Mike: I did not want to add more to the topic of immigration but there is an additional observation that needs to be put into words. I visited Los Angeles several times in the late 1970s / early 1980s. Nice city. Clean downtown, you felt safe, and the Greyhound bus terminal was a sort of oasis of tranquility. There was a new McDonalds and it was a decent place to have lunch. There was a Mexican area with Mexican shops and small restaurants and other vendors. It was quite safe to wander the area and eat or make purchases. Fast forward to the late 1980s and into the 1990s, after unchecked immigration had taken root. I was in LA twice in those years and never want to return. Downtown Los Angeles had become a slum, people sleeping in doorways, bums urinating on buildings, trash all over the place, and obviously high crime; there were police everywhere. The McDonalds had become something like a canteen in a prison, also with an armed guard because of the riff raff who patronized the place. The bus station was an ungodly mess, with street hustlers ubiquitous. My last visit, the station had been moved, miles from downtown, to a place with high security fences and police on the scene. What had happened? Massive immigration had turned LA, at least downtown, into a third world city. That, in turn, had attracted black criminals since they understood that laws could not be enforced effectively. In what way was any of this good? Similar problems in Phoenix although mostly under control because of a tough-on-crime local government. In case anyone thinks this is some sort of anti-Mexican bigotry and "of course" I have no criticisms about Filipinos, etc, anyone who believes that does not know what he is talking about. I've also seen the vast slums of Manila and I was horrified at the mess. How is this sort of thing possible? Bad government, dysfunctional culture, and a bad economy at place of origin of immigrants (or internal migrants, in the case of the Philippines). What can possibly justify this sort of thing? Nothing. The Philippines did get rid of Marcos but it will be decades before the damages can be undone from that de facto dictator-for-life. We have gotten rid, at last, of Obama, but, as noted, the problems go back to Reagan and Clinton. It is obvious that the problems cannot be solved until illegal immigration is stopped dead in its tracks with all available means. Basically a great American city has been ruined, and there are unwanted social problems all over the West, especially. Why should we tolerate America becoming a third world country? Because some illegal immigrants are good people? Because some percentage do fit in and try to be decent people? What about the many who are anything but good and decent? What about the many who, in so many words, are barbarians who don't know diddle about civilization? About the way you need to behave in a healthy society? I've seen it, you know, masses of "peons" who export their dysfunctional ways of life to America and impose costs on all of us. Part of the answer is found by asking why we should tolerate the ideology of "limousine liberals" or Bushie conservatives / RINOs? This, in each case, is the viewpoint on the issue of immigration as seen by the well-to-do or by the secure middle class. It is unreality contrasted to life that is lived by the less well off Americans.. It produces a mindset that is the opposite of the perspective of the working classes. Canada has a sane immigration policy. Only allow into the country those who share (most of) our values, who are educated, who can contribute economically from day #1. I'm all for admitting people who can contribute to our economy and who can fit in with our culture. Everyone else should stay out. I'm also in favor of exporting our culture to other countries, and in the process learning from other cultures; indeed, this is happening now. But diversity for the sake of diversity is idiotic. Diversity has its very own dark side which is unacknowledged by Democrats and many establishment Republicans alike. This kind of "see no evil" outlook is ludicrous. And it contributes to the ruination of America even if, thank God, we are resilient and always find some way to muddle through and finally solve our problems. But why tolerate the problems to begin with? Billy
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