The U.S. is MY Country; a Piece of Paper Doesn't Make You an American (medical, birth)

[foma]

When did TX become the east coast? I say TX needs to be her own country. Awwwww yeeeeah!

[andreabeth]

Originally Posted by Dedalus

Nope. Lots of them are friends of my girlfriends son, hanging out smoking dope all night, and bitching about how there's no good jobs anymore.

Your daughter's poor choice of friends is somehow extrapolated to the entire US population?

[Kele]

Originally Posted by Dedalus

I don't see a lot of "illegals." I see lots of Hispanic guys on the street, looking for work.

I do see a lot of lazy Americans sitting on their fat, overprivileged duffs, whining. Maybe, they ought to get off them and look for work themselves.

Yeah, most of the legal citizens I know hang around on street corners or day labor centers looking for work too.

Where do you go to find these lazy Americans sitting on their fat, overprivileged duffs? I'd like to see them.

Personally, I know alot of hard-working, dedicated, physically fit Americans who have seen their livelihoods in various blue collar arenas, including construction, go the way of the Pyrenean Ibex, thanks to those "guys on the street."

What person, who is here legally and can speak the language, hangs out on street corners waiting to be picked up to work under the table, with no benefits, and no state or federal oversight?

Yeah, thought so.

[Jones/S]

Originally Posted by PNW-type-gal

By what right is this your country? Because you were born here? Because your parents were born here? Because their parents were born here? Because your ancestors came across the Atlantic on the Mayflower? Or walked across the Bering Land Bridge? How far back does that ancestry tie have to go? The Spanish once laid claim to almost all of California, including Los Angeles - El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Angeles - right up until the mid-1800s, when the United States stole it, mostly by force of arms.

Everyone in the US is an immigrant of sorts, if you go back far enough. As far as being able to call a place your own and put up fences and borders: when my mother was a child, she spent 6 months at a "concentration camp" set up at the California line to keep out undesirable Okies, who were coming west in search of a better life for their families. By what right did California do that?

stole it? I think the won the WAR and then usa PAID a lot of moeny to buy this country.... and mexico aceept it.........Why did they accept they money then?

[LeeLeeCat]

Dear James,
A piece of paper defines a marriage--once only necessarily defined by an ordained minister, under God. A piece of paper defines one's employment-- because we are no longer trustworthly enough to rely on a handshake and our word that we will do our job according to our morals and ethics. It is unfortunate that so much weight has been placed on a simple piece of paper. However, my Social Security card--another piece of paper--ensures that I pay my taxes, receive health care, and (hopefully--though a different debate) get a decent retirement when the time comes...because I paid my dues...because the U S says so...and because they and I have a paper-trail to follow if it ever becomes an issue.

On the other comments here posted, yes...you are correct. Actually, I am a (recently divorced) single mom with two amazing children. I have no savings anymore (which were once quite substantial). However, I expended this resource so that my children will continue to live with food, water, and a home. I have not given up. I will not succomb to the occassional depression that threatens to over-whelm me. I will continue to work, pay taxes, be an honest, hard-working citizen because I believe in my country...despite the fact that I am often defined by a simple piece of paper.

When we, as a United (States) Community accept each other as viable members of a productive society, perhaps the paper won't mean so much. But until then, well, just show me the dotted line. I'll sign.

[LeeLeeCat]

YeeeeHaaawww!!!
Your comment made me laugh out loud. As a Native Texan, I do not disagree. However, if the U S didn't have Texas, how would it ever survive? Texas would...but the rest of the nation...hmmm?

[Dir Drill 1]

Originally Posted by Dedalus

Nope. Lots of them are friends of my girlfriends son, hanging out smoking dope all night, and bitching about how there's no good jobs anymore.

So you hang out with your girlfriends' son's friends, smoking dope all night.... LOL !!!!!!! WOW, I don't quite see how those pathetic little creatures you hang out with equate with the average American working man, but if that's all you know.... As far as the "Hispanic Men" hanging out on the street waiting for jobs ??? What , do you invite them over for the party and they tell you they are citizens forming their own temp. service ??? Give me a freakin' break.....

[LeeLeeCat]

A slightly more intelligable response would probably have been a better choice. Perhaps focusing on the primary purpose of the discussion...well, who am I to judge. "Temp. service"--ha, ha! Cute. Made me laugh... ah, what were we talking about?

[FistFightingHairdresser]

Originally Posted by James T

The U.S. is my country by way of posterity, the same posterity Ben Franklin spoke of with regards to the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. is the product of my people, my nation. Why is it then, somebody merely migrates here and becomes one of my nation? How is that reasonable? Why should I agree with this policy, as most of the world would not, nor is the subject even really a part of open discussion in "polite company" as to whether or not we should accept such thinking? How is it somebody simply gets to decide they're American, and hence they receive the same rights and privledges as do I? Do pieces of paper define a nation, such that possession of certain papers makes one a part of one or another particular nation? If so, how can any rational person actually agree with this? How can sterwardship of the nation built by my ancestors pass on to people who have historically had nothing to do with it, and why should I allow such a thing at the expense of my livelihood and that of my posterity? By the whole pantheon how is that rational? The U.S. is my country, my nation, and I don't need any sort of paper to make it so.

If you've got smarts and are willing to work, I've got one thing to say to potential immigrants: WELCOME TO AMERICA!

By your formula, James T, we would shut the door on Albert Einstein, Andrew Carnegie, Alexander Graham Bell, John Kenneth Galbraith, Patrick Ewing, Bjarne Stroustrup, Andy Grove, Knute Rockne...

Let's also not forget that America's superiority in the Cold War was devised primarily by immigrants.

So as a native, James, tell us all what you've done for your country.

[LeeLeeCat]

Originally Posted by FistFightingHairdresser

If you've got smarts and are willing to work, I've got one thing to say to potential immigrants: WELCOME TO AMERICA!

By your formula, James T, we would shut the door on Albert Einstein, Andrew Carnegie, Alexander Graham Bell, John Kenneth Galbraith, Patrick Ewing, Bjarne Stroustrup, Andy Grove, Knute Rockne...

Let's also not forget that America's superiority in the Cold War was devised primarily by immigrants.

So as a native, James, tell us all what you've done for your country.

Please, ya'll, read the other comments made here. What those of us have done for our country--those of us that are here legally--is to work, pay taxes, educate our children, let the world know that we take pride in our own and show our support of our country by following her laws, serving in her military, taking care of our elderly, sick, disabled, et-cetera, and being truly productive members of a society that has repeatedly withstood to tests of time. That is what we have done. What have the "illegals" done for this country?