Monday, March 12, 2007

things i wonder

i wonder when america lost its humanity. some would say after 9/11 but i think that it was much earlier than that. when we started to put things- material gain- ahead of relationships that were important. america enmasse is having to look into the mirror finally- and i think that we don't like what we see. i know i don't. we can debate whether america has always lived by the ideals that founded this nation- i think we can honestly say that we haven't- but i don't think that we can debate that we- and the rest of the world- looked at this country a certain way. we were looked at as a beacon of freedom and light in a sometimes dark and frightening world. our streets were thought to be paved with gold- and at one point in time we were proud of our melting pot status. again, when we look at the underbelly of the way we actually treated our immigrants- well, it's that american dichotomy- but we were looked at as a tolerant nation who put families first and where folks could make a decent living if they worked hard enough. nothing was out of reach for those who worked hard enough. until now.

i wonder why it's necessary for our immigration law to forego thinking about splitting up families when they do their crackdowns? i wonder why someone arrested in massachusetts on illegal immigrant status is then shipped to tex-ass? i wonder why the neo con right who is ordering these crackdowns continues to use social services so extensively when the right wing eschews social services of any kind?

"When illegal-immigrant parents are swept up in raids on homes and workplaces, the children are sometimes left behind — a complication that underscores the difficulty in enforcing immigration laws against people who have put down roots and begun raising families in the U.S.

ICE officials defended their handling of the raid, saying ICE made arrangements in advance with social service agencies to care for the children.

The Department of Homeland Security is just carrying out the law they have to carry out. Under the law, there is no legal basis for considering the rights of families. Congress may have to act for that to change," Urban Institute demographer Randolph Capps said."

interestingly enough- this law was passed under a compassionately conservative congress in 1996.

5 comments:

Peacechick Mary said...

Just when I think I have reached my quota of sighs for the day, this compassionate conservative bunch pushes me to new standards of disgust.

Sornie said...

Everything they do is one huge contradiction of what htey supposedly stand for.

Intrepidflame said...

Hey Betmo,

I gate that I only comment when I have something conflicting to say, but hey that is the way things work. Just know that I do read all of your posts and most times I agree with what you are saying. I just don’t feel the need to comment, but when I have an issue with something then I comment. Anyway, I didn’t want you to think that I only disagree witrh you.

You said, “we can debate whether america has always lived by the ideals that founded this nation- i think we can honestly say that we haven't- but i don't think that we can debate that we- and the rest of the world- looked at this country a certain way. we were looked at as a beacon of freedom and light in a sometimes dark and frightening world. our streets were thought to be paved with gold- and at one point in time we were proud of our melting pot status.”

But I don’t think the rest of the world ever saw the US like this. I think Americans like to think that the world saw the America as you have described but really the world has seen the actions of this young empire since day one. I mean take the Native Americans to start and follow the path of empire and at every stop you will see people who have witness first hand the “great’ power of the American state. Never has US foreign policy been benevolent, if its own interests were jeopardized. From Haiti to the rest of Latin America, South East Asia, Europe, Middle East you name it, the Untied States has always been out for Uncle Sam period.

I think now it ha sjust become obvious. No more secret wars in Indonesia or Nicaragua, have made some members of the American public shudder that their nation is not a beacon of freedom, but a nation like other nations which uses greed, corruption and violence to achieve the goals of big moneyed interests. Always has and until something change always will.

The lies of the American dream are finally being exposed and this is the pain you are experiencing. But don’t lose faith now we can join together and see what is next.

People have been chanting Gringo go home ever since the Dole family took over places like Honduras. The fact that they are now doing it in Argentina, should not be a surprise. It has nothing to do with Bush. It is the American Way!

billie said...

bz- perhaps you are correct- but i guess i was thinking in terms of people immigrating here. my original line of thought was the dichotomy of america- where the thought was we were so open to people who were underdogs coming here. asylum and all of that. then i thought about the european immigrants who came here because they felt it was the land of opportunity. it is hard to know really what any other nations thought because we get a very limited history lesson here. perhaps i was going on nostalgia.

and- no- i don't think that you always disagree :) i think it is a good thing to have different points of view and one of my favorite things is reaching compromise. :) certain ideas i can't reconcile with myself though.

C-dell said...

To be honest with you it has been a long standing things that have gradually building up over the years. I am doing a post on america tommorrow hopefully. I don't know what happened.