Genre: Nonfiction—Politics
Completed: 18 April 2018
Summary & Review:
The discussion surrounding mass immigration has been completely muddled with emotional clichés and sentimental anecdotes. But, since immigration and our nation’s policies regarding it are so critical to the future of our country, it is important that these distractions are dispensed with and reason and logic determine our policies. Here, the various clichés that have become so common in the media and culture at large are addressed and rebutted.
This was a short, concise read and some very salient points were made. Immigration is a difficult topic for the average person to realistically discuss because emotions, sympathy, and personal experiences enter the fray so readily. However, basing policy on sentimentality is no way to run a country. It is important that people explore the issue more deeply than simply thinking, “Well, why can’t these people come here? We’re a large, wealthy country and we can accommodate a few immigrants.” Sure, but how many? Where is the limit? We obviously can’t accommodate every person that wants to come here so how do we determine who gets to? What harm are we doing to the immigrants homelands by poaching their best and brightest? How can America continue to do enormous humanitarian good throughout the world if it is swamped by the masses at home? What good are we doing to our fellow citizens by importing low-wage laborers? What is this increased strain doing to our infrastructure such as schools, roads, hospitals, government services, and so on? Only clear, emotionless thinking can come up with satisfactory answers to those questions.
I believe in helping others, Christian charity, and trying to alleviate others' suffering. However, I also believe that is best done by helping people where they are rather than importing them to a country where they don’t speak the language, don’t have the educational or technical skills to succeed in employment, don’t share, know, or understand the culture, etc., ad infinitum. Additionally, it is much more economical to care for people in their home countries rather than bringing them to the United States or other advanced Western nations. Not only is importing masses of people not the best way to help them, but it also harms your own neighbor citizens. Thus, help the people where they are.
As to the government, it has NO responsibility to care for the peoples of other nations. Our government was established FOR OUR people, the American people, and its ONLY responsibility is to worry about the needs of American citizens. Every single government policy should benefit Americans, only Americans, over every other type of person on the planet. Again, private citizens should always look for ways to help others, foreign and domestic, but the government should only be concerned with helping its own people. Simple as that. Thus, immigration policy should be set to maximally benefit American workers, not foreign ones. Same goes for tax, trade, foreign policy....
This book would be ranked higher if I wasn’t already familiar with so many of the counter arguments presented here. But, even though they were familiar to me, they were still presented clearly and concisely.
Rating: 5.5
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