On this Memorial Day weekend, I want to ask all you xenophobic people out there who support the draconian Arizona anti-immigration law the following: Did our fighting men and women suffer and die so that someone could stop you on the street and say, "Show me your papers, Comrade"????Oh? You think it won't happen to you because you're white? (Notice what a racist attitude that is, friend?)
Well, how about this: "First they came for the Communists and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist. Then they came for the...."
You know the rest of it.
If you don't, look right here.
There are different versions, by the way, of that famous quotation. You can read about its origins and history right here.
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UPDATE - Here are a some links that might be of interest:
Xenophobia
Draconian
Comrade
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How about making the children of illegal aliens unable to be citizens? Or asking people who apply for jobs have to show legal identity papers-and have the businesses that thrive on hiring people here illegally actually be fined heavily for breaking the law and helping wages go down?
ReplyDeleteThe idea that the US has to be "Plan B" for the rest of the world's surplus population is insane. Every "progressive" who claims to be "a child of Mother Earth" but who views the US's population reaching over 450 million by 2060 should have his/her head examined. And certainly their totally contradictory views should be treated with the contempt they deserve.
"How about making the children of illegal aliens unable to be citizens?"
ReplyDeleteWell, as it stands, this idea is completely unconsitutional. It would require a constitutional ammendment to put into effect. That takes a LONG time and will hardly help the immediate problem.
Here's the exact wording of the 14th Ammendment, by the way:
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
If you've been reading my blog for a while, Anonymous, you know that I've been suggesting going after the employers for years now.
No one is suggesting that the U.S. become "Plan B" for the world. But since our actions have a lot to do with why people come here out of desperation because their children are starving (read up on the effect of NAFTA on corn prices in Mexico) we really are only reaping what we've sown.
(Karma's a bitch, isn't it?)
Here's a little update for you, Anonymous. It's a very concise description of the problem I referred to above:
ReplyDelete"Food products—staples such as corn and beans—are flooding into Mexico. Since the 1995 implementation of NAFTA, US corn exports to Mexico have quadrupled. These products are flowing south at prices below Mexican farmers’ cost of production, and below the cost of production in the US. Subsidies enable farmers to produce below cost. NAFTA dictates that Mexico must allow this food in. The NAFTA timetable required that on January 1, 2008, Mexico remove its final restrictions on the imports of staple food products—opening its border completely to imports of corn and beans.
Mexican farmers have been devastated by low prices for corn and other crops. Farm families have been forced off their land, and forced to relocate to large cities and border-town maquilidoras. NAFTA’s body-blow to Mexico’s farm sector has meant a rapid rise in the number of Mexicans who are landless, unemployed, poor, and desperate."
This excerpt is from an article found right here.
Please note that U.S. corn prices are so low because our corn farmers are subsidized by the government. So, don't even try to claim that this is just the free market at work.
We have perpetrated a great evil on the indigenous Mexican farmer who did absolutely nothing to deserve this and could not possibly have seen it coming. What are these people supposed to do? Just lie down in the dirt with their children and die?
Most Americans know nothing about this state of affairs. And our spineless, corporate-owned press is clearly responsible for that.