Louis CK said the same thing. <iframe title="YouTube video player" width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/TG4f9zR5yzY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Can we finally get a Mexican Sci-Fi movie going.. Even the Turkish film industry has a Sci Fi movie out, WTF, and I bet it sucks ass!! We are America, we have the budget lets DO THIS!!!
The thing is, I consider this an immigration problem, the details of which we are all aware of. If anything, I'm providing a view based on data that's out there, rather than making biased decisions because I had a great/horrible experience with Hispanics. I didn't consider this as a specifically Hispanic problem, and everyone is well aware that I don't have that experience. I see that haveing a commong language makes things smoother, but I don't know why it's such a huge issue. There is no official language in the US and the country can adapt to include more Spanish as well. That can happen over time and naturally, and no one is forced to do it. If those are the dynamics, then it will happen naturally anyway. It's not as though everyone spoke the same language when they got to the US. Mixed in with the Irish/English/Scottish were French, Italians, Poles, etc. We all know they didn't speak English when they got there either. I'm sure second generation Latino Americans all speak English, unless it's some kind of miraculous anomaly in the history of the world. In any event, what stops ANY family in America from not teaching their children English? If that's not a rule for all, it can't be a rule for some otherwise it's discrimination. I agree, it has nothing to do with ethnicity and everything to do with deciding to accept the inflow in a fair way, managing it in a fair way, and have review points to see how things are working and what should be tweaked. At the end of the day, it is important to recognize that no country would accept a significant amount of immigration unless they had something to gain from it or they are taking responsibility for something in the past. ATW, we would never have such an influx because the UAE does not grant residency to someone unless they have a job. Once they are fired or resign, they have a set period to find another one. If they don't find another one, they start getting charged on a daily basis and would be deported if they don't leave voluntarily. In addition, there is no welfare system, neither for nationals or non-nationals. The system is harsh and unfortunate in nature. However, your example doesn't apply and one of the reasons it is in place is to avoid the problems that we are discussing here. Whether that's a good way to go about doing it is another thread. Oh, and no, I won't stop making those statements. I completely reject your selectively-assigned preconditions for being able to make these arguments. You are free to ignore my posts. The way you've taken offense to my statements is akin to the Islamists who get offended if other people's opinions conflict with theirs. Out of respect for the thread, I'll note one more time that you are derailing this thread now under a very thin veil. Have some shame. I won't respond to your post if you insist on making it personal, and I am fully aware that you will attempt to lie in order for me to correct you. I won't, so you'd be better off saving it.
They've integrated just fine. No one has heard of racial tensions or discrimination in Houston because someone is hispanic or white. If there's one thing America should be proud of, it's the fact that it is by far the easiest country for a minority to integrate into in the world. They should learn the local language. There is a massive economic incentive to do so. It's very difficult to function in the US if you dont speak English. That said, it's pathetic that the US (especially in the Southwest) doesnt have good Spanish education. Maybe I am biased, but both of my parents speak at least 5 languages (my mother speaks 6) and it's because in India they recognized that there is linguistic diversity in the country. There's no reason the US shouldn't do the same. All that said, I don't see an issue of whether a certain ethnicity's percentage of the overall population is growing or not, the issue is education and language, crime prevention, social security. It makes a difference on many levels (acceptance, integration, living together) if you get a large inflow of educated people or a large inflow of people who have no education and immediately go into the welfare system. Completely non-managed immigration obviously leads to problems. Come on man, this is ridiculous. People dont come here to live off of our welfare system. If you wanted to leech off of the state, America is one of your worst options. (especially after the Clinton Welfare Reform Bill) People come here because there is a true economic incentive. There are jobs here that can be filled by illegal immigrants and unlike Europe we don't have a guest worker program so that means illegals fill in the void. And to answer your criticism of Mathloom, while Dubai is terrible in regards to its treatment of immigrants it has a guest worker program to manage immigrant employment of basic jobs. ( unlike the US)
I don't know whether you get to travel overseas much, but visit Chile or Brazil when you can. I just got back from Santiago so I disagree with your claim of 'Hispanics being tired of their crappy countries". Parts of that country and Brazil are doing very, very well. They have a long way to go, but you're selling their progress short by calling them 'crappy'. The Hispanics which you and some Americans consider as illegal and in a negative light are the underlings in their respective countries: they are only one of many different kinds of Latinos. The people for whom I was doing business for were white. Their hair was blonde, their eyes blue, yet they spoke Spanish, and they wore the finest clothes and lived in country estates. Unsurprisingly, their servants resembled the gardeners and bussers you and I see in the States. Historically, the Latino urge to immigrate here has been because of race and ethnicity, and the jobs which their grandparents and parents held in the 20th century, which were drastically affected (massive unemployment and hyperinflation) by Cold War developments.
