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Originally Posted by sponger42
Japan is my favorite example as well.
The Real Crisis Facing Japan: Part 2 The Implications - Japanian
The biggest issue facing Japan today is it's shrinking population and it's extreme Xenophobia. The Japanese decline is all but sealed in their demographic trends and their unwillingness to allow foreign immigration to revitalize their shrinking and graying socio-economic situation. |
This is an issue in Japan because their fertility rates are low. Its not because they can't have kids, its because they choose not to have children. This is easily correctable, and the government still DOES NOT want to allow immigration, they are giving temporary work visa's to fill job shortages. They are NOT giving out citizenships.
Japanese can fix all of their problems by having a "baby boom". Maybe the government should encourage more people to have children by heavily subsidizing taxes or other rates for individuals who have children(up to a certain point).
We are having similar problems within this country because we are also not having children, especially the more affluent/educated households. There was an article recently saying a child born in 2008 will cost the average American over $200,000 to raise to 18 years of age.
Over a lifetime, high school grads average $1.2 million; with a bachelor's degree, $2.1 million; a master's degree, $2.5 million(and those figures don't adjust for inflation). Those individuals making $2.5 million in their lifetime, in just income taxes, would probably pay in about $600,000. And that doesn't even include property taxes, sales taxes, gas taxes, etc.
What we should be doing is giving financial assistance to all ACTUAL AMERICANS to help them afford to have children, and we should be providing a FREE quality education to all ACTUAL AMERICANS so we can make sure our industries can compete in the global market.
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If I were a Muslim, I would be uniquely qualified to speak on the dangers and benefits of Muslim immigration. Unfortunately, I can only base my opinions and ideas off of the relationship I have with various Muslim friends and colleagues. Based on my experiences, I'd say you wildly overestimate the danger posed by Muslims and need to compare the REAL dangers in everyday life (heart disease, automobile accidents, cancer) to that of Islamic terrorism to get some perspective.
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I have this same argument with my mother all the time. I currently live in Florida and I like to go to the beach. My mother is deathly afraid of sharks and she won't get in the water, but she also doesn't really like any else getting in the water either. I take my nieces and nephew in the water a lot and she worries and looks for "danger" from the pier.
My argument is always, the likelihood of getting attacked by a shark is ridiculously low, you have a much higher chance of dying from a car accident on your way to the beach than from a shark. Many more people die from getting struck by lightning every year than from sharks.
Her response to me is, there are many things you die of in this world and there isn't much you can do about it, but you cannot die from a shark attack if you don't get in the ocean.
To me, the muslim problem is similar to the shark situation. Of course the likelihood of a muslims going on a murderous rampage is low, but why do we continue to get "in the water".
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Really? Post a poll with that question and let's see the response.
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Most people are not educated enough to make a qualifying decision on if things are better or not. The truth is almost all indicators are worse today than they were before the civil rights movement.
What matters in life? Employment? Wages? Low crime? Peace? Marriage?
Lets start first, employment. Did you know the lowest black unemployment rates were around the 1930's. The black unemployment rate has skyrocketed since the civil rights years, especially among black youths. Right now the unemployment rate for inner-city black youths is over 50%.
JSTOR: An Error Occurred Setting Your User Cookie
Matthew Yglesias » The Demographics of Unemployment
Wages? Well the minimum wage has gone done precipitously compared to the poverty level and inflation since the civil rights movement. The gap between rich and poor has been widening.
U.S. Minimum Wage History
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Househo..._United_States
Crime rates? They have been through the roof since the 60's. And the greatest increase in violent crimes? Minorities. And rapes against white women by minorities has become an epidemic.
Crime in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Marriage? It has gone down about 50% since the civil rights era. Divorce rates have also risen since then. The percentage of single parent households have tripled from less than 10% to almost 30%.
The number of women working outside of the home has more than doubled. And while people may think that is so wonderful. You have to put it in perspective. The percentage of single parent households has tripled, and since women are overwhelmingly the head of single parent households. That means the number of children who are left completely alone has at least tripled. Throw in the number of married women children now working outside of the home and you start wondering "who is taking care of the kids?" The truth is no one, and it shows.
The only indicator of any importance that shows benefits over the last 40 years, is median household income. If you compare the $40,000 relative household income in 1970 to the relative ~$50,000 relative income of today. Doing better right? But remember, almost all households now have two workers instead of one, then it becomes clear that in reality things are quite so good. Then you can compare the value of the US dollar vs world currencies and gold then you can really see how things aren't as good as people like to pretend.
THE FINANCIAL HELP CENTER: Median Income!
What has made this country better in the last 40 years was not because of any social transformations, it was the technological transformations(computers, medical advances, color TV, etc). In fact from the data available about social changes of the last 40 years, that the social changes of the 60's has actually made this country worse off.
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