known to hire illegals, that inspections of work sites will begin and will end two to five years later. The inspections will be random, and that each employee should have valid documentation, including a green card, social security card, Immigration documentation, work visa, birth certificate, etc. If the employee is found without certified documentation, or if there is substantial evidence to prove that he/she is in the country illegally, then the worker will face automatic deportation, of which he/she, including illegal family members, will be deported within five days to two weeks. If an employer has been found to have breached the law, he/she will have to pay an expansive fine and possibly face jail time. The goal is that hiring illegals will become too much of risk or burden to employers, that hiring illegals will not be an option.

As you can see, with increased border enforcement, increased interior enforcement, US government speech to Mexican government, withdrawal from NAFT and GATT, along with automatic fines and deportations, the problems would likely subside, as many illegals would deport themselves, many would stop coming, as they would increasingly be caught, not to mention that the economic incentive would subside.

A couple of other helpful tools would be the prohibition of welfare and certain social services for Illegals, not to mention the prohibition of the "anchor baby" amendment.

[FreedomFriend]

Jimer, while you start off stating the obvious problems with illegal immigration, you then go on to state that we might as well make due with what we have.

As I see it, this course, over the long term, will lead to the same thing as doing nothing, albeit will take longer.

There are only a few possible things that can be done. Take note that what I am about to say is not out of intolerance but of a love for country. I've looked long and hard into the problem, and without a plan that has some "meat", all attempts will be to no avail. Therefore, I'll list what needs to be done.

With regard to the illegal aliens already in the country. If the United States Government made a legitimate push to close the borders, and this includes increasing the border patrol 500-1000% or using the military on the borders and only the borders, then we may be able to get a handle on things. That is, if we make sure that our number one priority is our line of defense, then way may not have to go about rounding up illegals.

I would concur that every car be inspected at all border crossings. I am mainly referring to the border crossings with Mexico, for Canadians aren't slipping into our country left and right. Though I do think that border security should be strenthened with the Canadian border. The U.S. Government should put the word out several months to implementation that border checks will become mandatory until otherwise stated. If a worker happens to live in Mexico and works in the United States, and vice versa, they would be eligible to apply for a everyday cross passport with stipulations that he/she is the only person that shall be allowed to pass. Anyone else within the car, will not be admitted. Furthermore, passes will have to be checked monthly to assure that illegals aren't moving into the United States.

The hope is that border crossings will become so complicated that most residents will decide to stay within their own countries and find work there. In fact, daily border crossings have been one of the problems in debacling this whole mess. The goal is self sufficiency.

Meanwhile, the U.S. should pull out of NAFTA, GATT, and tell the Mexican Government that they will have to deal with their own people. Again, self sufficiency.

The last thing that should be done, short of rounding up illegals at their homes, would be to increase the INS in the interior, of which a program will be set in place with a set start and end time. The word will be given out six months in advance to members of certain industries that have been known to hire illegals, that inspections of work sites will begin and will end two to five years later. The inspections will be random, and that each employee should have valid documentation, including a green card, social security card, Immigration documentation, work visa, birth certificate, etc. If the employee is found without certified documentation, or if there is substantial evidence to prove that he/she is in the country illegally, then the worker will face automatic deportation, of which he/she, including illegal family members, will be deported within five days to two weeks. If an employer has been found to have breached the law, he/she will have to pay an expansive fine and possibly face jail time. The goal is that hiring illegals will become too much of risk or burden to employers, that hiring illegals will not be an option.

As you can see, with increased border enforcement, increased interior enforcement, US government speech to Mexican government, withdrawal from NAFT and GATT, along with automatic fines and deportations, the problems would likely subside, as many illegals would deport themselves, many would stop coming, as they would increasingly be caught, not to mention that the economic incentive would subside.

A couple of other helpful tools would be the prohibition of welfare and certain social services for Illegals, not to mention the prohibition of the "anchor baby" amendment.

[FreedomFriend]

Well, I hardly ever frequent Lew Rockwell, but I could certainly see that this was a great article. It puts the information out on the line for scorn, as it goes for it, no holds barred.

[FreedomFriend]

I'm glad you liked the article. It has been one of my favorites, too. That is why I posted the article, because I knew that many others would like it, too, especially Freepers who haven't been around very long.

As far as using the legal system, that may work. However, we must remember that the legal system has yet to work, even when the law is in our favor. As you know, the judgeships are stacked with left wingers. Similar problems arise with attorneys. Even the legislature is filled with a lot of these America-hating or politically correct boobs.

I do agree that we should use the law, but Conservatives have to work within the framework of the law, and we have to bring certain cases before Conservative judges. All official documentation (law) should be provided, and important information such as the costs and benefits of illegal immigration, trends, the backbreak of the American taxpayer, and cultural and social implications, etc. should be noted.

If Conservatives don't drill home the facts, including the law, earlier court cases,costs and benefits, trends, etc., then this will open up the door for Left Wing Socialists to use the same venue to attack the messenger, and we risk losing a lot of ground.