One thing I have noticed in the USA is that people from same or similar ethnic backgrounds seem to tend to move to the same area and to some extent stick to "their own people", slightly more so than elsewhere. I met plenty of people who had been in the USA for decades and barely spoke a word of English. Also, I think you have certainly not been able to compare the USA to all countries in the world, so I think your statement is a bit broad. When I rode the bus in Houston before I had bought a car, I talked to this Mexican guy who proudly told me that he had been kicked out of the country 30 times already, but that he was usually back the next day. Well, if that, by your definition, makes it "the easiest country for a minority to integrate into", ok. Maybe it is also "easy to integrate" because people stick to their own sub-communities without much interchange with other sub-communities, but is this integration and a "melting pot"? Where's the "melting"? I was talking about Europe, which Mathloom made some sweeping statements about, when I was talking about people moving immediately into the welfare system. Point being that it is easy to criticize Europe, but then you see the difference between Europe and the USA in terms of welfare payments provided immediately to immigrants, and you see that Europe is actually a lot more "generous" (whether that is a good or bad thing is up for discussion). Because a common language is the basis for being able to live together and to communicate. That should not be that hard to understand. I am aware of all those things, but your "we would never have that problem" does not really answer the question, it's a cop-out. It just goes to show that it is much easier to make sweeping, arrogant statements about Europe than to first look at getting it right in your own house. If Europe were to apply the same system as the UAE, you would probably scream bloody murder.
It has dawned on me that you are throwing a tantrum over things that were never said. You pounced on this topic over "why couldn't africa be successful?" and has proceeded to dump every instance of American arrogance, mixed with irrelevant historical snapshots, into my lap. Are you replying to the actual words posted here or the imaginary conglomerate of hate that you have built inside your head? Maybe you should take some of Confucius' lessons to heart instead of mindlessly quoting him. This is the only part of your post that I think is worth entertaining. 150 years of dominance might be nothing when the greatest armies on earth consisted of savages on horsebacks and "globalization" was nothing more than caravans of animals traversing filth infested dirt roads, but today, 150 years ...or as you said, a few decades of American dominance IS something and it won't be usurped by some single epic military showdown or sudden decree of isolationism. There is no slave filled army to be outflanked or a single voice that can drive this country to the ground. Gasp, only half? Don't bring me down to your hoodlum level, try the whole thing Nothing else to add I presume?
The problem with this argument is that it could have been applied at any time in history. You're sitting here today as if we're at the peak of human (military) achievement, but technology has always continued to progress. Several hundred years ago, a different super-power could have easily said 'our 100 years of dominance means something because we're not savages, we have a navy that can cover the entire globe in a matter of weeks or months, we use guns instead of swords, etc.' That argument sounds pretty weak today. You have no idea what technology will be like in 200 years, and it could very well be that by that point in time, China's (for example) dominance of the globe could have far surpassed what the US has done.
Congratulations. Your expertise derives from the fact that you have the geographic knowledge of a sixth grade geography bee winner and that you know some folks who witnessed the fall of apartheid. I bow before your obvious superiority.
So why don't we all speak English or Chinese and eliminate all the languages in the world? If the country is going to be 90% hispanic, I think it's best they all learn English AND Spanish. Since there would be such an economic incentive, I'd imagine people would move towards that naturally anyway. Also, I would and do scream bloody murder. It's not a cop out, you asked for an analysis and I gave it to you. I'm not happy with illegals, harsh systems, or overly lax systems. I specifically showed you that I am critical of my own country's system so that you understand that I'm not just being critical for the fun of it. I think there is a problem in Europe, and I think there is a problem in the UAE. The fact that there's a problem in the UAE doesn't affect my views. In fact, it's strengthened my views since I have seen different variations of the same problem. Your perception that I shouldn't talk about Europe because the UAE has immigration problems is ludicrous. This thread is about Hispanics in the US, and I used the example which made the point I was trying to make. I didn't shape the point around the example. Chill dude.
