False Crisis and Immigration
As immigration reform debates continue to heat up Washington and rankle the folks on talk radio and cable, in barber shops, and throughout the Web, we need to remember similar incidents throughout our history. As each new wave of immigrants entered the US, false crises were created and used to crackdown on the newcomers and expand government.
My grandmother was a Polish immigrant who never learned to read or write in English. She would, though, despite her poverty and 10 children, chase any government worker off her property with a broom. And she was not alone as her neighbors also refused to welcome government aid.
Contrast that with the trend started during the Great Society when government workers and their associated minions - the do-gooders - became more aggressive and pushed government services on anyone deemed in need of assistance, creating a dependent constituency and assumed positive rights.
Eliminate aggressive government interventions and the so-called immigration problem would cure itself. Absent government, those who immigrate would either have a job and be able to find housing and other essentials on their own, or they would be truly illegal trespassers and squatters.
As always, the problem is government and the solutions cannot be found in additional Progressive governmental interventions, such as welfare, etc., nor in statist forms of control.
Absent government interventions, all will work itself out well.
Jim Fedako, a former professional cyclist who lives in Lewis Center, OH, is a member of the Olentangy Local School District and maintains a blog: Anti-Positivist.
Comments (8)
Bart M Cajas
Government should not deal with those who come here on their own without following the legal ways. It is up to them to support themselves without government intervention. This way, it will give them incentives to survive and be assimilated into the American society...no welfare, education, medical or any kind of help.
I came here as an immigrant with only a hundred bucks. I survived and now retired and financially stable. I did not ask for a government hand out.
Published: June 10, 2006 10:40 PM
Bart M Cajas
Government should not deal with those who come here on their own without following the legal ways. It is up to them to support themselves without government intervention. This way, it will give them incentives to survive and be assimilated into the American society...no welfare, education, medical or any kind of help.
I came here as an immigrant with only a hundred bucks. I survived and now retired and financially stable. I did not ask for a government hand out.
Published: June 10, 2006 10:42 PM
Mike Linksvayer
Bart, so it is not up to people who come to the U.S. via government-blessed ways to support themselves?
If that is not what you believe why bring up "legal ways" at all?
Published: June 10, 2006 11:48 PM
scineram
Again, great stuff:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhEl6HdfqWM&search=immigration%20debate
Published: June 11, 2006 4:43 AM
Alan Dunn
I wonder how much the actions of other countries governments have to do with people actually deciding to immigrate to the USA ?
You rarely hear of people wanting to immigrate because the "private sector" is doing them wrong. Sure people may immigrate to gain employment but again it may have been the policies of their government which rendered their employment status as unsatisfactory in the first place.
So in a nutshell it is my belief that government intervention, foreign or otherwise is too blame, more so than whether or not a new immigrant accepts any government handout.
Many people, myself included recieve government handouts without ever recognising it. Fromk the person who works in the subsidised industry, to the person who consumes the subsidised good.
Shame really, that without subsidisation many products would actually be cheaper. Oops did I say many ? I mean't all products would be cheaper.
So I'm blaming governments rather than the persons recieving the handouts. Only my opinion.
cheers
Published: June 11, 2006 4:46 AM
lima
With the fall elections drawing near, the republican ( Karl Rove) "scare the bleeps into voting for us" machine is cranking into high gear. Over the past few weeks, we've had a constitutional amendment against gay marriage and, the real biggy, invasion by the mexicans and all that potential for terrorists to just go through mexico and get us in our sleep.
Rove has also started up the usual pandering to the one issue extremist groups with the tax cut budget and the estate tax debate. Soon we will hear once again how close GW is to God ( the real one, you know, from the extremist southern bible belt).
And, thank you know who (wink,wink), we finally killed that rascal sarquawi or whatever his name is. how fortuitous that it came just before the fall elections.
Wake up America. Their at it again.
Published: June 11, 2006 11:08 AM
M E Hoffer
This post sounds like it could be another chapter in Robert Higgs' fine book, "Crisis and Leviathan".
Published: June 11, 2006 11:25 AM
Reactionary
Jim,
"Eliminate aggressive government interventions and the so-called immigration problem would cure itself."
An increasingly unlikely prospect, since the government has been importing bolsheviks and social democrats for many decades.
Published: June 12, 2006 9:36 AM