I have not had the time last week to follow legislation and amendments on the floor of Congress the way I might have liked. But I got this comment from ed:
Frankly I think had this amendment be implemented it would have destroyed America as a country and converted it into a balkanized hell.
By 'this amendment', he means the one with a provision to automatically up the immigration cap annually. But here's the deal. I'm not afraid of 40 million Mexicans or South Americans joining the US legally. The Spousal Unit is in the food service business, so we've been doing a lot of work with such folks, and quite frankly have had some long term plans to make nice in several countries to the south. I believed and still believe that this Hemisphere is ours, it is our Empire and we need to start cultivating it. But right now is not the time to capture foreign lands, rather to build up the Internal Empire.
America is not balkanized. Despite idiot multiculturalism, despite political correctness, despite the proliferation of madness, alternative lifestyles, underground cultures and black markets in our country, the powers that be are still the powers that be. I may be off on this because although I've been invited to the $1000 a plate dinners I still haven't attended any, but I believe the ruling class of America is not fundamentally at odds with itself in partisan warfare. The 'balkanization' is just among us people in the middle class who have spare time to argue about stuff we don't really control. In short, Wal Mart is still Wal Mart & McDonalds is stil McDonalds.
In reviewing what I've said before, I think that the force of this post still holds. Everybody assimilates their own way and we should respect that. Assimilation does not make for homogenization. I clearly didn't have a clear idea about the gravity of the Mojado problem, but part of my argument about SB 60 was that you shouldn't have to be a citizen to have car insurance, but you did have to have a driver's license. That the driver's license is overworked as a valid proxy for citizenship is a problem in and of itself.
But more on point, here's what George P. Schultz talking about America which is perfectly aligned with my vision of the Internal Empire:
George P. Shultz: The President has done a good job and in community after community there have been strong expressions that this is not about Islam, this is not about Muslims, this is not about Arabs--they're not our enemy. Our enemy are people who somehow have been caught up in this pattern of terrorism and violence--they are our enemy. And so in the spirit of what has made the United States a great nation, we are a diverse nation and we honor that diversity, and we think and people here are loyal Americans. And that's--I'll never forget, on July 4, 1986, we had the hundredth anniversary of the Statue of Liberty being put in New York harbor. It had been refurbished, and President Reagan--the lights went on, the torch was writ--lit, and President Reagan spoke. One of the things that he said was, you can go to France, you can never become French, you can go to Japan, you'll never become Japanese, you can go to China, you'll never become Chinese, you can go to Italy, you'll never become Italian, but anyone can come to America from anywhere and become an American. It was a thrilling--and a deep statement about the nature of America, and of our attitude. We're a diverse country. And when you attack America, you attack the world, because the world is here. And furthermore, in the World Trade Center, I'm told that nationals of some eighty countries are among the lost or missing. The Chinese representative called on me the other day, told me--I think he said a hundred and thirty one Chinese national's among them--just to take an example. And practically any country you name. So, the United States is the world. And we're in favor of the world, and these people are the enemies of the world.
Now James Lileks the other day said something about America 'going Roman' if we have another terrorist catastrophe. We're not going to do it to ourselves, if we do it at all. We're going to do it to them, to that country. We're not going to unleash the dogs of war on ourselves. Say what you will, but 'balkanization' is just talk. America has yet to experience any kind of upheaval that going to cost lives. If and when San Antonio goes up in flames, then we'll have something to talk about. Until then, it's going to be part of the Internal Empire.
Put another way, the American experience is powerful and all-encompassing. We destroy cultures because ours is so compelling and yet not coercive. American assimilation works without force, it's all seductive. People want to be here and they want to do what it is Americans do. People from all over the world take advantage of the stability and strength of the USA in its laws, its banking system, its courts, and the lack of corruption in its officials. When is the last time you bribed a police officer? That is the kind of nation the people of the world want, although many of us who were raised here don't seem to appreciate that.
You cannot maintain the US without universal respect for the law, nor can we allow idle citizens to give license to illogical laws. Both are treason to the idea of liberty. Both are threatening to be more real by the bizarre rationales given for the amnesty programs today. This goes very deeply. I'm seriously concerned.
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