How do you "eliminate languages"? You see - dumb question. Did you address your concerns to your employer?
Rich, WASP land-owning men. American history starts off with us being controlled by rich WASPS in England, then the power switches from rich WASPS in England to rich WASPS in America. The rest of American history, more or less, is the rest of the population trying to gain a piece of that power.
The difference is the speed at which information travels today. America is not going to sit on its hands reading Superman vs. Batman issue #9018291 while the rest of the world build a coalition, invade and rob us of our most precious artifacts and land like what happened in China during the late 1800's~'s. Not that you'd know such negative and boring history about white people Ah yes of course internet discussion, where experience, accolades, and education mean nothing as long as you can keep nitpicking, rephrase everything and whine. You sure have convinced me of your intellectual prowess. The least you could have done was not sound so juvenile by double posting a pointless jab that only makes you sound envious of proper education.
1) You stop teaching them and communicating with them genius. 2) Why on earth would I do that unless I work for immigration or labor? lol that's hilarious.
Do you feel like you have no responsibility to improve things in your own country, and in your own government? I see. You would rather point fingers at Europe, the USA, and everybody else. Well done.
Pretend it's 1988. Let's make up a country and call it "HATHAWAYLIKESITBACKDOORLIVIA." It's my country. I fought a war and massacred hundreds of thousands, basically winning it fair and square. My military regime now has every village cornered, thus giving me the confidence to get whatever I want from them. In the mean time, because I'm an Avangelico, I've managed to establish a Bro like relationship with President Bush sr. He wants my copper mines, so I allow his people to run them in exchange for Guns, ammunition, some sexy blondes and an occasional trip to the U.S to talk strategy and present this shipment from Colombia I just received. Anyways, these mines are massive cash cows, like what yao is to alexander. But I don't want to invest the money being generated in silly things like schools or a better living for the poor! I really need a statue of myself and a Yacht, how else am I going to impress the busty blondes? Plus, I also have to maintain the giving people who keep me in power happy, so I increase taxes on the farm workers and privatize their water, energy and take their young children with me and begin training them in the art of war. Would you really like to live in my country if you were not elite? My whole point is..it's difficult for the people to make to make their countries better when corruption and the greed of other nations make it almost impossible. You try revolting against a right wing country where the U.S has $$$ interest, and you will be marked as a terrorist. Try protesting against a policy from the left, and you will be marked as an anti revolutionary. Politics are evil. In both cases the Poor lose. It's the poor that end up leaving their countries for a better life here. Can you blame them? So instead of intimidating immigrants, the right wing in the U.S should cater to them. We're very loyal and could keep them in power long enough to start a war with all the other 194 countries. Besides, states like Iowa and Idaho could use some latin flavor.
Hate? Where do I get off reflecting hate? You asked a question, I thought it was very arrogant and reflective of American triumphalism (uh, guyz, why can't Africa just become world police??!?!?) and pointed out historically how Africa, or hey, at least the Northern part was the world police. so poor poor you if, my god, the conglomerate of hate in my head just saw--- as an expression of nationalist arrogance that smacks somewhat of racial triumphalism as well. as an immigrant to this fair land, that phrase above fairly angers me, but I have kept it fairly level. I never level personal insults. I just like to see beliefs destroyed. I think your belief in Africa having never been a significant power was destroyed, as you seem to have given up pursuing that particular line of thought? What are armies today? Savages with guns? Regardless, the world does not seem to be treating American hegemony well. Even without factoring in the significant depletion of natural resources, and the destruction of the natural world on a scale never before seen with any other empire, the American largess towards pensions and a jittery hyperdrive on military affairs may just end up pulling it down. The fractional reserve system and the impetus for greed is powering a system that just consumes more and more of what I call "vanishing" dollars-dollars that never quite existed and vanish into debt as soon as they are called into existence--->powered into Chinese portfolios that cull more and more American debt. Faced with the fact that the resources it needs are growing ever more scarce, and the source of her power (the ever-growing preponderance of the American greenback) keeps on declining as the world slowly realizes the foolhardiness of faith in the American financial system---one can see a multitude of forces that will push America down. Given the fact that American conventional force could not even project well in Iraq in one of her first "resource" wars---one cannot help but see that America may be in for a long, long fight this century.
I'm envious of your "proper" education? I'd be willing to bet you a fairly substantial sum of money that I have received a higher level of formal education than you have.
