Immigration is a tough issue…
I am a big believer in personal responsibility. I have insurance in case I am in an accident and am at fault so I can pay for the damage I have done to someone. Unfortunately, governments aren’t big on responsibility. If you read General Butler’s book War is a Racket, you will realize that we have been destabilizing Latin America for over a century. Anyone remember the Iran-Contra? Where our boy Ollie North sold mycoplasma to Sadam Hussein who used it on us soldiers in Kuwait? Well, the flip side of that was we trained and equipped a lot of right-wing death squads in central and south america. Because we were influential in destroying someone’s country, do we in the US have a responsibility to make it right?
The problem is that we have no money in the US. We are 21 trillion in debt and going deeper. Sometimes you have to put your own oxygen mask on before you try to save others.
50 million immigrants live in the USA, that is 20% of the world’s immigrants. Europe doesn’t have near that many, so it is kind of disingenuous of the EU to tell us to do our share.
The solution, of course, is for the US and other countries to leave foreign nations alone. If we do not put corrupt dictators in charge and do not fund death squads, then it is not our problem what other countries do and we do not have to be responsible for them. I really think Trump has the right idea that we build up the US first, and then worry about the rest of the world later.
My reasoning is simple, if we do not cause the damage, we do not have to “save” the people. The people can do what blacks did in our country, and the Indians did to the British, and peacefully protest until they get the government they want.
Yes, I know that is idealistic and that our banks and corporations want the natural resources from those countries which is why they make our politicians invade or they install friendly dictators, but don’t we have some responsibility for keeping our politicians in check? Isn’t this our government?
At some point we have to hold our politicians accountable for their bad decisions. I think a couple public trials and maybe a firing squad or two might do more than any campaign finance reform 🙂