U.S. Fascism Redux

[datasuspect]

all this talk in support of the minutemen in arizona reminds me of the German American Bund movement in the years prior to u.s. involvement in WWII.

you remember those guys: fervently nationalist, in favor of keeping america for americans--that is, wholly gentile, white, and christian.

this type of nativism is not new in the u.s., irish immigrants faced great problems during their intial influx into this country, so did the italians; nonetheless, they managed to assimilate within a generation or two (and still maintain their cultural identity and ethnic enclaves to this day).

now we have the specter of the latinoization (not a word) that seems to strike fear in the hearts of, raise the cackles of, and generally induce spleen production in the likes of the new american xenophobes, birchers, bunders, bigots, and racists.

what is it really?

what job have you lost to a mexican?

are you afraid your daughter might marry one?

how has mexican immigration directly affected your life?

and don't give me the bullshit about how they drain resources. i have the pleasure of knowing quite a few trabajeros from mexico and their culture generally eschews handouts. individual effort for the family and collective effort for your people is the hallmark of these new americans.

and guess what, the social welfare system is largely gone . . .

do you have health insurance? if not, it costs taxpayer dollars for your healthcare too.

[CrispyQ]

1. I have nothing against Latinos.

I love their food, their beer & their reefer. :smoke:

Seriously, two of my closest friends are Hispanic, legal immigrants, & they are wonderful people. They regularly send money & goods to their families in Mexico. I don't know many other people who send money to their families!

[Mnemosyne]

2. "A Day Without Mexicans"

Great movie that is based on the premise of all Latinos disappearing from California. It shatters the myth that immigrants drain resources. In fact it shows the huge contribution made to the economy.

[Cleita]

3. My husband's lily white. blond daughter did marry one.

Oh, but her dad married me so she inherited her da's good taste. :loveya:

In my son-in-law's family no one has ever collected welfare, or any government check like unemployment or worker's compensation. Although his mother became a single mom with six children, she was too proud to even apply for food stamps. My son-in-law and his siblings all have union jobs with health insurance. No one ever lost a job to any of them. They were hired on their merit and on the same wage as everyone else. Of course, they were born here of Mexican parents but still....

[applegrove]

4. It is all about creating tribalism. Bush could devote resources to

solving the immigration issue but he doesn't want to. He is an elite and he can go on stuffing America full of foreign Oil and getting rich as long as wages are kept down.

This also doubly benefits Bush by reinforcing tribalism and giving the 'kids' a place to go to live out their fantasies about 'the other' and how to get them.

[Squeech]

5. Asshats in my office

object to the possibility that the clerk in the convenience store may not speak English well enough to give them exactly what they want.

Somehow this is important enough for them to excuse Repuke depredations on what used to be the most dynamic economy the world has ever known.

Hey, did you hear the one about how chunks of rock are falling out of the ceiling of the Big Dig and hitting people's cars? But at least all of Bechtel-Parson-Brinkerhoff's engineers (and bagmen) spoke English!