The 'Gate Theory' - open the gate and see what direction the people go.
One of the beauties of the USA has been its draw of immigrants over its entire history. Each new immigrant has brought with him/her a new piece of his/her old-world life to add to the mosaic of the USA's culture. It truly makes the USA a special place in the World, unlike most others except for, perhaps, Canada. Immigration has vastly changed my hometown over my lifetime, adding a strong Asian and more recently, Hispanic flavor to what had only a generation or so ago been a solidly central and western European area.
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OTOH, I don't know how 'on topic' this is for this thread, but I can't help but notice the ongoing and, IMHO, insoluable situation at the USA's southern border. Despite whatever efforts to the contrary, Mexicans are continuing to flood across it into the USA, both legally and illegally.
I look upon this situation as not being the problem, it is only a symptom of other more real problems. Other symptoms include the fact that these Mexicans, whom are very hard workers doing jobs that we native Americans tend to avoid, are sending large percentages of their earnings to family members back home in Mexico. "Envios su dinero a México aqui" ("Send you money to Mexico here") is a sign commonly seen in store windows everywhere where there is a noticable Hispanic population, even here in the far north. This is a very large portion of Mexico's entire economy and without it, many places there would have long ago descended into total collapse and despair.
Add to that the top-to-bottom corruption in the country's government and recent polls that reported that a solid majority of Mexicans would move north if given the chance, the dissatisfaction and loss of faith in their own country is so great, and I cannot see any way out without a *MAJOR* systemic change south of the border.
One such systemic change that I have been pondering more and more in recent years would be to simply offer annexation to Mexico. Perhaps I am way out in nowhereland on that idea, as it certainly is an 'outside of the box' thought, but it would put an end to the ongoing problems at the southern border and bring long-term stability to an area that badly needs it.
Any thoughts?
(And to think, as recently as the early 1920s, there were no border controls at all between Canada, the USA and Mexico - people could come as go as they pleased as though they were crossing between states within the USA or Mexico or between provinces in Canada, going as far as being able to make permanant moves and looking for and accepting employment. Truly amazing when looked at from today's point of view.)
Mike
01 Oct 2005, 2:25 am
Although I can see the Oriental influence in Paris. Strange how our preceptions work. Maybe we see differently..
