lovemonkey17 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
lovemonkey17) wrote2006-09-08 04:39 pm
lovemonkey17) wrote2006-09-08 04:39 pm
Found Editorial
Recently large demonstrations have taken place across the country protesting
the fact that Congress is finally addressing the issue of illegal
immigration. Certain people are angry that the US might protect its own
borders, might make it harder to sneak into this country and, once here, to
stay indefinitely. Let me see if I correctly understand the thinking behind
these protests.
Let's say I break into your house. Let's say that when you discover me in
your house, you insist that I leave. But I say, "I've made all the
Beds and washed the dishes and did the laundry and swept the floors; I've
done all the things you don't like to do. I'm hard-working and honest
(except for when I broke into your house).
According to the protesters, not only must you let me stay, you must add me
to your family's insurance plan, educate my kids, and provide other benefits
to me and to my family (my husband will do your yard work because he too is
hard-working and honest, except for that breaking in part. If you try to
call the police or force me out, I will call my friends who will picket your
house carrying signs that proclaim my right to be there. It's only fair,
after all, because you have a nicer house than I do, and I'm just trying to
better myself. I'm hard-working and honest, um, except for well, you know.
And what a deal it is for me!! I live in your house, contributing only a
fraction of the cost of my keep, and there is nothing you can do about it
without being accused of selfishness, prejudice and being anti-housebreaker.
Oh yeah, and I want you to learn my language so you can communicate with me
Why can't people see how ridiculous this is?! Only in America....
the fact that Congress is finally addressing the issue of illegal
immigration. Certain people are angry that the US might protect its own
borders, might make it harder to sneak into this country and, once here, to
stay indefinitely. Let me see if I correctly understand the thinking behind
these protests.
Let's say I break into your house. Let's say that when you discover me in
your house, you insist that I leave. But I say, "I've made all the
Beds and washed the dishes and did the laundry and swept the floors; I've
done all the things you don't like to do. I'm hard-working and honest
(except for when I broke into your house).
According to the protesters, not only must you let me stay, you must add me
to your family's insurance plan, educate my kids, and provide other benefits
to me and to my family (my husband will do your yard work because he too is
hard-working and honest, except for that breaking in part. If you try to
call the police or force me out, I will call my friends who will picket your
house carrying signs that proclaim my right to be there. It's only fair,
after all, because you have a nicer house than I do, and I'm just trying to
better myself. I'm hard-working and honest, um, except for well, you know.
And what a deal it is for me!! I live in your house, contributing only a
fraction of the cost of my keep, and there is nothing you can do about it
without being accused of selfishness, prejudice and being anti-housebreaker.
Oh yeah, and I want you to learn my language so you can communicate with me
Why can't people see how ridiculous this is?! Only in America....
no subject
To extend your metaphor a bit, say you have a house; now say that someone breaks into it, kills half your family, and then declares that everything you owned is theirs instead. They redecorate your house, make a bunch of improvements, and turn your old home into something that's sometimes better, sometimes worse, but very different than what it had been - and then declare that you are "illegal" because you still feel entitled to share part of that house.
Not so clear-cut now, is it?
Oh, and for the record: the lower southwest portion of the United States used to BE Mexico. That's right - Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and part of California used to be counted as part of the Mexican nation. The war that shifted the borders between nations was ethically murky on both sides. The fact remains, though, that Mexicans, French colonists, Russians and Native Americans were settled in those regions long before the United States broke into that particular house and started rearranging the furniture.
no subject
and it is really sad.