Immigration

Immigration

By Rick Adamson

8.17.18

Historically, the vast majority of past legal immigrants changed their values, 
not America’s, when they came to this country. They came here to become 
American, not only in terms of language, citizenship, and national identity, 
but also in terms of values. Similarly, the vast majority of illegal residents came 
for work and returned home when the work was done.

They came to pursue the American dream; one of freedom and opportunity.

What happened?

Well,  everything changed in 1964-5. The Immigration and Nationality Act 
of 1965 (the Act), also known as the Hart–Celler Act, changed the way 
legal immigrants were selected by ending the National Origins Formula 
that had been in place in the United States since the Emergency Quota Act 
of 1921. The focus became skills of immigrants and/or their family relationships 
with U.S. citizens and residents (chain migration). 

Here is an article entitled "The Legacy of the 1965 Immigration Act."

Further, in 1964 President's Johnson's "Great Society" began with the war 
on poverty pursuant to which welfare policy changed drastically, e.g., for the 
first time food stamps were made available along with Federal aid for K-12 
education of the poor, etc.

The result? Rapid increases in the foreign born population. Here is a 
summary:

√  Between 1960 and 2016 the number of foreign born residents (1) of the 
Country increased by approximately 33,000,000 people and represented 13.5 
percent of the population (a total of about 43.7 million- which is four times 
the number of any other Country).(2)

√  The average growth rate of foreign born residents for the five decades 
between 1960 and 2010 (after the Act) was 34 % (the average Growth for the 
five previous decades (1920 -1960) was a negative 6 %).

√  Historically legal immigration amounted to approximately 250 thousand 
per year but since the Act was passed it it has averaged over 670 thousand 
people per year. In 2016 1,184,000 people obtained lawful permanent residency. (3) 
This is in spite of the finding by a study which concluded that 400,000 
is about the right number. Funny, without chain migration (the ability 
of a skilled-much needed immigrant-to sponsor family members without 
regard to their skills) the 1.2 million would be approximately 400,000.

√  Many of those coming for work have decided not to return home due to 
the newly created welfare State which includes citizenship for children born 
on U.S. soil, children's education, school meals and welfare for poor children 
(if citizens) of foreign born residents, etc.

We are a country of immigrants and immigration is important. But smart 
immigration policy would dictate that the levels be managed so as to fulfill
the Country's needs for workers, and perhaps other legitimate purposes, 
but so as not to harm our existing citizens. Such purposes do not include 
intentionally changing the composition of the electorate for political reasons.

Mass immigration is fueling unprecedented population growth which 
depresses the wages of poorer Americans, overcrowds our schools and 
strains our already fragile environment.

Today's immigration is extremely costly. Unlike previous eras of 
immigration, today's immigrants are 50 percent more likely to use welfare 
than native-born Americans. Providing for the needs of immigrants costs 
American taxpayers as much as $20 billion a year. We cannot provide 
high quality education, healthcare, and retirement security for our own 
people if we continue to bring in endless numbers of poor, unskilled immigrants. 
America is still working to meet the challenge of assisting our own poor 
and disadvantaged; mass immigration compounds the problem and 
impedes efforts to raise the standards of living for all.

And That’s that!

For more of this subject click here.

Notes:

(1)  The term "immigrants" (also known as the foreign born) refers to 
people residing in the United States who were not U.S. citizens at birth. 
This population includes naturalized citizens, lawful permanent residents 
(LPRs), certain legal nonimmigrants (e.g., persons on student or work 
visas), those admitted under refugee or asylee status, and persons illegally 
residing in the United States.

(2)  https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/frequently-requested-statistics-
immigrants-and-immigration-united-states

(3)  https://www.dhs.gov/immigration-statistics/yearbook/2016/table1

Communism/Socialism

Communism

© 2018 Rick Adamson  

By Rick Adamson 5.2.18

I saw this on a cousin’s wall and, although I do not know its original 
context, it struck a chord.

If people truly believe what the poster says then they have been poorly 

instructed and have no earthly idea what they are suggesting.

Having had the pleasure of knowing and hearing the stories of a Russian immigrant I can tell you that unless you want the government deciding whether you can attend college, where you work and live and how much you earn you do not want communism. Although, it might eliminate some anxiety as there would be less angst’s over not being born rich because everyone would be earning the same $2.00 an hour.

It might sound good on paper or in discussions but it doesn’t really work that way and produces an inherently unfair society. I wish these young people would learn a little history and stop replacing reason and logic with ‘feelings’, ‘emotions’, and the denial of all traditional truth claims.

I am reminded of a quote by Jordan Peterson as he describes how lucky we are: “The highly functional infrastructure that surrounds us...is a gift from our ancestors: the comparatively uncorrupt political and economic systems, the technology, the wealth, the lifespan, the freedom, the luxury, and the opportunity.”

