Trump - Prophet or Blowhard?
Let me ask a question: Why do you hate Trump? Is it because he's bombastic, a blowhard maybe? Or, is it that Trump hates immigrants, especially the darker skinned ones? Is it because he wants to build a wall, or because he wants to keep out Muslims? Yes, those could be good reasons to dislike the man. But, what if he's right? More importantly, what if racism has nothing to do with it?
There are about 70,000,000 foreign-born immigrants in this country if we include their children. That's about double the total population of Canada, who also happen to have a larger landmass than the U.S... That's more than the total populations England and France. It is rapidly approaching the total population of Germany, as well. In spite of these staggering numbers, we still take in about 4 times as many legal immigrants as we did throughout much of the 20th century when the migrating population was overwhelmingly European. If we factor illegal immigrants, that number rises to 7 times as many. Exactly where, does racism figure into this equation, except in the minds of people who see racism wherever and whenever their dogma is challenged as an expedient way of ending any real debate?
Forty years ago the population of the U.S. was about one hundred million fewer people than it currently is. By the end of this century, the population will be more than five hundred million people, making the U.S. the third most populous nation on earth behind India and China. Of those currently migrating here, only about 16% come on the basis of in-demand skills. The other 84% come based on family unification and jobs. Most have less education, fewer marketable job skills and tend to rely more heavily on a range of costly government services which are paid for by the American people. This does not make immigrants bad. Far from it. Most work hard, but they also increase competition for a dwindling number of the kinds of jobs that require unskilled labor. Here's a simple economic truth: if you increase the competitive labor pool, wages fall, or remain flat, harming the poorest, least educated members of society. There are other factors which drive income inequality. Mass immigration, however, is a significant contributor.
As far as Muslims, most are law abiding and are good citizens. However, president Obama's FBI director James Comey has stated multiple times that the number of radical Islamic groups active in the U.S. has grown so large that the FBI is overwhelmed and can't begin to deal with the problem. Those are his words, not my hyperbole.
All of the above is verifiable. And yes, anyone can find a source to validate their opinion nowadays, muddying the water. Therein is one of the difficulties in attempting to change people’s minds. Ignorance becomes a primary ally in the battle for some semblance of rational political discourse.
Finally, who is really racist then? I'm not necessarily a Trump supporter. Neither do I reject the man out of hand. If you do, you do so at your own peril and mine as well, to say nothing of our children and our children’s children. Trump has some things to say that no one else is saying. So, maybe, people should be quiet and listen, and then make an informed decision, based on evidence, not a few clever memes as a substitute for real debate. That would be an authentically moral position, anything less is just mindless opinion.
Mark Magula
There are about 70,000,000 foreign-born immigrants in this country if we include their children. That's about double the total population of Canada, who also happen to have a larger landmass than the U.S... That's more than the total populations England and France. It is rapidly approaching the total population of Germany, as well. In spite of these staggering numbers, we still take in about 4 times as many legal immigrants as we did throughout much of the 20th century when the migrating population was overwhelmingly European. If we factor illegal immigrants, that number rises to 7 times as many. Exactly where, does racism figure into this equation, except in the minds of people who see racism wherever and whenever their dogma is challenged as an expedient way of ending any real debate?
Forty years ago the population of the U.S. was about one hundred million fewer people than it currently is. By the end of this century, the population will be more than five hundred million people, making the U.S. the third most populous nation on earth behind India and China. Of those currently migrating here, only about 16% come on the basis of in-demand skills. The other 84% come based on family unification and jobs. Most have less education, fewer marketable job skills and tend to rely more heavily on a range of costly government services which are paid for by the American people. This does not make immigrants bad. Far from it. Most work hard, but they also increase competition for a dwindling number of the kinds of jobs that require unskilled labor. Here's a simple economic truth: if you increase the competitive labor pool, wages fall, or remain flat, harming the poorest, least educated members of society. There are other factors which drive income inequality. Mass immigration, however, is a significant contributor.
As far as Muslims, most are law abiding and are good citizens. However, president Obama's FBI director James Comey has stated multiple times that the number of radical Islamic groups active in the U.S. has grown so large that the FBI is overwhelmed and can't begin to deal with the problem. Those are his words, not my hyperbole.
All of the above is verifiable. And yes, anyone can find a source to validate their opinion nowadays, muddying the water. Therein is one of the difficulties in attempting to change people’s minds. Ignorance becomes a primary ally in the battle for some semblance of rational political discourse.
Finally, who is really racist then? I'm not necessarily a Trump supporter. Neither do I reject the man out of hand. If you do, you do so at your own peril and mine as well, to say nothing of our children and our children’s children. Trump has some things to say that no one else is saying. So, maybe, people should be quiet and listen, and then make an informed decision, based on evidence, not a few clever memes as a substitute for real debate. That would be an authentically moral position, anything less is just mindless opinion.
Mark Magula