Friday, April 20, 2012

Ja, ik spreek Engels.


First a note: I’m going to stop posting blogs updates on facebook (after this).  Mostly I just feel like nobody loves me if nobody comments on the update, and sink into a deep, though temporary, state of dsyphoria. I’d much prefer to believe that nobody knows I’m updating. 


However, I am going try to update everyday for the next ten days (without spamming facebook). Now I finally cancelled my New York Times online subscription (they make it deviously difficult, you actually have to call them), I can no longer spend most of my free time learning about things I have no influence on, so it seems like a perfect time to start writing about them instead. So yeah. Today's topic is immigration.

I feel that pretty much everyone if you go back far enough owns land due to questionable or downright genocidal means. Since we can’t possibly reassign the land fairly, we pretty much get what we landed on when the music stopped and overtaking land started to be frowned upon.

To stop everyone from rushing into the richest lands undocumented and unregulated, there are rules about who can live where. The rules aren’t fair, but they’re better than the total mayhem that would result if this land were my land, and, what the heck, it’s your land, too.

However, it’s important to keep in mind that almost no one’s claim to land is without sin (except maybe the Native Americans) so it’s best to be lenient with who can and can’t enter the country. Sure, people should be documented, there should be basic requirements to becoming a resident, and people should respect the native culture. However, it also should be possible to do it within the rules, because, ideally, everyone should have the chance to live in a great country like America.

As it is now, the immigrants who break the rules get in, and the immigrants who don’t have to wait forever. It’s not fair, and it give immigrants more motivation to break the rules and countries less heart to prosecute the said immigrants. You get stories like these, where nobody wins: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/28/opinion/28sat4.html So I think there should be a path to legalization, the people trying to do it the legal way should be rewarded, and if you are going to prosecute someone, it will be easier knowing that they did have a solid alternative to breaking the law.

5 comments:

  1. i love your blog. i read the parts about starfish when in china, but couldn't comment much because of using the phone to do it and wasting up precious minutes thumbing in responses! but i love it!

    here's a quote that helps me when i get upset about not getting responses i'm hoping for: "don't dilute your inner voice by soliciting the opinions of others. why ask mere mortals for advice when you're guided by sacred wisdom? treasure your sixth sense. treat it like gold. wear it close to your heart, and don't allow anyone to rob you of it's power."

    also, read the article you linked. love the dream act, but wish it could go even further and protect those that were brought here as children and don't go to college or serve in the military. i hate that we punish those who came here illegally as children. especially sad when you think of what their family might have gone through to get here, hoping for a better life for their children.

    and i love this quote of yours: "Since we can’t possibly reassign the land fairly, we pretty much get what we landed on when the music stopped and overtaking land started to be frowned upon."

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    1. Thanks! I agree with you - it doesn't seem fair to punish people for things out their control, and coming here with ones parents as a child definitely qualifies. And useful quote : )

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    2. Do note Marjo.. I might not comment but I definitely read!! ;) it makes me miss you, the others, and the starfish babies less... So if you stop posting on Facebook, you better start sending me a personal email to let me know when to read your updates ;)

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    3. Bedankt, michelle! ik kijk er echt naar uit om jou in nederland veel te zien. (Ik zit aan het werken aan het nederlands, spelling is nog een beetje moeilijk : ) )

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  2. Ziet er goed uit hoor!! Ik heb echt super veel zin in een mini reunie!!! Gaan we de tourist in eigen land uit hangen... ;)

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