dr. elsewhere here
Sure hope everyone out there found a way to make yesterday's remarkable showing of solidarity with the world's immigrants to this country as memorable as possible.
I watched Democracy Now! yesterday (today had yet more interesting reflections), and they interviewed a historian who focused on the fact that May Day is an international day of labor solidarity because of events that happened in Chicago - to immigrant workers - over a century ago.
The irony is just too thick, isn't it? Even the May Day of the USSR was based on the American labor movement, and the policies of this country have all but left those sentiments - so rich with all that democratic, egalitarian, progressive, liberal talk - in the dust of all those big, wealthy SUVs and limos.
Sometimes it seems like the importance of studying history is to remind ourselves of the power of shame.
6 comments:
pccih
It's not about immigrants. It's about illegal immigrants.
Illegal immigrants have no rights. Illegal immigrants do not vote.
I have no problem with legal immigrants. God bless them.
I have a problem with illegal immigrants who are protesting about their rights. They only have rights in the country they came from. Illegal immigrants have no rights here because they are illegal.
Joy Tomme
Sorry Dr. E but I'm not buying it - I had started something a little more sarcastic, but refrained. Perhaps you could explain to me from your worldview why, with all the evils you purport to be perpetrated on illegal immigrants, they are so apparently willing to risk their personal well-being to attempt to get into the U.S. Or why the waiting list for legal immigration continues to grow so long.
Let's make it three for three. I did
work for the Farmworkers Union when I
was young. Who killed it? Illegal
scabs. They didn't care about
workers' rights or education for their
kids or a decent wage. All they
cared about was a quick buck.
Oh, please, Joe, don't tell me you're one of those idiots. Let me ask you this, a question I'd like to ask of every progressive in this country:
How can you be pro-environment, and simultaneously favor the flood of immigrants--legal and illegal both--that is the PRIMARY source of population growth, which is the PRIMARY stress on the environment?
You can't have it both ways. I think it is actually possible for us to save our environment, and most of its wildlife. Just barely possible, true. If we stop population growth. But I am dead sure that the USA cannot give a new home to everyone in the rest of the world--approx. 6 billion--that want to emigrate here.
Compromise is necessary. We can't deport the 12-20 million illegals here now. On the other hand, we can't have open borders.
Mea culpa, Joe. I should've addressed that to Dr. E.
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