Ok... so i received this as an email from... well, i can't tell you. Please read and discuss. I think the comparison is absurd, but i'm curious to see what you all think.
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Let's say I break into your house
A lady wrote the best letter in the Editorials in ages! It explains things better than all the baloney you hear on TV.
Her point:
Recently large demonstrations have taken place across the country protesting the fact that Congress is finally addressing the issue of illegal immigration.
Certain people are angry that the US might protect its own borders, might make it harder to sneak into this country and, once here, to stay indefinitely. Let me see if I correctly understand the thinking behind these protests.
Let's say I break into your house:
Let's say that when you discover me in your house, you insist that I leave. But I say, “No! I like it here. It's better than my house. I've made all the beds and washed the dishes and did the laundry and swept the floors. I've done all the things you don't like to do. I'm hard-working and honest (except for when I broke into your house).�
According to the protesters:
You are required to:
~ let me stay in your house.
~ feed me
~ add me to your family's insurance plan
~ educate my kids
~ provide other benefits to me & to my family
(my husband will do all of your yard work because he is also hard-working and honest, except for that breaking in part).
If you try to call the police or force me out,
I will call my friends who w ill picket your house carrying signs that proclaim my RIGHT to be there.
It's only fair, after all, because you have a nicer house than I do, and I'm just trying to better myself. I'm a hard-working and honest, person, except for well, you know, I did break into your house, but what a deal it is for me!
I live in your house, contributing only a fraction of the cost of my keep, and there is nothing you can do about it without being accused of cold, uncaring, selfish, prejudiced, and bigoted behavior.
Oh yeah, I DEMAND that you learn MY LANGUAGE,
so you can communicate with me.
Why can't people see how ridiculous this is?!
~ Only in America ~
If you agree, pass it on (in English).
Share it if you see the value of it.
If not, blow it off . . . along with your future Social Security funds, and a lot of other things.
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4 comments:
If you are honest, hard-working, and pay at least some of the rent, keep everything clean, and you are respectful of my need for space, then I say:
Welcome to my house.
This is garbage, and seems like the set of talking points from your local Conservative Talk Radio station.
I can expand more (took a class on American immigration last semester), but living in California has taught me about the subject as much as any sort of fancy book-learnin'.
Fun fact: Ronald Reagan supported and encouraged an expansion of immigration--including loosening penalties for undocumented workers--from Mexico and Central America.
yea, you know, i'd really like to know more about immigration and the economic logistics of it, but this person's email is oversimplifying the issue to the point of being meaningless.
yay for erin! nice to see you on this blog! please expand, since many of us would like to know more from the perspective of someone who has spent some time on these topics besides listening to NPR and living here.
Let’s say you break into MY house.
Let’s say that when I discover you, I welcome you into my house and teach you how to cook and take care of yourself so that you can survive the winter, even though the law doesn’t require me to. I just think it’s the right thing to do. Then let’s say that I invite you to dinner one year to celebrate your “arrival” in my house. Let’s say that we call this celebration: “Thanksgiving” because it’s all about being thankful for the things I’ve given you. And to repay me for my kindness, you give me smallpox.
Thanks.
Now once this disease—or plague, as some people like to call it—gets me sick and kills off most of my family, you send for your friends to come in and wage war on my house, bringing guns and even more diseases with you. Your growing presence eventually kills off a good majority of my plants and animals. Suddenly, you think that this is somehow your home now, even though my family was here first! I mean, I know I welcomed you in once I realized you were here, but I thought we could share! It’s a big house, after all. Why is it suddenly just your house now?
Let’s say that you see my point. But obviously, you can’t just give me back my house—you fought so hard for it and there are already so many of you here—but you are willing to concede small reservations—I mean, “guest bedrooms,”—that I can live in and call my own, but still….it’s just not the same.
You know, I guess I can see why you’re so upset about people breaking into your house these days….wouldn’t want the same thing to happen to you, now would you?
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