 
Are things perfect, of course not? We are human beings; flawed and 
discontent with an almost insatiable desire for things we do not possess.

I would remind these youngsters that for most of mankind’s existence 
extreme poverty was the standard as it is for much of the world’s 
population today. That means lack of food, clothing and shelter as 
opposed to the American definition which equals middle class in most parts of the world.

The secret of America’s success is the opportunity it has provided its people. The opportunity to do as one pleases only limited when one infringes on another’s rights.

“In no society have all regions and all parts of the population developed equally.” Fernand Braudel

“Those who have promoted the prevailing social vision, in which lags, gaps or disparities to the detriment of “certain” people are the fault of “other” people, are trapped in the corollary that these lags, gaps or disparities should disappear, once those “other” people are constrained by civil rights laws and policies. But nothing of the sort has happened in the wake of the civil rights revolution of the 1960s.

However dramatic the increase of political representation of “certain” people at local and national levels, there were no correspondingly dramatic reductions in economic disparities”. Thomas Sowell

The goal of society should be to provide freedom and opportunity. The struggle for the individual should be to be the best person one can be; not to be ever happy or to have some government give you happiness-it isn’t going to happen.

People must develop their human capital (skills), work hard and be 
responsible if they want to live a happy and purposeful life in pragmatic 
America.

But, for those who really want communism, I suggest a stint in Russia, Venezuela, Cuba or China. Go ahead give it a try. If after a few years in one of these places you still believe there will be plenty of folks that will listen to your pitch.

Peterson says of Postmodernists (like the one pictured), “...are obsessed with the idea of oppression, and, by waging war on oppressors real and imagined, they become oppressors themselves.”

He sees liberals, or leftists, or ‘postmodernists,’ as aggressors, think “Antifa”. The danger, it seems, is that those who want to improve Western society may end up destroying it.

And That's that!

Russian Election Meddling

Russian Election Meddling

© 2018 Rick Adamson

By Rick Adamson 7.16.18

Although I am outraged the Russians interfered in our elections their money investment was not significant (less than $50 Million vs. $2+Trillion spent by the campaigns.) Face book ads vs. 52 major newspaper endorsements for Hillary vs. 2 for Trump.

And to the hacking and leaks-what was leaked? Email from John Podesta’s (Hillary’s campaign manager) gmail account and email from the Democratic National Committee’s computers. These sources were not government controlled and contained no secret government data but, rather, embarrassing spurious correspondence which was of very little interest.

What would be more interesting would be to know more about the
Democrat’s interference/sabotage of Sanders campaign. What hypocrites!

The leaks occurred in the summer of 2016 by which time most people had
already decided for whom they would vote.

Every interested party tries to affect elections. That’s not new. We just need
to understand what the foreigners did, how they did it and stop them.

As to all these indictments-Surprise Surprise. We were told in Nov. 2016
and again in Jan. 2017 by our intelligence agencies that Russia had been
messing around with our system.

Interestingly, although these shenanigans began in 2014 nothing was done
about it and you would know nothing of it today if the election had turned
out differently. Go figure.

And That's that!

Moral Self-Licensing

Moral Self-Licensing

© 2018 Rick Adamson

By Rick Adamson 5.15.18

“Moral Self-Licensing: When Being Good Frees Us to Be Bad,” from Social and Personality Psychological Compass by Anna Merritt, Daniel Effron, and Benoit Monin.

"Research shows that people tend to reward themselves after they do a good deed — so-called moral licensing. So if people vote to redistribute other people's money, perhaps they feel less guilty about not giving away their own money.

For example, people eager to help the poor may not feel they have enough money or skill to contribute to the poor, but by voting for higher taxes (to redistribute the income of others) they believe they are helping. From this perspective, they have fulfilled their moral obligation.

Al Gore and Leonardo DiCaprio, provide good examples of this kind of self-deception. They fly private jets spewing carbon dioxide while admonishing the public to limit carbon emissions, as if their crusade for the greater good exempts them from the very thing that they insist is immoral.”  The Upside of Inequality: How Good Intentions Undermine the Middle Class by Conard, Edward

As Jordan Peterson said as he considered his beliefs: "Anyone who was out to change the world by changing others was to be regarded with suspicion.” And of the people he knew: "their beliefs and modes of being seemed to disguise frequent doubt and profound disquietude." I would add perhaps Dysphoria or Rumination or both.

I heard a radio talk show host say the other day that being liberal licensed a person to hide behind liberal causes while, at the same time, pursuing opposite courses of action. For example, Eric Schneiderman just resigned as New York Attorney General amid assault claims by four women, even though, he was investigating the Weinstein companies and advocating for the #MeToo movement.

Now look, we are all human. We are all flawed and imperfect but if one must grandstand from soap boxes shouldn't they at least live by what they preach?

To be clear, I am not preaching here!!

And That's that!