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Old 09-27-2010, 01:27 PM
 
Location: Cincinnati
3,336 posts, read 6,929,343 times
Reputation: 2084

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This is purely a mental exercise. Obviously nothing like this is or ever will be on the table.

What if we went ahead and took "your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free..."

Starting tomorrow, come to america and realize your dream. No restrictions.

I think the country would become really interesting, really quickly
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Old 09-27-2010, 01:41 PM
 
14,306 posts, read 13,290,599 times
Reputation: 2136
Quote:
Originally Posted by progmac View Post
This is purely a mental exercise. Obviously nothing like this is or ever will be on the table.

What if we went ahead and took "your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free..."

Starting tomorrow, come to america and realize your dream. No restrictions.

I think the country would become really interesting, really quickly
Oh yes, it would be quite interesting to see our population quadruple itself whereby we are all competing for jobs, resources, housing, education and healthcare and a squabbling nation that can't even communicate with each other. You sure you really want to see that experiment through? I don't.
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Old 09-28-2010, 01:24 AM
 
47,525 posts, read 69,570,473 times
Reputation: 22474
There are only more than 2 billion impoverished people throughout the world. Of course they'd all like to come here with our very generous welfare handouts and nice taxpayer provided benefits.

It's completely stupid to have a welfare state with open borders.
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Old 09-28-2010, 02:28 AM
 
2,245 posts, read 4,223,586 times
Reputation: 2152
Quote:
Originally Posted by progmac View Post
This is purely a mental exercise. Obviously nothing like this is or ever will be on the table.

What if we went ahead and took "your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free..."

Starting tomorrow, come to america and realize your dream. No restrictions.

I think the country would become really interesting, really quickly
There was a fictional book written along those lines called Camp of the Saints, though it was set in Europe.
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Old 09-28-2010, 05:36 AM
 
Location: Cincinnati
3,336 posts, read 6,929,343 times
Reputation: 2084
say we devised a system where entitlements weren't available until someone had a ten year working history in the US.

is the problem that we feel to many immigrants would drain our entitlement system?

what has changed since the statue of liberty was put up that means we no longer want so many immigrants?

honestly, i don't have strong feelings about immigration, i just think it is interesting to talk this out.
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Old 09-28-2010, 08:24 AM
 
14,306 posts, read 13,290,599 times
Reputation: 2136
Quote:
Originally Posted by progmac View Post
say we devised a system where entitlements weren't available until someone had a ten year working history in the US.

is the problem that we feel to many immigrants would drain our entitlement system?

what has changed since the statue of liberty was put up that means we no longer want so many immigrants?

honestly, i don't have strong feelings about immigration, i just think it is interesting to talk this out.
Re-read my post again. There lays your answer. We are no longer a wide open frontier when the Statue of Liberty was erected and we were sparsely populated. Our population has grown to over 300 million now. It takes many resources to support a society. They aren't unlimited.

How many "immigrants" would be enough for you? To be fair we would have to let them ALL in wouldn't we? Do you even have a clue what that would mean to the quality of life in this country?
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Old 09-28-2010, 08:36 AM
 
3,484 posts, read 2,866,438 times
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You realize that conditions are different in 2010 then they were in 1910?

Back then we needed unskilled labor to power our factories. Back then very few people had even a high school diploma so the educational distance between a native and an immigrant wasn't that large. Back then we had no welfare state. If you couldn't make it you left.

America does not need the huddled masses. We have enough masses of our own and rank in the top ten for population. It is completely unfair to demand that taxpaying American citizens essentially get held responsible for all the poor people of the world.

If you'd like to place a golden halo on an era that never really existed be my guest. Just be prepared to pay for it out of your pocket not mine.
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Old 09-28-2010, 09:03 AM
 
Location: On a Long Island in NY
7,801 posts, read 10,087,054 times
Reputation: 7366
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eleanora1 View Post
You realize that conditions are different in 2010 then they were in 1910?

Back then we needed unskilled labor to power our factories. Back then very few people had even a high school diploma so the educational distance between a native and an immigrant wasn't that large. Back then we had no welfare state. If you couldn't make it you left.

America does not need the huddled masses. We have enough masses of our own and rank in the top ten for population. It is completely unfair to demand that taxpaying American citizens essentially get held responsible for all the poor people of the world.

If you'd like to place a golden halo on an era that never really existed be my guest. Just be prepared to pay for it out of your pocket not mine.
On top of that immigration was regulated! It wasent an endless horde of illiterate 3rd world peasants. There were national quotas and restrictions on entry unlike the free for all, come one come all approach that we have today.

Immigration levels need to be reduced to less then 10,000 per year, minimum of a high school diploma and ability to pass an English competency exam. We also need to end dual citizenship with any country, make English the sole official national language (yes, even for Puerto Rico).
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Old 09-28-2010, 09:10 AM
 
14,306 posts, read 13,290,599 times
Reputation: 2136
Quote:
Originally Posted by WIHS2006 View Post
On top of that immigration was regulated! It wasent an endless horde of illiterate 3rd world peasants. There were national quotas and restrictions on entry unlike the free for all, come one come all approach that we have today.

Immigration levels need to be reduced to less then 10,000 per year, minimum of a high school diploma and ability to pass an English competency exam. We also need to end dual citizenship with any country, make English the sole official national language (yes, even for Puerto Rico).
10,000 legal immigrants per year might be a tad low but otherwise I agree with all you said along with ending birthright citizenship for illegal aliens.

Another thing to consider is if we continue along this trend of high legal immigration quotas and unlimited illegal immigration where is the incentive for these immigrant's homeland governments to clean up their act and to create an atmosphere whereby their citizens won't want to leave them? All we are doing is enabling foreign governments to pass their problems and unwanted citizens unto to us.
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Old 09-28-2010, 08:53 PM
 
Location: Staten Island, New York
3,727 posts, read 7,020,444 times
Reputation: 3753
Quote:
Originally Posted by progmac View Post
This is purely a mental exercise. Obviously nothing like this is or ever will be on the table.

What if we went ahead and took "your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free..."

Starting tomorrow, come to america and realize your dream. No restrictions.

I think the country would become really interesting, really quickly
We'd be a third world country within a few months.
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