Quote: (02-26-2012 02:34 PM)basilransom Wrote:
Quote: (02-26-2012 02:23 PM)Hencredible Casanova Wrote:
I didn't say elites were against immigration. I'm saying they would generally prefer that the public rhetoric focuses on most Americans--immigrants and non-immigrants--battling amongst each other for resources and cash flow instead of challenging them. The benefit of immigration for the elites are clear. Immigrations breathes new blood into the US. It's also a source of cheap labor at all levels and helps maintain the power structure by diverting attention away from them as Americans compete amongst each other.
Immigrants, on average, contribute a net income of 80K over the course of their life to the government more than they receive in services.
Of course, there are differences between different immigrant groups in use of public services, educational attainment, and success with assimilation, etc.
Point taken.
The most important point is one that, as you and I have distinguished, there are differences among immigrants. The extent to which immigrants benefit us is a function of who comes in. Cuban mental patients and ex-Nazi rocket scientists are going to have very different outcomes.
This is why the immigration debate is so shitty. The proponents of immigration, who are the dominant force, lump all immigration together, because if you were to separate immigration into different groups, eg by skill level, it would be apparent that some groups don't benefit America, while others grace us with world's best talent.
'Independent Group' meaning not affiliated with any of the candidates, just as the NRA might be. They have an agenda, of course, otherwise they'd have no reason to exist. Being independent doesn't forbid taking a strong position on something.
Yeah. Immigrants are different from one another just as non-immigrants are. Just like you can't lump all immigrants together, you can't lump all Americans together, even within specific races, religions, regions, etc.
There's actually an interesting and controversial new book about these differences within the US white population over the last 50 years called "Coming Apart" by Charles Murray. He's a libertarian who co-authored that controversial book called "The Bell Curve." Anyway, his latest book as been getting a lot of press coverage and he also appeared on Charlie Rose to discuss it.
Politicians and special interest groups have been seizing on political/social/economic differences between people for personal gain since the founding of democracy.
Cuban-Americans have been wildly successful in the United States, especially in South Florida. They make up the bulk of the business and professional class in Miami and are an extremely powerful and influential political lobby. These were the folks that decided to up and leave from Cuba when they learned that Castro was going to take the country into the direction of Communism shortly after he seized power from the Batista government. Cubans have done exceedingly well in the US, which is much different from the latino experience in, say, Southern California with Mexican immigrants.