Immigration Isn't the Problem

Ok, so the U.S. temporarily houses several million people who aren't registered or de facto citizens of the country. By now, just about anyone who is sentient in America knows that their grass-cutter or the school's janitor or the tailor or the burger-flipper may be someone who lives in this country without official permission. Many people also have heard that the illegal immigrant is the cause of several social ills: increased medical costs, loss of jobs, uneducated kids, dual-language tv shows, etc.

Well, a sizeable "illegal" population may have some impact on these issues, but what does it matter? You can ship every last immigrant out of the U.S. and the ills will still be with us. Our medical bills will still be horribly high, the vast majority of the unemployed will still be without work, and public education will continue to look more dead than alive.

These so-called "ills" are symptoms and results. If your nose starts to drip mucous, you can blow it all out into tissue over and over again. Or, you can take the proper medication and the nose stops running. Such is the case with illegal immigration. The source of the problem must be addressed.

The Mexican economy is crap. Unemployment runs around 50% -- something that living Americans really don't understand. Jobs are found over the border. Jobs with real wages (even though the proud American would never be caught dead picking soybeans for $1 per hour) call to the poor and starving people in Mexico.

Well, the jobs are available because the businesses want to cut costs. When a businessman can turn a good profit on some endeavor, they'll make sure that they will pay the smallest sums that they can get away with. So, should be deport the owners of the farms, textile factories, and restaurants? No friggin' way.

The real source is the American culture of greed. Oh, sure, we all want to make enough money to keep a roof over our heads and food in our stomachs. Just a quick trip down the aisles of WalMart should be enough to illustrate my point. If not, then take a look at the goods offered at Macy's. The only thing which sets one pair of pants from another in that store is a name. The same goes for cars, oranges, paper, chairs, and just about any other item that competes against other similar items on name.

How many damn shoes do you really need?

But, since the culture of greed is deeply woven into our lives, there is no easy way out of its grasp. Eliminating greed would be like forcing an overweight chain smoker to quit cold-turkey and fast on nothing but water and oatmeal, (not that I have anything against oatmeal..) after firing him from his job and forcing him to live under a bridge -- just before a hurricane hits. Yikes.

So, the first step is to understand the problem and accept its presence. We have to see how damaging it is before taking steps to solve the problem.

Our Fascist State

Remember these pictures?

Cute, eh? When I saw these, I became nauseated at the mere thought of kids writing greeting notes that could only be delivered in a firestorm of death. If you had felt any differently, then I wish you well in your hellish afterlife. Here is one such recipient of the Israeli kids' messages:

Looks like the message was received. Boy, this kid sure looks grateful. As a bonus, the nurse is surely ecstatic, because now she can really hone her life-saving skills -- even while her home is getting blown to bits. Now, that's what I call real on-the-job training.

All sarcasm aside, this is truly a pity since Israeli children are taught what amounts to pure Fascist ideals: the benevolence of their military, the hatred for all things Arabian, and the importance of Israel über alles. They have no idea what diplomacy or tolerance is.

They are led to believe that kids with rocks (vis-â-vis the Palestinians) are their mortal foes and can only be held in check with bullets and tanks.

One can only wonder how this squares with the Jewish faith.

Funny that the kids aren't told about the other side of the coin, the one that gives explanation to those nasty Arabs' dirty deeds. You know, Qana (both incidents), al-Nakba, Deir Yassin, and others.

These events are nasty, but the real painful truth is that the reaction from many people has been something akin to glee. Mutiliation and death of a people that have been humiliated and subjected to occupation and invasion for years is celebrated. Take a look at this discussion where the readers argue about semantics, or this sordid article that bends so many truths to "reveal" a conspiracy. Here is an example of pure Fascist thinking in action.

Huh? Do I hear some objections? Well, let me share with you some of the defining attributes of fascism:

1. The idealization of the State as the embodiment of an all-powerful national will or spirit
2. The leader principle, which personifies the national will in the holder of a political office (whether democratically elected or otherwise is largely a matter of style)
3. The doctrine of militarism, which bases an entire legal and economic system on war and preparations for war*

Merriam-Webster defines Fascism as this:

1 often capitalized : a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition

So, let's take a look at the first item: Nation or race above the individual. This is one way to label a nation's bigotry. It's one thing for individuals to have some kind bias for or against someone else who belongs to a different race, language, nation, or religion; it's quite another thing for a country to embrace that kind of attitude. From the United States' point of view, Nazi Germany was totally Fascist, because they openly glorified the Aryan race over all others. Italy under Mussolini took a more nationalistic view.

