a reply to:
neo96
Yes I know. I home school my son, and last year, his 5th grade, we covered American history starting just after the civil war.
There may be times where closing our borders is the correct thing to do: during a time of war, because of a global pandemic, or things like that.
But the fact remains that part of what made America so great in the past was because it was the place you could go to be free and pursue your dreams.
It wasn't just being oppressed that led people from all around the world here. Many left their homes to come here because here is were possibilites
lay to create a new life.
Farming.
Industry.
Prospecting.
If you've never done it, take a few minutes to research and find some very old periodicals that were written about America during the early 1800's
and on for several decades. People gushed and gushed about how beautiful it was, how around every corner there was some way to get rich and provide
for your family.
They made America sound like the promised land.
And for many back then it was. All the way up to the first few decades of the 20th century.
Things are a lot different now. But still......
Here where I live in SC, there has grown a very large hispanic community over the past 15 years or so. Many of them here are doing landscaping work,
tree removal and construction.
It's not booming, and many charge a lot less then you'd think.....but they do darn good work, and full fill their deal with you.
I always here how "they" are "taking away jobs". Most of the time the jobs were always there. Just no one either wanted to work that hard, or
wanted to work that hard for such low paid. Specially degreed people. Who could blame them?
But see, that's because many of us here are used to a certain life style, and do not go without too often. Even those who are so poor receive some
sort of help from the government.
Many of these people who have come here, and accepted these lower paying, but hard labor jobs, are doing just quite well for themselves.
That's because were they came from, you'd be lucky to get at least one meal a day.
There's this one 20 acre plot of land. Over the last 8 years a group of them bought it, cleared it, and have mobile homes on it. They've made the
place look quite beautiful.
During the last ice storm that ripped through here this past winter, the main highway going by them had a lot of trees and debris blocking the road. A
lot of my neighbors were griping and griping about how long it was taking the county to get out and clear the road.
Those people went out and were clearing the roads themselves.
I don't know what the answer is to our borders, illegals or people that simply want to move here the legal way. I really don't. I know that fighting
among ourselves is pointless. I know I don't want criminals coming in here and continuing to break the law here too.
But I do know that what made us great before was all those immigrants that came to this country. They helped us build it. From the farms lands in the
midwest, to the rail roads crisscrossing our country, to the steel mills and coal mines. There's a reason why America was called the Great Melting
Pot.
I don't think we should only let people that have money in. I don't think we should only let people that can show skill sets or a degree in. I
don't think we should let people in who expect a "free ride" in either (entitlements).
What I do think is we should let people who want to work hard, pursue opportunities and who really want to be an American in.
How can I find fault with them, when this is what my family did over 300 years ago? Who am I to tell them "No."?
Again: I don't have the answer. I'm an engineer, not a politician (all though I think that maybe a big part of the problem).
But I can tell you that's how I
feel. If we want America to be great again, we need to get back to what made it great before, and that was not
bombing the crap at of other people. Help yes.....when ASKED. But what made us really great:
The country that people could immigrate to, because it really was the "land of milk and honey" back then.
Again....just my opinion.