Quote from Ricter:
Makes sense in a Pareto kind of way.
To borrow an argument: so why are people dying to come to America?
My experience with immigrants suggests several reasons...
- they watch our movies and TV shows, and believe the US offers a higher quality of life
- the belief that the US offers greater opportunities to improve one's lot - increase one's income, accumulate more *stuff*, support their families
- citizens are blind to (or can't be bothered with) obvious opportunities, especially ones involving manual labor - landscaping, dry cleaning, nail salons, buy here/finance here car dealerships, among the many biz opps...
- the belief the US has better educational opportunities
- the belief the US has a better political and legal environment
- the belief the US offers greater religious tolerance
Granted, a small number of immigrants are troublesome (in roughly the same proportion to the 99%/1% assertion I made above). But that's not an American-only issue - it's a statistical issue. A small part of any population is *bad* compared to the norm of that population.
The unfortunate thing is the that the 3rd/4th/5th generation immigrant turned NIMBY zealots paint all immigrants with the same brush - they're all illegal, they're all bad, and they're taking my job. Problem is, I don't see very many Americans signing up to be dishwashers, busboys/persons, farm workers, landscapers, maids/house cleaners, etc. Not any motivated Americans, anyways...
Most successful/wealthy cultures in history have had a subservient/slave/worker class - a class comprised of the poor, disfavored race, slaves, and immigrants - to do the work the favored class needs done/doesn't want to do themselves. They are more plentiful. They are cheaper. And most importantly, whether voluntarily or under duress, *willing* to do the work.
US Citizens have been trained since birth to consume, and you can't consume (buy the cars, houses, toys, etc or taking holidays, having fun at the lake on weekends, etc) on those wages - they need higher paying jobs. Hence the marriage of subservient/worker class and low paying labor jobs. A match made by necessity! You don't have to like it, but that's the way it is...
Americans seem to forget, gloss over, or are just plain ignorant of the fact the Puritans, Jamestown settlers, and all other future waves of colonists were illegal immigrants... Native Americans possessed and *owned* the lands in North America according to Roman Law and its descendant - English Common Law. The colonists settled illegally. Their populations swelled. They illegally took the land by forceful means, then created a new government that essentially legalized their actions. But the fact remains - the US was founded on illegal immigration..
I guess the real fears of rabid anti-immigrant zealots isn't jobs, crime, drugs, etc. Rather, it's the real possibility of an American Revolution #2 - the population of current classes of immigrants are going to swell, become the majority, and eventually take over the US. And possibly turn the white people into the subservient/worker class....
Oh the irony...