When the U.S. looks at itself, however, it sees no evidence of Fascism in this regard. Americans have always known that America is the best. Americans know that it's a fact that democracy is the only way to run a country and any other form of government is backward or cruel. Since it is taken as common sense -- a fact that cannot possibly be disputed -- the Americans' faith in their democracy places the nation above all others.

Ok, so that could just be nationalism, right? By itself, I would agree, but there is more to see.

Let us move on to the second point: The will of the people held by their leader. In the case of President Bush, he has taken this to mean that 51% (his share of the 2004 electoral vote) of the population really means 100%. How does he show this to the world? Simply, by ignoring just about any bill which passes through congress and lands on his desk. He is a president who rules with his gut. There is no room for compromise or diplomacy. It's his way or the highway -- and in this case the highway is the one that leads striaight to hell. He once said that he is the "decider" and what he decides goes. Does this sound like a diplomat?

We will now look at the third point: Militarism. This term covers a lot, but it mainly defines an ideological spirit of the people. When a country embraces Militarism, it initially requires a sense of security. This security is further seen to be attained only through military action.

What inevitably follows is a merging of the civilian and military worlds. Just as the axiom "if a=b and b=c then a=c" defines a relationship between entities, the narrowing of the gap between civilian and military lifestyles -- no matter which point of view you take -- brings the society closer to militarism. Either civilians adopt military attitudes, or the military becomes more civilian.

What follows is a glorification of military style, attitude, and language. At this point, the civilian population becomes nearly one with the military.

The only reason anyone would really want to buy a gas-guzzling Hummer is due to the fact that it's made by the same company that sold a similar vehicle to the Army. Camouflauge clothing becomes fashionable. Movies celebrating wartime heroes and guys with big guns are made by the dozen. Military terms become everyday jargon. People want the military to govern their lives.

Lastly, the fourth point: Suppression of dissent and opposition. For years, there has been so much oxygen wasted on the denouncement of a "liberal" media, that it is just accepted by many that the news is inherently tainted by pacifists and liars. What is worse is that any attempt by anyone to share an opposing viewpoint is shouted down and the speaker demonized. When one point of view is adulated and all others vilified, you have an effective means of suppression.

Now, all of these factors can be demonstrated in the classical Fascist states, namely Germany and Italy. However, they can also be shown to exist in contemporary America.

To be sure, there are some people who already realize this. These are the folks that took the red pill. The others who took the wrong pill are still slumbering in naivety, blissfully unaware that they have been taught the rudiments of hate. They are happy with their canned beer and their violent pastimes. They are filled what they have been told is patriotic swelling, unaware that their fascination with their country's flag and their armed forces is indicative of the loss of what they believe they have: freedom.

In the United States, the people are not ruled by a Fascist government; they want the Fascist state.

In the land of the free soda refills and the Atlanta Braves, freedom appears to be measured by the amount of things one can buy from sweat shops in China.

Freedom is not attained through hundreds of cable channels. Freedom begins when there is nothing left to lose, as Kris Kristofferson once put it, and rightly so. For, if you have nothing left to lose, you also have nothing holding you down, nothing to which you are indebted.

Perhaps that is a clue to our Facist state. We're a nation too far in debt to ever recover and it's holding us down in a big way.

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* Justin Raimondo, A Facist America, March 4, 2005, http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=5070

All Things Must Pass

I know full well that this blog is nothing more than one tiny bit of plankton awash in an ocean of electronic thoughts. The only reason the counter goes up is because I occasionally visit this blog to see if anyone has read anything.

So, when I write down things that sound like a bunch of ranting and raving, I do so because I use this blog as a means of expression. I can say things here that I won't say to anyone else. Or, if I do try to say these things to other people, it sounds better when written down.

So now I come to the title of this missive: All Things Must Pass.

And pass they shall, like so much gas.