Immigration

 

Sometime in the early 1990's, a documentary about global warming was aired with Richard (not David) Attenborough narrating. It was the first time I'd ever heard about global warming or climate change, and I remember most of all its prediction that with equatorial climate collapse, the equatorial lands will no longer be able to sustain agriculture, and large human migrations toward the poles would ensue, destabilizing European and American governments and institutions, and before actual climate apocalypse occurred, political apocalypse would happen owing to migration, or as we now call it immigration.

It all struck me as plausible, but unlikely. I have been unable to trace that documentary on the internet, but I haven't tried very hard. 

But the idea of immigration as the catalyst for political collapse has come true. Britain voted to separate itself from Europe, because, as Trump noted, "They want borders." No European nation has handled immigration from the Middle East and Africa well. As our tour guide in Estonia told us: "I feel like we are a tiny thimble size nation and they are a big bucket being poured on us." Sweden has been struggling with it, ditto Germany, Italy, Greece, France and even the Netherlands has a white supremacy party. 

Demagogues, eager to seize control, look for scape goats and there are not easier scapegoats than immigrants. Hitler found the Jews easy targets, as they often seemed a group of "strangers" and an alien group. Trump looks at darker skinned poor people "from shithole nations" who contaminate, infest our white, clean nation.

https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxyqZ0XSDeoHo99NAZOgbl4OJ3ds0W_bEG?si=EGZKJf7mwGmVRFLU

Arguing against this is harder than it should be, as the overwhelming majority of us, in the U.S.A. can recall an immigrant story in their  own families. 

But the fact is, Presidents from Eisenhower to Biden have argued immigrants are good for America, not to be feared or vilified but celebrated.  At the end of a recent Jimmy Kimmel monologue, he strings together speeches from each President since Eisenhower, including Ronald Reagan, extolling the virtues of immigrants and immigration. I have been unable to manage to clip this into this post but there is at least some of it in the link above.

No Irish Need Apply

Trump's malignant screeds against immigrants (who are not white) is currently working well, and until and unless the opposition can persuade 51% of America he is wrong, he will likely prevail.

The Right Kind of Immigrant

Even in New Hampshire, when you ask people why they like Trump, they usually start with immigrants, and even if you ask them if they have seen immigrants in their small, white towns, and they usually say no. When you point out the guys who do the roofing, or the lawn services, or the tree trimming are Hispanics, they look a little taken aback and then say, "Oh, right." And if you asked whether they feel threatened by these workers, they always say, "Well, no. Not them."

So who do they fear?

Barbie Doll Secy Homeland Security

Well, the cat eating rapist murderer immigrants they have never seen in New Hampshire. 

Go Figure.